Thanks to all those who reviewed. Here is the next chapter. Just think, one more chapter and then it is time for the Olympics! I'm writing the next two chapters right now. Remember I own nothing except for characters not usually on the show. So enjoy the chapter.
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Ellie returned home on Monday night as always, but this time she was her old self again. She and Ethan were once again hanging out and actually talking, which of course made their parents happy.
Over the next few weeks, Ellie went on to Skate America and won another silver medal there behind Taylor, meaning that she was invited to the Grand Prix Final two weeks later, and there she won the bronze medal. That was a great accomplishment since it was her first Grand Prix Final. Now that the games were about two and half weeks away, Ellie was still constantly working out and on a very healthy diet. But it wasn't as hard as it was before, since she had much more support from her friends.
As Miranda and Lizzie had told her before, the Winter Formal was coming up and Ellie was definately going, with or without a date.
It was Monday afternoon, and Ellie was sitting in Chemisty class...The last class of her the day, and it was just dragging on. She wanted to get out of school, go to skating, then go to the mall with Lizzie, Kate and Miranda to look for a dress, since the dance was on Saturday night and Ellie still had not been able to find the right dress. Why couldn't she press the fast forward button and just get out of class.
About fifteen minutes before class was over, Samantha McBride, a very popular senior who was the head of the Dance Commity came on the intercom.
"Hey guys, now everyone is probably wondering who the nominees are for the the Class Ice Princess and Prince, not to mention, the Ice King and Queen. Well, they have all been printed onto sheets in which your teachers will pass out now...Check who you you would like to vote for, and turn them into your teacher when you are done. Thanks!" And the intercom then went off.
Ellie leaned over to Lizzie who sat next to her. "I thought their was only Ice King and Queen, what is the Prince and Princess thing?" She asked.
"Oh, there is a prince and princess from each class...and then the Ice King and Queen are always seniors." Lizzie said as she took a pen out of her backpack. "The prince and princess thing is so everyone has a chance to get a crown or something."
"Oh, okay..." Ellie said, as the boy in front of her handed her the ballots. She then passed it on back to the person behind her.
She then took out her pen to mark in who she wanted to vote for. She randomly voted for the 9th and 10th grade nominees, since she knew very little of them, and the ones she didn know, were not on the ballot. Then she looked at who was nominated for the Junior class. Mark Green, Travis Melrose, and Steven Phillips. No doubt she was going to vote for Travis. Then she looked at the girls who where nominated. Claire Miller, Stacy Simpson, and Ellie Craft.
"Wait, who nominated me?" Ellie thought to herself looking over the sheet again. Yep, it definately said that she was one of the choices. But how? "Oh well...I guess I should vote for myself. Since I'm not exactly friends with Claire, or Stacy."
Ellie then checked off her name, and continued on with the ballot. The bell finally rung and Ellie hurried to turn in her sheet and then get out of there.
"Hey Elle. We still going to the mall today?" Lizzie asked as she passed Ellie's locker.
"Hell yeah." Ellie replied. "Meet there 5:00 sharp!"
"You got it babe. See ya then." Lizzie said, and then went along on her way.
Ellie grabbed her books and left to go to the rink. Who nominated her? The question was driving her crazy. But she brushed it aside as she went onto have a great practice. And then she hurried over to the mall to meet Lizzie and Miranda.
"Hey!" Lizzie said cheerfully as Ellie approched them. "We are here at five o'clock sharp. Now where to first?"
"I don't know. I have no idea how I am going to find the right dress..." Ellie said. "I mean, the dance is less than a week away."
"Oh don't worry. We will find something." Miranda said. "But come on. We better cover some ground tonight."
"And then come back tomorrow if we don't find anything." Lizzie said. "But lets get moving."
The girls went to two formal dress shops in the mall, and found a few possible dresses, but they were both expensive and Ellie wasn't sure she wanted to spend that much money.
"So, who did you vote for today?" Lizzie asked as they flipped through the rack of dresses. "You know, for the Winter Formal royality."
"For Ellie of course!" Miranda replied. "Who else? There was no way I was voting for Claire."
"Same here. Who nominateed you Ellie?" Lizzie asked.
"I was about to ask you the same question." Ellie said. "I just saw my name and was like 'Hold up...How did that happen?"
"Oh well. I think that out of the three...You are most definately going to win." Miranda said.
Ellie shrugged. "I'm not getting my hopes up. Knowing Claire she is probably threating people to vote for her."
Lizzie laughed. "Most likely. But you never know."
"So what about dates?" Miranda asked. "Who are you going with?"
"Gordo...Of course." Lizzie replied. Miranda rolled her eyes, as if to say "Duh."
"No one. I'm going stag...All the good guys are taken." Ellie said.
"Same here." Miranda asked. "I guess we will stick together."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Ellie said with a smile. At least she wasn't the only one without a date.
About an hour later, the girls walked out of the mall, empty handed. They had pretty much gone to all the dress shops in the mall.
"Sorry we couldn't find anything to buy Ellie." Lizzie said as they walked out into the parking lot.
"I guess I could give up sleeping and then sew something together by Saturday." Ellie said.
Miranda laughed. "Or...You know that new mall that just opened?" She said with a evil grin.
"Miranda...That mall is like forty five minutes away. There is no way we can go there tomorrow." Lizzie said.
"Not unless we go in the morning..." Miranda said.
The other two looked at her. Confused. "Huh?" Ellie asked.
"We can skip school, go there and then get back her before Ellie has to go to her practice." Miranda told them.
Ellie nodded. "I have been meaning to take a day off." She said. "Count me in."
Lizzie sort of looked between the two. "No way. We are so going to get caught."
"Have you forgotten who you are talking to?" Miranda asked. "I will call in on my cell phone while I am walking to school, and then write a note saying I was sick and sign my mom's name to it."
"Yeah, and I'll call in saying that I am going out of town to meet with a different coach." Ellie said. "I still have a note from my coach that says, 'Sorry that Ellie missed class due to her training.' Plus, he even said I don't have to get there unitl around two tomorrow."
"Yeah, but I tried this last year...and I cracked and got grounded for two weeks!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"Then let us take care of it for you." Miranda offered.
Lizzie shook her head. "I have the worst luck in the world. Count me out!" She said.
"Suit yourself." Miranda said. Lizzie still had not gotten over the whole, 'I shouldn't get in trouble, it will go on my perminate record' thing, it sometimes got on Miranda's nerves.
"Call me tonight, we can work out the details." Ellie said to Miranda.
"Kay...Talk to you then." Miranda said. She and Lizzie then went to to her car and got in, while Ellie got into her own car and drove home.
"Hey sweetie. Did you find a dress at the mall?" Her mother asked when Ellie walked into the kitchen about ten minutes later.
"I have my eye on a couple. But I didn't buy anything." Ellie said.
"I hope you find something soon." She said.
Ellie smiled to herself. "I bet I will." She said. "I better go get started on my homework." She then walked upstairs and went into her room to call Miranda.
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The next morning, Ellie got ready and did everything she usually did before she went to school. As always she had to go and drag Ethan out of bed. Then they were out of the house as usual by 7:35.
They pulled into the school parking lot at 7:45.
"Come on." Ethan said as Ellie parked the car.
Ellie stopped a minute. "You go ahead, I'll catch up." She said.
"And you have to do what..." Ethan asked.
"Nothing." Ellie said.
Ethan shrugged. "Okay. See you later then." He then got out of the car and walked into the school.
Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close." She then took her cell phone out of her purse and dailed the school's number. After putting on a 'good girl' act, Ellie was let off the hook for not being in school, she just had to bring a note from her coach. Ha! Already done.
She then heard someone knocking on her window. It was Miranda, and Kate was with her. Ellie motioned for them to get in the car.
"Hey chica." Miranda said as she climbed into the passengers seat. "I called in, they bought my whole mother's act. Its covered."
"Sweet." Ellie said. "Hey Kate." She said as Kate climbed into the back seat.
"Hey Elle." Kate said. "I thought it would be cool to take a mental health day, and I heard Miranda talking about you two skipping school. I hope I don't bust your plans."
"Not at all. The more the merrier." Ellie said as she then turned the car back on and they left the school lot. "Oh this is going to be awesome."
"I know!" Miranda said. "By the way, Kate, how are you going to get away with this?"
"My parents are out of town until tomorrow." Kate said. "I'll tell them I didn't feel well, and they will write me a note. Everything works out."
"Sweet." Ellie said. "This is going to be awesome!" She then put in her mixed CD and they all had a big conversation about the winter formal on the way there. About fifty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the new mall.
"Come on there is shopping to be done." Kate said after Ellie parked the car.
"Wait, what if someone asks us why we aren't in school?" Miranda asked.
"They won't. We look old enough that they will probably think we go to the local college." Kate said.
"I don't think we look that old." Ellie said. "How about we are in town for a family reunion, and our parents let us go out for a little bit."
"That might work too." Miranda said. "Now come on, lets get going."
The three girls then went into the mall, and the first stop, 'The Formal Shop' and they found nothing. Then they went to 'Fashion Fun' and left with nothing.
"Its 10:00 o'clock right now. I say that we shop until 11:30, then get lunch, and then shop some more." Miranda said as they walked into another formal dress shop.
Kate shurgged. "Sounds good to me." She said.
"Ditto." Ellie said as she began looking through a rack of dresses. "Hey look at this one!" She pulled out a light pink strapless dress.
Kate sort of made a face. "That looks a lot like the dress I bought." She said. "Its just..."
Ellie just smiled as she put the dress back. "Say no more, I understand completely...It is in the formal dress bible for girls, 'Thou shall not wear the same dress.'" She said with a completely straight face.
Kate and Miranda laughed. "Thats a good one, the formal dress bible." Kate said.
"I was serious." Ellie told them. They all stopped and looked at each other for a minute. "Kidding..." She said. They then all began to laugh again.
"I hate it when you do that." Kate said as they settled down.
Ellie smirked. "I know you do." She said.
They left that store about twenty minutes later still empty handed.
"I hate how guys have it so easy!" Ellie said. "They just have to rent a tux...We have to spend all the time looking for a dress then spend a ton of money on it."
"Actually they don't even get a tux...They wear khakies and nice shirts most of the time." Kate told her.
"Totally not fair." Ellie said. "But how about now we go buy some jeans. We deserve something new."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Miranda agreed as they then turned into the 'Express' store which was close by.
They each bought two pairs of jeans, since they were on sale, buy one get the second pair for twenty dollars, as well as a few shirts. After that they went to the food court and got some Taco Bell for lunch and took it to a table to eat.
"Well the trip wasn't a complete waste." Kate said.
"It isn't over yet either." Ellie reminded her. "We don't have to leave until 1:00, it isn't even 11:30."
"True..." Kate said.
"Hey girls." They all heard a familar voice, and turned to see Nick and Travis standing there.
"Hey guys." Miranda said in a flirty voice. (you know the voice every girl has when they are talking to guys).
"Now can I ask what are you three doing skipping school?" Nick asked.
"Hey, if we go down, we can take you down with us if we get caught." Kate told them.
"But our parents gave us permission to come here." Travis told them.
All the girls knew he had to be making it up. "How so?"
Travis then put his leg up on a chair nearby that was empty. "Look! All better. No cast, no slipt, and no damn crutches." He told them proudly. "My mom said she had a surprise for me today, and it was that I got the day off...She had called Nick's mom and they arranged so that we could just have a day to hang out."
"Awesome. So your leg is totally better now?" Miranda asked.
"Yep!" Travis said. "But I can't put a lot of pressure on it, meaning that I still can't play basketball. But at least I can walk on my own again."
"Cool." Kate smiled. "You want to sit down?"
"Sure...Why not." Nick said as they both pulled up chairs and sat in them backwards. "Now what are you doing skipping school?"
"I couldn't find a winter formal dress at the mall back in town, so we thought it would be a good idea to come here and look." Ellie told them. "But that plan is sort of failing."
"Oh, shopping...Yuck." Nick teased them.
Kate rolled her eyes. "For you it is..."
"I think there is a nice formal shop down by that shoe store...Its called like, 'Emma's Formal Wear' or something...You should go check that out next." Nick told them.
Ellie gave him a confused look. "How would you know if it a nice formal shop?"
Nick looked at her a second. "What...NO!" He exclaimed. "I just saw a commerical for it."
Ellie laughed. "Nick, you know I love you." She said.
Nick smiled at her. "I know, everybody loves Nick."
After they were done with lunch, Nick and Travis walked down with them, saying that they were just going to see what else was in the mall.
"You two want to come into the shop with us?" Kate asked. "Since you just love to shop so much."
Travis shook his head. "Nah, but we'll be around. See you guys later." The boys then walked off, Ellie noticed Nick kick Travis as they were walking off.
"That was a nice treat." Ellie said as they began to look at the dresses, which were all quite pretty.
"Oh yeah." Miranda said. "Travis so likes you Ellie. Too bad he already asked Erin Moore to the dance." She then stopped and looked like she wanted to kick herself.
Ellie looked a bit disappointed. "Oh well, his lose." She said, putting on a brave face. She knew Travis was going with someone else, but she hated thinking about it.
"Ellie, come look at these!" Kate called from around the corner.
Ellie went to go see what Kate was looking at. "Oh my gosh, these are nice." She said as she began to look through the rack. She had picked up two, a sheevled black dress, and a white strapless one into the dressing room. She walked out of the dressing room in the white one.
"It looks good Ellie." Miranda told her, who was sitting on the couch by the dressing rooms with Kate.
"It really does." Kate said.
Ellie looked at herself in the big mirror. "I don't know...I think it makes me look like...I don't know...I just don't like it." She then turned back to her friends. "Wait." She then went over to another rack close by, and came back with a dress in her hand.
"I think she found a good one." Miranda said, Kate nodded.
Ellie came back out a few minutes later. She was wearing a dark green, strapless dress, around the bust line, there were small diamonds in interesting patterns. "I like this one." She said with a smile, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Wow, Ellie, it looks really good." Miranda said.
"Yeah, I totally think that you should buy that one." Kate told her.
Ellie twirled around. "Yep, this is the one!" She then went back into the dressing room and changed back into her own clothes. They then payed for the dress, and left the store.
"I found a pretty dress, and it didn't cost three hundred dollars!" Ellie said very excited.
"It looks great on you too." Kate told her.
"I can't wait until Saturday night." Ellie said with a smile.
"I say we check out the Gap and see if there is any last minute shopping to do." Miranda said.
"Okay." Ellie and Kate agreed. They then went into the Gap, and were surprised to see Travis and Nick in there.
"Has hell frozen over and boys are now shopping?" Ellie teased as they walked over to the boys.
"Haha...Very funny." Nick mocked. "We just need new shirts for the dance this Saturday."
"Oh...Well, there a few cute shirts over here..." Kate told Nick. "Come on Miranda, lets help Nick shop."
Miranda looked a little confused. "Oh yeah, Nick needs lots of help shopping." The three then walked off, leaving Travis and Ellie all alone.
"So, how is the search for a dress going?" Travis asked a few moments later.
"Good, I just bought one actually." Ellie told him as she began to flip through the rack of collared shirts.
"Thats cool." Travis said, he then seemed to be hesitating a bit. "So are you going with anyone?"
"Nope. I'm going stag." Ellie said. "You're going with Erin Moore, right?"
Travis shook his head. "No, someone started that rumor. I don't even like Erin." He told her.
Ellie was sort of realived. "So then who are you going with..."
"Well, no one really." Travis said. "But...I was wondering, since you aren't going with anyone, and I am not going with anyone...Why don't we go together...You know."
Ellie was overcome with joy and wanted to jump up and down screaming. But she just smiled and said, "Yeah, I think that would be fun."
Travis's eyes lit up. "Really?" Ellie nodded. "Oh my gosh awesome!"
"Wait...I promised Miranda that we would go stag together..." Ellie suddenly remembered.
"Really? Miranda doesn't have a date?" Travis asked surprised. "Thats great!" He then noticed the look on Ellie's face. "No, I mean Nick wanted to ask Miranda, but he thought she was already going with someone else."
"Cool. I guess this is going to work out for everyone." Ellie smiled.
Travis smiled. "So, I'll call you this week and we will work out the details later. And I'll tell Nick to call Miranda." He said.
"Here's my cell phone number." Ellie said as she pulled a pen out of her purse and wrote her nmber on his hand. "I'll talk to you later."
"Sure thing." Travis said as she watched Ellie turn and walk away.
The girls left the mall at 1:00 exactly. Kate and Miranda were itching to find out why Ellie was so happy. The got into the car and put their seatbelts on.
Ellie was about to turn the car on when she screamed.
"What?" Miranda asked a little worried.
"Travis asked me to the dance!" Ellie exclaimed. "He said that he never asked Erin, somebody just started the rumor."
"OMG, thats awesome!" Kate said with a smile.
Miranda smiled weakly. "Thats great. But now I am the only girl without a date."
"I think someone is going to ask you though." Ellie said with a smirk.
Miranda looked at Ellie. "Huh?"
"Nothing." Ellie said as she turned the car on and then left the parking lot. They had fun on the ride home, and got back just in time for Ellie to drop the girls off at Kate's, and then get to the ice rink. It was a prefect day.
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Miranda ran over to Ellie in the hall on Wednesday and jumped on her. "Nick asked me to formal!" She exclaimed. "How did you know?"
"Travis told me yesterday when he asked me to the dance." Ellie told her. "But thats awesome. We all have dates."
"Oh yeah." Miranda smiled. "And who knew? We actually got away with cutting class yesterday."
"We should definately do it again." Ellie said.
"Oh yeah." Miranda smiled.
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Ellie sat in her room doing her homework when her cell phone rang. "Hey." She said.
"Ellie? Its Lizzie." She said, sounding a little upset.
"Lizzie, whats wrong?" Ellie asked, putting her book down.
Lizzie seemed to be blowing her nose. "I don't have a date for formal."
"I thought you and Gordo were going together." Ellie said.
"No, his uncle did...They have to go Seattle this weekend for the funeral." Lizzie said. "I mean, I'm sorry that his uncle died and all, but still...I was looking forward to it so much."
"Yeah, I know how you feel." Ellie told her.
"You have no idea how hard it was to act like I didn't care when he told me." Lizzie sobbed.
Ellie thought a minute. "Um, if you want to go to the dance with someone, Ethan doesn't have a date. And I'm sure he wouldn't mind going to the dance with you just as friends." Ellie offered. "I'll ask him tonight."
"Will you really do that for me?" Lizzie asked.
"Of course." Ellie said. They then continued to talk until Lizzie was at least laughing again, and then Ellie went to go talk to Ethan.
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The next day at school, Ethan went over to Lizzie in their first period class.
"Hey Lizzie. Wanna go to the formal with me?" Ethan asked. "I know it is last notice, but I think it would be cool to go together."
Lizzie smiled. "I'd love to go to the dance with you Ethan."
"Awesome." Ethan smiled. "I'll call you later."
Miranda leaned over to Lizzie. "You have been waiting for this day since eighth grade, why are you not jumping up and down?" She asked.
"Because, I'm dating Gordo now." Lizzie said. "Funny how things like that change."
"Yeah, but lets just pretend we are still in eighth grade." Miranda said.
"Um...Lets not." Lizzie said with a laugh.
That day, the girls couldn't help notice that Ethan, Shawn, Nick and Travis were hanging around each other, and seemed to be in serious thought. They wondered what they could possibly be talking about, but they would soon find out.
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What happens at winter formal? What are all the boys planning? Is it good or bad? Is the night a total drag, or the best night ever? Review and I will post the next chapter soon.
Oh yeah, and just incase you are wondering...No the girls will not be getting in trouble for ditching school. I am so tired of watching all those shows were kids ditch class and then some how get caught. Cause there are a bunch of times I cut class and don't get caught. So I thought I would put a twist on shortlines like that. :)
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Ellie returned home on Monday night as always, but this time she was her old self again. She and Ethan were once again hanging out and actually talking, which of course made their parents happy.
Over the next few weeks, Ellie went on to Skate America and won another silver medal there behind Taylor, meaning that she was invited to the Grand Prix Final two weeks later, and there she won the bronze medal. That was a great accomplishment since it was her first Grand Prix Final. Now that the games were about two and half weeks away, Ellie was still constantly working out and on a very healthy diet. But it wasn't as hard as it was before, since she had much more support from her friends.
As Miranda and Lizzie had told her before, the Winter Formal was coming up and Ellie was definately going, with or without a date.
It was Monday afternoon, and Ellie was sitting in Chemisty class...The last class of her the day, and it was just dragging on. She wanted to get out of school, go to skating, then go to the mall with Lizzie, Kate and Miranda to look for a dress, since the dance was on Saturday night and Ellie still had not been able to find the right dress. Why couldn't she press the fast forward button and just get out of class.
About fifteen minutes before class was over, Samantha McBride, a very popular senior who was the head of the Dance Commity came on the intercom.
"Hey guys, now everyone is probably wondering who the nominees are for the the Class Ice Princess and Prince, not to mention, the Ice King and Queen. Well, they have all been printed onto sheets in which your teachers will pass out now...Check who you you would like to vote for, and turn them into your teacher when you are done. Thanks!" And the intercom then went off.
Ellie leaned over to Lizzie who sat next to her. "I thought their was only Ice King and Queen, what is the Prince and Princess thing?" She asked.
"Oh, there is a prince and princess from each class...and then the Ice King and Queen are always seniors." Lizzie said as she took a pen out of her backpack. "The prince and princess thing is so everyone has a chance to get a crown or something."
"Oh, okay..." Ellie said, as the boy in front of her handed her the ballots. She then passed it on back to the person behind her.
She then took out her pen to mark in who she wanted to vote for. She randomly voted for the 9th and 10th grade nominees, since she knew very little of them, and the ones she didn know, were not on the ballot. Then she looked at who was nominated for the Junior class. Mark Green, Travis Melrose, and Steven Phillips. No doubt she was going to vote for Travis. Then she looked at the girls who where nominated. Claire Miller, Stacy Simpson, and Ellie Craft.
"Wait, who nominated me?" Ellie thought to herself looking over the sheet again. Yep, it definately said that she was one of the choices. But how? "Oh well...I guess I should vote for myself. Since I'm not exactly friends with Claire, or Stacy."
Ellie then checked off her name, and continued on with the ballot. The bell finally rung and Ellie hurried to turn in her sheet and then get out of there.
"Hey Elle. We still going to the mall today?" Lizzie asked as she passed Ellie's locker.
"Hell yeah." Ellie replied. "Meet there 5:00 sharp!"
"You got it babe. See ya then." Lizzie said, and then went along on her way.
Ellie grabbed her books and left to go to the rink. Who nominated her? The question was driving her crazy. But she brushed it aside as she went onto have a great practice. And then she hurried over to the mall to meet Lizzie and Miranda.
"Hey!" Lizzie said cheerfully as Ellie approched them. "We are here at five o'clock sharp. Now where to first?"
"I don't know. I have no idea how I am going to find the right dress..." Ellie said. "I mean, the dance is less than a week away."
"Oh don't worry. We will find something." Miranda said. "But come on. We better cover some ground tonight."
"And then come back tomorrow if we don't find anything." Lizzie said. "But lets get moving."
The girls went to two formal dress shops in the mall, and found a few possible dresses, but they were both expensive and Ellie wasn't sure she wanted to spend that much money.
"So, who did you vote for today?" Lizzie asked as they flipped through the rack of dresses. "You know, for the Winter Formal royality."
"For Ellie of course!" Miranda replied. "Who else? There was no way I was voting for Claire."
"Same here. Who nominateed you Ellie?" Lizzie asked.
"I was about to ask you the same question." Ellie said. "I just saw my name and was like 'Hold up...How did that happen?"
"Oh well. I think that out of the three...You are most definately going to win." Miranda said.
Ellie shrugged. "I'm not getting my hopes up. Knowing Claire she is probably threating people to vote for her."
Lizzie laughed. "Most likely. But you never know."
"So what about dates?" Miranda asked. "Who are you going with?"
"Gordo...Of course." Lizzie replied. Miranda rolled her eyes, as if to say "Duh."
"No one. I'm going stag...All the good guys are taken." Ellie said.
"Same here." Miranda asked. "I guess we will stick together."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Ellie said with a smile. At least she wasn't the only one without a date.
About an hour later, the girls walked out of the mall, empty handed. They had pretty much gone to all the dress shops in the mall.
"Sorry we couldn't find anything to buy Ellie." Lizzie said as they walked out into the parking lot.
"I guess I could give up sleeping and then sew something together by Saturday." Ellie said.
Miranda laughed. "Or...You know that new mall that just opened?" She said with a evil grin.
"Miranda...That mall is like forty five minutes away. There is no way we can go there tomorrow." Lizzie said.
"Not unless we go in the morning..." Miranda said.
The other two looked at her. Confused. "Huh?" Ellie asked.
"We can skip school, go there and then get back her before Ellie has to go to her practice." Miranda told them.
Ellie nodded. "I have been meaning to take a day off." She said. "Count me in."
Lizzie sort of looked between the two. "No way. We are so going to get caught."
"Have you forgotten who you are talking to?" Miranda asked. "I will call in on my cell phone while I am walking to school, and then write a note saying I was sick and sign my mom's name to it."
"Yeah, and I'll call in saying that I am going out of town to meet with a different coach." Ellie said. "I still have a note from my coach that says, 'Sorry that Ellie missed class due to her training.' Plus, he even said I don't have to get there unitl around two tomorrow."
"Yeah, but I tried this last year...and I cracked and got grounded for two weeks!" Lizzie exclaimed.
"Then let us take care of it for you." Miranda offered.
Lizzie shook her head. "I have the worst luck in the world. Count me out!" She said.
"Suit yourself." Miranda said. Lizzie still had not gotten over the whole, 'I shouldn't get in trouble, it will go on my perminate record' thing, it sometimes got on Miranda's nerves.
"Call me tonight, we can work out the details." Ellie said to Miranda.
"Kay...Talk to you then." Miranda said. She and Lizzie then went to to her car and got in, while Ellie got into her own car and drove home.
"Hey sweetie. Did you find a dress at the mall?" Her mother asked when Ellie walked into the kitchen about ten minutes later.
"I have my eye on a couple. But I didn't buy anything." Ellie said.
"I hope you find something soon." She said.
Ellie smiled to herself. "I bet I will." She said. "I better go get started on my homework." She then walked upstairs and went into her room to call Miranda.
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The next morning, Ellie got ready and did everything she usually did before she went to school. As always she had to go and drag Ethan out of bed. Then they were out of the house as usual by 7:35.
They pulled into the school parking lot at 7:45.
"Come on." Ethan said as Ellie parked the car.
Ellie stopped a minute. "You go ahead, I'll catch up." She said.
"And you have to do what..." Ethan asked.
"Nothing." Ellie said.
Ethan shrugged. "Okay. See you later then." He then got out of the car and walked into the school.
Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close." She then took her cell phone out of her purse and dailed the school's number. After putting on a 'good girl' act, Ellie was let off the hook for not being in school, she just had to bring a note from her coach. Ha! Already done.
She then heard someone knocking on her window. It was Miranda, and Kate was with her. Ellie motioned for them to get in the car.
"Hey chica." Miranda said as she climbed into the passengers seat. "I called in, they bought my whole mother's act. Its covered."
"Sweet." Ellie said. "Hey Kate." She said as Kate climbed into the back seat.
"Hey Elle." Kate said. "I thought it would be cool to take a mental health day, and I heard Miranda talking about you two skipping school. I hope I don't bust your plans."
"Not at all. The more the merrier." Ellie said as she then turned the car back on and they left the school lot. "Oh this is going to be awesome."
"I know!" Miranda said. "By the way, Kate, how are you going to get away with this?"
"My parents are out of town until tomorrow." Kate said. "I'll tell them I didn't feel well, and they will write me a note. Everything works out."
"Sweet." Ellie said. "This is going to be awesome!" She then put in her mixed CD and they all had a big conversation about the winter formal on the way there. About fifty minutes later, they pulled into the parking lot of the new mall.
"Come on there is shopping to be done." Kate said after Ellie parked the car.
"Wait, what if someone asks us why we aren't in school?" Miranda asked.
"They won't. We look old enough that they will probably think we go to the local college." Kate said.
"I don't think we look that old." Ellie said. "How about we are in town for a family reunion, and our parents let us go out for a little bit."
"That might work too." Miranda said. "Now come on, lets get going."
The three girls then went into the mall, and the first stop, 'The Formal Shop' and they found nothing. Then they went to 'Fashion Fun' and left with nothing.
"Its 10:00 o'clock right now. I say that we shop until 11:30, then get lunch, and then shop some more." Miranda said as they walked into another formal dress shop.
Kate shurgged. "Sounds good to me." She said.
"Ditto." Ellie said as she began looking through a rack of dresses. "Hey look at this one!" She pulled out a light pink strapless dress.
Kate sort of made a face. "That looks a lot like the dress I bought." She said. "Its just..."
Ellie just smiled as she put the dress back. "Say no more, I understand completely...It is in the formal dress bible for girls, 'Thou shall not wear the same dress.'" She said with a completely straight face.
Kate and Miranda laughed. "Thats a good one, the formal dress bible." Kate said.
"I was serious." Ellie told them. They all stopped and looked at each other for a minute. "Kidding..." She said. They then all began to laugh again.
"I hate it when you do that." Kate said as they settled down.
Ellie smirked. "I know you do." She said.
They left that store about twenty minutes later still empty handed.
"I hate how guys have it so easy!" Ellie said. "They just have to rent a tux...We have to spend all the time looking for a dress then spend a ton of money on it."
"Actually they don't even get a tux...They wear khakies and nice shirts most of the time." Kate told her.
"Totally not fair." Ellie said. "But how about now we go buy some jeans. We deserve something new."
"Sounds like a plan to me." Miranda agreed as they then turned into the 'Express' store which was close by.
They each bought two pairs of jeans, since they were on sale, buy one get the second pair for twenty dollars, as well as a few shirts. After that they went to the food court and got some Taco Bell for lunch and took it to a table to eat.
"Well the trip wasn't a complete waste." Kate said.
"It isn't over yet either." Ellie reminded her. "We don't have to leave until 1:00, it isn't even 11:30."
"True..." Kate said.
"Hey girls." They all heard a familar voice, and turned to see Nick and Travis standing there.
"Hey guys." Miranda said in a flirty voice. (you know the voice every girl has when they are talking to guys).
"Now can I ask what are you three doing skipping school?" Nick asked.
"Hey, if we go down, we can take you down with us if we get caught." Kate told them.
"But our parents gave us permission to come here." Travis told them.
All the girls knew he had to be making it up. "How so?"
Travis then put his leg up on a chair nearby that was empty. "Look! All better. No cast, no slipt, and no damn crutches." He told them proudly. "My mom said she had a surprise for me today, and it was that I got the day off...She had called Nick's mom and they arranged so that we could just have a day to hang out."
"Awesome. So your leg is totally better now?" Miranda asked.
"Yep!" Travis said. "But I can't put a lot of pressure on it, meaning that I still can't play basketball. But at least I can walk on my own again."
"Cool." Kate smiled. "You want to sit down?"
"Sure...Why not." Nick said as they both pulled up chairs and sat in them backwards. "Now what are you doing skipping school?"
"I couldn't find a winter formal dress at the mall back in town, so we thought it would be a good idea to come here and look." Ellie told them. "But that plan is sort of failing."
"Oh, shopping...Yuck." Nick teased them.
Kate rolled her eyes. "For you it is..."
"I think there is a nice formal shop down by that shoe store...Its called like, 'Emma's Formal Wear' or something...You should go check that out next." Nick told them.
Ellie gave him a confused look. "How would you know if it a nice formal shop?"
Nick looked at her a second. "What...NO!" He exclaimed. "I just saw a commerical for it."
Ellie laughed. "Nick, you know I love you." She said.
Nick smiled at her. "I know, everybody loves Nick."
After they were done with lunch, Nick and Travis walked down with them, saying that they were just going to see what else was in the mall.
"You two want to come into the shop with us?" Kate asked. "Since you just love to shop so much."
Travis shook his head. "Nah, but we'll be around. See you guys later." The boys then walked off, Ellie noticed Nick kick Travis as they were walking off.
"That was a nice treat." Ellie said as they began to look at the dresses, which were all quite pretty.
"Oh yeah." Miranda said. "Travis so likes you Ellie. Too bad he already asked Erin Moore to the dance." She then stopped and looked like she wanted to kick herself.
Ellie looked a bit disappointed. "Oh well, his lose." She said, putting on a brave face. She knew Travis was going with someone else, but she hated thinking about it.
"Ellie, come look at these!" Kate called from around the corner.
Ellie went to go see what Kate was looking at. "Oh my gosh, these are nice." She said as she began to look through the rack. She had picked up two, a sheevled black dress, and a white strapless one into the dressing room. She walked out of the dressing room in the white one.
"It looks good Ellie." Miranda told her, who was sitting on the couch by the dressing rooms with Kate.
"It really does." Kate said.
Ellie looked at herself in the big mirror. "I don't know...I think it makes me look like...I don't know...I just don't like it." She then turned back to her friends. "Wait." She then went over to another rack close by, and came back with a dress in her hand.
"I think she found a good one." Miranda said, Kate nodded.
Ellie came back out a few minutes later. She was wearing a dark green, strapless dress, around the bust line, there were small diamonds in interesting patterns. "I like this one." She said with a smile, looking at herself in the mirror.
"Wow, Ellie, it looks really good." Miranda said.
"Yeah, I totally think that you should buy that one." Kate told her.
Ellie twirled around. "Yep, this is the one!" She then went back into the dressing room and changed back into her own clothes. They then payed for the dress, and left the store.
"I found a pretty dress, and it didn't cost three hundred dollars!" Ellie said very excited.
"It looks great on you too." Kate told her.
"I can't wait until Saturday night." Ellie said with a smile.
"I say we check out the Gap and see if there is any last minute shopping to do." Miranda said.
"Okay." Ellie and Kate agreed. They then went into the Gap, and were surprised to see Travis and Nick in there.
"Has hell frozen over and boys are now shopping?" Ellie teased as they walked over to the boys.
"Haha...Very funny." Nick mocked. "We just need new shirts for the dance this Saturday."
"Oh...Well, there a few cute shirts over here..." Kate told Nick. "Come on Miranda, lets help Nick shop."
Miranda looked a little confused. "Oh yeah, Nick needs lots of help shopping." The three then walked off, leaving Travis and Ellie all alone.
"So, how is the search for a dress going?" Travis asked a few moments later.
"Good, I just bought one actually." Ellie told him as she began to flip through the rack of collared shirts.
"Thats cool." Travis said, he then seemed to be hesitating a bit. "So are you going with anyone?"
"Nope. I'm going stag." Ellie said. "You're going with Erin Moore, right?"
Travis shook his head. "No, someone started that rumor. I don't even like Erin." He told her.
Ellie was sort of realived. "So then who are you going with..."
"Well, no one really." Travis said. "But...I was wondering, since you aren't going with anyone, and I am not going with anyone...Why don't we go together...You know."
Ellie was overcome with joy and wanted to jump up and down screaming. But she just smiled and said, "Yeah, I think that would be fun."
Travis's eyes lit up. "Really?" Ellie nodded. "Oh my gosh awesome!"
"Wait...I promised Miranda that we would go stag together..." Ellie suddenly remembered.
"Really? Miranda doesn't have a date?" Travis asked surprised. "Thats great!" He then noticed the look on Ellie's face. "No, I mean Nick wanted to ask Miranda, but he thought she was already going with someone else."
"Cool. I guess this is going to work out for everyone." Ellie smiled.
Travis smiled. "So, I'll call you this week and we will work out the details later. And I'll tell Nick to call Miranda." He said.
"Here's my cell phone number." Ellie said as she pulled a pen out of her purse and wrote her nmber on his hand. "I'll talk to you later."
"Sure thing." Travis said as she watched Ellie turn and walk away.
The girls left the mall at 1:00 exactly. Kate and Miranda were itching to find out why Ellie was so happy. The got into the car and put their seatbelts on.
Ellie was about to turn the car on when she screamed.
"What?" Miranda asked a little worried.
"Travis asked me to the dance!" Ellie exclaimed. "He said that he never asked Erin, somebody just started the rumor."
"OMG, thats awesome!" Kate said with a smile.
Miranda smiled weakly. "Thats great. But now I am the only girl without a date."
"I think someone is going to ask you though." Ellie said with a smirk.
Miranda looked at Ellie. "Huh?"
"Nothing." Ellie said as she turned the car on and then left the parking lot. They had fun on the ride home, and got back just in time for Ellie to drop the girls off at Kate's, and then get to the ice rink. It was a prefect day.
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Miranda ran over to Ellie in the hall on Wednesday and jumped on her. "Nick asked me to formal!" She exclaimed. "How did you know?"
"Travis told me yesterday when he asked me to the dance." Ellie told her. "But thats awesome. We all have dates."
"Oh yeah." Miranda smiled. "And who knew? We actually got away with cutting class yesterday."
"We should definately do it again." Ellie said.
"Oh yeah." Miranda smiled.
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Ellie sat in her room doing her homework when her cell phone rang. "Hey." She said.
"Ellie? Its Lizzie." She said, sounding a little upset.
"Lizzie, whats wrong?" Ellie asked, putting her book down.
Lizzie seemed to be blowing her nose. "I don't have a date for formal."
"I thought you and Gordo were going together." Ellie said.
"No, his uncle did...They have to go Seattle this weekend for the funeral." Lizzie said. "I mean, I'm sorry that his uncle died and all, but still...I was looking forward to it so much."
"Yeah, I know how you feel." Ellie told her.
"You have no idea how hard it was to act like I didn't care when he told me." Lizzie sobbed.
Ellie thought a minute. "Um, if you want to go to the dance with someone, Ethan doesn't have a date. And I'm sure he wouldn't mind going to the dance with you just as friends." Ellie offered. "I'll ask him tonight."
"Will you really do that for me?" Lizzie asked.
"Of course." Ellie said. They then continued to talk until Lizzie was at least laughing again, and then Ellie went to go talk to Ethan.
**********************************************
The next day at school, Ethan went over to Lizzie in their first period class.
"Hey Lizzie. Wanna go to the formal with me?" Ethan asked. "I know it is last notice, but I think it would be cool to go together."
Lizzie smiled. "I'd love to go to the dance with you Ethan."
"Awesome." Ethan smiled. "I'll call you later."
Miranda leaned over to Lizzie. "You have been waiting for this day since eighth grade, why are you not jumping up and down?" She asked.
"Because, I'm dating Gordo now." Lizzie said. "Funny how things like that change."
"Yeah, but lets just pretend we are still in eighth grade." Miranda said.
"Um...Lets not." Lizzie said with a laugh.
That day, the girls couldn't help notice that Ethan, Shawn, Nick and Travis were hanging around each other, and seemed to be in serious thought. They wondered what they could possibly be talking about, but they would soon find out.
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What happens at winter formal? What are all the boys planning? Is it good or bad? Is the night a total drag, or the best night ever? Review and I will post the next chapter soon.
Oh yeah, and just incase you are wondering...No the girls will not be getting in trouble for ditching school. I am so tired of watching all those shows were kids ditch class and then some how get caught. Cause there are a bunch of times I cut class and don't get caught. So I thought I would put a twist on shortlines like that. :)