The day of the dance came around, it was the day before Halloween. School had ended at 3:05, and Tara was starting to walk home. Nick was driving down the street, when he saw Tara walking, and he pulled over.
"want a ride?" Nick asked.
"sure!" Tara said happily, and then climbed into his car.
"Soo.. still going to the dance tonight?" Nick asked, looking ahead at the road.
"Yeah, are you going?" Tara asked.
"yeah, Cyndi asked me to go.." Nick said. Tara went silent.
"oh" was all she could say. Nick looked at her while she was silent, Tara seemed to have stopped smiling.
When they reached her house, he pulled up into her driveway.
"Thanks for the ride!" Tara said.
"Anytime" Nick said, trying to act cool. "See ya tonight" Nick said, and then he pulled away. Tara watched Nick drive down the street, and then went into her house.
AJ wasnt in class that day, and Karine had noticed his absence. As class finished, she ran into AJ in the hall, who was wearing a pair of sunglasses. Thinking nothing of it, she just started talking to him like normal.
"Is something wrong, AJ?" she asked, noticing how quiet he was.
"No.." AJ said. "Im just a bit tired, and im not feeling that well.."
Karine tried to look through the top of his glasses when he looked down, and noticed that he had bags under his eyes, and his eyes were a little red.
"Maybe you should go home and rest" Karine suggested.
"Yeah, thats a good idea" He said, and then he turned around and went home. Karine stood there, wondering what was up with AJ.
* * * * * *
6pm that night, the doorbell at Tara's house rang. Tara ran down the stairs in her pink velvett dress, with high knee socks, tall spice shoes, a shirt under the dress that said GIRL POWER and pigtails. She opened the door to find Joe standing there, dressed as himself.
"Wheres your costume?" She asked.
"I didnt feel like dressing up.." Joe said, looking at Tara's Spice Girl outfit. Tara grabbed her stuff and went outside with Joe. Joe got into the car, without opening the door for Tara, and shut the door. Tara climbed in a moment later, and they took off to the dance.
Inside the school gym, four huge video screens were set up, one along each wall. About 3/4 of the people were dressed up, since it was a Halloween Dance.
INTERGALACTIC by Beastie Boys rang out through the gym, while all the people were dancing to it. Tara was in the gym with BJ, Melissa and BJ's boyfriend, while Joe was along the side of the wall, he didnt like to dance.
"Hows your date going?" BJ asked, looking over at Joe.
"dont even call it a date.. its more like, a NON DATE. I'm not into him" Tara said.
"oh, sorry to hear that.. he seems to be wanting to be alone anyways" BJ said "He hasnt even came over here just to stand"
"I know" Tara said.
Later during the dance, the DJ played was As Long As You Love Me, by Backstreet Boys. Tara was talking to BJ, when Joe came up and asked her to dance. Tara accepted, since she WAS supposed to be his date. Nick was in the room, dancing with Cyndi. Nicks date wasnt going that well either. It was obvious to him that she only liked him for his money, and for being a BSB.
"I bet you just loved being in the Backstreet Boys, I mean, They were the best band around!!! I bet you made lots of money" Cyndi said. Nick rolled his eyes up while they were slowdancing, he definetly knew this was their last date. Totally not into Cyndi, or listening to what she had to say, Nick scanned the room.
As he was going around in a circle, his eyes caught focus on Tara and Joe. Joe seemed to be enjoying the slowdance he was sharing with Tara, however, when Nick could see her face, he saw that she felt the total opposite. Another circle around, Nick was facing Tara again, and this time she saw Nick and looked back at him.
"who you are... where your from.. what you did.. As long as you love me.." The song was almost finished, and Nick couldnt help but look over at Tara the whole time. Tara was looking straight back at Nick.
After the song had finished, Tara and Joe stopped dancing, and so did Nick and Cyndi.
"Im going to go to the bathroom" Nick said, excusing himself from Cyndi, without looking at her. Nick took off through the crowd of people before Cyndi could follow. Tara couldnt find Nick, and another slow song came on. This time, it was "I dont Want to Miss A Thing" By Aerosmith, Taras fav slow song.
"This is the last song of the night, I hope you all have a Happy Halloween Tomorrow, be sure to dance this one with someone special!" The DJ said.
Tara walked thru the crowd of people to lose track of Joe, she didnt want to dance with him again.
Tara felt a tap on her shoulder behind her. She turned around, and there was Nick, standing there infront of her.
"This is my favourite song... and.. the DJ said that we should dance to it with someone special.." Nick said, in a nervous voice.
".. and.. I was wondering if you'd like to dance with me?" Nick asked shyly. Tara smiled for the first time that night, Nick hadnt seen her that happy.
"Id love to dance with you" Tara said. Nick grabbed her hand and led her onto the dancefloor. He pulled Tara close to him, wrapping his arms around her lower waist, near the top of her butt. Tara put her arms around his, resting her hands on his back, and placing her head on his shoulder, where it perfectly fit due to their height sizes. Nick and Tara danced slowly together, each enjoying the dance greatly. While holding Tara soo close to him, Nick knew that he liked her, and after this, he now had the idea that Tara might like him.
Near the end of the song, where Steven Tyler starts screaming into the microphone in the video, Nick leaned down, and gave Tara a kiss. Tara kissed Nick back too, because she has liked him for a long time, and now she knew that he liked her also.
After the song had finished, Nick and Tara stopped kissing, and then looked at eachother, both of them reading the other persons face and eyes.
"Can I take you home?" Nick asked, not knowing what to say.
"Id like that" Tara replied, smiling at Nick, and then she took his arm and left the gym. Nick helped Tara into his car, opening the door for her, and shutting it behind her. On the way back to her house, everything was silent except for the radio, which was playing Nicks fav song by journey when they pulled up to her house.
"I didnt have a fun time with Cyndi..." Nick said, "She was another fake".
"Oh, same here.. but with Joe. I mean, he wasnt a fake, but he just isnt my type" Tara said.
"What is your type, Tara?" Nick asked curiously.
"you" Tara said, looking at Nick. "I've tried to tell you, but I've always got the feeling you only wanted to be friends"
"serious? Ive liked you ever since the first day of school!" Nick replied.
"Well I wish I would have known that!" Tara laughed.
"Well, me too!" Nick said, laughing.
"So where do we go from here?" Tara asked.
"Well, you know I like you... Tara" Nick said.
"I like you too Nick! You know that now" Tara said, and she looked at Nick.
"I'd really like to have a relationship with you.." Nick said honestly, looking into Taras eyes.
"I'd really like the same!" Tara said, smiling, with tears coming to her eyes because she was soo happy. Nick leaned in and gave Tara a soft kiss, and a long hug.
After saying their goodbye, Nick walked her to the door, and made sure she got safely inside, then went home.