“Give it up, Mel,” Kim said, lying back down on her bed. “You know I don’t do blind dates.”

     “You don’t do any dates!” Melissa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and letting them drop to her sides.

     It’s Friday once again, and as usual, Kim’s cousin/best friend, Melissa, is trying to set her up for a date. This happens every week, as if part of a ritual.

     “Well, stop setting me up, because you’ll only disappoint yourself,” she told her. “I don’t wanna go out with anyone. You of all people should know that.” 

     The two girls grew up together. They stood by each other’s side through thick and thin. Many friends came in and out of their lives, but the two of them stuck together. Melissa had many relationships that Kim saw, and every time they failed, Kim trusted men less and less.

     “I just don’t want you to grow old, sad, and alone,” Melissa said, putting an arm around her shoulders.

     “And I won’t. I just need to find him myself,” Kim said, looking at her.

     “Well, how on Earth are you going to find someone you’re not even looking for?” Melissa asked.

     “If we’re meant to be together, we’ll find each other. One way or another,” she said with a smile. “Have a little faith.”

     “But—“Melissa tried to argue.

     “Come on, Mel,” she pleaded. “Don’t you trust me?”

     “Ugh,” she groaned. “I hate it when you play the trust card.” Kim then grinned and lifted her feet up so that she was sitting ‘Indian style’ as they always called it. She knew that she won this one—again. “Let me just call Rick,” Melissa said, taking out her phone and leaving the room.

     Kim stood up and walked to her closet. Like every other time that Melissa tried to convince her to go out with someone, it was trashed. She pulled out everything she could reach, suggesting them all for her to wear to her supposed date. Just as Kim started picking up all the clothes off of the floor, Melissa walked back in with a frown on her face.

     “That was fast,” Kim observed.

     “Well, I already know what I’m gonna say, because I say it every week—to the people it takes me 25 calls and all of my persuasive talent to get to go out with you,” Melissa complained.

     “Mel,” Kim whined. “Come on. You’re not honestly trying to make me feel guilty about this are you?”

     Melissa said nothing. Instead she pouted and crossed her arms. She knew she was acting like a spoiled little girl who didn’t get what she wanted for Christmas, but she was doing it for Kim’s own good.

     “Hmmm,” Kim growled under her breath and sighed. “Fine, fine, I’ll make it up to you,” she finally said.

     In a heartbeat, Melissa’s frown turned into a smile, her dark eyes glinted with excitement, her brows that were drawn together lifted up along with her body as she bounced on the bed with balled fists in front of her, trying to control screaming. She ended up squealing instead. “Great!” she exclaimed. “Let me go call Rick again.”

     But just as she was about to dial his number, Kim grabbed her phone from her. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. No. No-no-no. I’m still not going out with him.”

     Melissa’s mouth hung open with surprise. “But you sai—“

     “I said,” Kim cut her short. “that I was merely gonna make it up to you. I never said I was gonna go through with this date.”

     “Well then how are you gonna make it up to me?” Melissa asked, standing up and putting both hands on her hips.

     “We’re gonna have a girls’ night out!” Kim exclaimed.

     “Oh, my gosh! Kimmy we haven’t had a night out ever since you got that job at the paper!” Melissa said, squealing once again.

     “I know,” Kim said, putting both hands on each of her shoulders to calm her down. “Which is why, tonight, I’m gonna tell my boss that I can’t come to work. I’m sure he’ll understand.”

     “Kim, please. With all the extra hours you’ve been putting in lately, he better,” Melissa said, walking back to her closet. “Now, we need to find you something to wear.”

     “Oh, joy,” Kim said sarcastically. She loves clothes, but she doesn’t really put that much thought in what she wears. She just grabs the first thing she sees and it’s always good enough. She can make any type of outfit work for her. Melissa, on the other hand, needs to decide between 38 outfits for 2 hours just to settle for the first one that she decided on.

     “That was fun!” Melissa exclaimed, as they walked down the busy streets.

     “No, that was the sixth club we went to,” Kim said, stopping to sit on a bench.

     “Oh, poo. Why didn’t you dance with that guy earlier? He was cute!” Melissa said, playfully bumping her shoulder with hers.

     “That ‘cute’ guy looked like a drunken creep. The only thing worse than a creep at a bar asking you to dance is a drunken creep at a bar asking you to dance,” Kim said, bumping her back.

     Melissa giggled and stood up. She then grabbed Kim’s hand and pulled her up with her. “You wanna go home now?”

     “Mel!” Kim exclaimed, looking at her as if she were crazy. “I wanted to go home after club number four!”

     Melissa laughed again—and so did Kim. She was happy as long as her loved ones were as well. They began walking towards their penthouse when Melissa saw a flyer stapled on a telephone pole. “What’s this?” she asked, pulling it off.

     “’Annual Masquerade Ball?’” Kim asked reading the title.

     “’Annual?’” Melissa repeated. “How come I’ve never heard of it before?”

     “Because it’s the first one, see?” she asked, pointing at the sentence on the flyer.

     “We should go!” Melissa said, excited.

     “No, you should go,” Kim said, walking ahead of her.

     “Come on, Kimmy. Please?” Melissa begged.

     “No,” Kim said again.

     “Please, please, please?” she pleaded again.

     “No, Mel,” Kim said with finality.

     “Well, why not?” Melissa asked, whining.

     “Because I don’t really see a reason why I should go,” Kim said.

     “Kim, when was the last time you did something just for the fun of it?” Melissa challenged her.

     “About ten minutes ago,” Kim said.

     “No. You didn’t do it for the fun of it, you did it to ‘make it up to me,’” Melissa returned. When she saw that Kim couldn’t respond, she decided to go in for the kill. “Kim, please. Give yourself a chance to have fun again—even if it’s just for one night. Have fun just for fun.”

     “Fine,” Kim said with a sigh. “Was that your famous ‘persuasive talent?’”

     “Yup!” Melissa said cheerily, linking her arm with her best friend’s.

     “No wonder those guys actually said ‘yes’ to a date with me,” Kim said, laughing.