13 by Jason Robert Brown Page B

floor!
    With a group of girl friends!
    With Bill nowhere in sight!
    It was all I could do not to pump my fists and shout. So what if I couldn’t relate to the guys? Nina would be different. Taking her in my arms, I would tell her about the trouble with my parents, the anguish of moving, the strange people at my new school, even Archie! Yes, ours would be a love for the ages. By the time I actually reached the dance floor, it all seemed possible. Until I felt this sort of clammy hand on my shoulder.
    â€œHi, Evan. Remember me?”
    There I was, staring down at the unfortunate face of Rachel Hadassah Zisser. Buckteeth. Black-rimmed glasses. Chin zits. Back in third grade we called her “the creature.” She made up for her vastly unattractive face and figure by being unimaginably loud and irritating.
    â€œRachel!” I said.
    That’s when I noticed her embarrassingly low-cut green dress, exposing actual cleavage. Some boobs, I discovered on that day, are better left to the imagination.
    â€œSo how are you?” Rachel said. “Tell me everything!”
    I glanced at Nina. She and her friends were dancing in a circle now, taking turns shimmying into the center for solos.
    â€œLook,” I said, “I’ve really got to run.”
    â€œI bet you didn’t know that my dad is from Lafayette,” Rachel went on. “That’s in Indiana too. My grandfather taught at Purdue. I love the Midwest. Everything is so clean.”
    As the band segued to “Hey Ya,” Nina’s group suddenly decided they had had enough and started wandering off the floor.
    â€œHey, listen, Rachel,” I said. “Let’s talk later, okay?”
    But Rachel pivoted to block my getaway.
    â€œWait,” she said. “I promised myself that I would do something at this party and I’m going to just do it. Just put aside my fears and go for it!”
    â€œOh?” I stammered.
    Nina was disappearing into the crowd! I feinted to my left. Again Rachel stood her ground.
    â€œJust give me a second, okay?” Rachel said. “Would it surprise you to hear that ever since second grade, I’ve had a massive crush on you? We used to play freeze tag at recess, and I just thought, That’s him, that’s the man of my dreams. Oh my god, I said it! I told you! Please don’t hate me! I just had to tell you!”
    I’m supposed to be flattered when a girl tells me she has a crush on me, right? Well, that wasn’t happening.
    â€œListen, Rachel,” I said, looking frantically over her head—disaster! Nina was nowhere to be seen!“That’s such a great thing to hear…”
    Her eyes got wide.
    â€œBut I just…”
    Her eyes narrowed. I could see her preparing herself for rejection.
    I caught a glimpse of Nina’s hair by the entrance to the ballroom.
    I gulped. “You know, I’m in Indiana and everything. I just don’t see how…”
    A single tear descended Rachel’s cheek. “Right. I know.”
    Nina was out the door.
    I wanted to be kind to Rachel, but there just wasn’t time. “We’ll talk later, okay?” I said, and just like that I was gone, weaving and cutting through the crowd like a commuter running for a train.
    â€œWait!” Rachel called.
    I almost knocked over a waiter with a plate of mini quiches.
    â€œWatch it, buddy!”
    Zoom, a second later I narrowly missed tackling Aaron’s grandmother. But then I was at the door. I looked both ways.
    At the other end of the hall! The glimmer of a blue dress! I was off like I had been shot out of a cannon. I had tasted the upper lip. Now I needed the lower.
    Down the hall I barreled, past two weddingreceptions and another bar mitzvah party. Wait, dammit, where did she go?
    I stopped.
    I listened.
    And then I heard her. But not her voice; her giggle. Heart racing, I turned and walked two steps to my left, and there was a staircase that headed