A Grave Problem

19. Homecoming

"Are you two going to the homecoming dance?" Anna asked as she sat down next to Mia and Carmine at lunch.

"Probably not." Mia told her.

Dancing had never been something she was really fond of, and since she didn't have a date anyway, Mia really didn't see the point in going. Last year, none of Mia's friends had been seeing anyone, so none of them had gone to the dance. Instead, they'd rented a couple of movies about how love never works out and watched them in their pajamas. Mia had been planning something similar for this year too, but it looked like Anna wouldn't be joining her.

"I wasn't planning on it." Carmine told Anna. "Why?"

"Luke asked me yesterday." Anna told them. "I said I'd go, but I was really hoping you two would be coming too."

Mia honestly couldn't think of anything she wanted to do less. Especially without a date. She'd been secretly hoping Zev would ask her, but she would settle for almost any guy in the school at this point. She still didn't like the whole dancing part, and she might not be the most popular girl in school, but it'd be nice to at least be asked. Besides, without a date, she really couldn't picture going along with Anna and Luke; she would just feel like she'd invited herself on their date. Even if Carmine went, Mia knew it would be just the two of them hanging around, doing nothing.

"I don't have anyone to go with." Carmine told Anna, echoing Mia's own thoughts.

"Me either." Mia chimed in.

"Zev hasn't asked you?" Anna asked. She looked surprised.

"Nope." Mia said, trying to sound casual about it.

It was actually kind of embarrassing for her to admit that she even wanted him to ask. They'd only hung out together a few times, and if Mia was completely honest with herself, she knew they weren't close enough that she should be expecting him to want to take her. She tried to keep it from bothering her, but in the back of her mind she couldn't help but feel just a little disappointed.

Over the next couple of days, any hope Mia had that she would get asked to the dance started to fade. With every passing day, she knew it was less and less likely that she'd have a date in time. She tried not to let it bother her, but she'd actually had fairly high hopes for Zev. And now that it didn't look like he was going to ask her, Mia had to wonder if maybe he didn't like her as much as she liked him.

Mia woke up Friday morning, eight days before the dance. By this point, she knew she wouldn't have a date in time. Tomorrow, she and Carmine were going with Anna to the mall to help her pick out a dress, and Mia had been hoping in the back of her mind that she'd be picking one out too. Why was she so disappointed? she wondered. She didn't even like dances! But she did like Zev, and the fact that he hadn't even bothered to ask her had made her feel worse than she thought it would. Obviously, she was more interested in him than she'd been admitting.

That day in P.E., Mia said hi to Zev as usual. She tried to keep her feelings hidden, but she really didn't feel like talking to him much. If he wasn't even going to ask her, what was the point in bothering with him? She was too busy feeling annoyed to notice that he seemed nervous. Mia wondered what could possibly be making him act that way. Maybe she was being a little more hostile than she'd realized. She took a deep breath, trying to force herself to be nicer.

"Are you ok?" she asked, trying to sound sympathetic. She might be annoyed at him, but she did still like him.

"Yeah. I'm fine." he smiled.

Mia clenched her jaw; somehow that smile made her annoyed all over again.

Zev studied her for a minute before casually asking, "Are you going to that dance next week?"