You looked at the flyer on the wall and made up your mind. It was your only chance because any other opportunity would be inappropriate. It was the one and only Sadie Hawkins dance your school offered and you were eager to capitalize on what it stood for. You knew that you had to take this chance and ask your crush to the dance. Except, you knew that he may or may not like another girl and the other girl may or may not like him.

            You were still really awkward, still haven’t exactly blossomed after puberty. You had a couple of pimples here and there but then again, so did that girl. Sometimes you envied your sister who was in high school because life seemed so much easier for her. You looked at the flyer again.

            The advertisement on it encouraged girls to embrace their inner courage and to ask another boy to the dance. You knew that if you asked your friends, they would definitely tell you to ask him as well.

            “Hey!” you heard his voice right behind you, squeaked and dropped your flyer. It landed by his feet and you groaned when he picked it up. Great, now he must think you were clumsy as well as awkward to boot.

            “Uh, hi,” you whispered lamely. Normally the two of you hit it off fine, but not when you were just thinking about asking him to the dance.

            “Wow, this dance thing is really weird, isn’t it. I’m glad it’s the girls who’re asking though because I don’t think I would have the guts to.”

            You looked at him. “Jongup, do you have anyone in mind who you would ask if you were asking?” You cringed. That was the worst and most obvious question you could have asked.

            He blinked a little and then blushed. “Eh, I guess I hope she asks me.”

            Your heart plummeted a little and he shyly handed you back the paper. “But would you turn down a girl who asked you?”

            “Not really. I think it’s a lot of effort and takes a lot of courage to ask, so as long as we were friends, I’m fine with going with her.” He grinned at you and then waved. “I need to go. My math teacher has been angry at me for being late all the time. Talk to you in art!”

           You watched him go and decided that even if you weren’t the girl he wanted to ask him, he would still say yes to you. But now, you just had to find a way to do it and check out to see if you had any competition.

            Your first strategy was to situate yourself near the potential rival. She was talking with her friends and you heard Jongup’s name being mentioned.

            “Are you asking Jongup to the dance?”

            Your friend nudged you and you pushed her away, indicating that you were paying attention. The girl looked thoughtfully out into the distance. “Um, I’m not quite sure actually.”

            Your heart was racing. If she wouldn’t ask him, then it was your chance. “Aww, but why not. He clearly likes you.”

            Ouch. You hung your head and decided if it was really that great an idea to ask him if you knew he didn’t even like you. You waited patiently for her to respond but that was when the chorus teacher walked in and your attention was diverted. You were disappointed. Maybe if you could understand the situation better, you could be able to judge for yourself.

            Your friend looked at you and gave you the thumb’s up. “I say you go for it.”

            You made a noncommittal sound and she scowled. “She’s not sure. So you can go for it.”

            “I don’t want him saying yes because he’s being nice. He said he would say yes regardless. I want him to actually like him.”

            She gave you a look. “This is middle school, for goodness’ sake. You can’t really demand too much from him. But this is your perfect chance. Maybe he can learn to like you.”

            You thought it over and the date for the party came quickly. You decided that you would ask him but privately and quickly. After art, you waited for him to pack up his bag before slipping out after him. He headed to his locker and yours was right next to his so you sidled up to him.

            “Hey, Jongup,” you called out.

            He turned and smiled. “Hi, what’s up?”

            You glanced at the ceiling. “I sort of want to ask you to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Come with me please? I know you’d say yes because we’re friends and all, so I guess I’m just going to ask and uh, hope that you don’t change that mindset or something.” It was supposed to end after the question but all your nerves poured out and you rambled.

            Jongup smiled and his eyes crinkled. “Oh uh, yeah. I actually.” He looked at his feet and shuffled a little. “Uh, I did say I would say yes to friends. But you, um, you’re the girl I actually, um, wanted to ask me, haha.” He laughed again shyly and your heart melted at his adorable smile.

this is for jongitup

So stressed. I know Jewell unnie told me to rest but I have a deadline in September that I'd like to meet before allowing myself more leeway on these stories and with getting read yfor school and all, wow. I'm crunched 

DOuble update so please anticipate

I want to thank all my readers and apologize for this bad quality :(