La boum

Salut, tout le monde! C'est moi, Sabine, et je vais vous dire que je détestais la boum.

I never have much luck with school dances or teen dances sponsored by community centers. It's not that I don't like dances. I would like them if somebody didn't always have to ruin them for me! There were two people this time that made leave early, and you'll see why. Hopefully, you'll understand why I left. I was just so finished. I mean, I am SO finished with those two.

Of course, one of the people who HAD to ruin my time was Chrissa. When you first walked into the dance, you could see Chrissa dancing on a chair to whatever crappy song was playing at the time. I ignored her at first, and that was easy to do because she was just keeping to herself and showing off her dance moves- which I would show off, too, if I were her! I may not be her biggest fan, but I can give her credit- she's an excellent dancer!

I met up with Lilly and Melanie, and Melanie was being a complete loner. Dances really aren't Melanie's thing...at all. She'd rather be in her room playing one of her instruments. She told me that she always feels awkward at dances because she is so shy and doesn't know what to do other than follow her friends around. Following friends around didn't seem too awkward to me. Unless you were one of the people in the huge mosh pit/dancing crowd, everybody just followed their buddies and had shouting conversations because the music was too loud for anything else.

Lilly noticed Chrissa and said, "What the heck is that? Who does that?!?! Let's be real!" Melanie and I died laughing.

"I'd be a little embarrassed," Melanie said in a hushed voice that one could barely hear over the terrible song that was vibrating in everyone's ears. 

"Me too, Melanie," I said. "I sometimes wish I could be as outgoing and bold as her, but I'd be too embarrassed to make a fool out of myself in public."

Lilly interjected, "No, Sabine! You wish you could be as bold and outgoing as ME! I have no shame! I'll dance until my feet hurt. I'll even dance my tush off! What am I afraid of? YOLO!"

"YOLO" was Lilly's new phrase. It meant, "you only live once", in case you didn't know. I thought it sounded silly, but Lilly was obsessed with it. She used it as an excuse for every time she did something stupid or crazy, and her imitations of Chrissa's dance moves were just those things.

Melanie still looked mortified, and her look basically told me that she wanted to leave the party. To make matters worse, Lilly decided that Melanie needed to "live a little" (Lilly's words), so Lilly grabbed her hands and began dancing. Melanie blushed, and I almost felt sorry for her. I liked Melanie and all, but I sometimes wished she'd be a little more social and have some fun.

I could tell that Melanie looked upset with Lilly, so I wanted to stay out of it. Otherwise, I might have ended up laughing because they did look funny. I wandered over to Julien, and I caught him off guard.

"Sabine! Je ne t'ai pas vu!" He exclaimed.

"Regarde-moi," I laughed. "Tu me vois maintenant."

A slower song began to play, and he then extended a hand. "Tu veux danser?"

For a moment, I understood how Melanie was feeling. I wasn't one for dancing, either, but it was Julien. He was my best friend, and I didn't want to say "non", so I hesitantly grabbed his hand, and we took off. The only downfall of this was that my classmates would for sure say that we are dating, but we aren't! I mean, sure. It does sound silly to slow dance with somebody under the title of "just friends", but that was what I planned on doing.

I actually had a good time, and as he moved me across the slick floor, I felt like I was flying. I felt free, and I didn't worry about what my classmates might think. I did this for me. As we were dancing, I began to wonder if I actually did have feelings for Julien that went past "just friends", but I wasn't sure. I didn't want to be more than friends, and if I wasn't sure, I thought it was safe going with my first thought- I didn't have feelings for him beyond friendship.

As usual, all good things have to come to an end. Chrissa had to shout, "JULIANNE!!!!" Julien and I paused mid-dance, and I told him just to go and see what she wanted. I promised to come with him, since Chrissa intimidates him just a bit.

"Julianne," Chrissa said in her terrible French accent. "I saw the way you danced with Sabine, and I was wondering if we could dance like that. It would be so much fun! Do you mind Sabine? Would you care? If it would hurt your feelings, I won't do it, but I am DYING to dance with a French boy! I saw the way he danced with you! So ROMANTIC! I want that! It's so much more dreamy than how my ex-boyfriends used to dance with me. They were just classless Americans!"

Before I could lose control of my temper and shout, "Then what are you? You certainly don't have much class, either!", Micki entered the picture, which only made matters worse. 

"Chrissa, don't be stupid. He wants to dance with me."

Chrissa then came after Micki. "He is my man, Micki! I'm the one who deserves a Frenchman here!"

Micki scoffed. "I lived in Belgium for ten years. I understand Europeans more than you do. He doesn't want someone like you."

"What makes you so sure? Huh?" Chrissa said bitterly.

I had enough. Micki was wearing my dress, and she didn't even ask! Of course she'd "borrow" it- it's short, and she obviously is insecure and wants Julien's attention! Lucky for me, Julien isn't attracted to trashiness. I was tired of Chrissa, and I didn't even want to know what she'd say to Micki or Julien next. I wanted to get out of any potential bad situation before it started, so I grabbed Lilly's and Melanie's hands and said, "Let's go. We're out of here." 

Sabine