Picturing Perfect by Melissa Brown, Lori Sabin

love songs. Some fast, some slow. Some sappy, some new age. I'd written out the names of the songs on the cassette memo paper. I had no idea if he'd know my handwriting, so I left a note inside the cases.
    "For Jason: Happy Driving. Love, Haddie"
    Just like the t-shirt I'd given him two years before, I left the cassettes in a small gift bag in front of his bedroom door during a sleepover with Auden. When she returned from the bathroom, my best friend rolled her eyes at me, but said nothing. She knew there was nothing she could say or do to stop the way I felt. I guess she thought if she gave me enough rope, I'd simply hang myself.
    Jason never thanked me for those tapes. And it broke my heart. That was three months ago and I'd avoided him ever since. But I knew I'd see him at the dance. Luckily, our gymnasium was large enough that I could dodge him whenever necessary.
    The dance was okay. Auden and I joked about how similar it was to middle school dances. For some reason, we thought it'd be different somehow…more grown up, more refined, more mature. But, it wasn't. Just a bunch of kids standing around in dresses and shirts and ties. About an hour into the evening, Jay and Ryan disappeared to joke around with a few of their water polo buddies. And Auden was gossiping with Leah, a girl from our history class. I stared off into space, watching the upperclassmen dance. When the song came to an end, the familiar sound of the Bangles filled the air and I felt a tap on my shoulder.
    "Would you like to dance?" Jason asked. He was standing in front of me, his hand reached out to mine.
    "Sure," I said, barely able to choke the word out. He placed his hands on my waist and I put my hands up on his shoulders and we swayed. Back and forth. Back and forth.
    "You don't have a corsage," he finally said, looking down at my hand.
    "My date forgot," I said, shrugging.
    "That sucks. You should have one."
    "That's okay."
    "Thanks for the tapes, Haddie."
    "What?"
    "The mix tapes."
    "Oh…right."
    "They're really good. I've been listening to them…a lot, actually." His eyes widened as he said that. And my heart skipped a beat.
    "Thanks," I said. He stared into my eyes as if he had more to say but couldn't find the words. My heart was pounding so hard in my chest I was convinced he could hear it. In fact, I was convinced everyone in that gymnasium could hear it.
    We swayed in silence for another minute until the song came to an end. As soon as the final note played, Jason released his hands from my waist and took a step back.
    "Thanks for the dance," he said softly.
    "Sure," I said. He smiled and walked away.
    Soon Auden was at my side.
    "Did you just dance with my brother?"
    "Yes," I said, in a daze.
    "Are you okay?"
    "Better than okay." I smiled, holding my hand against my chest like the dramatic fourteen-year-old that I was.
    The rest of the night was a blur. I think I danced with Jay and I'm pretty sure I danced with a few other boys from my class. But, nothing else mattered. That simple dance with Jason was the best four minutes of my night.
     
    "Do you remember this song?" Jason asked, looking into my eyes, drawing me back into the present.
    "Of course I do," I said, swaying to the music with Jason. The lyrics of "Eternal Flame" bounced around and around inside my head. Tiny beads of sweat formed behind my neck. Electricity from his touch was shooting through my veins and I'd never felt so alive. Not even that night eight years ago at the Homecoming dance. This was more—so much more.
    "We danced to it at Homecoming," I finally said.
    "Yep, I requested it," Jason said with a smirk.
    "You what?"
    "I requested it that night."
    "You did? Wait…why?"
    "It was on one of the mix tapes."
    Holy crap. It was on one of the tapes? I can't believe I didn't realize that all those years ago. I was so stunned that it was completely lost on me when he asked me to dance.
    " And I think you know why," Jason said, pulling me closer and pressing his head to