“Beep!” Beep!”
Before the third “beep” of her alarm clock sounded, Alexa’s hand came in contact with the snooze button.
Slam.
Half awake, she pulled her closet door open to steal a look at her new fall wardrobe. The teenager selected her outfit for the day; black leggings, a jean jacket, and lace up black high heel boots. She pulled them on and scurried downstairs to her kitchen.
Quickly, she snatched up a bowl and grabbed a box of Lucky Charms.

After she finished her last bite, she swung her backpack onto her shoulders and left the house in haste. In a matter of seconds, a large, yellow school bus arrived in front of her house.
Three steps was all it took until Alexa saw Stella in the back of the bus waving to her. Making her way down the filthy aisle, she took her seat next to Stella who was holding a mirror out in front of her, examining her complexion. Alexa immediately took notice of Jake Collins sitting in front of them. For the split second that Jake turned around, Alexa’s nervousness overcame her, causing her to wrap a strand of her hair around her finger, twirling and untwirling it in a gaze. Jake half smiled and locked eyes with her.
“Nice outfit,” he said before he turned forward again.
Alexa felt herself blush and a swarm of confidence came over her, but when she saw he had stretched his arm out around Brittany’s neck a minute later, she let out a soft sigh.
“I know how to get Jake to like me,” Alexa said, turning toward Stella.
“And how’s that?” Stella replied, still staring into the mirror.
“We need to have a party. Like a Halloween party. You know, because we can dress up as slutty as we want like your sister and her friends do in college. Except it’s Halloween, so we kind of have an excuse to do it, you know? Then Jake will have to notice me, right?”
“I guess it could work,” Stella said.
Stella’s sister, Tracey, always dressed in tight, low-cut shirts that never quite came down to her hips, leaving her bare midriff showing and her dangly diamond belly button ring hanging in clear view. Tracey was hot. And she knew it. There wasn’t one boy who didn’t flirt with her. Whenever Stella and Alexa had sleepovers, they would stay up all night talking about how they wanted to be just like Tracey when they got to college, so they could get the attention of all the boys, too. They would fantasize about having the perfect boyfriend along with millions of guy friends who all had crushes on them.
“So since it’s already the end of September, we have to start planning!” Alexa said both excitedly and frantically.
“Yes we do. This could actually be really fun. We’ll have to get the perfect outfits! We are sooo not dressing up in dorky costumes this year. Everyone’s going to notice us at this party,” Stella declared.
“Let’s go shopping after school,” Alexa said.
“Okay. Tracey’s home now for a few days so she can help us pick something out!” Stella replied.
“Perfect.”

That day after school, Tracey picked Alexa and Stella up and brought them to the mall. Tracey led them into her favorite store, Temptress. While Alexa and Stella wandered around the store in awe of all the pretty dresses and shoes on display, Tracey began rummaging through every sales rack.
Twenty minutes later, Tracey made her fabulous find; two small-sized tight black dresses, two pairs of patterned black tights, two pairs of black high-heeled boots, and two headbands with red devil horns poking out at the top.
“Here,” Tracey said as she shoved the articles of clothing into Alexa and Stella’s hands.
“Try them on,” she urged.
Alexa and Stella went into the dressing room and came out looking like completely different people. The two had never worn anything so revealing before, but they liked how it showed off their figures.
“You guys look hot. Better get ready for the boys, ‘cause they’re gonna come after you guys,” Tracey said.
Alexa and Stella giggled. They had started to feel like they looked a little more grown up at the beginning of the year when their parents had finally allowed them to wear make-up. Since most of the other 8th graders at Thompson Junior High had worn make-up for years before, Alexa and Stella didn’t feel like they really stood out from the other students, but now, with these dresses, they knew they would get noticed and couldn’t wait to finally be the center of attention.
Over the weekend, the two girls typed up invitations for their party and sent them out to everyone in their grade. That Tuesday, Alexa found Jake in the hall while she was on her way to English class and asked him if he had gotten the invitation.
“Yeah, I got it yesterday. Brit and I will definitely be there.” Alexa’s wide smile faded as she heard the word, Brit. It’s okay, she thought to herself. As soon as Jake sees me in my costume, he’ll forget all about Brittany.
Every free moment they had that week, Alexa and Stella spent it planning the party. They had to decide on food, music, and decorations. Alexa’s uncle, a DJ, agreed to play music at the party, but Alexa was supposed to give him a list of some of the songs she wanted him to use. Both the girls’ parents helped take them shopping for food and decorations during the week.
The girls were so excited to be hosting the first dance party of all their friends. The junior high never held dances, only the high school did, so it was going to be a party that would be talked about for a while. They knew it. If everything went right, Alexa thought, she would get Jake to dance with her during one of the slow songs and then… maybe they would kiss. She hoped that that would happen.

The day before the party, the whole grade was talking about it. Everyone was excited, talking about their costumes, the DJ, and how happy they were to be invited to a dance party. Anything could happen at this party, they thought.
After school, Alexa and Stella went over to Alexa’s house to make sure everything was set up for the next day. There were Halloween balloons, dozens of circle tables covered with pieces of Halloween candy set up outside for Alexa, Stella, and their friends to sit at, and a long table set up near the DJ’s station where the food would be displayed, buffet style; punch, mozzarella sticks, pizza, chicken fingers, and ice cream. Everything looked perfect.


The next day was the big day. Stella came over to Alexa’s house early in the morning and the two talked for hours about what they hoped the party would be like. They helped Alexa’s mom with the food, put their costumes on, and then waited for everyone to arrive.
Alexa’s uncle, seated behind the DJ station, started playing music and soon there were over a hundred people from Alexa and Stella’s grade at the house. Everyone was wearing costumes, some dressed more “older looking” than others, like Alexa and Stella, but many others were dressed in funny costumes like banana suits and Disney character costumes. Alexa caught Jake’s eye as she saw him enter the backyard and made sure to walk by him, hoping he would come over to talk to her.
Alexa turned the other way as she passed by Jake, keeping one hand poised on her hip while the other played with her devil horn headband. She felt Jake’s stare.
“Alexa Santos?” he questioned.
Alexa turned around and smiled at him.
“Hey,” she said.
“You look amazing.”
“Thank you,” Alexa replied.


Alexa had a smile on her face for the next ten minutes. She couldn’t seem to slap the stupid expression off of her face, but she was just so happy about how Jake had looked at her. She looked hot, she knew that. But now she felt hot, too.

With all of her new-found confidence, Alexa walked over to Jake, heart pounding so fast, she could barely get the words out.
“Do you want to dance?” she asked him.
A slow song had come on and she had dreamed about dancing with Jake for so long.
“Sure,” he smiled.
Alexa put her arms around him while they swayed back and forth. She wasn’t thinking when all of a sudden she found herself leaning into Jake, planting a kiss on his lips.
“Woa,” Jake said, immediately, backing away. He thought Alexa was beautiful, but Brittany was his girlfriend. He could never do anything to hurt her. A split second later, though, Brittany was standing in front of the two, hands on her hips, fury in her eyes.
“What is this?” she asked, foot tapping on the ground.
“It’s not what it looks like,” Jake started, but Brittany had already turned her back and had begun to walk around the to front of the house.
“Thanks a lot,” Jake cried, shooting Alexa a death glare.
Mortified, Alexa ran into the house, up to her room, and locked the door. She grabbed a box of tissues and started bawling. She knew there was still a party going on outside but she was in no mood to watch people having fun when she, herself, was embarrassed beyond belief. She wondered where Stella was but then remembered she had seen her earlier talking to Spencer Brown, a boy in their World History class who had always had a thing for Stella. They were probably off dancing together.
Alexa grabbed her guitar set up on the opposite side of her room and began strumming, like she often did when she was upset. She had piles of songs she had written stashed away in her top drawer from times when she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Jake, wishing he was thinking about her, too. She had songs about days where Jake didn’t seem to notice her presence at all, and songs about when they had shared a conversation together. Alexa took one of her favorites out and began singing along to her lyrics sheet as she played the proper chords. With her pen, she added a little to the song about what had happened earlier that evening and then began to sing:


Sometimes I just lay awake
In my bed and think of you
Just can’t seem to get you off my mind

I think of us together, baby
I think it could happen, maybe
But when I see your girl with you

I know I have to move on
Find myself a new boy
Stop wasting my tears on you
‘Cause pulling petals off a flower wont get me anywhere
I might as well be wasting my time

Chorus
Someday, I will find you
A boy just like me
He’s gonna make me laugh
Make me sing
And all those crazy things
He’s gonna buy me flowers
And write me a song
Hold my hand
And play his guitar
But for now, I’ll just sit back
And wait for
That someday

Sometimes in the dark of night
I think of when you caught my sight
Remember that time we kissed

You held me close then pulled away
I didn’t know what to say
Just got so carried away

Maybe I move too fast
Don’t think too much before I act
I know I need to just move on

Chorus
Someday, I will find you
A boy just like me
He’s gonna make me laugh
Make me sing
And all those crazy things
He’s gonna buy me flowers
And write me a song
Hold my hand
And play his guitar
But for now, I’ll just sit back
And wait for
That someday

My friends say I will find him soon
Stop thinking and let it come to you
It’ll come when you least expect

Chorus
Someday, I will find you
A boy just like me
He’s gonna make me laugh
Make me sing
And all those crazy things
He’s gonna buy me flowers
And write me a song
Hold my hand
And play his guitar
But for now, I’ll just sit back
And wait for
That someday


When she had finished strumming the last note, she felt the knot in her stomach disappear. She felt so much better and let out a sigh of relief. All of a sudden, she heard a knock on her bedroom door.
“Who is it?” she asked.
“Aaron Davis.”
Aaron Davis was an eighth grader who had been in all of Alexa’s classes in school since the 1st grade, however, she had never really talked to him before. She wondered what he was doing outside of her bedroom so she got up off of her bed and unlocked her door.
Aaron was standing so close to the doorway that Alexa bumped into him as she opened the door. When she looked up, she saw a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. It was a special look and, she realized, no one had ever looked at her that way.
“I was just in the house looking for the bathroom when I heard you. You’re… you’re… you’re amazing,” he stuttered, gazing at her as if he was mesmerized.
Alexa felt her cheeks turn red. No one had ever heard her songs before, but she was so happy that Aaron walked in because the look he was giving her made her think, for the first time, that someone thought she was special, and it wasn’t even because of what she was wearing which was the only reason Jake had talked to her all night. Alexa felt a rush come over her.
“Where did you learn to sing and play guitar like that?” Aaron asked.
“I don’t know, I kind of just taught myself,” Alexa explained.

Another knock on the door.
“Alexa, honey, are you okay?” Alexa’s mom called out.
“Yeah, mom, everything’s fine,” she answered, smiling at Aaron.

For the next two hours, Alexa and Aaron sat in Alexa’s room just talking. They talked about everything from her music to their personal thoughts and their crazy teachers at school. Alexa felt so happy to just be herself with someone, rather than having to dress or act a certain way to get someone’s attention. Aaron was cute, funny, and sweet, Alexa decided.
“It’s getting late,” Aaron said around 11:00pm. “I should probably be getting home, but do you maybe want to go to a movie or something next weekend?” he asked.
Alexa’s face lit up.
“Of course,” she answered. “I had such a great time tonight.”
“Me too,” Aaron said.
Aaron got up, walked to the door and waved good-bye with a smile. Alexa smiled back. Her heart was racing. The door closed behind Aaron, but a moment later, Alexa heard a knock. The door swung open and Aaron walked back into Alexa’s room, pulled her chin toward him and kissed her lips hard.
“I thought I was forgetting something,” Aaron said to Alexa, smiling. A moment later, he was gone. Alexa was in a daze. Her night full of possibilities had turned into just that. Although she had had an embarrassing episode with Jake, realizing that he was not interested in her, she had met someone who made her feel so happy, and that’s all that mattered.
A cool Autumn breeze blew into Alexa’s room through the window. She looked out to see that everyone had left. The party was over, but she was so thankful it had happened. Alexa turned the lights off in her room and crawled into her bed, playing and re-playing the scene when Aaron had walked into her room. She couldn’t wait to tell Stella about what had happened.