He'd caught her completely off guard as she stood frozen, managing to utter out the words, "Um... hi, Ronny," rather stupidly of course. She realized that her friends were right--he was actually quite handsome, but nothing to compare to Zell. It was his overall presence that made her confused though, but it seemed like Ronny Calor had already had a good handle on situations like this.
"Ron, please," he corrected, paying no attention to the amazed look on her face. "So there's a formal dance this Friday, eh?" Liz nodded quietly, watching Ron's sky blue eyes carefully examine the flyer she'd just been looking at. Ron nodded a bit too. Liz could tell from the tone of his voice and something about the way his eyes twinkled that he was a bit sad about something, as if he carried the weight of the world. "You going with anyone?" Liz shook her head in silence, but then thought about it for a second.
"Um, excuse me. I beg your pardon?" Liz asked, feeling kind of stupid the moment those words left her mouth. That's when he finally turned his gaze to her--those piercing crystal blue eyes that felt so hard, but gentle all in one little glance. Liz had to blink a couple times--those eyes, felt so familiar as if she'd seen them somewhere before. "Are you...?" Liz didn't exactly know how to finish her sentence. Was he asking her to go? Part of her wanted to ask if they'd met before--somewhere, somehow.
"Would you like to go with me?" he smiled at her subtly, and somehow his eyes never seemed to sad. Liz couldn't quite understand exactly what it was about him that she found herself so comfortable with--whether it be his familiar gaze or the modest smile.
"Sure," she finally answered after what felt like a very pressing forever. Suddenly, it seemed as if the people walking in the hallways, the whispering of Jen and Amber behind her, and even her own thoughts had stopped dead in her tracks, and all she could see, was Ron in front of her, so happy but so sad all at once. It was all a little overwhelming.
"Alright then," he said. "See you later." He gave her a smile and then left her standing there, still paralyzed by his presence, but that familiar feeling she felt in his eyes. Whoa... she thought to herself. What in the world just happened? Just a second before, she had felt that all time had frozen, but as she regained mental consciousness, she realized that time had not stopped, but everyone else had. They'd been a show, and Liz knew that was the reason why Ron had left in such a hurry--to avoid this becoming a scene, the gossip of the school. What a smart kid.
"I just saw you talking to Ronny Calor," Amber gasped as the two of them immediately ran up to Liz and clutched her arm excitedly. Liz nodded and bit her lip--in their world--this was something big. The school hottie had just asked Liz to accompany him to a school dance--no this was really big stuff here. "So...??!?"
"What did he say to you!?" Jen demanded, almost about to blow her top off. Liz could tell Jen was already extremely envious of Liz, but she was still trying to hide it with her "I'm happy for you... really" smile. Although, that thing never worked for any situation and it especially didn't for this.
"He asked me to the dance!" Liz exclaimed, almost astonished she was admitting it herself. That wasn't what was so exciting about their conversation though. It was the fact that when she spoke to him for even the short time that she did, she felt something familiar in his voice and saw something vague but so common in his eyes. What was it? She couldn't identify it and it sparked her excitement, her general interest to discover more about this boy and what it was that made him seem so close when they'd barely even met. "And I said yes." Amber and Jen booth looked like they were going to faint.
"Every single girl in the school must have asked him!" Jen exclaimed while Amber squealed uncontrollably. "Even I did! He rejected everyone and picked you!" By now, Liz knew Jen had to be extremely envious. With her ego bruised like this, she wouldn't be happy for the entire day. Yes, she was that full of herself.
"You're the luckiest person on Earth!" Amber sighed and she pretended to fan herself.
Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday all passed by slowly with no luck in finding Zell over the phone. Everything seemed to be going fine and now Liz was going to the dance with Ronny Calor!