We arrived at St. Anne's Hall at 5:20; ten minutes before dinner was served. We went in through the big doors and smiled to an older couple that went to our church, and we had no idea what there names were. While mom and Papa talked to them, Debbie and I went to the doors to the hall and looked at everyone who was there. The hall was buzzing with people. There was every colour of dress there and the boys were dressed up in their suit jackets and ties. Everyone from our little town was at this function, so there were maybe 100 tables and there were 6 to 8 people to a table. Out of all those tables, Debbie spotted our table and it was close to the stage, in the middle, by the dance floor. Committee members got the best seats. At our table was Gina and her parents and Andy was there too. I groaned inwardly hoping that mom wouldn't mention the proposal at dinner tonight.

"Well girls are you ready to go in now? We've been waiting for you for forever!" Papa teased placing a hand on each of our shoulders and we smiled. He opened the doors and led us into the room. There was a small orchestra in the back corner playing some classical music while everyone sat down and they would continue playing through dinner.

I spotted Adam sitting at a table with his mother and father and he looked very glum. I was curious for a spilt second, forgetting the repulsive person that he was, and wondered what was wrong with him. That was until he looked up and spotted me. He looked shocked, which somewhat pleased me and then he smiled that awful smug smile and nodded in my direction. I turned away sharply and pretended that I never saw him.

"Not going to say hi sis?" Debbie teased, for she had seen they way he greeted me as well.

"Defiantly not! He can come and say a proper hello after dinner." I snapped and tuck my nose in the air as I walked by. We got to the table and Gina jumped out of her chair and hugged me. She grasped me so tightly that I started to lose my breath.

"Gina…" I gasped. "What's wrong?" She jumped and let go quickly. She looked worried yet excited.

"I'll tell you later." She whispered to me and then winked. I laughed slightly and shook my head. We took our seats and got comfortable. Mom started talking to Gina's mom, who you could tell spent a lot of time on her dark brown dress, accompanied by a dark brown fur coat. Her graying hair was in a French twist and her lips were a dark red. Gina never took after her mother in the sense of being materialistic. She stuck to her natural beauty and only wore makeup on special occasions and even then, she never wore that much make up. Gina was more like her father. Very laid back and loves to laugh. She never really got upset and was always looking out for me. She was an only child and she has always thought of me as her sister and I thought of her as mine. So naturally I sat beside her. Andy was on the other side of her and Debbie was on the other side of me.

"So…" Debbie started smiling mischeviously. "What is new in your world Gina?" I gave her the warning look and she shrugged slightly.

"Nothing really Debbie, just the occasional shift at Di's Diner." She bit her lower lip and looked at me through her lashes.

"That's what you are bursting to tell me isn't it?" I laughed at myself.

"Yes!" She gushed. "I got a job!" She beamed at me and then Debbie as we both congratulated her. Andy smiled sweetly at her excitement.

"Now you're not the only working girl Susanna." Gina's father smiled at me. His dark brown mustache wiggled as he spoke and his eyes twinkled with amusement. I smiled at him, sensing his pride in his only daughter. I looked over at Gina's mother and she looked annoyed. It was the face of a mother who clearly didn't think that it was right that her daughter had a job, somewhat like mine had looked when I first got a job.

As people started to engage in conversation, I took the opportunity to look around. I noticed that Dave and his family were here. They were seated directly across the hall from us and very hard to miss. Dave had 4 brothers, all younger than him, the youngest being 4 ½ and they idolized Dave. He was sticking a spoon to the end of his nose and showing his brothers how to do the same. I watched as they got a quick scolding from their mother. I smiled at his normality and saw him glance over at our table. Of course he had noticed that Debbie was here the problem was that Debbie hadn't noticed him yet. She was too busy talking about shoes with Gina to notice. Dave met my eyes and I smiled, rolled my eyes at Debbie and nudged her, somewhat subtly.

She glanced up sharply at my nudged and followed my direction. When she spotted him she burst into a huge grin and waved slightly. I saw mom look at Debbie and then try to see who she was waving too, but luckily Dave didn't wave back he just smiled at her. Mom looked at her curiously and then sighed. She knew she couldn't stop Debbie, or myself, from having boys like us or the other way around. But I think it still bothered her.

Mayor Beaumont stood up to give his welcome and to say grace. He was a tall, heavy man with a bald head and a white mustache. He always wore a suit and had two rings that he never took off. One ring was his wedding ring, and the other was his college ring. His wife, Margret, stood up to stand with him leaving their son Tad at the table by himself. Tad was…gorgeous. He was about 6 ft 2, blonde, blue eyed and had perfectly straight teeth. He swam every day which gave him nicely toned muscles and in the summer he always had a nice tan.

Every girl had their eye on him, for it was hard not too, but he never showed very much interest in the local girls, just the girls that were like him, rich and powerful. Many girls said it was because he was home schooled and that's what made him so stuck up, but others saw his reasoning behind seeing only political daughters. They way I saw it was that many of the local girls were so concerned with getting married and starting the life that they were raised to have and that life, to them, would be so much easier if they had money. So naturally Tad was a target and the fact that he was beautiful helped out. Debbie and I liked to look at him but we never through ourselves at him because we knew we weren't going to stand a chance. So as much as it hurt your pride to know that you could never have him, you still understood where he was coming from.

After the speech from the mayor dinner was served. We got roast beef, with mashed potatoes and some vegetables, plus some chicken soup and a cherry cheesecake for dessert. The dinner conversation was light and remained light, though I almost spilled the news to Gina twice. I caught myself just in time and Debbie always came to my rescue. Gina never noticed anything, but Andy kept giving us curious glances and eyeing us suspiciously. When Gina got up to leave the table that's when it all came out.

"So is it true Andrew?" Mom leaned on the table and whispered to him. I choked on my carrot and Debbie smacked my back to free it from my throat.

"Is what true Mrs. Simon?" Andy asked politely.

"That you are going to ask Gina to marry you?" Mom smiled brightly from Andy and then to Gina's parents. Gina's mother beamed back, yet Gina's father looked glum. He smiled but you could see the sadness in his eyes. Andy nodded slightly and mom shrieked slightly.

"Oh congratulations!" She squealed clutching Gina's Mother's arm. She shrieked back at her and the two of them looked ridiculous.

"Their a bit young, but it doesn't have to be right away." She said and mom nodded along. Papa and Gina's father exchanged quiet congratulations and hand shakes, both sharing the same look. It was puzzling to see because you would think that they would be happy that their daughter was going to marry someone that she loved and someone who would take care of her.

"I would appreciate that you don't say anymore about it tonight though, please." Andy said suddenly. "I would rather her hear the news of OUR engagement from me then from one of the ladies of the church committee." He said it with a smile but his voice was so stern that you knew he was not joking. Both women nodded and let out giggles at the fact that the church ladies probably would spread the news if more found out.

"They wont say anything son." Papa said. "We'll make sure of it." He looked at mom and nodded. She waved him away and they burst into giggles again.

"What's so funny?" Gina asked coming back to the table. She sat down and put her hand through Andy's on the table.

"Oh your father." Her mother said. "He thinks he can control me." She laughed again.

"As I recall it was not me that spoke." Her father rolled his eyes. Gina looked from one parent to the other and sighed. Their love-less relationship at one time had frightened her. She was afraid to end up like them and for a while she swore off men. Then she met Andy and never looked back at that old way of thinking. She looked to Andy's parents as more of role models of a good marriage rather than her own.

She turned to me and looked me straight in the face. "So, Susie, how's it going with the writing?" She looked around the table and noticed that no one was paying attention.

"They all know about the letters Gina." I smiled.

"Oh…well. How is it going then? Does he fill the lines with blood and gore?" She smiled mischeviously. I laughed.

"Gina, he's still in California. He'll be training for another two weeks and then he goes home for a break before Vietnam." She nodded.

"So, what does he write about then?"

"Well, he talks about his training sessions and about his friends that he made." I shrugged.

"He loves her." Debbie whispered to Gina and Gina gasped.

"What?" She whispered back and I stared at Debbie.

"I never…"

"He wrote her a letter that made her speechless. So it must have said something romantic and sweet, like… 'I love you' Or 'I miss you a lot'. Something that would make you hold the letter to your rapidly beating heart as if you were about to die. And that letter was the only thing that would save you." Debbie said smugly. I pinched her arm in retaliation and she shrieked.

"I didn't hold the letter like that!" I defended. "I just…held it." I blushed, looking down at my napkin. Gina burst out laughing and Debbie was stifling her laugh as well. "It's not funny!" I whined.

"What are you whining about Susanna?" Mom asked.

"Yes what is all the laughter about?" Gina's mom asked.

"Her letters." Debbie said through laughter. I looked up sharply and felt murderous. I knew my face was a deep red now. Mom just nodded and smiled to herself, but Gina's mother looked curious.

"Letters? What letters?" She asked.

"Susanna has been receiving letters from a friend in the army." Mom said calmly. She looked from mom to me and back again.

"Letters…from a boy in the army?" Her eyes squinted in curiosity. I nodded and so did mom. She smiled slightly and looked into mothers eyes.

"It's completely harmless, Jane. Their just silly letters. Nothing real." Mom said and I felt a stab of hurt. It was like she was talking about some disease…It's completely Harmless… nothing real! I looked down into my lap to hide the tears in my eyes. How would she know if it was real or not? She didn't know what I felt or what he felt.

"Well…as long as you don't end up married by Christmas then I know its fine." Jane said.

"Its not going to happen. I can assure you." Mom said, directing her voice at me, but I refused to look at her. I was so mad that I knew if I looked up I was surely going to scream. In fact if I had sat there any longer I would have screamed. I stood up abruptly and gave a polite "excuse me" before leaving the table.

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I went to the bathroom to dry my tears and then ventured outside so I wouldn't have to see anybody give me concerned looks. I went to the back of the building and leaned against the wall. I looked up and told myself to calm down. She was only concerned for me, like she had said. I stood there for 10 minutes before the back door opened. Tad stepped out the door looking back over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching him. He closed the door behind him, reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a lighter and a cigarette. Just as he lit it I coughed to indicate that I was her.

"Jesus Christ!" He jumped, practically dropping the cigarette on the ground. I smiled.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I just didn't want you to think I was watching you." He nodded. He looked at me then the cigarette and dropped it on the ground to put it out. "Don't put it out for my sake. I wont tell you're secret. Besides I can only imagine the strain your under with." I sympathized. I looked at the sky again, which was a light purple now and noticed that a few stars were starting to appear.

"Are you sure? I mean…it doesn't bother you?" He asked, his voice deep yet curious.

"Not at all. I remember one time, my friend and I stole a packet from the corner store when we were 11. We thought we were so bad." I laughed remembering that day that Gina had heard her parents fighting. Her mom had been caught again with another man and her father was threatening to leave. So she called me and said she needed to do something…something bad. That's the worst we could think of.

"Do you want one?" He said moving closer to me. He head out a cigarette for me and I looked at it longingly. I debated the outcome and gave in.

"Thanks." I said taking it from him and he lit it for me. As I inhaled the first puff I could feel my body relax slightly. I rested back against the wall, closed my eyes and felt calm again.

"So… Your Susanna Simon right?" He said looking at me sideways.

"Yes." I answered keeping my eyes closed.

"You know…not once have you ever talked to me." He said. I opened my eyes to see if he was serious and he was smiling.

"Well not once have you ever talked to me either." I smiled back. "Besides I always figured you had enough girls around you to keep your company."

"This is true. But none of them I have ever admitted my secret too."

"That happened by coincidence." I said, pulling on the cigarette.

"And here we are. Smoking together."

"My mother would kill me!" I sighed.

"So would mine." He sighed the exact same way and I couldn't help but laugh. He laughed too, but not as much. Eventually the laughter died down and we were quiet again.

"So how's the life of the rich and famous?" I asked.

"You know…hard." He shrugged. I could tell he didn't want to talk about it, but really what else was there to talk about.

"I completely understand I mean…I don't know how many times you have to tell your maid to clean your room before it actually gets done." I said, trying to sound serious and I think he believed me because he stared at me with surprise on his face. I smiled, "I'm only kidding. I don't have a maid and I have to clean my own room." He laughed.

"Wow. I thought you were serious." He smiled at me. "You don't know how many girls have said something along those lines to me." Now it was my turn to be shocked.

"Really? That is so…embarrassing." He looked at me puzzled. "I mean to be classified in the same group as them…The Local Girls. That's horrible." He laughed and I smiled back.

"Well in case you were wondering…I don't have a maid to clean my room. I have to clean it myself. The only servants we have are a pool boy and a gardener. And we only have them because we hate to clean the pool and mother doesn't like to garden." I nodded and smiled.

"Well I stand corrected then. My apologies." I said sarcastically. I heard music all of a sudden coming from the front of the hall.

"Susanna? Susanna? Are you out here?" I heard someone calling me. I jumped. I put out the cigarette quickly.

"Well I have to go. Thanks for the…Well thanks." I said smiling. He smiled back and I turned around the corner of the building to meet the person at the front. I straightened out my skirt and took a deep breath.

"Wait. Here." Tad said, catching up with me. He passed me a wrapped mint. I smiled and nodded again. "I uh…don't have perfume, but I do have some cologne with me." I reached into his pocket and pulled out a tiny bottle ready to spray me with it. I held up my hands and smiled.

"It's ok. I think my sister has some in her bag." I smiled and he nodded again. I waved goodbye and went to find whoever was looking for me. As I rounded the last corner to the front of the building I saw Adam looking frantically up and down the street for me. He looked worried, which pleased me somewhat.

"Are you looking for me?" I asked sweetly. I watched his upper chest completely collapse with relaxation. He smiled at me and came towards me.

"I was looking for you everywhere." He said as he walked towards me.

"Why?" I clasped my hands together in front of me and he reached out and touched my arms.

"Gina went to look for you and when she couldn't find you she came and got me." I frowned at this. Why would she get Adam and not my parents.

"Well I'm fine." I said. He pulled me into his arms and breathed deeply.

"I'm glad your safe." He whispered. This was a whole new side to him that I didn't know if I liked. "You smell awful." That was the Adam I knew.

"Well thanks Adam. You don't smell to bad yourself." I pushed him away.

"No I mean. You smell like smoke." He said.

"Well there were a couple of smoking people back there." I shrugged opening the doors to the hall.

"Make sure you spray some perfume. I don't want to smell smoke the whole night." I rolled my eyes. What a guy!