The dance was tonight, and even though I had a date and friends to go with, if you picked a word to describe how I felt about it, it would most definitely not be excited. Maybe loathing. Or dreading. Something in that nature, but you know me. That's just my pessimistic side talking.

I was sitting in a chair in Ella's bathroom surrounded by Angel, and Teagan who were helping me get ready. Olivia, Autumn and Casey, the guys dates, were coming soon and any male specimen was coming a while later. Because I mean guys take a whole 15 minutes to get ready, tops. Reason 512 why I wanted to be a guy. Believe me, it was a long list.

I tried my hardest, which took 100% of my concentration, to not move or flinch of make grossed out faces as Ella applied different types of makeup and hair products. I was letting her get me totally ready because I had zero, and I mean absolutely zero, talent in the department of anything girlish. Anything remotely girly, I was pretty much incapable of doing. Well that's what friends are for, right?

After a good hour or so, my face and hair were completely ready to go and I was ushered out of the bathroom to put my dress on and get my shoes so I'd be ready when the guys got here. Their dates had just gotten here when I'd slipped into my dress. I bet you wanna know what it looks like, but you can wait til the dance to find out. Sorry, sucks to suck.

Nudge, Teagan and Angel had finished getting ready and I had to admit they looked flawless. Their dates were coming along with Gazzy, Grant and Tyler in around 30 minutes. We'd take pictures and then head over to the dance.

I'm sure you're all dying to know what the girls looked like so I guess I'll tell you. Angel's hair was perfectly curled, courtesy to Ella, and then pinned over to the side, so it fell down over her right shoulder to about her chest. Her strapless dress was fitted, and its simple turquoise pattern fell down to about her knees. Her lips were shimmery, and her lashes were coated in mascara. A silvery sort of eye shadow was applied and it brought out the brilliant silver heels that matched her necklace and earrings.

Ella's hair was perfectly straight, shiny and smooth, thanks to Teagan who was a straightening pro. Her light brown eyes were lined with a little black eye liner as well as some mascara to make her eyes pop and they looked gorgeous. Her smile lit up her face as she emerged in her dark pink, also strapless dress. Hers was tighter than Angel's and fella bout part way down her thigh. She too had silver heels to bring out the few silver accents that were slightly hidden in the dress.

Teagan looked stunning with her hair done in absolute perfect waves and parted on one side. She had a gold headband in to keep the front pieces from falling into her face. Her skin was glowing and her blue eyes popped with the small amount of brown eyeliner and gold eye shadow. She had a little mascara on, although she didn't need much to bring out her naturally long, thick lashes. Her dress was strapless as well but it was a really pretty mix between a green and blue. Almost a sea-foam green, but a tad darker. She actually had gold heels since her dress had some embellishments that accented gold.

Okay, before we continue, I would just like to say you are all welcome because I spent my precious time describing hair, clothes and makeup. Which I can barely pronounce, let alone figure out what is what. By the time everyone was done getting ready, I felt way smarter in the girl department.

To summarize what the guy's dates were wearing, let's just say they all looked really pretty, had fancy hair and makeup, and were wearing relatively short and tight dresses. Nothing new. Moving on, we made our way downstairs and met our dates just as they were making their way up to the porch. Most of our parents were outside talking and pointing and doing embarrassing stuff that all parents do.

"Max, you look stunning," Ethan said as he approached me.

"Thanks," I said and, yes I Maximum Ride, looked towards the ground and turned pink blushing. "You look really nice too."

"Thanks," he replied and let's just say we made some small talk about who knows what and everything until it was time to go. After we'd all had snacks and drinks, we decided to head over to the school for the dance. Since my old school hadn't had a dance, this was my first one, so I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. But as we were making our way down the sidewalk into the school, Ethan grabbed my hand. And there we were holding hands, just like that.

We'd gotten to the dance and a good time so we weren't the awkward first people there, but we weren't showing up after most of the dance was over either. We made our way to the gym where the dance was being held, since it was the only room big enough to theoretically hold 3,000 people. But half the people were just in the cafeteria just down the hall getting drinks or just sitting and talking with their friends or dates.

But no, if we go all the way to the school for this stupid dance, we might as well dance. I mean I got a dress, shoes and was forced to undergo physical and emotional torture through the hair and makeup process, and I was not doing all that just to sit around.

Ethan and I made our way onto the dance floor along with hundreds of other sweaty other teenagers. Sounds really appealing doesn't it? I bet you all wish you were there. Cheesy balloons and streamers filled the ceiling and corners which were supposedly there for effect but I didn't really see it. The DJ started out with a bunch of faster songs to dance to, and of course he had to play Gangnam Style and the Harlem Shake. The Harlem Shake was honestly hilarious because all the guys got super into it. If I had a video camera, I would be set for the rest of my life.

But after about an hour and 45 minutes, he decided to switch things up and we danced with our dates to some slow songs. Ethan and I were in that awkward embrace that the Disney princesses do in their movie dances. You know where they have their arms around each other but it's super hard to visually explain? I looked over and Angel and Jake were slow dancing and Angel's head was against his chest. Ella and Nick looked really cute dancing together and Teagan and Michael looked adorable too. No complaints from me.

After the dance, Ethan walked me up to my doorstep and then gave me a hug. He looked like he really wanted to kiss me or something, but then ended up just kissing my cheek. Most likely a smart move.

I went up to my room to shower and go to bed since it was already pretty late, but I saw an envelope sitting on the counter addressed to me. It was different handwriting than the other envelope, and this one had my full address and name, not just the word Max.

When things in my life were finally settling down, something just always had to make it complicated again. It was like some never ending game with fate.

As I opened the envelope, I got even more confused because nothing was in it except for a puzzle piece. It was pretty small, and it clearly was not an edge piece because there were no straight sides to it. The whole piece was gold except for a tiny corner which was white.

I was confused yet intrigued at the same time, and ended up putting the envelope in a drawer and the puzzle piece on my desk next to my stuff to save. I didn't know if I'd be getting more puzzle pieces or notes or anything from this new mystery person, but I decided to keep everything for now.

With a huge confusion of thoughts, I hopped into the warm shower as I thought about this is new complicated part of my life.

Hey guys! Sorry I'm not one whose big on the author's notes like some people are. But thanks so much for all the reviews! They really help me get writing and get motivated! So keep on reviewing! Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions or questions cause I'd be happy to hear them! Thanks, and happy reading! RnR!