10. Dance of Romance

Luz paced around her room looking at the set of clothes that Sasha had picked out for her for the dance that evening. It was still several hours until it started, but Luz was not sure she wanted to wear what Sasha had selected for her. As it turned out Luz did not have something "acceptable" to wear (according to Sasha) so she had, in addition to giving her some makeup, also lent her a crop top shirt. She told Luz to wear it with her jean shorts and a pair of nice boots. Luz had tried this combination on in her room and was embarrassed to see how much skin it exposed on her. She decided to give Sasha a call and ask if she had any other recommendations. Luz dialed Sasha's number on her phone.

"Hello," answered Sasha.

"Hey Sasha it's Luz," said Luz.

"Oh hey Luz, what's up, though can you make it quick. I've already started doing my hair," said Sasha.

"What you're already getting ready? Uh okay, so listen I tried on that shirt you gave me. Um I not sure I'm liking it." said Luz.

"What's wrong with it?" asked Sasha.

"It's a little, um revealing, especially when I wear it with the shorts," answered Luz.

"Well yeah I mean that's the point," replied Sasha.

"What!?" said Luz in surprise.

"Hey if you want to attract a boy to you, you need to show a little skin. And the makeup will fix the problem of your plain face. I gurantee that you will look great and you'll be able to have any boy you want," said Sasha.

"I--okay, but it still feels like I'm showing off a lot, and I just don't feel comfortable wearing something like that." said Luz.

"Luz I'm trying to do you a favor here. I lent you my shirt and my makeup. You want to keep your status at school don't you? Then wear what I picked out for you. End of discussion." said Sasha forcefully.

"But I--"

"End of discussion," repeated Sasha before hanging up the phone.

Luz sighed in frustration at this. It's not like she didn't have other clothes she could wear to this dance, what was weird was why she felt compelled to listen to Sasha's advice.

No I have to be my own person, she thought, I don't want to wear what she picked out, but what can I wear instead?

Luz began shuffling through her closet, trying to pick something else. While Sasha's clothing suggestion had been to attract boys, Luz didn't want to attract any boys, at least not tonight. She wanted to attract Anne. Luz had been going over the plan in her mind for how to confess her feelings to Anne. It was very simple, all she had to do was ask Anne to dance, but it had to be the perfect song and the mood had to be just right. Then while they were dancing she would compliment Anne on her eyes or hair, tell her how nice of a person she was. Oh she would say how much she looked like Asami Sato! Yes that would be wonderful! Then she would ask Anne out on a date and Anne would say yes! And then it would all be perfect!

Still even with that plan in mind it wouldn't work if she couldn't find something to wear, and after looking at what Sasha had given her it wouldn't be a good idea to wear that either, she wanted to look nice but not trashy. As Luz kept looking at various clothes she stumbled onto something she didn't realize she still had.

Oh what's this? She thought, I think I wore this for Halloween one time, I didn't know I still had it. Hmmm I wonder….

Luz looked at the costume she had found some more, part of her knew that wearing this to a school dance was not only liable to get her kicked out, but was almost guaranteed to make Sasha angry. Another part of her said that Luz was still a spirited individual. She had done her best not to succumb to normal standards of beauty nor societal expectations of what one should look like nor how one should act.

Luz, said a voice in her head, are you sure about this? If you wear this you may very well alienate yourself from your friends.

Yes, said a different voice in her head, but if they don't want to be my friends because of this then maybe I'm better off without them. Also I don’t want to put on a show for Anne. I want her to like me for who I really am. This costume is who I am! I'm the type of person who sees something like this and says "yes I'd like to wear this to a dance." If Anne would reject me over this then maybe it's best if I know that at the start.

Very well, said the first voice, I hope you know what you're doing….

As the time for the dance got closer Luz got herself ready. She changed into the costume. She decided that she would also not wear any makeup tonight. Not only was she still not very skilled at putting it on, but she remembered how Anne had said she didn't need any. Tonight was about being herself and seeing if Anne liked her even with all her weird tendencies. Luz got ready to go downstairs where her mom was waiting to take her to the dance.

"Um Mija," said her mother as she saw Luz emerge from her room, "you know I love your creativity and all, but are you sure that's what you want to wear to a school dance?"

"Yes I'm sure mami," said Luz, "I know what you're thinking, but please trust me on this."

"It's not that I don't trust you Luz," replied her mom, "I just don't want you to get made fun of. I know teens, especially teen girls can be horrible to each other. But I also want you to make your own decisions. Are you sure about this?"

Luz took a deep breath before responding, "yes I'm sure!"

Lights danced across the ceiling and music blared out the speakers. The party was just getting started at the St. James Gym and the mood was right. Anne had arrived early scoping out the place and getting a feel for the music. She war wearing a nice deep blue blouse, a black skirt and black boots. Her hair had been styled back so it was out of her face. Anne wore a silver bracelet her mother had lent her for the night. She had also donned some blue nail polish, blue eye shadow, and red lipstick. She waved hello to a few people but was looking for her friends. Eventually she found Sasha. Sasha had gone all out for the evening her hair had been straightened so it flowed evenly down around her face. She was wearing a nice red T-shirt with a jean jacket over it. She also had short black jean shorts and black  dress sandals. She wore red nail polish on her fingers and toes, as well as red eye shadow and lipstick.

"Looking sharp Sasha," said Anne as she greeted her friend, "What do you think of me?"

"Very nice Anne, I see you followed my instructions, though what's that on your arm?" asked Sasha

"Oh this," replied Anne, "my mom gave it to me as I was going out the door, she said I could wear it for tonight. It's a bracelet that she's had forever."

"Oh it's so shiny," Sasha observed, "is it real silver?"

"I don't know, most likely. My mom said that every woman should own at least one piece of real jewelry, though I wouldn't know just by looking at it." replied Anne.

"Hmmm you should ask your mom what other pieces of real jewelry she has," suggested Sasha, "I bet you would look amazing with a sapphire piece."

"Hey girls you ready to party?" asked Marcy as she walked over to Sasha and Anne.

Marcy had gone with a green ensemble wearing a green shirt with black jeans and green sneakers. She had not worn any makeup but still had her green nail polish. As she walked over to the girls she tripped.

"Aww whoopsie," she said as Anne caught her before she fell.

"Marcy you look a little casual there," said Sasha, "Don't tell me your parents said no again."

"Well it was either that or not be allowed to come, so I guess that technically is a yes?" asked Marcy.

"Uggh sometimes I wonder why I even bother with you," said Sasha annoyed.

"Oh well if you don't like how I'm dressed you probably also won't like how I can't even stay until the end." said Marcy.

"What are you serious?!" said Anne incredulously.

"Yeah I have a piano recital tomorrow and even though it's not until 10am my parents don't want me out all night." replied Marcy sheepishly.

"Oh yes because 10pm is "out all night," said Sasha sarcastically, "well in any case, have either of you seen Luz?"

Anne and Marcy shook their heads.

"Well wait until you see what I gave her. Poor girl didn't even have a nice top to wear so I lent her one of mine," said Sasha, "hope she gets here soon."

"Huh what's that," said a random kid over by the entrance.

"OMG what is she wearing?" said a girl

"Can you believe she would wear something like that?" said another girl.

"She's even making a face!" said a guy.

Sasha, Marcy, and Anne walked over to the entrance to the gym to see what all the commotion was about. As it became clear what it was the girls all had different reactions though Sasha's was most pronounced as she immediately did a face palm at the sight of Luz…..in a purple sea otter costume.

"Are you freaking kidding me!?" she said in a slow building, calm rage.

"Oh hey girls," said Luz as she waved to the others, "how are you doing?"

Marcy and Anne were too stunned to say anything. While they weren't laughing at Luz, they also clearly didn't know what to say. Sasha however had had enough of this foolishness and dragged Luz by the arm over into an unoccupied area of the room to have a talk with her.

"Luz," she said in a tone that wasn't shouting, but was clearly full of anger, "what in the hell are you wearing?"

"Well it's an old otter costume I wore for Halloween once, and I thought I'd wear it to the dance because I'm an otter….with a dark side," replied Luz.

"So you ignored my suggestions of what to wear, and furthermore embarrassed yourself in front of the whole school by putting on that stupide otter suit." said Sasha, clearly angry.

"I didn't feel that your choice of clothing was appropriate for me. I want to be my own person, and well I'm the kind of person who wants to wear an otter costume." responded Luz.

"I can't believe you would not listen to me your friend," said Sasha, "not only do you not listen to me, but you go and get me humiliated by association with you. Now people are gonna look at me and think hey she's friends with that weird girl who wore the otter costume."

"Why should you care what other people think Sasha?" asked Luz trying to make her see reason, "Why shouldn't you be yourself?"

"Luz we are in 8th grade now, very soon we'll be in high school. Your reputation means EVERYTHING in high school and now you've just ruined yours. You were friends with me, the Cheer Captain! I could have put you on top of the social ladder!"

"Sasha listen," said Luz, "I didn't ignore your clothing advice just to make you look bad. It's just I don't think those clothes really work with me. I didn't wear makeup because, well honestly I don't really feel like wearing it. I was just trying to be my own person. I think it's important to be yourself. I wasn't trying to hurt you or make you look bad. I"

"Well you did, also what kind of young girl doesn't want to wear makeup?" Sasha suddenly stopped talking and started starring at Luz, it was almost as though she was trying to work something out about her. Luz felt uncomfortable at how Sasha was looking at her, and was afraid that she may have said too much. Thankfully Marcy and Anne finally walked over to break up the tension. Luz was nervous especially about what Anne would say. Would she like her like this? Would she avoid her?

"So apparently Sasha isn't a fan of my otter costume, but uh what do you guys think?" asked Luz.

Marcy answered first, "I just want to know Luz is there some anime or video game reference that I'm maybe not getting with the whole otter thing?"

"No it's not a reference to anything, I just felt like wearing it," said Luz honestly.

"Oh well in that case, I like it, I mean an otter might not have been my first pick as an animal to dress up as. Mine would have been a tiger. Any particular reason or you just felt like it?" asked Marcy.

"I just felt like it." said Luz.

"Stop encouraging her," said Sasha bitterly, "Anne you've been rather quiet."

"I guess I still don’t really know what to say," said Anne, "but I will say this Luz you're a lot braver then I am. I'd never have the courage to just wear something like this to a dance. As for what I think…..Oh Luz do that face you were making earlier. The one where you look like an otter."

Luz did the face as well as raised up her arms in the position that made her look like an otter.

"Aww that is cute," said Anne, Luz couldn't believe she said that, "I think this otter costume suits you, though one last question, can you move around in that thing? How were you planning to dance?"

Luz suddenly realized that she hadn't considered that. How was she going to dance with Anne if she couldn't move in this thing? Luz tried to dance a little and almost fell over.

"Whoa careful there Luz!" said Anne as she caught her.

"Aw man what am I gonna do?" asked Luz.

"Well it serves you right," said Sasha, "maybe next time when I give you a suggestion for something to wear you'll listen."

"Sasha why are you being so mean to Luz?" asked Anne defending Luz.

"Unbelievable! You're taking her side?!" exclaimed Sasha "can you not see the damage this will do to all our reputations?"

Anne was a little troubled by this statement as she looked between Luz and Sasha. Sasha did have a point, would associating with Luz after she had dressed like this be bad for her reputation? Still Anne had grown to care for Luz and didn't want to simply stop hanging around her just for this. In her mind she was torn about what to do. But after a bit replied

"Sasha, Luz is our friend, we've become close over the summer. I know that in school your reputation means a lot, but I admire Luz's bravery for not caring what people think and just being herself. That takes a lot of guts," said Anne. Luz could barely contain her smile at hearing Anne compliment her.

Sasha simply starred at Luz, after awhile she said, "I'm going to go get some…..punch," with that she walked away.

The rest of the girls watched her leave a little sad to see their friend leave so angrily. But also unsure if they should follow after her.

"It's okay Luz," said Anne, "why don't we give Sasha some space to cool off for a bit and then talk to her."

"That's probably the best idea right now," agreed Marcy.

"Hey Anne I'm sorry if I got Sasha mad, are you okay with me? Sasha seems to put a lot of stock in her reputation at school. I hope you don't feel I'm hurting yours."

"Well to be honest I already kind of have a reputation here," said Anne, "I'm sometimes known as the Breakup Queen, also Angle of Death."

"What?! Why are you called that?" asked Luz.

"Well it started when Sasha asked me to help her breakup with a boyfriend, then another, then another. And after that a lot of other girls asked if I would do it for them too. So I did and I guess that's why they call me the Breakup Queen now," replied Anne with a proud pose.

"That doesn't seem fair to you. Why did Sasha ask for your help in breaking up with her boyfriend? Shouldn't she have done it herself?" asked Luz.

"I mean you know I did it as a favor for a friend," answered Anne.

"Anne, I….I just don't think a real friend should ask someone to do things like that for them. Has Sasha ever done something like that for you?" asked Luz.

"Well no…" began Anne, who trailed off and was now starting to think a bit more about what Luz was saying.

"You know now that I think about it," said Marcy, "It does sometimes seem as though Sasha always wants us to do things her way. Have you ever felt that Anne?"

"I…no…what are you talking about Sasha is our friend," replied Anne, though after pausing a bit she added, "although I do feel it's really hard to say no to her sometimes."

These thoughts were interrupted as a new song started to play one that the girls all recognized.

"Oh hey I love this song," said Luz trying to get the group's attention, "lets go dance! I'll figure out some way to  still move in this thing, I just have to try."

"Oh I know this song too," said Anne, "you're right let's go dance! Let's show Sasha we can still have a good time" So the girls went out onto the dance floor to have some fun.

Sasha sipped her punch as she watched her other friends having fun out on the dance floor. She couldn't believe that Marcy and Anne had taken Luz's side over hers. This was inconceivable! She was so mad she began talking to herself in her head.

Luz defied you! her thoughts said.

Why is she being so difficult?! replied Sasha to herself, I was only trying to help her and now she's gone and embarrassed  herself, and me by association!

And this after she beat you in the Scare Dare! said her thoughts

OMG! You're right! First Luz beats me in the Scare Dare, now she's got Marcy and Anne thinking that it's cool to dress up as an otter at school dance, thought Sasha.

If this keeps up Luz will surely replace you, said her thoughts.

What?! No there's no way Luz would replace me as leader of the group. How can that be? asked Sasha.

Marcy and Anne like Luz more than you, replied her thoughts

How could they possibly like Luz more than me? She asked.

It may be because she shows genuine emotion and kindness, whereas yours is superficial at best, replied her thoughts.

Pfff like Luz could help them in a fight or confrontation, I protect them, she said.

Well you better think of something or you could lose your influence over them, said her thoughts, Hmm now that's interesting, do you see how Luz is looking at Anne?

Sasha focused her gaze on Luz as she was dancing next to Anne. She did notice now just how happy Luz was, she never took her eyes off of Anne, and was it her imagination or was Luz blushing just being near Anne?

Wait! Is Luz crushing on Anne? thought Sasha, for the first time in a long time Sasha was genuinely sad as she realized this, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

Luz likes Anne! said her thoughts, if Luz and Anne start dating then you will for sure loose your place in the group.

What?! NO!!! That can't happen! exclaimed Sasha in her head, she almost started crying at this realization.

Oh but it will! said her thoughts, Luz and Anne will grow close. Luz will make Anne see just how selfish and controlling you are, and you'll be nothing but a third wheel at best. At worst Anne will tell you she no longer wants to be friends with you.

No, thought Sasha, but sadly this time, almost resigned to her fate.

You never should have let Luz join your group, first she beat you in the Scare Dare, now she's going to take Anne away from you! said her thoughts.

No! thought Sasha again, now desperately thinking of what she could do to put a stop to this.

You have to get rid of Luz, or at least make sure Anne isn't interested in Luz romantically, said her thoughts, and I think I have a way for us to do both, but not yet….when the time is right we'll act…..

If you say no things will be alright, in the end it was worth a try, but as you can see babe, I’d rather have you standing next to me, I couldn’t ask for anything better. So what’s it going to beeeeeeeeeeeeeee?

Luz had found a good balance and was able to dance in her costume. Anne was close by grooving to the song in her own way. Marcy tried to dance but seemed to almost be tripping over her own feet.

So what do you say you and I let’s put our lives, our work, our feelings aside and dance this night away. Yeah just one night I’ll try my best to make it worth your while and so on the count of three, one, two  Will you go to Prom with me?

"YEAH!! Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh!" cheered the girls with the song as it came to an end, "On the count of three!!!"

"Will you go to Prom with me?" they all said in unison.

"Whoa we are on fire tonight!" said Anne as they left the dance floor.

"I hope they play that at our actual Prom someday!" said Luz.

"Well but if they play it at Prom everyone will have already been asked to Prom at that point," observed Marcy.

"Somehow I doubt I will," said Anne a little causally, "in any case I'm going to go talk to Sasha, see if I can get her to rejoin us."

"Good luck!" called Marcy as Anne left.

Anne found Sasha standing against a wall sipping her punch.

"Hey Sasha, we had fun out there," said Anne, "I bet you'd have fun if you came and joined us."

"I am not associating myself with Luz if she's going to dress like that. I'm cheer captain now, I have a reputation to think of," said Sasha firmly.

"I wish you would change your mind about that," pleaded Anne, "I mean since you are cheer captain don't you have a say in how the social ladder works now?"

"Anne you don't have to hang with Luz tonight if you don't want to, it's not too late. Stick with me and save your reputation," pleaded Sasha.

"Sasha….I….I think you're being petty about this," said Anne, "Luz is our friend, she's quirky in her own way, but she's fun to be around. We shouldn't abandon her for something like this."

"Oh is that what you think?" asked Sasha. She paused for a second before continuing, "have you noticed how Luz looks at you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Anne confused.

"Oh you haven't then, well…..you know what forget I said anything, maybe you're right I just let my emotions get the better of me. I'll go apologize to Luz," said Sasha as she walked back to the girls. Leaving Anne alone to ponder what she had just said.

The way Luz looks at me? thought Anne, what does she mean by that?

As the night when on the girls danced and talked with each other.  The girls continued to talk and have fun. Though it became clear that Sasha was the only one that the boys seemed interested in as she was asked to dance by multiple boys. Marcy was asked to dance one time, but after stepping on the poor kids feet several times she hadn't been asked again. Anne and Luz had both been completely ignored. Luz had tried to find an opportunity to ask Anne to dance but every time she tried her courage failed her and she couldn't work up the nerve. At 9:30pm Marcy said goodnight to the girls and told them that she had to leave early. Marcy said her goodbyes and then left.

"It's a shame her parents are so controlling of her," said Sasha, "you've got to be careful not to let that happen to you."

"Marcy's never really complained about it though," observed Luz.

"Oh she may not say anything on the outside, but I can tell that she's hurting," said Sasha.

"It's not like we were getting asked to dance anyway," said Anne a little bitterly, "so not like she's missing much." As it so happened a new slow song was starting up at that very moment. Sasha pulled Luz aside to talk to her.

"Luz I wanted to say again I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier about your otter costume," began Sasha.

"Oh that's okay I'm glad you changed your mind about it," replied Luz.

"Yes, and I have an idea that I think you'll love," she said, "you should ask Anne to dance."

"What?!" said Luz caught off guard by this request.

"I heard it in her voice just now, Anne is sad that she hasn't been asked all night, I think you should do it and show her a good time." said Sasha grabbing Luz and pushing her towards Anne.

"But I….I…..I," protested Luz, though before she could say anything she found herself in front of Anne.

"Hey Anne, Luz has something she wants to ask you," said Sasha.

"What's up Luz?" asked Anne.

Luz starred into Anne's eyes, she gathered her nerves and quickly said.

"Annedoyouwanttodancewithme?"

"Huh? Not sure I caught that," said Anne.

Luz took a deep breath, held out her hand, and repeated, "Anne, would you like to dance?"

"Oh, um you aren't doing this out of pity are you?" asked Anne.

"No, of course not, but hey if no one will ask us to dance then maybe we shouldn't wait for them, maybe we should have fun on our own, right?" said Luz.

Anne thought for a second before responding, "yeah you have a point, the night's almost over let's have some fun."

Anne took Luz's hand and the two stepped onto the dance floor. The slow song was still playing, Luz put her arms on Anne's shoulders and Anne grabbed her around the waist. Luz's heart was racing at this sensation. She kept her focus on Anne and her eyes, almost getting lost in them, but trying to remain focused just as well. She began having a battle in her mind about what to do next.

Tell her she looks nice! said the voice in Luz's head.

But what should I say, said Luz back to the voice.

I don't know, you had this all planned out didn't you? asked the voice.

I honestly didn't think I would get this far, said Luz to herself, but I don't want to say the wrong thing either.

Hmmm maybe instead of saying something, you should do something, said her voice.

Oh, but I mean that….

Yes that's it! said the voice, don't say anything just show Anne how you feel!

Is this a good idea?

It's the best idea!

Luz looked once more at Anne, she was smiling as they danced, clearly enjoying herself. Luz was enjoying herself too the mood was almost perfect. She decided to agree with the voice in her head and take a chance on a gut feeling.

Luz closed her eyes, leaned forward, and pulled Anne into a kiss!

For one brief second everything was perfect! Luz could feel Anne's lips against her own and she felt a sense of overwhelming happiness at what had just happened, but that sensation was all to brief. In the next instant she felt herself being pushed away from Anne, as she opened her eyes and looked into Anne's face she saw neither happiness nor joy on it, but a mixture of shock, confusion, and anger.

"LUZ, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled Anne, her voice a mixture of shock, confusion, and anger.

"I…..I….I…."stammered Luz, but she wouldn't get to say anything else for at that moment a teacher who was chaperoning the dance came over to them.

"What in the world did I just see!" she exclaimed

"Ms. Bryant…..I…..nothing," began Luz.

"That was not nothing child," said Ms. Bryant angrily, "I know that I saw some sinful behavior from you Ms. Noceda."

"No, it wasn't….."

"How dare you!" yelled Ms. Bryant, "how dare you bring your evil ways here!

Luz was on the verge of tears as she struggled to defend herself, "No I didn't"

"Save your excuses I know what I saw, you were trying to corrupt an innocent girl," yelled Ms. Bryant turning to Anne.

"Are you okay Anne? You haven't been turned to a life of evil have you?" asked Ms. Bryant.

Anne didn’t respond, she was still in shock, Luz tried to say something to her.

"Anne I'm sorry I just thought that maybe…." began Luz before being interrupted.

"No more from you, you evil witch!" said Ms. Bryant, "get out of here before I call your parents!"

Luz's eyes were already watering as she turned and left the gym heading down to the locker room. Ms. Bryant continued checking on Anne asking if she was ok. Anne told her she was fine, though that was more to get rid of her, she was still trying to process what had just happened. Eventually Sasha came up to her.

"Anne, I'm so sorry. I had no idea Luz was like that," said Sasha with concern, "please say something, are you okay?"

"I…..I need to go talk to Luz," said Anne.

"Whoa hold up there, after what just happened. No I think you need to leave her alone for a bit," said Sasha.

"But I saw her as she was leaving, she was practically crying," protested Anne.

"And what exactly are you going to say to her?" asked Sasha.

"I…..I…..I don't know, but I can't just leave her alone now can I?" wondered Anne.

"Anne listen to me," said Sasha, "Luz just forced herself on you. I'll bet she's been manipulating you since when you first met. Please listen to me I'm your friend I want what's best for you."

"What should I do then?" asked Anne desperately.

"Leave her alone for now," said Sasha, "the dance is almost over anyway, give her a chance to calm down and then if you still want to talk to her you can do it on Monday. But personally I think you should keep your distance. We just saw what happens if you don't."

Anne stood still lost in thought, while it was true that she was not happy that Luz had "forced herself" on her, a small part of her heart had actually enjoyed the experience. The only reason she had pushed Luz off was out of shock! Part of her wanted to go find Luz and talk to her to try and figure out what had just happened, but part of her was also angry at Luz for this. Angry at her for causing a scene at the dance, but also some anger at perhaps awakening feelings she had never had before. What Sasha was saying made sense, but at the same time she felt bad at leaving a friend, one whom she had genuinely grown to care for in a state of distress.

"Anne, you didn't actually enjoy that kiss did you?" asked Sasha.

"What?! No! Of course not," replied Anne a bit too hastily.

"I mean I think I can still save your reputation from what just happened here tonight, but if it were to come out that you were a lesbian, well I don't know," warned Sasha.

I....I....I need some air," said Anne as she headed outside.

"It's okay Anne I'll join you outside and we can talk about this. I'm here for you," called Sasha to Anne as she was leaving. After Anne had left the gym Sasha walked up to Ms. Bryant.

"Oh Sasha there you are," began Ms. Bryant, "Thank you again for bringing that hoodlum Luz to my attention. I appreciate you telling me about her trying to corrupt Anne."

"Oh it's no problem at all Ms. Bryant," replied Sasha in a honeyed tone, "I'm just trying to make sure we all stay pure."

"You know I had heard reports from some other teachers that you were a bit of a troublemaker, but after your actions tonight I know that isn't true," said Ms. Bryant, "I'll make sure and put in a good word with the other teachers for you."

"Oh that's not necessary, but I do appreciate it," replied Sasha. Ms. Bryant walked off leaving Sasha alone. She starred towards the locker room where Luz had run off to. Sasha had also seen how sad and upset Luz was as she had turned to leave. Even though her plan had worked, in that moment she wasn't feeling entirely proud of what she had done.

You did what you had to do, reassured her thoughts.

I…I…didn't think it would work so well, thought Sasha.

That was brilliant! said her thoughts congratulating her, not only did you get rid of Luz, but poor Anne is feeling alone and violated right now. This is the perfect moment to swoop in and comfort her!

Yeah I guess it is! I can go be her friend and let her know that I'm here for her. Everything will go back to how it was! thought Sasha. Though as she was thinking this, she couldn't help but feel a small twinge of guilt over seeing Luz run to the locker room, where she was likely going to cry her eyes out.

Don't feel bad about Luz, she's a plucky girl, she'll recover from this, reassured her thoughts.

Yeah she'll be fine, thought Sasha, besides it's not like it's my fault. All I did was encourage her to dance with Anne, it's her own fault that she couldn't keep her lips off her.

Exactly! replied her thoughts.

Luz had ran as fast as she could into the girls locker room which thankfully was empty. The tears had already started flowing out of her eyes by the time she got there. Still Luz tried to calm herself down and breathe, but the pain and humiliation from what had just happened kept resurfacing and replaying in her mind. She found a sink to brace herself against she let out the rest of tears she was currently crying until she stopped. Then she looked up to see a mirror, not just any mirror but the one she and Sasha had carved their initials into that day after the volleyball game. As she raised her face to look in the mirror she saw her reflection look back at her, her face with no makeup, her face that was now a mess from crying, her face that was so…..plain. So many emotions were flowing through her right now she couldn't get a handle on them

As she looked into the mirror at her reflection she began hearing the voice in her head speak to her.

Of course Anne doesn't want to be with you! You aren't attractive.

Why did you think wearing that stupid otter costume would be a good idea?

If you had listened to Sasha maybe Anne would like you.

If anything Anne wants someone like Sasha. Strong, confident, rich, captain of the cheerleaders. Why would anyone want you when they could have someone like her?

Now the whole school knows about you. What if the teachers tell your mother?

You've really screwed up this time Luz! You finally made a friend only to scare her off with your gay sinful ways!

Your face is so plain, so……ordinary.

That's all you are…..ordinary

That's all you'll ever be…..ordinary.

The voices and the emotions kept coming making Luz feel as though she was going to explode. It all finally became too much and she let out a cathartic scream!

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Luz slammed her hand into the mirror smashing it! Destroying the mirror and the carving she had made in it. After which she leaned her head on the sink and cried.

and cried

and cried

and cried…..