The next morning, I took it upon myself to sort through my wardrobe. I needed to find a dress for the fall dance and I needed to find one soon. Not having a partner to the dance was one thing but I really couldn't get away without a dress.

I eventually found a red evening gown that I placed in front of me, as I looked into the mirror, to get a rough idea of what it would look like on me. It seemed to compliment the warm tones of my eyes well and didn't look too vivid against the pale shade of my skin. I knew that if I curled my hair and added a light application of makeup, the look would be complete.

While I pondered this, as I looked into the mirror in front of me, my mother walked down the hall and soon stopped in the doorway of my room.

"Hey honey. That's a gorgeous dress," she told me.

"Thanks, mom," I replied.

I tended to take my mother's compliments very seriously because she was honestly one of the most beautiful women that I had ever known.

"Thank you for taking care of dinner yesterday. Your dad's been stressed with work and it led to an argument," she said.

"Well, you two need to be careful what you yell out because I know that Riles heard the two of you and he was convinced that something bad was going to happen," I explained.

"Bad?" my mother asked, as her eyebrows creased together.

"Yeah. He thought that the two of you were going to break up," I said.

My mother exhaled in slight concern then.

"I'm going to have to go and talk to Riley," she said.

I nodded in agreement.

"So, you have some time before the school dance happens. What are you going to do now?" she asked me.

It was coincidental that she asked me that question then because I soon received a text message from Drew that let me know he was outside.

"I'm going to be spending the day with Drew," I said.

My mother nodded understandingly at that.

"I'll be back later to get changed for the dance," I said.

"Of course," my mother replied, "If any of your friends decide that they want to come here and get ready with you, honey, then you know that they are more than welcome to do so."

I thanked her again for that. My mother really could be a saint when she wanted to be. I was sure that Abbie probably would have appreciated having someone around to help her with her makeup, too.

My mother soon left the room and I quickly headed downstairs and out through the front door with my coat, so I could walk to Drew's car.

He unlocked it for me and I quickly sat down in the front seat.

"Hey. It feels like it's been ages since it was just the two of us," he said, as he smiled at me.

That smile could have broken my heart all over again and I was sure that it would have done, if I wasn't getting over him, of course.

"It sure does. It's really good to see you again, though, Drew. Anyway, where are we going?" I inquired.

I watched as a goldfinch flew by in the blue sky ahead of us. It was a beautiful day. The two of us conceivably could have gone anywhere.

"I'll think of somewhere," Drew said.

I had a feeling that probably meant the two of us were going to make our way to the music store where Wesley had got a part time job, but I didn't mind it one bit. It was nice to be able to spend some time with Drew again. I knew that it hadn't been that long since I had last seen him but it still felt like a while. I guessed that just came with the two of us being really good friends.

Drew drove on down the road and moved a hand through his slightly disheveled hair, as he stopped at the first red light.

"I uh..." he trailed off.

"Did some sports practice this morning? I could tell. Your hair gets curlier after showers," I blurted and then felt myself blush. Was it normal for a best friend to notice little details like this? I wasn't sure I could confirm the answer to that but I had said it now, anyway. There was no use in worrying over every little thing that I said to him. That sounded like torture.

"Does it look okay? My hair, I mean," Drew asked, as the red light turned to green and he could drive on again.

"Why? Are you trying to impress someone?" I asked him.

"No," he said. I could tell by his tone that he wasn't being entirely truthful.

"It's okay. I admire the fact that you want to look nice for Heather. It shows how much you like her," I said.

"Who said anything about me liking Heather?" he asked me.

I released a soft laugh.

"You did sort of ask her to the fall dance, Drew," I reminded him.

Drew's eyes flickered with something then, as though I had somehow worked out all of his secrets. It didn't take a lot of work to understand Drew when I had known him for as long as I had. It was as though I had a sixth sense, a best friend sense, which told me everything I needed to know. Besides, even if he hadn't told me about his feelings for Heather, it wasn't as though it took a lot of guess work from the way that he looked at her.

"She wanted to go as a group though. I don't know, Zoe. Do you think there's any hope there?" he asked me.

I thought on it for a moment and knew that I had to tell Drew what I would have wanted to hear, if I was asking about him taking a chance on me.

"I think so, Drew. I mean...you're a great guy. One of the best. That's why you're- that's why you're one of my best friends," I said.

I had to make sure I didn't admit anything to him, even if I really had wanted to.

"Thank you, Zoe. You really have no idea how much I appreciate hearing something like that from you," he told me.

"No worries," I replied, as he parked outside Wesley's music store.