Antonio seemed to relax a little. “Good ‘cause I thought he might change his mind once the day got closer. I can’t believe this is the first time he’s let you go with a date!” Antonio replied.
“Yeah, for some strange reason he really seems to like you,” I said jokingly.
Antonio laughed. “So maybe he won’t mind if I stick around awhile.”
I was grinning again and I found myself unable to contain the butterflies.
“Even if he did mind, I wouldn’t let you go,” I assured him.
“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried.” His last statement rang in my ears for a moment as both of us held the phone in silence. His intensity caught me a little off guard, but I didn’t mind it – I suppose I even welcomed it. Antonio was smart, handsome, ambitious…….perfect. I couldn’t have picked a better guy if I tried.
We were off the phone a few minutes later and I took a quick shower before going to bed. I looked over at the clock and saw that it was only 9:22 – a little early for bed on a Friday night, but I needed to be well-rested for tomorrow so I didn’t fight it. My thoughts were more peaceful that night than they had been earlier that day. More…….resolute. With one phone call Antonio had cured my temporary mental lapse and I was back in touch with reality. This AJ kid was no one special to me and I don’t even know why I allowed myself to think about him at all. Despite my questionable behavior earlier, the fog had cleared and I was back on track. I decided to deliver my original message to Megan tomorrow at the dance. Case closed.
*****
Dang….. 4:59 pm already. Time had definitely gotten away from me. In one short hour everyone would be meeting up at my house to wait for the limo that was set to arrive at approximately 6:30. I snatched my dress from the closet and slung it across the bed next to the shoe box containing my perfectly matched blue heels. Fumbling a little, I retrieved my new purse from the shopping bag and laid it next to the dress also. Perfect. I was a little worried that it might be a shade off because I’d forgotten the shoes at home when I left the house in a hurry to get to my hair appointment. Fortunately, it was an exact match.
Quickly tying my hair up in my purple scarf, I threw on a shower cap and hopped in the shower. The hot water was soothing, so I allowed myself to relax for the first time since I’d gotten up that morning. Letting myself get so tense about everything made my head hurt. My thoughts ran rampant and I thought again about Daddy worrying for nothing the whole time I was at the dance; about what Antonio would think of me in my dress. Would AJ like it too? The thought invaded my head suddenly without my permission and this frustrated me tremendously. Why couldn’t I stop thinking about him? I fought the insane notion back to the depths of my mind where it belonged. It needed to be so far back that it would be surrounded by so many other thoughts that eventually, it would get lost in the chaos. Picturing the imaginary battle in my head– a battle that I had to convince myself I’d won – I stood still for a minute with my eyes closed.