We did end up at Maggie’s that night to celebrate another Grizzly victory. Yuuki and I would have spent the night, but Matt had already arranged to have the guys stay and Mr. and Mrs. Montgomery had very strict rules about guys and girls spending the night at the same time. Since Matt’s plans were made first, the guys stayed and Yuuki and I left, only to be back the next afternoon to get ready for the dance. Maggie had told us to be at her house no later than two and though I didn’t see why we needed four and a half hours to get ready, Maggie was in one of her “don’t cross me” moods so Yuuki and I just did what we were told.
My Mom was a little disappointed at not being able to take pictures of my one and only homecoming dance, but I promised her I would stop by the house before going to the dance to appease the photography monster within. Satisfied, she let me leave without too much of a fuss. I picked up Yuuki at her house a little before two and together we barged into Maggie’s room, bags in tow, ready for Maggie to work her magic. I had to admit, Maggie had done a great job coordinating our outfits and after hours of primping we all looked pretty amazing.
“I think you’ve really outdone yourself,” Yuuki sighed as she looked herself over in the mirror which hung on the back of Maggie’s door. The short, dark purple satin tube dress and silver patent pumps, along with the various beaded chain necklaces, bangle bracelets and hoop earrings combined to make the perfect outfit.
“That was the idea,” Maggie grinned, “you both look fantastic.”
I stepped beside Yuuki to get another look at myself, and could do nothing but agree with Maggie, we really did look great. My dress was awesome, though not a chic as Yuuki’s or Maggie’s; it was a short, red plaid dress with a full skirt and a bow across the bust. Being the good friend she was, Maggie remembered my various graceful moments while wearing heels and decided that it would be safest for me to wear flats to the dance, a pair of gold sequin flats, to be exact, which I absolutely loved. My outfit was rounded off with a pair of hoop and bead earrings and a black fedora, accented by a bright red feather.
“You look pretty hot yourself,” Yuuki insisted.
“I do, don’t I,” Maggie sighed with an evil grin as she joined us in front of the mirror.
Maggie, as usual, was the most glamorous of our trio. She was dressed to impress and there was no doubt in my mind that every guy in the dance, save her brother, would be in awe when she stepped into the room. She had chosen, for herself, a slinky little blue dress with beaded accents and a banded bottom. The blue dress brought out the blue in her eyes, a lethal combination in and of itself, but when paired with dangling earrings and a pair of satin pumps, she could have stopped traffic.
“So, are you girls ready?” Maggie asked as she applied the finishing touches to her makeup.
“As ready as we’ll ever be,” Yuuki answered.
“I guess we ought to go pick up the boys,” I chuckled as I recalled our conversation at lunch on Monday. “I suppose Todd is picking you up soon?”
“I told him to be here by six-thirty,” Maggie sighed, “so we could all have dinner together before heading for the dance, but who knows if he’ll remember. Honestly, I think he’d forget his name if it wasn’t written on the back of his jersey.”
“Is he really that bad?” I asked.
“Worse,” Maggie groaned.
“If that’s the case, why did you ask him to the dance?”
“Because I needed someone Drew would know.”
“So you picked the quarterback?”
“I thought the rivalry between the football team and the band would be a plus. I figured if I went out with a guy Drew couldn’t stand, he’d be more jealous than if I went out with some random guy.”
“But doesn’t jealously only work when the guy is interested in you? Drew already has a girlfriend, why would he care who you’re going to the dance with?”
“Oh, he’ll care, once he sees this!” Maggie cried as she struck a pose.
“I see,” Yuuki sighed, obviously not convinced Maggie’s plan to woo Drew would work, “well, all I can say is good luck.”
“Thank you,” Maggie smiled.
“Well, let’s go get the boys,” I grinned, as Yuuki and I exchanged knowing looks.
Maggie was notorious for coming up with plans of one sort or another that usually ended badly. It seemed to us that Maggie was, once again, setting herself up for disaster; and for her sake, I hoped we were wrong.
“Good idea,” Yuuki grinned and together we walked down the hall, to Matt’s room.
Matt and Will were laughing loudly about something as Yuuki and I knocked on Matt’s door.
“Are you guys ready yet?” I called through the door.
“Ready and waiting,” Matt answered with a smile as he and Will stepped into the hall.
“Whoa, Matt!” I grinned, surprised to see him looking so good.
Actually, both the guys looked really amazing. Matt was sporting a black suit, white shirt and a thin black tie while Will stunned us in his black suit, black shirt and white tie. I was just about to ask them if Maggie had picked out their outfits, like she had ours, but Matt pulled a beautiful corsage out from behind his back before I could.
“This is for you,” he explained with a grin as he slipped the flowers onto my wrist.
“And this is for you,” Will grinned at Yuuki as he pulled out a corsage of his own and put it on Yuuki’s arm.
“Thanks,” Yuuki smiled as she and I exchanged confused looks. Neither one of us had expected to be met with such cordiality.
“Maggie told us to,” Matt explained when he noticed Yuuki and my looks.
“Well thank you,” I smiled, “it’s very nice.”
“Good,” Matt sighed in relief, “I didn’t really know what to get so we just kinda guessed.”
“You did very well,” Yuuki insisted, “thank you.”
“So I guess we should go?” Will asked.
“Probably,” I agreed, “I sort of promised my mom we’d stop by my house before going to the dance. She wouldn’t let me out of the house unless I did.”
“Why’s that?” Will asked as we headed toward the front door.
“She’s obsessed with pictures,” I groaned. “She has to document every “first” in my life so…”
“You mean this is your first homecoming?” Matt asked.
“No, it’s just my first homecoming dance.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s my first too,” Yuuki interjected.
“But Maggie’s gone to homecoming every year,” Matt stated.
“So?”
“I guess I just assumed you both went too.”
“No,” Yuuki insisted, “and we’re only going this time because Maggie begged us to.”
“Well, I’m glad she did,” Matt grinned as he held the car door open for me.
Pictures at my house went well enough, my mom got a little carried away with herself but she offered everyone some of her famous chocolate mousse truffles as a peace-offering which was happily accepted by all. Once Mom was satisfied that she had every pose imaginable, she let us go and the four of us headed to Olive Garden for dinner. Maggie had made reservations for the six of us, which was a good thing, as it seemed everyone going to homecoming had decided on Italian for dinner. The restaurant was full of various couples but when we were shown to our table, Maggie and Todd weren’t there. I wondered if Todd really had forgotten what time he was supposed to pick up Maggie, but was distracted by the conversation we’d been having and forgot all about Maggie and Todd until our waiter offered us dessert.
“Do you guys think Maggie and Todd forgot about us?”
“Maggie probably just decided she wanted to eat somewhere else. She’s kinda picky sometimes,” Matt shrugged.
“I guess,” I sighed, seriously doubting Maggie would change her mind about something as serious as homecoming.
Matt and Will surprised us again by paying for our dinner; it seemed to me that Maggie had told them to do more than buy us flowers. We left the restaurant, laughing over another of Will’s hilarious anecdotes and drove to the dance. I still wasn’t so sure that Maggie had decided to go someplace different for dinner when she was the one who had made the reservations but between the four of us, the conversation never dragged so there was never much time to worry. It wasn’t until we got to the dance that I began to wonder if something were really wrong, Maggie and Todd were nowhere to be seen.
Worried about our friend, Yuuki and I excused ourselves for a second and went outside to call Maggie and find out what was up. She picked up on the second ring and immediately we knew something was wrong.
“Maggie, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“He’s not here!” Maggie cried, sounding like she was on the verge of tears. “That idiot’s not here!”
“What? Where is he?”
“He’s at a football game! He ditched me for a stupid football game!”
“Oh Maggie,” Yuuki sighed sympathetically. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure! I called his house and his mom answered. Apparently his step-dad got tickets, last-minute, so they went. I told her Todd was supposed to take me to the dance tonight but his mom just said sorry but he wasn’t going to be able to make it.”
“That’s awful!”
“I know,” Maggie groaned.
“So what are you going to do? Do you want us to come and get you?”
“I don’t know. Going to the dance with my brother isn’t exactly what I had planned.”
“That’s fine,” I insisted, “but what about going with your two best friends? It seems a shame for you to miss this when you’re the only one who really wanted to come.”
“I guess,” Maggie sighed.
“Good, now get ready, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
Maggie sighed in consent just before she hung up and Yuuki and I looked at each other and smiled. It was just like Maggie to have all of her big plans come undone at the last-minute.
“I guess I’m off to get Maggie,” I sighed with a smile.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“I think it’d be better if one of use stayed here. The guys…”
“The guys what?” Matt asked as he and Will appeared out of nowhere.
“Augh!” Yuuki and I screamed in terror while the guys laughed.
“The guys are punks!” I cried as my heart pounded in my chest.
“Sorry,” Matt grinned, looking anything but sorry. “So, you were saying?”
“Nothing really, I just have to go get Maggie.”
“Why? Isn’t she here?”
“Nope,” Yuuki sighed, “Todd stood her up.”
“Figures,” Matt grinned.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to go get her, so I’ll be back soon.”
“Want us to come with you?” Matt asked.
“You can if you want to.”
In the end, all four of us went to pick Maggie up and the five us of squished back into my car and headed for the dance. We spent the first half of the dance trying to cheer Maggie up, which was only successful after she found out Drew wasn’t there. I wondered if Maggie had ever bothered to find out if Drew had actually planned on going to the dance at all, but I supposed it really didn’t matter. Once Maggie cheered up, the evening went really well and by the time the dance was over, all five of us were glad we had gone.