Around 1:00 in the afternoon I knew it was going to be a good day when I was on my way home from practice that morning and my all time favorite song “Beautiful Mistakes” came on the radio - and I was right. When that song plays everything around me slowly fades as I move into my own world of singing, dancing, and plenty of glitter. I am not able to hear or think. The only thing I can hear are the lyrics and the only thing I can think about is dancing around with the song. As I drove home I pulled into the driveway and the song was finished, absolutely PERFECT timing. And all I could do was say to myself “This is gonna be a good day”. 

I have never been one for parties, so the fact that I was hosting a prom after-party was beyond me. But then again, that's what you get when your friends inform you that you will be hosting an after party instead of asking. All I had wanted was to have a nice quiet evening with my boyfriend Carlos.

Carlos, being the wonderful boyfriend that he is, snuck away from the party with me. Where we ended up: outside. It was a beautiful spring night. High sixties with a light summer breeze and no clouds so that we could see the stars.

“You still owe me that dance,” I said. Going to the private school that I go to they do not play slow songs at prom or homecoming. We have been dating for over seven months, been to two dances and not had one slow dance.

“Yes, yes I do…” Carlos extended his hand to me.

The first song he queued was “Chance Are” by Johnny Mathis.

“I owe you two dances,” Carlos said. “You can pick this time. ” as he handed me the phone.

 I chose “All of Me” by John Legend. Halfway through, as I was staring at stars I saw something–but not just anything. A shooting star. 

“Look!” I pointed over his shoulder. “A shooting star!” 

“I think it's a lantern,” he said while kinda laughing at me.

“No! It’s a shooting star. A lantern would not be moving that fast.” 

We ended up moving on from the Shooting-Star-Lantern debacle and returned to our dance. But not before I made a wish upon my decided shooting star. I wished that he would say “I love you” because there was no way in hell that I was going to be the first one to say it.

As “All of Me” came to a close, Carlos said “I think we better do one more or good measure.”

Of course I agreed with him because there is no way that I would ever let the opportunity to slow dance with the boy I love pass by. He ended up choosing “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” by Harry James. 

As the beat slowed and the quiet descended upon us, Carlos whispered, “I love you, you know that” in my ear.

And I immediately responded, “I love you too,” and kissed him in a way that I had never kissed him before. It was not the intensity or the length of the kiss, it was the fact that I had just truly opened my heart to him in a way that I had never done before. As I kissed him, I realized what had just happened and proceeded to push him away and say “Did you just say that?”

Shaking his head, he smiled down at me. “Yes, yes I did...” and then added, “and I meant it this time.”

“Okay… just checking.” I smiled and returned to kissing him. But that did not last long before I pushed him away again and hit him. 

“That's for taking so long!”

He laughed. “I know, I know..” and he shook his head as he pulled me in close to his chest again.