ITS NICE TO HAVE A FRIEND; seth cohen

seven

dance with me, phillip phillips

"guys, i've finally decided," i shut my locker, turning towards the girls.

"and?" summer asks. "if you waited this long to tell us just to ask coh-"

"summer!" marissa pushes her friend playfully. "go ahead, lucy."

i squeeze my eyes tight and let the words, "i'm gonna ask seth" spill out of my mouth, almost scared to speak it into the universe. i open my eyes with a guilty look on my face, trying to avoid summer's glare.

"that's great! i'm sure he'll say yes," marissa smiles overly wide in an attempt to make up for summer's lack of enthusiasm.

"do whatever you want, luce. i just think you can do better, that's all," summer says.

"i don't know even know if he'll say yes. he's, like, in love with you," i reply.

"don't even," she rolls her eyes. "i don't see why he wouldn't. you guys are friends, right?" i nod slowly. "then why would he refuse? and even if he does, there's always ryan."

but ryan isn't seth, i want to say. instead i just shrug and start walking to class with the two girls.

when we get to french, i sit down next to marissa and pull out my notebook. however, as the lesson goes on, i find it harder and harder to focus. what if seth says no? or what if he says yes? what if he says yes but then i can't control my feelings and he realizes that i only asked him because i have a crush on him and then he thinks i'm weird and he never wants to be my friend again? or what if-

"ms. adams, can you tell me how to conjugate savoir in the present tense?" my teacher asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

i hesitate, biting my lip. "um... i don't know."

"no, tu ne sais pas." she shakes her head disapprovingly. "how about past tense? ms. thompson?"

"le participe passé est su," rue answers, smirking at me from across the room. i sink down into my seat.

marissa leans over and whispers in my ear, "just ignore her." i try my best to do that for the rest of class. i'd rather think of seth painfully rejecting me than think of rue's presence a few rows down from mine.

"what a bitch," summer mutters as we walk out the door after the bell. "she's been here for, what? five minutes? and she already thinks she's april." i shoot her a questioning look. "from the valley...? anyways, she's got something else coming next time i see her."

"thanks, summer, but i don't think that's necessary."

"we'll see. i saw the look on her face. that wasn't the look of someone i'd like."

as the final bell of the day rings, the three of us part ways. i walk down the hall and stand at seth's locker, fidgeting with my bracelet, impatiently waiting for him. as i see him out of the corner of my eye, i instantly pull out my phone and begin typing mindlessly in an attempt to look less like a pathetic loser with nothing better to do than wait at boys' lockers.

"hey, lucy, what's up?"

"nothing," i blurt out a bit too loudly, causing him to look at me confused.

"i can't work on our project today because i have comic book club," he says as he puts his books into his locker.

"oh, that's fine. i was actually here to ask you about something else. y'know the deb ball?"

"oh, yeah, the dance thing?"

i nod, "i was wondering if you'd want to go... with me..." i brace myself for his rejection, but am pleasantly surprised when he smiles.

"sure. i've always been a bit of a white knight. seth cohen at your rescue." i slap his chest playfully. that wasn't as hard as i thought it would be.

"that means you'll be attending dance lessons with me tomorrow. see you then, seth." i shut his locker and walk away, smiling to myself over my unnecessary fear from ten minutes ago.

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"1, 2, 3... 1,2,3," the dance instructor yells while clapping the rhythm with her hands. i look at seth, stifling a laugh, as we continuously step on each others' feet. since the lesson started only fifteen minutes ago, the instructor has been getting more and more annoyed with our incompetence.

"everyone take a break. i can't deal with this," the instructor scoffs, staring directly and me and seth. the two of us burst out laughing.

"how is it going over here?" marissa asks me, walking over to the center of the room that we unfortunately ended up in.

"probably much worse than it is for you and luke," i reply.

"between the two of us, he's not as good of a dancer as you'd think." we both smile.

"i wonder how summer and her beau are doing. what's his name again?" i ask, looking around, trying to spot a brunette among the concerning amount of blondes.

"i think it's billy or something like that."

"the one from our english class? who cheated on his girlfriend with the lead singer of his band?!" i ask.

"yes!"

"no fucking way! is she kidding?" i catch a glimpse of her laughing with billy and i can't help to smile to myself.

"summer is dating the jerk from low shoulder? that's not even a good band name!" seth chimes in.

"they're not dating, he's just her escort."

"they're dancing together, though!"

"you're my escort, doesn't mean we're dating," i bite my lip. one day i'll get over his crush on summer. and over him... one day.

"alright, ladies and gentlemen, please prepare for your waltz. i don't have all day to teach you," the instructor claps twice to get our attention. the music begins as seth wraps his arm around my waist. i look into his eyes as we spin.

for the first time, we complete the dance without making complete fools of ourselves.

"nice job, luce," seth smiles and i can't help but blush slightly.

"you didn't do too bad yourself," i reply.