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The high school’s fall formal dance was coming up and Steve really wanted to ask Cindy to be his date. He had had a crush on her for quite a while but could never work up the nerve to ask her out. The two of them had entirely different friend groups.
“Hey! Guess who just got a date for the fall formal,” bragged Phil, one of Steve’s friends.
“Who’d you get to go with you?” asked Jeremy, another member of the friend group.
“Kathy MacDonald, you know, from the swim team,” Phil stated.
“Damn, man. That’s totally rad!” Jeremy said and gave Phil a high five.
“Hey, Steve, were you going to ask Cindy to the dance?” asked Don, another member of the friend group.
“Eh, I don’t know. I want to, but I just don’t have the courage,” Steve sighed.
“Come on, man. The dance is in less than a week. If you don’t ask her, she’s going to go with somebody else,” Jeremy said.
“Yeah, yeah, I know, I know,” Steve sighed, “I’ll think about it.”
Later that evening, Steve was doing homework in his room when he suddenly had the urge to call Cindy and ask her to the dance. However, he still felt rather nervous about it. Steve went downstairs to the kitchen where the telephone was located. He was familiar with Cindy’s phone number as both of their mothers were part of their church’s Ladies Guild. Steve picked up the phone’s handset and then quickly hung it back up. He just could not do it. Perhaps he needed a drink of water first.
Steve got himself a glass of water and then wandered into the living room where his father was watching the evening news. The news anchor was reporting on movements and revolutions happening in the Eastern Bloc countries over in Europe, particularly in places like East Germany and Romania.
“Well, I hope it works out better for them than it did for those people in China,” Steve’s father said, then turned to look at his son. “Makes you glad you live in Canada, doesn’t it?” he stated.
“Yeah, I suppose,” Steve replied before taking a drink of water. He was not really versed on world politics, nor did he have much interest. He just wanted to get through high school and figure out what he wanted to do with his life.
After finishing his water, Steve returned to the kitchen and stared at the phone on the wall. He took a moment to psyche himself up, then picked up the receiver and dialed the number before he could have second thoughts.
The phone rang a few times, each ring making Steve feel more anxious, before someone finally picked up on the other end. “Oh, h-hi, Mrs. Sampson. I-is Cindy there?” Steve asked, then waited while Mrs. Sampson went to fetch her daughter. Steve could feel his hands twitching with nervousness.
Eventually, Cindy picked up on the other end. “Hello?” she asked.
“Ah, h-hi, Cindy. It’s Steve Mattson. I, er, ah, was wondering if y-you were interested in, ah, you know, going to the, ah, fall formal with me,” Steve nervously stammered into the phone.
“Oh, hi, Steve. Sure! I’d love to go to the fall formal with you. I’m glad you called. Mom wanted to take me dress shopping for the dance and now I have a reason,” Cindy said.
A huge wave of relief fell over Steve as soon as Cindy had agreed to go with him. “Oh, ah, wonderful. Er, where did you want to meet up?” Steve asked.
“Oh, do you have a car?” Cindy asked.
“Er, ah, no, I don’t have my license yet,” Steve replied, scratching his head while feeling a little embarrassed.
“Oh, I don’t either. So, I guess we’ll meet up at school, then,” Cindy said.
“Yeah, s-sounds good to me,” Steve replied. After saying his goodbyes, Steve hung up the phone. He almost felt like doing a dance right there in the kitchen. However, he waited to do so until he got back to his room. He did not want to look like a doofus in front of his family.
It was the night of the fall formal dance and Steve was dropped off by his father at the school.
“Remember to be a gentleman,” Steve’s father said as his son hopped out of the car.
“Yeah, I know,” Steve replied as he straightened his necktie. He had also gone shopping with his mother for his fall formal outfit. Steve’s dad had offered one of his suits for his son to borrow, which Steve had been content on doing until he realized the suit looked like something straight out of 1977. The teen decided to go with something much more modern.
Steve walked over and met up with Cindy. “You look very nice,” he said to her.
“You’re looking quite spiffy yourself,” Cindy replied. The two then held hands and walked into the school and down to the gym where the formal dance was being held.
The two busted a move to the first few songs, then the first slow song of the night started playing. Steve wrapped an arm around Cindy and took her hand in his. They then slow danced to “As the World Falls Down” by David Bowie. The last line of the chorus stuck out to Steve, especially as he thought about the news his dad had been watching. ‘As the world falls down, I’m falling in love,’ was how the line went.
Steve wished that the night did not have to end. Perhaps he could ask Cindy out again. He hoped that she might show interest in being his girlfriend.