Meanwhile, my daughter is experiencing her own drama at the school. As the dance is winding down, Janna twirls around the floor with Lyric when he notices his sister returning alone through the doorway that leads to the hallway. He had noticed her leaving with Kookie a few moments before. Now she walks in through the doors looking a little lost. Even from across the gym, he can tell something is very wrong. His normally confident sister is looking a little dejected.
Lyric stops twirling Janna in mid-spin. In his haste to comfort his sister, he unceremoniously drops Janna’s hand and strides towards Melody. Janna is surprised by his lack of chivalry. Curious, she follows Lyric.
Melody makes it to the punch bowl before a lone tear slides down her cheek, unattended by Kookie’s compassionate fingers. But Lyric notices the tear and pulls her into a fierce hug.
“What’s wrong, Mel?” asks Lyric.
But he already notices that Kookie is missing. Now he searches the gym for Emmie. His eyes slide around every wall and each corner, but she is nowhere to be found. Suspiciously, he supposes that Kookie and Emmie are together. And that his sister has now become the third wheel.
Melody lifts sad eyes to Lyric before informing him, “Kookie ran after Emmie.”
Now it’s Janna’s turn to be concerned. “Emmie? What’s wrong with Emmie?”
Melody replies, “She ran out into the pouring rain.”
Narrowing her eyes, Janna responds, “Emmie ran out into the pouring rain? Why would she do that?”
As Janna turns a questioning gaze upon Melody, she notices a faint blush staining the older girl’s cheeks. Melody looks down at her feet as she stumbles to explain, “Um…uh…she followed me and Kookie into the hallway…and Kookie…was about to…um…” Melody clears her throat as she glances furtively at Janna. “Kookie was about to…”
As Melody’s voice trails off, Janna gets a very clear picture of what Kookie was about to do to Melody. “He was going to kiss you, wasn’t he?”
Melody and Janna lock eyes for a moment, and Janna presses her, “Did Kookie kiss you? Is that why Emmie ran out the door?”
Clearly disappointed, Melody shakes her head. “No, he didn’t,” she whispers. “He ran after Emmie.” She glances toward the doors. “Out into the pouring rain. They’ve both got to be soaked by now.”
Upon hearing these words, Janna hides the fact that she is bubbling over with excitement. Kookie walked away from the girl he was about to kiss so that he could chase after Emmie and comfort her instead?! Where were they now? What were they doing? Was Kookie kissing Emmie instead?
Lyric glances at Janna, wondering if he should take her home. He questions her, “Where do you think they went?”
To Janna it’s pretty obvious that they must have gone home to her house. She thinks the wise course of action is to leave them alone for a while. At least as alone as they’ll be with her mom.
Janna responds, “Home.”
Just then, Lyric turns towards his sister and speaks in a soft voice, “Mel, you want to go home now?”
She looks at him as she sighs with relief. She nods her head. “Please.”
As Janna watches Melody’s face, she realizes the older girl likes Kookie much more than she realized. Her heart goes out to her even as Janna rejoices that Emmie isn’t going to hurt over Kookie anymore.
Lyric smiles at Janna. “Would you mind riding home with me while I drop Melody off before I take you to your house?”
Lyric wants to spare his sister from having to look at even just Kookie’s house right now.
Before Janna can respond, a tall boy strides over to her.
“Janna, will you dance with me?”
Shocked, Janna turns to look at the boy with the blond hair and round, blue eyes. He isn’t even remotely her type. She’s trying to figure out how to let him down kindly when Lyric interposes, “Sorry, but she’s leaving with me…right now.”
As Lyric says this, he reaches out to slide his fingers around Janna’s before pulling her towards the exit. She glances down at their intertwined hands. Lyric is holding her hand again! Overjoyed by this simple touch, she smiles gratefully up at him. He just saved her from having to make some excuse to that nice boy. And now Lyric is once again holding on to her like she is someone extra special to him.
Janna glances over at Melody. She feels sorry for the dejected girl, but she’s so happy for her best friend right now. Homecoming has proven to be a good night for both her and Emmie. At least, she thinks it will end well for Emmie. Janna realizes she won’t know for sure until she arrives at home.
Suddenly, she’s very impatient to be home. She doesn’t want to ride with Melody to her house. Not even if it means a little alone time with Lyric. Her whole focus is on Emmie and Kookie right now. She really can’t think about anything else. She just wants to be home. She wants to make sure everything is all right between her twin and her best friend. This suddenly feels like the most important thing in the whole world. But she’s already agreed to ride with Lyric and Melody to their house. That’s when she realizes that Kookie might not have driven her mom’s van home. As she waits for Lyric to pick up her and Melody at the front doors, she quickly combs through her purse, discovering her car keys.
A few moments later, she jumps into his car and turns towards him, asking him, “Um, Lyric, can you drive around the parking lot for a moment? I want to see if my mom’s van is still here. If it is, I should drive it home.”
Following Melody’s instructions, Lyric soon locates the van. As he pulls his car up in front of it, Janna turns towards him. “Thank you for a wonderful evening. Sorry I have to cut it short…”
“It’s OK. Can I…can I stop by your house later tonight?” Why is he suddenly acting shy?
“Sure,” she smiles at him. Of course, you can stop by! In fact, you better!
She opens the door, jumps out of the car into the pouring rain, and shouts, “Bye!” before slamming his car door shut, opening the door to her mother’s van, and diving inside. She really doesn’t want to get her dress any wetter than it already is. She drives home, wondering the whole way what’s going on inside her house.
