Two weeks into December Kevin and I were talking more and more frequently on
the phone. Both my ankle and wrist brace had been taken off and the ones were good as new (amazing how far a little calcium and potassium can go). My nose and my eye were both A-OK and I was the old Sam once again. Plain ol' auburn-haired, hazel-eyed Samantha P.
    Every now and again Kevin would disappear, taking care of his duty calls that
came with being one of the beautiful men of BSB. I still hadn't gotten the chance to meet the other two. And the last I'd spoken with AJ or Brian was when they'd come to AE around Thanksgiving with these two really pretty girls (Emily and Leighanne). But whenever he called he always had something new to talk about. Almost like he lived to hear my voice. Almost like he was just bursting to talk to me!
    "....Remember when I said whenever you had gotten better I had a surprise for
you?"
    "Yeah," I said.
    "Well, our record label throws this huge, fancy pants, formal, banquet every
Christmas Eve. I always used to take Kristin but..."
    "I get it," I said quickly, not wanting him to stick to the subject or thought of the
woman who'd broken his heart so bad.
    “Well, do you want to come with me? It’s a lot of fun... it’s even kinda romantic.”
    "What makes you think I want romance in my life?" My voice was low but his was even lower,
    "Who said I thought?"
    I found that I was grinning to myself and twirling a lock of hair around my finger.
"So is this a date or are we just going as friends?"
    "Whatever is good for you. I'm not trying to rush you into anything..."
    "Oh, same here. You just got out of a divorce... it wouldn't feel right to.. you
know?"
    "Yeah," his voice came out barely even a whisper.
    "I'll come."
    "Okay... good. I'll call you later on in the week to let you know what's going on."
His voice elevated drastically.
    "Bye, Kevin."
    "Talk to you later, Samantha."
    I hung up and was struck with the harsh reality that I did not own one formal
dress.    

    "Liv, do you have a formal dress?" I burst into the home of my best friend,
tramping up her stairs and lunging at her closet.
    "Yeah but--"
    "Kevin, asked me out!"
    It took a moment for my slow friend to catch on. Then she screamed. "No fuckin'
way? When?!"
    "Twenty minutes ago. I need a formal dress."
    "I got a ton..."
    "Bless you..."
    "Just one thing... remember that one time when we both used to wear a two?"
    "Yeah."
    "And then you started, um, not getting any?"
    I frowned.
    "And then you did the thing with the chocolate and now you wear a five?"

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