Chapter 7

After he finished everything, he went downstairs to check up on his mother. He went straight to her room. When he got there he noticed that her door was open and the lights were on. He looked into the room and saw his mother sitting in front of a mirror applying little makeup.

He was surprised with what he saw, “Good morning mom.” He walked into the room.

His mother turned back, “Oh, good morning Derick, hope you slept well?” She asked.

“I did,” he replied. “Are you going out anywhere?” He asked.

“Not really, I was just trying see how I would look with some make up on, it has been a while.” She replied.

He smiled, “Alright mom. I will be heading to school.”

“Have you had breakfast?” She asked before he could leave the room.

“I will get something to eat at school, I should be going to school now.”

“Where are you rushing to, I am sure school today won’t be too serious because of the dance tomorrow.” She said.

“Well you can never be too sure.” He said. “See you when I get back mom.” He started to walk out of the room.

“Get home early today!” She yelled as he left the room.

Derick left the room and went out of the house with a smile on his face, he was happy seeing his mother like that. He grabbed his bike and rode to school.

He went through the usual route, getting to John’s house, then to school. After a while they both got to school, they parked their bike, chained it and went into the school.

“I have to say, you look bright today.” John said to Derick as they entered.

“I don’t understand what you mean.” Derick acted oblivious.

“Well I will just leave it how it is.” He said. “Well there isn’t going to be much today in school because of the dance tomorrow, I would have stayed home but I wanted to get some stuff from my locker.” He continued.

“Yeah, my mom said the same thing to me.” Derick said.

“So that’s why you have been bright, it must be your mom.” John guessed.

Before Derick could say anything, he saw Celia alone in her locker which was a rear sight for her to be alone and right there Derick got an idea.

“I think I will ask Celia to the dance.” Derick said from nowhere.

“What! You can’t be serious right now. You can’t honestly be serious.” He was surprised. “Why? You don’t really have to.”

Derick took a deep breath, “I told my mom that I have a girlfriend, and to me I thought of Celia while I said that her.”

John was speechless, but he managed to say, “Why would you do that?”

“I wanted something that would make her feel happy because I did not know the last time she was happy,” he said. “I also told her that I had a lot of friends and my life was going really great. And since then she has been happy, you should see her now, she is doing great.” He explained.

“That is just crazy, but still I understand the fact that you did all that to make your mom happy but how do you think she would feel when she finds out that it’s all a lie.” John said.

“Well she will not find out.”

“If you say so. But I don’t understand why you have to ask Celia to the dance, there is no need for that, it is just a lie.” Derick said.

“Well…”

“Don’t tell me that there is more to this.” John interrupted him.

“My mom heard about the school dance and left the house to buy a suit for me, since it’s only natural that I will be going to the dance with my girlfriend.”

“Now that is really something.”

“So now I have to go to the dance, with the suit and my girlfriend or I have to come out with everything and tell her the truth. Both options are really hard.”

“Personally I feel like you should tell your mother the truth, yeah she will feel really bad but at least you will stop having to lie to her.”

“Yeah I know, but I don’t think I will be able to handle how my mom will feel if I tell her the truth.” He said. “But now that I see Celia alone, I feel like there is a chance for the first option. And imagine if I actually go to the dance with her. If she turns me down, nothing is going to happen, I will just have to figure out something else.” He continued.

“Well, go for it then. There is nothing then if you really have to.” John stepped back.

Derick took a deep breath, looked at Celia. He was glad that she was alone with no one around her which made it easier for him.

He walked quickly to her so that all the courage he summoned will not go away. He was already close to her and she has not noticed him yet. He went closer and still she did not notice him.

“Hey Celia.” He said. She looked at his direction, he did not say anything else and there was no expression on her face. It discouraged Derick a bit but he was already there and there was no going back now. “I just came to ask you if you would like to go to the dance with me tomorrow.” He said.

She did not say anything for a while, there was an awkward silence between them but she kept on looking at him.

“Sure, why not.” She finally said.

Derick could not believe what he heard, deep down he was expecting her to refuse but she did not. He started to feel a whole new feeling and he did not know what it was.

She closed her locker and walked away and Derick slowly went back to john. John waited for Derick to get close to him and when he did, john ask with curiosity, “So how did it go?”

“She agreed to go to the dance with me.” Derick kept on smiling.

John was surprised, “You can’t be serious. What exactly did she say?” He asked.

“Well I asked her if she could go to the dance with me and she was like “Sure, why not”.”

John could not still believe that she agreed, “I have to say, I am now more worried that she agreed to go with you.” She said.

“What is there to be worried about? I will be going to the dance with the girl I have a crush on and I will be going to the dance with her just as my mom wants, it’s a win win.” He was excited.

“Yeah it is but…”

“Alright, now I just have to go home and get prepared for it.” Derick interrupted John.

“But the dance is tomorrow in the evening, there is still time for it.” John said.

“Well you can never start too early to get prepared.” Derick said. “I will need to go home since there is really nothing to do in school.”

John still did not feel okay about the whole, but he could not remember the last time Derick was this happy. And his mother was also happy, so he did not put too much thought into it.

“See you later then.” John said.

Derick walked away, he went to the exit and left the school. He grabbed his bike and started to ride home. He got home quickly which was what he wanted. He kept on thinking about everything, about Celia agreeing to go to the dance with him.

He open the door to his house and walked in. He saw his mother in the kitchen making some food.

“You can back home really early.” She said immediately she saw him walk in.

He went to her, “Yeah, there was nothing to do in school today so I just had to come back home and I can’t wait for the dance tomorrow.”

“Well you seem really excited about it today, yesterday i wasn’t getting this much excitement from you.” She said.

“What can I say, the more the day draws closer the more excited I get.”

His mother could tell the change in him, but she was not sure why. “Alright, why don’t you go and freshen up and come back down and eat, I will be done with this soon.”

“Alright mom, I will do that.” He said as he went upstairs to his room.

It was Friday and it was almost time for the party. Derick was getting prepared in his room and his mother was also with him. He was already on his suit and his mother was helping him with his tie.

“Alright, there we go, I’m done.” His mother said.

Derick stepped back a little bit and looked at the mirror in his room. He remembered the last time he wore a suit, which was for his father funeral and now he is wearing a suit to go to a dance with his crush as his date.

“You look amazing. My little boy is all grown up now.” She smile as little tears started to come out of her eyes.