If I asked Alexander to the dance, he might freak out. He might say, “With you?” or “No way, not a lame, school dance. I’m so beyond that! And I thought you were, too.”
I was beyond that, even though I’d never gone to any dances to actually get beyond them. I wouldn’t be going to homecoming or the prom or any of the other dances scheduled throughout the school year. I would stay home with Becky and watch the Munsters on TV. But Trevor’s challenge had forced me to fight back, with a weapon that I didn’t even have: Alexander.
This feeling of not being able to eat or sleep was new to me. To hang my heart on every ring of the phone, to scream at the top of my lungs for Billy Boy not to tie up the line with his addictive web surfing, not to be able to watch Nosferatu without crying, or to listen to a silly, sappy, drippy, lovesick Celine Dion song without thinking she had written it just for me—I wanted it all to go away.
I think some people call this love. I called it hell.
And then it happened. After two long, torture-filled days. When the phone rang, I thought it was for Billy Boy, and when Billy Boy called my name, I thought it was Becky. I was ready to pour my heart out to her. But before I could speak, I heard his dreamy voice.
“I couldn’t wait any longer,” he said.
“Excuse me?” I asked, surprised.
“It’s Alexander. I know guys aren’t supposed to call right away. But I couldn’t wait any longer.”
“That’s a stupid rule. I could have moved.”
“In two days?”
“It was only two days?”
He laughed. “It seemed a year for me.”
His comment was like a love letter sent straight to my heart.
I waited for him to go on, but there was silence. He said nothing more. This was the perfect chance to invite him to the Snow Ball. The worst he could do was hang up. My hands were shaking and my confidence was oozing out with my perspiration. “Alexander…um…I have something to ask you.”
“I do, too.”
“Well, you first.”
“No, ladies first.”
“No, guys are supposed to do the asking.”
“You’re right.” There was silence. “Well…would you like to go out? Tomorrow night?”
I smiled with delight! “Go out? Yeah, that would be great!”
“So what were you going to ask me?”
I paused. I can do this! I took a deep breath. “Would you…”
“Yes?”
“Do you…”
“Do I what?”
“Like to dance?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think this town had any hip clubs. You know of one?”
“No…but when I find one, I’ll let you know.” I was such a wimpola!
“Great! Then I’ll see you tomorrow at my house, after sundown.”
“After sundown?”
“You said you lived for the darkness. So do I.”
“You remembered.”
“I remember everything,” he said, and hung up the phone.
17
Dream Date
My first date! Becky said my first date was dinner at the Mansion, but I didn’t agree. Tonight we would be going out: to watch a movie, to play miniature golf, to share a soda at Shirley’s. I spent all afternoon talking with Becky, speculating about where he’d take me, what he’d be wearing, and when he would kiss me.
I was so excited, I ran the whole way there. I had to meet Alexander at his iron gate. My mom would have freaked if she had known I had a date with the guy who lived in a haunted house. I couldn’t bear the thought of his showing up at my door and my dad’s asking him questions about tennis players and his plans for college. So I had to meet my Romeo on his balcony.
And there he was, leaning against the iron gate, sexy in his black jeans and black leather jacket, holding a backpack.
“Are we going on a hike?” I asked.
“No, a picnic.”
“At this hour?”
“Is there a better time?”
I shook my head, with a smile.
I had no idea where Alexander would take me, but I could imagine the response from our fellow Dullsvillians.
“Doesn’t this bother you?” I asked, pointing to the graffiti.
Alexander shrugged. “Jameson wanted to paint over it, but I wouldn’t let him. One man’s graffiti is another man’s masterpiece.” He took my hand and led me down the street without any hints of our plans for the night. And I didn’t care where we were going, just as long as it was a million miles away and he never let go.
We stopped at Dullsville’s cemetery.
“Here we are,” he said.
I had never been taken out on a date, much less a date to a cemetery. Dullsville’s cemetery dated from the early 1800s. I’m sure Dullsville was much more exciting as a pioneer town—tiny dress shops, saloons, traders, gamblers, and those Victorian lace-up boots that were totally in.