I can't believe it's 1013. Okay, well, I can believe it's 1013, but I can't believe that I just realized that about twenty minutes ago. I used to be sooo in the X-Files... and now, nothing. I still read the fic, and when I feel so inclined I write it as well. But in eighth grade, I was looking forward to this day like it was Christmas or something. I remember convincing my dad to let me wear my X-Files t-shirt to school, which was quite an accomplishment in those days of Thou Shalt Not Wear Jeans And Certainly Not Those Foul T-Shirts.

Nowadays I have more pressing issues on my mind, such as Jonathan. Heheheheh. People keep on telling me that I'm smiling an awful lot. I'm happy! I keep expecting to wake up, because there's just no way last night could have been real. Wow.

::clears throat:: And now... it is time for... the whole story!

Kim, my oldest friend, spent the night with me last Friday. We spent most of the afternoon and evening driving around town in her car, shopping and talking about boys. I talked about Jonathan, and she talked about Charles, and we both despaired of ever obtaining them while assuring each other the other would indeed get her man. We stopped by Taco Bell, where Jonathan was at work, and got Meximelts. I cringed behind Kim while she waved merrily at him, but it was quite good to see him. More driving around... we went to the marching field at some point, and saw a shooting star. (Which is completely off the subject, but I just thought I'd mention it.) Ever since we'd left Taco Bell, I had been contemplating leaving something on Jonathan's car, but I didn't know what, or if I had the guts to do it. And then it occurred to me: a rose. We went to Wal-Mart, where I picked out a gorgeous flower, and then we drove back to the Bell. It was about 11:30 (Jonathan was still there as he was closing, something I picked up when we were in there earlier), and I had to be home by midnight. That shouldn't have been a problem, because I live only a few blocks away, but the back of the Taco Bell parking lot is a popular hang-out spot for the town druggies. It was Friday night, so they were there in full force, and they were practically sitting on Jonathan's car. The crowd thinned out and shifted across the lot after about fifteen minutes of nervous observation. Kim drove into the lot and parked next to his car. I dashed out, placed the rose under his windshield wipers, and got out of there as fast as I could.

The next morning, I woke up and promptly thought, "I am an idiot." Why had I gone and done that? He didn't want me chasing him around. He just wanted to be left alone. No presents. Assuming, of course, that our local JDs hadn't made off with the thing.

Kim and went to Hastings that night to get a Spanish-English dictionary. We were checking out when Kim's crush walked in with another girl. Naturally she was upset, but as I pointed out, we had no idea if he was actually dating her. I suggested that Kim go ask Jonathan, if she really wanted to know, because Jon and Charles are pretty good friends. Sooo, we went back to Taco Bell, but this time I stayed in the car. Before she got out, Kim asked me, "What do you want me to do if he asks about the rose?"

"Tell him the truth," I said, "but don't embarrass him."

She went in and inquired about Charles. Jonathan didn't really know about any of that, but he could guess. (It turned out that they're actually just friends, though that's not what Jonathan thought.) Then followed this interesting conversation...

Jonathan: Was Nell with you last night?

Kim: Yes...

Jonathan: Was she the one who left the rose on my car?

Kim is silent.

Well? Yes or no?

Kim: Yes.

Jonathan: That's what I thought.

Kim: Well... do you like her?

Jonathan: Of course!

Kim: Are you going to ask her to Homecoming?

Jonathan: I don't know. I've been thinking about it... her... all last night and all today. But I don't know about Homecoming because I'm not good at dancing. I'll know by Wednesday.

I've said that [I've liked her] before.

Kim: You need to tell her.

Jonathan: I know. But it's hard.

Sooo... yeah. Kim came back to the car and told me everything. I was completely shocked. I was sure she had just made it all up to make me feel better, but she swore she hadn't.

I was thrilled, and incredibly nervous. I spent most of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday feeling like I was going to throw up. I had figured that if he was going to ask, he would do it on Tuesday, the day of after-school band rehearsal. He didn't. He had to take me home after practice, and he still didn't. As soon as I got home I started crying. What he told me time after time was true. Nothing was ever going to happen.

And then, on Wednesday, he asked me.

The dance was last night, after the required football game, which unfortunately is the entire point of Homecoming. We won, which was completely amazing. Go Pioneers.

I hung out with Jonathan (and many others) during the third quarter, which we have off. We'd talked a bit since he asked me, which was good because I figured we'd avoid each other like the plague. (Don't you love my cliches, and my overenthusiastic use of parentheses?) The best part of this: Jamie hugged me, for some reason, and Jonathan quickly stepped forward and said, "Now, now, we'll have none of that!"

Finally, the dance. He looked so good, but I won't get into that. I had such an incredible time! Just being with Jonathan is like heaven, but we actually danced. I didn't think we would, at all. We're both fairly shy, scared of each other, and have had no dancing experience.

At first it was exactly like I thought it would be, except we were actually talking to each other. I suggested that we go do the picture thing, as we weren't dancing. When we got back to the cafeteria, a slow song came on. We knew we could manage that. Jonathan looked at me. "Shall we?" So I put my arms around his neck, and he rested his hands on the small of my back, and we swayed back and forth and talked. From that point on, we pretty much never stopped dancing. We attempted to two-step to the fast songs, but as I have the coordination of a fire hydrant and we both kept forgetting what step we were on, that didn't work too well. So we one-stepped. Yeah. It was just... incredible. I can't describe it. Dancing and talking and grinning and touching and warmth and disco lights. I told him things I thought I'd never be able to tell him, like how much he scares me, and how much I like him. I have never had anything like that before. Neither of us expected to have such a good time. I made him happy... I made him happy!

Random excerpt from the conversation:

Me: ...How much you enjoy slow dancing depends on who you've got your arms wrapped around.

Jonathan: What?

Me blushing : Never mind.

Jonathan: I think I heard you.... So, are you enjoying slow dancing this evening?

Me: Yes! Are you?

Jonathan: Yes!

The dance was over at midnight. At five till, the DJ started blathering into the microphone about playing the last song, but he must have been holding it too close to his lips because he was rather unintelligable. Jonathan and I both commented on how we couldn't believe it was already midnight, and how time had gone so fast. Then he quoted Einstein for me (this is a guy who reads books on astrophysics in his spare time)... "If you leave your finger on a hot stove for a minute, it feels like an hour. If you spend an hour with a beautiful woman, it feels like a minute."

I was incredibly flattered. Romantic Einstein quotes... how utterly Jonathan.

The last dance, played, a slow one, and I lay my head on his shoulder without even thinking about it. I stood there, swaying back and forth, eyes closed, wrapped in an embrace with Jonathan, and it was like every sappy love song written applied to me. I don't know what to say about the whole evening, other than that it was incredible, and I never wanted it to end, but that last song....

Jonathan and I walked to his car with our arms around each others' backs, and he asked me yet again if I had enjoyed myself. I assured him that yes, I had, for the fifth time. He was just trying to say something, he said. "Words aren't always necessary," I said. And that is what I would say about that last dance...nothing at all.

Where will we go from here?