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A wave of emotion rolls through me; I just nod once so I don’t cry or anything embarrassing like that. I turn toward the steps.
“Let’s go up.” I wave for him to follow me. His sweet apology still floating in the air like bubbles, I walk softly up the edge of the stairs for fear that my footfalls will ruin it. Maybe feeling the same way, Sean’s quiet behind me. But when we get to the top of the stairs, Betsey shouts a loud hello.
Pop.
We head into the rec room.
“Look what I found in the bushes,” I say, smiling. Bet laughs.
“Did you take some ballsy pills tonight, Sean?” she asks.
He laughs as he sits down on the couch opposite Betsey. He sets his bag next to him; I want to ask what’s in it, but I decide to wait until we’re alone.
“I figured that if I couldn’t take Lizzie to the dance, I’d bring it to her.”
“That’s barfingly cute,” Betsey says. “Later, lovebirds.” She stands and leaves. I blush a little at the “lovebirds” comment, but Sean doesn’t seem to mind.
I sit on the couch next to him, and just as I open my mouth to ask about the bag, he speaks first.
“Is your mom going to be home soon?” he asks.
“No. At least I don’t think so.” Automatically, I glance at the doorway.
“Should we go to your room?”
“What?” I ask, blushing full-out this time, which makes Sean look away, embarrassed.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” he says. “I was just trying to think of a place we could talk where your mom wouldn’t immediately see us if she came home.”
“There’s only one room in the house she’d never barge in,” I say.
“Which one?”
“The bathroom.”
I make Sean sit on my bed while I toss makeup, eyebrow wax, and tampons into the basket under the sink. When I’ve hidden all my junk, I grab two pillows from the bed and prop them against the wall under the towel rack, between the vanity and the glass shower stall. I’m actually thankful for my mom’s obsessive cleanliness: The floor in here is spotless. I light the vanilla candle on the toilet tank and flip off the light, then let Sean in. Once he’s settled, I make sure my bedroom door is shut, then I shut and lock the bathroom door, too. I sit next to Sean closest to the shower.
“This might be the weirdest date I’ve ever had,” he says, shifting a little to get comfortable on the tile floor.
“It’s for sure the weirdest one I’ve ever had,” I say, thinking that so far, most of my dates have been pretty strange.
“Well, it’s about to get weirder,” he says before grabbing and unzipping his bag. He pulls out a small box and hands it to me. “Can’t have an exclusive Bathroom Halloween Dance without a corsage,” he says when he sees my confused look. I open the box and think at first I’m seeing black roses. Then I realize that it’s dark chocolate.
“You can eat it.” He laughs a little, like he can’t believe he’s giving me a chocolate corsage.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” I say, pulling it out of the box and putting it on my wrist. My cheeks pinch as I try to fight off the biggest smile ever, as I attempt to remain calm. I lean over and take a bite. “It’s both beautiful and delicious!” I chew a chocolate petal. “Want some?”
I hold up my left wrist; Sean takes my hand and my forearm gently in his hands and lifts the corsage to his lips. He takes a bite, eyes on mine, and I’m zapped. We stare at each other for so long that I feel it in every inch of me. I’m sure he’s going to kiss me, but instead, he retrieves from his Date-in-a-Bag several other items, including a long black Elvira wig for me, a seventies Beatles wig for him, several black plastic spider rings, two sets of vampire teeth, Waldo and Wenda hats, and an iPod and a mini speaker station.
He plugs in the mobile sound system and pulls me to my feet. We both put on our disguises and then he gently takes me in his arms. There in my candlelit bathroom, in the space between the toilet and the vanity, me looking like Goth Undead Wenda in Pajamas and him dressed as Ironic Vampire Teen Ringo Starr, I share my first dance with a guy.
And as weird as it is, it’s perfect.
twenty
“How was the dance?” Mom asks at breakfast the next day.
