Smile

Chapter 6: Winter Ball

The Winter Ball was coming up.

Our school was obsessed with dances and balls and celebrations of every sort. Therefore, they threw one everytime they got the chance (because everyone loved getting the occasion to prove to everyone else that they were the best looking and had the best fashion sense).

Every year, a few weeks before the Christmas break, the school would hold its annual Winter Ball (cue cheers). The annoucement had been made this morning. The ball would occur this Friday: The school staff obviously thought the students would enjoy having only five days to get themselves a dress or a tuxedo.

"I'm thinking of asking Savannah Williamson," Noah announced at lunch. Savannah was a cheerleader. I'd say she was pretty nice, but I'd never really talked to her. "Though she'd probably rather go with some dumb jock."

"Dude," Thomas laughed, never one to take these things seriously. "You're a dumb jock."

Noah rolled his eyes and laughed sarcastically. "Very funny."

"Why would you want to go with her, though?" Kelsey interjected, catching, as I had, Amanda's dejected look.

Only Kelsey and I knew of Amanda's crush on Noah. She'd told us in tenth grade and the feelings had never left her. Amanda had known Noah since she was about five, because of her twin brother. Thomas and Noah had been friends for a while (they weren't in the same kindergarten class as Amanda, and Kelsey and I went to a different school) when Thomas invited him home one day. That was when Amanda and Noah officially met. By the time first grade came around, the three were inseperable. As for Kelsey and I, we became best friends in third grade when I defended her against some boy who'd made fun of her for carrying around her teddy bear everywhere she went. We met the three best friends in seventh grade. The five of us instantly clicked, and that was the start of our everlasting friendship.

It was only in 8th grade, when Noah got his first girlfriend, that Amanda realized her feelings for her best friend - and yes, it took two years for her to tell Kelsey and I.

"What do you mean?" Noah asked Kelsey with a frown. Clearly, he hadn't expected any of us to be against the idea of him going after some girl.

"Don't get me wrong, she seems nice and all, but... You barely know her."

I nodded in agreement, proud of Kelsey for thinking of this argument of the spot like that. "Kels is right. I mean, have you ever even talked to her?"

"Of course," Noah huffed. "She cheers at my basketball games." Thomas cleared his throat, to which Noah rolled his eyes. "At our basketball games.

"Thank you," Thomas said cheerfully.

Noah's face lit up so suddenly I almost fell out of my seat. "There she is!" he exclaimed. We all turned our heads to see a girl wearing white jeans with a black leather jacket over a bright pink tank-top walk through the cafeteria's entrance, her long brown hair up in a high ponytail that swung with every step she took. Ignoring the gazes of many, Savannah made her way to the short line to buy her lunch. "This is my chance," Noah said, getting up. "Wish me luck."

"How about no?" Amanda muttered, her chin in her hand as she walked him walk up nervously to the cheerleader.

"What's with you guys, today?" Thomas asked Kelsey, Amanda, and I. "Do you want him to be dateless or something?"

"Not exactly," I mumbled, too focused on Noah and Savannah to even register exactly what Thomas was saying. Amanda got up abruptly as Savannah smiled brightly and nodded at Noah. They hugged and Amanda walked out of the cafeteria without another word. Kelsey quickly got up and I followed, leaving Thomas alone at the table.