Sweetheart Dance

Happy Valentine's Day everybody!
I had Harriet over at my place yesterday evening to help me get ready for the Valentine's Day dance. I decided earlier in the day to pass out a bunch of valentines to friends and classmates. An hour before I left, Vee walked in with the dress I'd seen in the Chrissa movie and said I should wear it to the dance. At first I was, like, no, I shouldn't be wearing the dress, but then Harriet said maybe I should try and that I might look nice in it.

So when we got to the dance, the first thing Harriet and I did was look around for Adam, but I didn't see him. Thankfully, though, neither did I see Meredith.

Hilary walked in and spotted Harriet and me from across the room. "Hey, you guys," she said. I have to say, she and Mia were the only ones who helped me decorate for the dance. The flowers were Hilary's idea. "Wow, Haley, you look great!"
I looked at Hilary. I did?? I told her thanks for the compliment.

Madisyn Baker, though, made up the slack for Meredith. I swear, I think the only reason she bothered to show up was to make me miserable. "What'd you make that dress from, a bed sheet?" she asked.

"Looks like something my grandma might have worn," Natasha Ivanova added.

I kept waiting for Adam to show up. He never did. I was bummed. But I knew where he must have been -- where a lot of the kids went -- to Meredith's party. She lives in this huge house on the other side of town. Only about twelve sixth graders, eight seventh graders, and four eighth graders showed up to the dance. Madisyn and her gang checked out early as well. It wasn't too bad though, except for the constant stream of Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers tunes blaring through the stereo. Harriet and Hilary and I ended up hanging out together. The three "H"'s I guess.

At the end of the dance, Mrs. Baldwin gave out special certificates for those of us who helped out and planned it.

Sometimes, when I think about Valentine's Day, I think about my parents. My mom and dad divorced last year, and I've spoken to my mom only once since last April. I'm not sure how to feel about that. Most of the time I've felt like she was too busy (she's a successful lawyer) to try to get to know me, but I think I'm more like her than I am my dad, which scares me. Looks wise, I have dad's freckles but everything else belongs to mom, even down to the way my hair curls slightly on the end.

Another fact that's interesting is that my mom is an identical twin. Her twin sister? Nicki's mom! I saw pictures, and when they were kids they looked exactly alike, nobody could tell them apart. And they couldn't have ended up more differently if they tried. Nicki's mom married a rancher and settled in Colorado, where they now have 4 kids (Nicki included). What's funny is that Nicki's mom has also had identical twin girls. My mom, of course, became a lawyer, and from what I'm told, only got married because she was pregnant with me.

I've always been more of a daddy's girl, anyway, although my relationship with him is changing, too. Perhaps it could just be chalked to me getting older??

This morning I decided to give my dad a call. He's a freelance writer who mostly works out of the house. When I caught him he was working on his latest article for a magazine (that's how he met my mom, shhhh).

"Hey, Scooter, how are ya?" he asked. I could still hear his Pennsylvania accent. "How's your Valentine's Day?"

"Crummy," I answered.

"Cat got your tongue?" he joked. "Come on, I want to hear it."

I ended up telling him about the dance.

"I'm sorry it didn't go like you wanted, Scooter." I ended up emailing him a picture of what I wore. "You looked nice at the dance, but I feel like there's something you're not telling me."

"What do you mean?"

"Something's going on with you, Haley."

I shook my head, as if he could see me. "No, nothing's wrong."

"Are you sure?" I replied no, but then he added, "Well, you know my number when you're ready to talk. And the house is always open to you whenever you're ready." With that we hung up.

Any of you guys doing anything special for this special day?