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A few weeks later, in early October, an announcement interrupted the last period of the day.
"May I have your attention please? May I have your attention please?" Sharon recognized Ana's voice on the intercom. One look at the clock showed that these announcements were stealing the last five minutes of class, a welcome relief to more than one student that afternoon.
"Sorry for the interruption. As many of you realize, homecoming week is coming up in two weeks. Your student government has been working hard putting everything together but we still need your help. If you would like to participate, please contact a student rep by the end of this week. Also to remind you, homecoming week will be full of rallies and special assemblies. Please look at the school calendar to see how this affects classes. The game will be that Friday night starting at 7:00 PM. Please show your support for your fellow Dragons and come to the game. Homecoming court will also be announced then, and the dance will be held in the gym the next night, which is Saturday. Doors open at 7:30 and goes on until 11 that night. Make your plans now! You don't want to miss out on any of the fun, trust me. All right, one more announcement and that's that nominations for court will take place next week and voting will occur all during homecoming week. Thanks, and have a great day!"
As the bell rang, announcing the end to another school day, Sharon put away her notebook and pen in her backpack before joining everyone in exiting the room. She fought against the crowd and made her way back up the stairs to go to her locker to get the rest of her things. Before she made it though, she saw a friendly face waiting for her. "Hey, Sharon."
"Vin! What's up?" she smiled.
He raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Nothing much. I just wanted to ask you something."
"Really? Well ask away," she said as she opened her locker door.
"I was just wondering if you were going to the homecoming dance."
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe. I haven't really thought about it yet but I guess I should, huh, seeing as it is only a couple weeks away."
"Well, uhh… Do you want to go with me?"
Sharon gave a warm smile. "There goes having to think about who to ask. Thanks, Vin. I'd love to go with you."
The nervous look on his face disappeared to be replaced with one of great relief. "Great! Here, let me get that for you," he offered, taking a couple of books from her hand and tucking them under one arm.
"Vin!" she laughed. "You don't have to do that."
"It's all right. I'll walk you to your car. I've got some time before practice starts."
She shook her head, smiling. "If you insist…"
"I do," he grinned back at her. "Besides, I need to work out details with you."
"Details? What kind of details are you looking for?"
"Oh you know, the usual. There's the dinner, the ride, your dress color…"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Sharon laughed. "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself? I don't even have a dress yet! I wasn't kidding when I said I'd hardly given homecoming much thought."
Vin blushed. "Sorry. It's just that it's two weeks away already and I want to make sure everything's perfect."
"Two weeks is plenty of time, Vin. What's to worry?"
He shrugged. "All the girls start thinking about homecoming once school starts up again. For some reason, I just assumed you did too."
She chuckled. "Homecoming's that much of a deal here?"
"It ranks up there with winter vacation and the spring festival."
"Ahh, I see," she nodded. "Well then, I guess we have a lot of planning to do."
Vin agreed. "But we can definitely talk about this later. Thanks for agreeing to go to the dance with me, Sharon," he said before giving her a quick hug once they reached her car.
"You're very welcome," she replied before he turned to jog off to practice. 'Homecoming dance, huh? Wait until Kelly hears about this,' she thought to herself as she drove home.
"You look happy today, Vin. What's up?" Riley asked as he changed into his practice jersey in the gym locker room.
"I just asked Sharon to the dance," he grinned.
"And I'm assuming she said yes by the look on your face. Congrats," Vin's teammate patted him on the back. "I told you it wasn't going to be a big deal."
"Easy for you to say. I bet you and Ana don't even ask each other to dances anymore since it's assumed."
"Of course I have to. It makes me look good," he winked.
"Riley looking good? When does that ever happen?"
"Very funny, Damon," Riley answered. "You're late."
"Not late. Just later than usual. I had to talk to Plopper. What were you guys talking about?"
"Vin here has just gotten himself a date to the dance," Riley pointed to where Vin was changing into his practice gear a couple lockers down.
"Congrats, Vin. Who's the lucky girl?"
"Sharon," he grinned back.
Lucky for Damon, no one noticed the surprised look on his face. All faces had turned towards Vin, who blushed lightly from the attention. As fellow teammates congratulated him, Damon knew he was sincerely happy for his friend, that Vin, the undeclared shyest one of the group, had finally gotten the courage to ask someone to the dance. 'But Sharon? I was going to give her a call sometime and ask her. Wonderful timing, huh?'
He turned to open his locker and stuff his backpack into the bottom of it. 'Then again, it's not like I ever claimed her or anything,' he continued to think. 'We're just friends. We've never hung out together outside school because I've got practice and games, and if we do hang out, it's just to go to the movies or have dinner with the gang. At school, we just say hi in the halls, and the most we ever get a chance to talk is during art class. Even that now has been cut down what with our big projects coming up. No, Damon, you never had a claim on her. Vin had as much right to ask her as you did.'
However, he had to wonder if that last thought was enough to make things better for him. 'But there's the fact that there 'is' something there between Sharon and I… Right? There was the spark from earlier this year! Yes, Damon,' he reasoned with himself. 'And what have you done about that since? Absolutely nothing.'
He sighed quietly to himself. 'So I've been a little scared of doing something about it. It's not like she's done anything about it either, or that I even like her!' He tried to argue with himself, but found himself stalling once again. 'Do I-'
The shutting of a locker door snapped him out of his thoughts. 'All right, so the topic will just have to be put on hold once again,' he mused as he grabbed his helmet out of the locker and shut the door with a slam. 'Tonight, Damon. You're thinking about this tonight after practice,' he promised himself.
Riley met Damon at the locker room door. "You okay, D? You got a little quiet there."
"I'm all right. Just thinking about who to take to homecoming is all. I totally forgot about it until the announcement."
"Forget about homecoming? You're on board! How can you forget about it?"
"I didn't say I forgot about homecoming, goof. Just forgot about asking someone."
Riley grinned. "Well that shouldn't be too hard to think about. There are plenty of girls who wouldn't mind going out with the star of the school that night," he winked.
"True, but it's our last homecoming. Ever thought about that? It has to be with someone special, you know?"
"I swear, Damon. You think like a girl too much sometimes. This is our senior year! It's meant to be fun! Don't think too much."
"I guess…"
"Damon! Riley! No more talking. Get over here and start stretching!" their coach barked at them.
With that, Damon shook his head of all homecoming thoughts and focused on the practice.
"Guess what."
"What?"
"Guess!"
"Sharon, just tell me already!"
"I'm going to the homecoming dance!"
"That's great! I told you Damon would ask you out sooner or later."
"…"
"Sharon?"
Sharon balanced the phone on her shoulder as she opened her closet. "Damon didn't ask me to the dance, Kelly. Vin did."
"Oh. But I thought you liked Damon."
Sharon didn't disagree. "I do like Damon, but it's not like I could say no to Vin. He's a sweet guy."
"You don't like him, do you?"
"No, of course not. He's just a friend and I have him in my government class. Come on, Kelly. Be happy for me. I'm going to my first real dance here."
"I am happy for you, Sharon, but I'm just wondering why in the world you didn't ask Damon earlier!"
"Because I was only reminded this afternoon that the dance was two weeks away and Vin literally asked me to go with him two minutes after the announcement was made."
"Excuses, excuses. You better be going to the winter dance with Damon then or else!"
"Or else what?"
"Or else I'll go down there and ask him for you myself!"
"Kelly!" Sharon laughed. "You haven't even met the guy! I don't think he'd appreciate a complete stranger giving him orders like that."
"Well it's either I do exactly that or you ask him by the time Thanksgiving break comes around."
"We'll see about that. Things may change."
"Highly unlikely. I know you. Once you're stuck on a guy, you're stuck good… Well, at least until a certain James is free," Kelly laughed.
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."
"Do you want me to repeat it for you?"
"That's really all right, thanks," Sharon chuckled.
"So anyway, what are you going to wear to this homecoming dance?"
"Oh, I don't know. I'm actually looking in my closet right now to see if any of my old dresses will work."
"What's the fun in that? You should go out and get something new."
"I would, but money's getting a little tight since I haven't worked since summer. I really should start looking for something…"
"Well, let me know if you need anything, Sharon. I've gotta get going and help my mom set the table. We're about to have dinner. I'll talk to you later?"
"Definitely. Bye, Kelly."
"Bye."
Sharon clicked her phone off without taking her eyes away from her closet. 'Hmm… Now, which dress should I wear…'