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That night, after she got back from the ice cream shop, Rhea called Willa as she'd promised she would. The second she picked up the phone, Willa urged Rhea to tell her everything, so she did. She glossed over the cheating girlfriend, even though she and Floyd had ended up talking some more about her during their three hour conversation. From all she'd learned about her, Rhea had concluded she was a manipulative, psychopathic bitch -coming from someone who was completely against girls calling each other such words, it went a long way to tell how insane she thought this girl was-. While she told Willa every little thing about her life, this was not her secret to share. All she gave Willa was that Floyd had a pretty solid reason for behaving the way he had and that he'd promised to never do it again. Thankfully, Willa was content with knowing they had worked out their problems.

Rhea plopped herself down on her bed while still holding the phone to her ear. This was how it always had been for them, once they started talking, they'd be on the phone for hours on end. She'd received one too many scoldings from her parents about how she'd end up frying her brain if she kept spending so much time on her phone, and sometimes she'd listen to them and switch to Skype, and other times -right now, for instance- she'd just ignore the radiation threat as if that would make it disappear completely.

"So, has Floyd asked you to the Equinox dance?" Willa asked. Her question was followed by shuffling sounds from her end of the conversation and Rhea could just about see her rolling in bed like a four year old like she always did whenever she was on the phone. Willa was one of those people that just couldn't sit still during a phone conversation.

"No." Rhea bit the inside of her cheek as she dreadfully answered her friend's question. She'd hoped Floyd would ask her today when they'd met up at the ice cream shop. In fact, she'd pretty much waited for it for all three hours that they'd spent together, yet the topic hadn't even come up.

"What, why?" Willa asked. "The dance is this Friday."

"I know. He just- he didn't." She let out a sigh, closing her eyes.

"I'm sure he'll ask," Willa said in a reassuring voice.

In that moment, Rhea's phone beeped twice, signaling another caller on the line. She briefly removed the phone from her ear to check the caller ID. It was Floyd. Telling her friend she'd call her back in a second, she hung up, taking Floyd's call instead.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey, are you home?"

"Yes," she said, dragging out the word hesitantly because she couldn't figure out why he would be asking her that.

"It was a trick question," Floyd declared. "I already know, because I am in front of your house and I can see your light is on."

At that, Rhea got up from her place on the bed and rushed to the window, parting the curtain to take a peek. Sure enough, Floyd's car was parked in front of their house and he was outside, leaning against his car door. His hands were shoved inside his jean's pockets with his phone tucked between his shoulder and his cheek and he was grinning up at her lazily.

"Wanna come down for a minute?" he whispered, and for some reason, his tone coupled with the way he made eye contact sent a slight shiver through Rhea's spine.

She nodded at him, backing away from the window hurriedly to adjust herself into looking presentable again. She was still in the sweatpants she'd worn out that day and Floyd had already seen her in them so she decided to forego all pretenses, patted her tangled and frazzled hair a little bit and made her way out.

Floyd looked up from his phone at the sound of the door creaking loudly, marking Rhea's exit from the house. Nearing the end of September, the weather was getting chillier by the minute, so Rhea tugged her sweatshirt closer to her body to preserve some of her body heat that was leaving her quickly.

She smiled warmly at Floyd, if not a bit questioningly and received an equally warm smile from him in return. He, too, was wearing the same clothes he had merely a couple hours ago.

"Missed me already?" she said teasingly once she came to a halt in front of him. With the way he was leaning against the car door, he'd gotten shorter by a couple inches, and Rhea found she liked being able to look into his eyes more easily without risking a stiff neck. However, he pushed himself off from the door a second later, returning to his towering height in front of her.

"I might have," he answered, giving her a lopsided grin.

"Quick question though, how did you know the light was on in my room? It could have easily been my parents'." After pausing for a brief second she mock-gasped as she continued, "Do you sneak inside my room to watch me sleep at night? Because no matter what Twilight might have told you, that's creepy, not romantic."

"Yeah, that's exactly what I do," Floyd played along, "And let me tell you, you are a violent snorer."

"I do not snore," she said indignantly and slapped Floyd playfully on his chest.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night." Floyd gave her a mischievous grin then cleared his throat. "There is a reason for my unexpected visit other than to antagonize you."

"Really?" Rhea said, "I was beginning to have my doubts."

"Really." He turned around for a quick second, reaching through the open window of his car to get something from the passenger seat that was obscured from Rhea's view. When he turned around, she found out what it was -a bouquet of daffodils.

"I read online that daffodils mean apology. So I apologize in advance for blowing your mind with my mad dancing skills Friday night. That is, if you'll go with me?" He looked up at her with a hopeful expression on his face, looking so very endearing with the boyish grin tugging at his lips.

"I'll go with you," she said, gingerly hugging the bouquet of flowers to her chest. She could feel warmth spread in her chest coupled with a sweat ache. The way this boy before her made it clear how into her he really was, the way he went out of his way to make her feel wanted tugged at her heart strings. Yes, he could have went all out like some other boys did -come up with a whole production, maybe serenade her in front of the whole school or bribe the cheerleading squad to put on a special show for her- but that was neither what she wanted nor expected. No, she much preferred the funny and intimate way he'd chosen to go about it. Upon her answer, she saw Floyd's features light up, which in turn made her beam at him.

"That's good, because I just e-mailed you a selfie in my suit a couple minutes ago in case you wanted to color coordinate and that would have been embarrassing for the both of us if you hadn't said yes."

***

Monday afternoon, she was sat next to Caleb as per usual as Mr. Martin droned on and on about one thing or the other. She tried her best to stay alert and pay attention, she really did, but soon enough she found herself staring into nothingness. Peering at Caleb, she found him in much less the same state - he was staring at the blackboard with a blank look on his face, yet she was one hundred percent sure he didn't see it.

"So, you excited about the dance this Friday?" She jabbed his biceps to get his attention, startling a little bit at how firm it was under her touch. It took him a moment to break out of his trance and another moment for Rhea's question to register in his brain.

"Nah, I'm not going," he said finally, shrugging one shoulder.

"Can't dance?" She arched an eyebrow at him with blatant teasing and challenge.

"I can dance just fine," he said almost defensively. "Yasmine had to bail and I don't feel like going without her."

"Oh come on, this is your last Equinox dance."

"In that case, I don't want the last one to suck," he was quick to counter.

"I have an idea," Rhea blurted out a bit too loudly, making Mr. Martin stop midsentence and give her a warning look. She quickly averted her eyes and lowered her head. A moment later when Mr. Martin continued with his sentence, she whispered to Caleb quietly, "Why don't you come with us?"

"And be the third wheel to you and your uncivilized boyfriend? I think I'll pass."

"Uncivilized? He- Just come, okay? I promise he's not like that. Plus, you won't be third wheel-ing, Wade and Willa will be there too."

"Oh, so I'll be fifth wheel-ing, which is just so much better." When Rhea shot him an unimpressed look, he finally caved and said, "I'll think about it, okay?"

"Well, that's better than a no so I'll take it."

***

On Tuesday after school, Rhea and Willa went shopping for dresses. Even though Rhea had pointed out on several occasions she could very well wear the dress she'd worn to her cousin's wedding last summer, Willa was having none of it. She took dress shopping pretty seriously and Rhea had learned early in their friendship not to cross Willa when she had her mind set on something.

She ended up choosing a red dress -Floyd was wearing a red tie in the picture he'd sent her- with a sweetheart neckline, a bodice that fit snugly against her chest and waist and a skirt made out of lots of puffy tulle that ended mid-thigh. The red complimented her hair and skin color nicely, and she felt good.

Willa had picked out a midnight blue bodycon dress that accentuated her curves in the right ways. When they'd stood in front of the mirror, all dolled up and clad in their dresses for the night before the dance, Rhea couldn't help but pull in her best friend for a crushing hug as she buried her face in Willa's hair for a few moments to hide the way she got misty eyed. If this was how she got over the Equinox dance, she couldn't picture what prom would be like.

When the boys came to pick them up from Willa's house, Willa couldn't help but burst out laughing at the sight of Floyd. Not because he looked anything less than handsome, but because he was wearing a red tie. All those dances Rhea had made fun of Willa and Wade for color coordinating their outfits and she'd gone and done the same.

For the dance, the school gym was decorated in golden hues with shiny cardboard suns hanging from the ceiling. The lights were dimmed, the spots changing color every few seconds while the party-essential disco ball turned slowly, sending sparkly lights to every corner of the gym.

They spotted a table not far from where they stood and all but sprinted towards it to claim it before others could. Its placement was strategically perfect, what with having a great view of the dancefloor as well as being close to the snacks table. There were already couples on the dancefloor, moving to the latest hit that Rhea heard on the radio all the time but couldn't for the life of her put a name on. She thought about how it felt nice to be here with her best friends and almost-boyfriend, if not a little bit bittersweet due to it being the last one, as she watched her classmates dance.

It had barely been ten minutes since they'd sat down when Rhea felt someone tap on her shoulder lightly. Turning around, she found herself looking at a familiar face.

Caleb.

"You came!" Rhea exclaimed as she leaped out of her seat to give him a brief hug.

"There was nothing good on TV," he said nonchalantly, grinning at her. He'd opted out of wearing a suit, instead was clad in khaki pants and a light blue shirt with its sleeves rolled up. Rhea thought the look suited him better than a suit would have.

"You know Floyd." She gestured towards Floyd, who'd stood up to come and stand next to the two.

"Hey man." Floyd extended a hand to him in greeting. "Listen, before all else, I am sorry about the way I acted the other night."

Caleb's eyebrows shot up for a brief moment in surprise, and then his eyes darted towards Rhea, who gave him an imperceptible nod.

"It's alright," Caleb said, finally taking the hand Floyd had extended and shaking it.

Rhea felt delighted at the way the two boys had seemingly made peace so easily. They were both people she'd come to care about in the past couple of weeks, albeit not in exactly the same ways. That was the thing about Caleb though, as she'd come to know firsthand as well -he was quick to forgive.

Caleb pulled a chair to the left of Rhea and greeted Wade and Willa as he sat down, while Floyd held out a hand to Rhea and asked her to dance. She was more than happy to oblige.

***

When Rhea came back from the dancefloor slightly out of breath and holding Floyd's hand after dancing to five songs straight, she saw Caleb sitting at the table, staring into nothingness. She could tell Wade and Willa had been trying to engage him in some sort of conversation but he had reclined into his own world. Maybe it hadn't been the best idea in the world to force him into coming when he didn't have a date and apparently not a lot of friends besides them. She sat down next to him while Floyd settled in the chair on the other side of her.

"Hey." She nudged his arm with her elbow, making him turn around to look at her. From the look in his eyes, it seemed like he hadn't even noticed their return to the table.

"Hey," he said quietly. So quietly that Rhea couldn't hear it over the booming music. Instead, she read it on his lips.

"Let's dance," she half-shouted. He simply shook his head. Unlike most dances she'd been to, the DJ seemed to know what she was doing, so she refused to let Caleb sit the whole thing out because his girlfriend couldn't be here and he was too busy sulking. So she grabbed his arm and all but dragged him to the dancefloor.

For half a minute after they'd reached the dancefloor, Caleb simply stood there with his hands tucked inside his pockets, watching Rhea with an impassive look. She was unaffected by his attitude though, and to crack his more-than-bored exterior, she started to dance with exaggerated flails of her arms, starting to draw the attention of the couples dancing closest to them. As much as he fought it, Caleb's lips finally curled up in a smile and he started to move to the lively beat of the music. Soon enough, his moves were matching hers in their dramatic nature and his smile had turned into a full-blown grin. Rhea was wearing a grin identical to his as he briefly took her hand to twirl her around.

But then something happened.

The upbeat song slowly morphed into a slow, romantic one, leaving Rhea and Caleb awkwardly standing with their grins frozen on their faces.

Rhea was the first to recover from it, giving Caleb a renewed, lopsided grin as she took a step closer to him with a questioning look on her face. Caleb shrugged his shoulders as if to say what the hell, so Rhea threw her arms around his neck while he placed his hands lightly on her waist. Despite the easy look on his face, Rhea could feel the tension in his shoulders and in the way his entire body was just that bit stiff.

"Don't tell me you've never slow danced with a girl before," she said, no more needing to shout to communicate with him due to their closer proximity.

"Not with one who isn't my girlfriend," he answered earnestly.

"Fair enough," Rhea said, subtly trying to put a bit more distance between them. The last thing she wanted was to make Caleb uncomfortable.

"You don't have to pull away," he said laughingly. Subtlety had never been her forte, so no surprise here. "It's fine; friends can dance, can't they?"

"Sure they can." She smiled softly at him, relaxing back into the dance as the song kept blaring from the speakers, enveloping them in the sweetness of its melody.

The song was nearing its end when Floyd approached them.

"Mind if I cut in?" he asked Caleb, who in turn gave a nod to him, and a smile to Rhea before he stepped away and made his way back to the table.

Rhea beamed at him when he took her in his arms, the space between them nonexistent as he wrapped his arms completely around her waist. They almost stood still, only slightly swaying left and right. Rhea rested her cheek on Floyd's shoulder as she completely relaxed into his embrace, thanking whatever deity was out there that decided to grace her with everything she'd dreamed of having before the start of this year.

***