Free My Former Self by C. T. Musca Page B

song of the night. We are confused when the last song to come on is a fast one,“My Prerogative,” by Bobbie Brown. My hopes are dashed. No dance with Shane.
    “Hey, Tonya. How are ya?” I didn’t see Shane approach me from behind.
    “Hi. I’m good, you?” I try not to sound too excited.
    “I wanted to ask you to dance, but every time I came up, you were already dancing. Do you want to go and talk in the hallway?”
    We head down a hallway that is a little more removed from the music so people can actually carry on a conversation. We make small talk for a few minutes, and then he asks me why I didn’t call him when I got back from my family vacation.
    “I was going to, but I was a little nervous. I wasn’t sure that you still wanted to go out with me,” I explain.
    “Are you serious? I definitely wanted to. I was waiting at the end of the summer for your phone call, but nothing. I have to say, I felt a bit mislead; I thought we had a lot in common and that the feeling was mutual.” I can see he had been thinking about how to say this for a long time.
    “I’m sorry. I really wanted to…and still do want to go out with you.”
    “How about tomorrow night? We could go see that new Al Pacino movie,
Sea of Love,
” he suggests.
    “I’d love to. My brother saw it. He said it was great, but I think it’s R-rated.”
    “That’s no big deal; we get tickets for another movie and sneak into it.”
    The lights come on in the gym, and people are making last-minute plans to go out after we leave the school.
    Amanda rushes up. “We’re heading over to Pete’s place. Are you guys coming?” Pete is a guy in eleventh grade who always has parties. We have often wondered where his parents go all the time because anytime we’ve been there, they are not. This one time, everybody got so drunk that the neighbours called the police, who sent everyone home. On the following Monday, Pete said his parents never found out about it and he invited everybody over again the next weekend. Mom has always been wary of me going to his house, as though she knows something more than I do.
    “No, I can’t. My dad is coming to pick me and Susan up,” I say. I can see she’s disappointed.
    “Well, Trish is coming later to pick me and Kait up. You’re welcome to get a ride with us,” she offers.
    “I am sure my dad is already waiting outside. It’s okay, ’Man. I think Susan has to be home anyway. I’ll call you tomorrow.” Normally I would stay with Amanda for the night, but when Susan called earlier today asking for a ride home after the dance, I had to oblige. I can’t say I am disappointed; I’m tired, and I have a bunch of school work to do tomorrow.
    “Yeah, I have to get home too. See you guys later,” Shane replies. “Tonya, I’ll call you tomorrow,” he says as he leaves. I can see the surprise on Amanda’s face so I explain our conversation.
    She gives me a big hug. “I am so excited for you, Ton.”
    “Me too, thanks. I saw you dancing with Greg a lot tonight. Is anything going on?”
    “I dunno. I never really thought of him that way, but he really is a great guy. I guess we’ll see tonight—he’s going to Pete’s too. Did you see Dan with Mackenzie? What a creep!”
    “You can do a lot better than Dan. Have fun with Greg tonight; he is hilarious.” It’s funny, I probably would have been jealous a few months ago, but now that I’m interested in Shane, I don’t think of Greg that way.
    We say our good-byes and I find Susan to leave. I was right—Dad is waiting outside of the school for us.On the drive home, he asks us about the dance and with whom we each danced. I know he finds it a bit awkward talking to us about this, but he tries nonetheless. He’s the best; I admire him so much and appreciate his effort. I tell Dad about Shane and our date tomorrow, thereby getting permission to go. Susan is quiet in the backseat. I am not sure how we get on the topic of Uncle Jack, but Dad tells me that