The Promise

twelve

Year 2007 - Winter

Louis' POV

The first half of sophomore year has been great. Lydia and I have become a lot closer, although I didn't realize that was even possible. We hang out almost 24/7: We ride to school together, we have almost all of our classes together, we eat lunch together, we go home together... We do everything together.

The winter formal is coming up in a few days, and I'm thinking about asking her to go with me. Last year, we both got dates, but we ended up ditching them to go watch movies at Lydia's place. What's the point in doing that this year when we could just go together?

Then again, if I ask her to go with me, she could always say no, and that would be humiliating. Being just friends has worked out great so far, and I don't want to risk losing her if she doesn't feel the same way.

What I should do is get a date and see how she reacts. If she gets jealous when I tell her, I can just alter my plans and take her instead. If she's happy for me, I'll have my answer and I can stop my feelings for her from growing out of my control.

I try to suppress the smile. Let's face it, my plan is pretty foolproof.

---

Today's the day.

Last night, I initiated phase one of my plan by texting Sarah, this girl from my history class. After talking to her for a bit, I realized she didn't have a date to the formal. Sarah is a pretty cool girl, so I decided that if I couldn't go to the dance with Lydia, she would be a good alternate. Thankfully, she said yes, so today, I'm going to tell Lydia about it and see how she feels. I'll definitely know where I stand with her then.

I climb into the driver's side of my jeep and start it up with ease. I drive the few blocks it takes to get to Lydia's, honking the horn when I pull into the driveway.

I look over to the right and see my old house, now inhabited by a new family. Hopefully, a complete family that has a swingset in the backyard and happy children to play on it. I miss being right next door to her, but Mom and I had to move to get away from Dad finding us. Scratch that, I don't even want to claim that man as my father. Mom and I had to move to get away from that terrible excuse of a person.

Lydia closes the front door behind her and climbs into the passenger seat. She looks gorgeous, as always, I notice as she flashes me a smile.

"Guess what," she says, closing the car door and buckling her seatbelt.

"What?" I ask, putting the car into reverse and backing out onto the street.

"It's Friday! And that means we should go on an adventure tonight." I look to her and smile at the excited look on her face.

"I'm sure I can whip something up." I turn my attention back to the road to distract myself from backing out of my plan.

"So hey, uh," I take a hand off the steering wheel and start to massage the back of my neck. "I got a date for the formal last night." I turn my attention towards her, searching for her reaction.

Her face turns a light shade of pink, I notice, as she turns to me, but I direct my attention back to the road before our eyes can meet.

"Louis! That's great!" She congratulates me and playfully hits my arm. "Who is it?"

"Sarah.. the one from our history class." I reply.

I guess that's my answer. She's happy that I have a date.

"Man," she turns and looks out the window at the passing scenery. "I guess that means I need to find a date now so I'm not a third wheel," she laughs.