Chapter 1
The Big Invitation
I walked out of my second-period class, holding hands with my best friend Gabrielle, on our way to lunch. Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. I turned to see Chad Jorndon, someone I knew, running towards us. "Hey, Theresa, hey Gabrielle," he said as he approached us. We both replied with a friendly "Hey". "So, how can we help the famous Chad Jorndon?" I asked, smiling. Gabrielle giggled. Chad seemed nervous as he asked, "I was wondering what you and Gabrielle are doing this weekend. I'm hosting an end-of-the-year party at my house to celebrate making it through three years of high school."
"Oh, yeah, we're not doing anything this weekend," I said calmly, looking at Gabrielle for approval. "We will come to your party." Although I remained calm on the outside, I was jumping for joy on the inside. Chad responded with excitement, perhaps even more excited than me. "That's great!" he exclaimed. "Well, I will send you the time and address later. Can I give you my number?" He asked, handing me his phone. "Sure," I replied, taking the phone from him. As I did so, I felt his hand brush over mine, and I immediately felt the electric shock that I had felt the first time he touched me. I entered my phone number and gave the phone back to him. He put it in his pocket and said, "Well, thank you, Theresa. I hope to see both of you at my party."
"Wait! You don't mind if I bring the other girls, right?" I asked him. He smiled and said, "No, I don't mind at all," before leaving.
"Well, well, well," Gabrielle said mockingly. "I never thought I'd live to see Chad Jornden act so nervous, especially for a girl." She laughed.
"Me neither, but girl let me tell you, it took all my strength not to jump in his arms and scream 'yes' or something. If I did that, he would think I was crazy like one of those popular girls you see on TV shows," I replied. "Oh, girl, you're not crazy. And you will never be," Gabrielle said with a smile. As we walked towards the lunch table, my friend Gabrielle abruptly stopped and exclaimed with surprise, "Wait, T, you just got invited to the most exclusive party of the century! And guess who's hosting it? None other than the most popular boy in our grade and the captain of our football team." She was in shock, and I could see the realization sinking in. "We need to go shopping after school!" She continued as we reached our table with our plates of food. Ava, Clara, and Abigail, who were all our best friends, were curious about Gabrielle's sudden excitement. "What happened? Why is Gabrielle acting like she just had a bunch of her favorite ice cream?" Ava asked. After sitting down, I greeted my friends, and Gabrielle told them the news. "We got invited to Chad Jackson's end-of-the-year party!" she said, out of breath. "Say what?!" The others exclaimed in unison.!"We are the most popular girls in our school, so it wouldn't be surprising if we always get invited to extravagant parties," Clara pointed out. "But here's the thing, Chad stopped us in the hallway, acting all nervous in front of T," Gabrielle said. "Well, well, that's not something you hear every day," Abrigable said while eating her food. "That's what I said! At least we know one thing," she continued. "And what is that?" Ava asked. "That we all have to go shopping and that Chad Jordan has a thing for our best friend," the group said in unison. "Agreed," they all said again.
