April 2005...
Kyle
The day of the party had finally arrived. Everything was perfect. The decorations, the food, the entertainment and the people. Everything just seemed to blend, but one thing wasn't right. Savannah wasn't there.
He wore a suit his dad bought for him a few years ago. He did his hair and everything, just to impress one person. Savannah. And she wasn't there.
After a long time entertaining guests, Kyle sat down at one of the tables with a glass of juice in hand. The party was entertaining, but he didn't really feel entertained. All his classmates were busy chatting with one another. Derek on the other hand hadn't arrived yet.
The one person he actually wanted to see, wasn't here. Did she forget? Or was he just being paranoid. He didn't know whether to be upset or just enjoy the party without her.
He got up from his seat, placed the drink on the table and walked towards his classmates. He wasn't really interested in the party. He wasn't really the type to mingle with people in a dark hall and talk. He wasn't even the one that planned the party, his parents arranged the whole thing, maybe as a way to talk with their investors while he was just meant to enjoy the party with his classmates. But at least he was able to use that as an excuse to hangout with Savannah.
The party was just getting more interesting with more people attending and wishing him a happy birthday. Derek arrived and he used that as an excuse to leave the group.
He walked up to Derek and excused him before dragging him up to his room.
"Hey, why'd you do that and, wow! You look....good!" Derek said as soon as they arrived at his room. Kyle shut the door behind them before turning to Derek.
"It's my birthday, why won't I dress up for the party". Kyle said before sitting on his bed as Derek sat on the study desk next to it.
"But you never get decked up for anything, unless it's for someone special". Derek said as a slight smirk began to form on his face.
"Exactly!"
"Savannah's not here?"
"Yes! And I'm worried she won't come. She probably didn't even want to come and threw the invite in the trash like that box of chocolate". Kyle said as he got up and began pacing around the room.
"Calm down dude, I mean, there's still a chance she might come. The party started like an hour ago".
"Yeah but, there's a chance that she might not come".
Derek looked away from Kyle for a moment. His hand on his chin as his eyes roamed around the room until a slight smirk formed on his face. "I've got it!"
"Shhh! People are downstairs, do you want them to hear us". Kyle said as he put his index finger over his mouth.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, it's just... I've got an idea". Derek said after he was calm, still smiling
"What idea?" Kyle asked, now serious.
"Okay, what if there was a way for you to know if Savannah likes you or not". Derek said, still smiling widely and Kyle could tell that whatever idea he had, wasn't going to end well.
"Just get to the point".
"Okay, so there are three stages to this ultimate test. The first stage, the easiest stage is that once Savannah arrives, you'll have to stare at her, but not for too long. If she awkwardly breaks eye contact, then she likes you, and if she just walks up to you and wishes you a happy birthday, then she doesn't like you".
"Wait, but, why are there three stages if the first one already reveals the anwser?"
"First of all, don't interrupt me and second of all, we need three stages because some girls are just naturally awkward around boys".
Kyle didn't say anything after that so Derek just continued. "The second stage, the second hardest stage , is just that you'll have to ask her to dance with you, if she politely declined, then she doesn't like you and if she awkwardly agrees, then she likes you, remember, some girls are naturally awkward around boys ". Derek said before sitting down on Kyle's bed. Kyle just stared at Derek for a while before sitting next to him.
"Okay, do this is the last and the hardest stage. I'm not sure if you can do it so now is the time for you to back out?" Kyle asked. Now he was honestly curious as to what Derek was planning.
"Okay. Don't be mad, but the last stage is that you'll have to, uhm, kiss her".
"What!" Kyle said as he put his hands on his head, he was never expecting Derek to actually say that.
"Shh! People are downstairs," Derek said but kept quiet once he saw Kyle's glare. "Okay, look, if she slaps you, then she hates you. If she drags you to your room, then she doesn't care about you and if she runs away, then she likes you. It's the perfect plan".
Kyle sat on his bed and looked at the ground. "I'm not doing it". Kyle simply stated before standing up and walking out the door. He made his way back to the party just to beet with no other person than Savannah.
She wore a beautiful embroidered blue and white dress with heels. She had her hair tied up in a ponytail that swayed from left to right as she walked into the big living room.
As soon as she reached a five foot distance away from him, she froze. The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like forever . Kyle prayed that she would break eye contact so that Derek's stupid plan might be right, and as if planned, she broke eye contact before slowly approaching him.
"Happy birthday Kyle," she said as she looked down at the little black box in her hands. "I wanted to give you this". Savannah said as she looked up at him and put the box in his hands. Even with heels on she was still shorter than him. His heart almost ripped out of his chest when her fingers made contact with his palm. Before he could even get a chance to thank her, she walked away. At that very moment, Kyle didn't know whether to jump for joy that Savannah actually came out get annoyed that he was actually listening to Derek.
The party was at full swing, people were refreshed with drinks and there was nice music playing. Everything just felt right, especially the fact that Savannah was there with him. Though he tried talking to her a few times, she was either busy with Christine or just not really willing to talk to him.
The time everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived. The time for the dance. It was something that was really simple, just pick a random person and dance with them and other couples when the music starts playing. Kyle stole a few glances at Savannah and she was either focused on the other couples or staring back at him.
Ask her. Ask her. Ask her! Were the thoughts that kept replying in his head. He looked at Derek and he just gave him a nod of approval. He didn't want to go through with Derek's plan but he didn't want to miss this chance to find out whether she liked him or not. So with all the courage he could muster, he walked up to Savannah and lightly tapped her shoulder. She turned to see him but as soon as he saw those big brown eyes of hers, he got lost. He looked at her for what seemed like hours, trying to see what emotion she felt, but it all seemed so deep. That was until she looked away.
Finally shaking off whatever thoughts he had, he called out her name, "Savannah".
"Mhm". This time avoiding eye contact.
"I wanted to ask, can you dance with me?" He felt sweat beads forming on his neck and forehead, but stood still, trying not to do something stupid. All he could think of was whe whether Derek's predictions would come true or not. Okay now she's smiling.
"S-sure". She said as she took his hand.
Yes!
The two of them walked to the dance floor. The spotlight was now on them. He put one hand on her waist and the other was in her hand. He couldn't care less if she couldn't dance, all he cared about was that at that moment, he was with her and she was with him.
The music ended after some time, Savannah was about to leave when he held her hand, she stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at him. He walked closer to her and without wasting anymore time, locked his lips with hers...