It was finally here. Friday. But it wasn’t an ordinary Friday. This was different. This Friday was special. Would he kiss me? Would he try to put his arm around my shoulder? Would our hands graze as we reached into the popcorn bucket like in every movie? I lay in my bed as the soft April rain dripped outside the window and remembered our plans. After school my mom was picking me up and we were going to River East theatre. A boy-girl movie. My tiny sixth grade frame could hardly handle the excitement.
I rolled out of bed and picked out my cutest pair of Abercrombie jeans and snuck into my sisters closet and picked out the cutest Michael Stars blue top I could find. It matched my eyes. Hopefully he would like it. Whoever he is. Any boy. Some boy. I brushed my hair and stole some of my sisters make-up. I wanted to be prettier, older.
I wanted to be someone I wasn’t. Meredith maybe. Or Lucy. Pretty, popular, funny. Loved by everyone, even the boys.
The school day went by so slowly. Painstakingly slow. Mrs. Piper droned on and on. Recess was a welcomed break. Everyone gossiped about the plans for the night. Who was coming to the movies, what boy wanted to sit next to what girl, and who liked whom.
Meredith called me over to the monkey bars just as Mrs. Piper shouted to inform everyone that there were ten minutes left to recess.
“Megan! Come here!” she gleefuly shouted.
Even her voice was better than mine. I skipped over to the monkey bars and shimmied up to the top just as I had everyday since kindergarten.
“Yeah Mere?” I tried to sound cool. We had been best friends when we were little, but then she became popular.
“Jordy likes you. He wants to sit next to you at the movies. What do you think of him?”
I didn’t know what to say. Did I try and sound cool around her? Did I like Jordy? I remembered his light brown hair, boyish grin, and his one dimple on the left side of his mouth when he smiled.
“He’s cute I guess...I’ll sit next to him,” I paused to think of what to say. “Does he like me?” the voice came out timidly at first. It didn’t even sound like my own.
“You’ll have to find out yourself,” her voice was so confident, and with that the recess whistle rand and Mere hopped off the monkey bars and joined Lucy in line.
At lunch we sat at our assigned tables, the numbers hanging over our heads. I then remembered that Jordy was at my lunch table. Forced contact. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t a flirt. I just sat there and ate my lunch.
3:30 couldn’t have taken any longer to arrive. Finally, school let out and all the girls rushed to my mom’s car. We finally arrived at the movie theatre. Butterflies pounded in my stomach. My palms were sticky and I tried to remember how Jane, the “experienced” girl in the class, had told me how to kiss. Did I turn my head left? or was it right?
We bought tickets to the movie and all twenty of us filed in. We sat in the back row. Jordy sat next to me, in between Lucy and me. He smiled. I smiled back.

I shared some sour candy with Jordy, which he happily took, but beyond that he gave me a blank stare. Meredith had said he liked me. Did I do something wrong? Did I smell?
It was then that I received a text message from Olivia. Olivia wasn’t popular, just like me. It read, “I overheard Lucy and Meredith talking in the bathroom. Jordy doesn’t like you. He likes Meredith. Sorry.”
I sat through the rest of the movie like a sad little puppy dog. The day was a failure. I couldn’t help but sulk. I just wanted to go home. I just wanted to get in Maura’s moms car. All the anticipation was for nothing. Absolutely nothing. So much for a first kiss.