“Good,” she said, twirling. “You like my dress?” It was salmon colored and suited her coloring perfectly. Her hair was a riot of curls and she was wearing matching salmon gloves.
“You look beautiful as usual,” said Mr. Bronson, shuttling them back to the family room so they could take pictures. He greeted Jamel and they shook hands.
“Hey, man,” said Jamel, shaking Damon’s hand. “Was’ sup?”
“Hey, you man,’ said Damon, with a grin. He caught Mr. Bronson’s eye and straightened. Damon shook hands with Jamel and Jamel grinned at him knowingly.
“So you taking my girl Brielle out, huh?’ asked Jamel. Damon saw Mr. Bronson stiffen out of the corner of his eye.
“Yes,” said Damon, running a finger over his suddenly too tight collar. Jamel caught Mr. Bronson’s expression and hastened to introduce Asia.
“Mr. Bronson,” said Jamel. “This is Asia. You know her don’t you?”
Mr. Bronson smiled.
“Yeah. How are you Asia?” he said to the small girl dressed in peach taffeta.”
“Well,” said Asia, in a high, sweet voice. “I made homecoming court this year, but I didn’t have a date so Jamel agreed to take me. Isn’t he sweet?” She beamed at Jamel, who beamed back.
“It’s my pleasure,” said Jamel, chocolate face and broad smile offset by a cream tuxedo and peach cummerbund and tie. Sammie whipped a camera out of her beaded bag and they all posed for pictures. Kyzie came down the stairs, looking resplendent in a simple floor length burgundy dress and shawl.
“You look great,” said Damon, looking genuinely impressed. Kyzie gave him a haughty look and then softened with a smile.
“Thank you,” she said loftily. “I know you’re just saying that so you can get in good with the daddy, but I’ll accept the compliment. Wait until you see Brielle.”
“I brought you some flowers, Kyzie,” said Sammie with a laugh. “Since you’re my date and all.” Everybody laughed and Sammie handed Kyzie the box with a pink carnation in it.
“Thank you,” said Kyzie, hugging Sammie.
“Look at you!” squealed Asia as Brielle walked into the room. Damon was speechless for a full minute. Fortunately, Sammie and Asia squealed and exclaimed long enough for him to regain his composure.
Finally he got himself together enough to walk over to Brielle and take her hand.
He forgot all about her father glowering in the background.
“You look like a princess,” he breathed. “A really beautiful princess.”
“Thank you,” said Brielle, eyes shining. “You look nice, too.” They stood looking at each other for a few moments until a throat was cleared.
“Oh,” said Damon, holding out the corsage box. “This is for you.” Brielle took the proffered box and opened it.
“How cute,” she breathed. “It’s really nice. Thank you.”
“You wear it on your wrist,” said Damon. He lifted it out of the box and clumsily put it on her slender wrist.
“Let’s take pictures!” said Sammie. They posed.
“Oh,” said Brielle. “I almost forgot.” She walked over to the refrigerator in the adjoining kitchen and pulled it open. She pulled out two small boxes and handed one to Kyzie. The second one, she handed to Damon.
“This is for you,” she said. Damon took the boutonnière box and smiled.
“This is kind of cool,” he said. “Thank you.” He stood still while she pinned the small purple rosebud on his collar.
Sammie took hers, pinned it on the bodice of her dress and said to Kyzie, “Thank you date. I’ll never take it off.” The two air kissed each other.
Everybody laughed. After they’d mugged for the camera and Mrs. Bronson had shed a few tears over her daughter on a first date, Brielle and Damon were finally seated in his car on the way to the restaurant. He had walked her to her car door and gotten her seated under her father’s gimlet eye and was just starting to relax a little.
Damon stopped at a red light and looked around.
“What are you looking for?’ asked Brielle.
“Making sure your dad is not following us,” he said. When he’d assured himself that they were truly alone he leaned over and kissed her lips softly.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hello,” said Brielle. She smiled shyly. “You’ve got lip gloss on your lips.” He wiped his index finger over his lips and looked at it.
“I wonder how that got there?” he asked, wagging his eyebrows. Brielle laughed, pulled a tissue out of her small purse and handed it to him.
Once they got to the restaurant, they were seated at a table for two. They could hear Kyzie, Sammie and about eight other kids from school having a boisterous time, but they sat and talked quietly, enjoying each other’s company.
“So,” said Damon.
“So,” said Brielle. They both laughed nervously.
“How’s the swimming coming?” he asked, though he knew very well that Brielle and her team had won the last two meets.
Brielle launched into a monologue and they relaxed.
“Anyway, that’s more than you ever wanted to know about swimming,” she said, when she’d exhausted the subject. “What good books have you read?
“Lately,” he said. “Not much.”
“Why not?” she asked.
“Well, I’m working on getting my grades up,” he admitted. “Mr. Tally says he’ll help me get a scholarship, if I show him that I’m serious.”
“What is your grade point average?” asked Brielle.
“Three point four,” said Damon.
“That’s really good,” said Brielle. “I think mine is a three point five. I’ve got a C coming in trig that will probably totally wreck my grade point, though.”
“Yeah, but I want to try for this Bill Gates scholarship,” said Damon. “And you’ve got to be a great student to get it.”
The server interrupted them and asked if they were ready to order.
“Oh,” said Brielle. “I think I’m going to have either shrimp or chicken. What are you getting?”
“Chicken,” said Damon, seriously. “And you should get chicken, too.”
“Why?” asked Brielle. “You don’t like shrimp?” She looked at him and cocked her head to the side.
He shrugged his shoulders in embarrassment.
“I’m allergic,” he admitted.
“Really?” said Brielle, amazed that the boy in front of her actually had a flaw.
“Yeah,” he said. “In addition to the stupid asthma, no
