Chapter 11: The Dance

Saturday was here, the day of the dance. Hallie sat in front of the vanity mirror in her room, curling her hair between texting Jessica. She finished with the last couple of strands and started pinning them up when her phone chimed again:

Is Luke coming with you?

She responded:

Yeah it would look weird if we didn’t go together but it makes me nervous

Jessica’s reply quickly flashed onto the screen:

It’s a good chance to get to know him. Maybe you two could be a couple (five heart emojis)

Hallie knew her friend was probably just teasing. She wrote back:

Not you too!

Jessica replied:

Just have fun!

Hallie smiled, feeling like her friend was with her, but part of her was wishing she was there with Jessica in real life.

Instead, loneliness was her constant companion ever since she moved back home after college. She couldn’t talk to Terry about any real problems in her life. Her sister either didn’t have time for anything more than small talk, or she would make fun of her.