AN- Olivia is in 6th grade, which was the beginning of middle school for
me, although I know other schools are different. Thank you for the reviews!
They really mean so much to me!
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Chapter Eleven
The car ride was mostly silent, which nervous chatter every once in a while. When they got to the dance, as expected, they were early. Jeremy had a meeting to attend, so he dropped Olivia and Michael off in the gym.
In the meeting, there were about fifteen or so parents and one of them, which Jeremy assumed was the leader, started to speak about the rules.
"My name is Loretta Jones. My daughter is in the eighth grade, so this is our third year of these dances. I have chaperoned seven of the eight dances in the past three years, and have come to learn the rules very well. They are pretty simple. First of all, some of you may be assigned jobs like pouring drinks and setting up tables. Also, we have worked it out so no one has to stay after the dance to help clean up. Anyway, if you are watching the kids, they are not allowed to touch each other inappropriately or kiss each other. This hasn't happened yet, but that is what I am required to say. If that happens, the school forces us to call their parents and have them picked up immediately. Also, you are allowed to dance yourselves and encouraged to dance amongst yourselves. Other rules are on the wall, and they include no weapons, no vulgar language, no talking back, and no disrespect. There are some rules for the chaperones, also. All of the above applies for you, and I am not sure how YOUR parents would react if they were to receive a phone call saying you kissed someone at a middle school dance. (Laughter) Anyway, a few years back, the students took a survey or appropriate behavior for chaperones, and the parent committee agreed to the following: 1) Do not force anyone to dance if they don't want to. 2) Do not hang around your son or daughter and only pay attention to them. 3) Do not embarrass anyone. 4) This goes for the children also, but no alcohol is allowed for anyone. 5) Help them when they are in need of assistance. 6) Do not ask your son or daughter to dance with you. If they ask, that is fine, but otherwise, that could be embarrassing. 7) No gossip amongst yourselves about a teacher, student, or fellow parent. Now, I am the head of the chaperones so to speak, so I will check around every once in a while and ask how things are going and make sure you are doing your job. I think I have said everything I need to say, are there any questions?" The leader asked.
A few people asked questions, and then Loretta gave everyone a nametag and assigned everyone a job. Jeremy was in charge of watching the tables and making sure everyone was okay when they sat down, and they were sitting down because they were tired, not because they were in physical or emotional pain. His job allowed him to sit down and watch everyone.
By the time the meeting was over, they dance was to begin in about twenty minutes, and there was a crowd of the chaperone's kids who were already there as well as quite a few early arrivers. The crowd was sort of in three very distinct clumps, divided by grades. The student association was still setting up, but the room was pretty much together. The DJ was setting up so there still wasn't any music.
Jeremy was not sure as to what he was supposed to do while the dance had not yet started, so he just sat down at the set up tables and looked around at the people. People watching or the psychology involved in people watching always fascinated Jeremy. He guessed he got that from his dad's side of the family.
After studying the clumps of people, he figured out what groups belonged to what grade. The sixth graders were in a small clump, looking at everything nervously and speaking amongst themselves in a marveled manner. They all looked shy and positive about the outcome of the night. The seventh graders seemed more "experimented" with this kind of social gathering. There were a few clumps within the clump that were carrying on conversations and whispering about gossip and possibly what happened last year when Kyle Proker dumped Holly Linder right in the middle of a slow dance as they were dancing. (Ana told him during their lunch a few days before) They looked less clueless yet more confident around everyone. Then, Jeremy turned to the eight graders. They thought they looked pretty cool, being the oldest of the school, and pretty darn confident. The clump was divided into social groups, or so it seemed to Jeremy. There were the jocks, the popular girls, the average girls, the average boys, and the geeks.
Seeing the social ranking reminded Jeremy a lot about when he was in middle school and how much he hated the ranking system. He played Lacrosse and soccer, but he wasn't exactly Mr. Social or Mr. Popular, so you would think he would fit in with the average guys? He didn't because he was smarter then them and took high school courses. They considered him a geek, but even the geeks didn't like him because he didn't have the same interests. He was in between them all, and school couldn't accept that. Alex and Luke (A/N: see ch. 6) did, but no one else could.
Anyway, the eight grade people fascinated him. Among them, he saw a lot of people he knew including Ana as well as Luke's little sister, Quinn. Ana and Quinn were apparently in the same social group because they were standing and talking together with another girl. They all looked very well rounded. They weren't obsessing over their hair and fashion like the group near them. They seemed like they were having a deep conversation about the world around us and everyone around them. Jeremy then noticed Ana glance at him and smile and wave. The other two girls looked over and saw him as he gave a little wave back. Ana then proceeded to talk back with her friends.
The dance finally started ten minutes late, and by then, everyone was there and the place was really crowded. The music started, and was way too loud. Jeremy figured no one could be in pain this early, so he put is head down as if he had a headache.
He was half asleep when he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Ana and her group that he saw earlier.
"Jeremy?" Ana asked, "Are you awake?"
Jeremy sat up in his chair. "Yeah, sorry."
"Well, sorry about waking you up, but some of the chaperones were eying you," Ana said. She sat down and the other two girls say down also in the same table.
"Well, thank you. I guess I am sort of tired. How are you?" Jeremy asked.
"I am okay. I don't really 'dig' the atmosphere of these things, but I figured it is worth it for the drama," Ana said. "Oh, I feel so horrible for not introducing everybody. Jeremy, this is Quinn to my right and the one sitting next to her is Hillary. Quinn and Hillary, this is Jeremy, a friend of the family."
"Pleasure to meet you. I think I know Quinn. Luke was my best friend in middle school," Jeremy said.
"I thought you looked familiar," Quinn said as she smiled.
Jeremy yawned. "What time is it?"
"6:50," Ana answered as she smirked. "You still have a good three hours until you can leave."
Jeremy tried to hide his disappointment, but it didn't work to well. "How old are you?" Hillary asked.
"I just turned sixteen last month," Jeremy said, realizing that they were here for more than just waking me up.
"Wow! I thought you were older! What are you doing here?" Hillary asked.
"He is probably here because Olivia is here. Olivia is his sister," Ana said.
"Yep. I am a chaperone. My parents couldn't do it, so they got me to do it instead."
"Oh and I bet you are having the time of your life," Ana said with sarcasm.
"It isn't too bad," Jeremy said.
"Yeah, well this is only the beginning," Quinn said.
"If you don't like it here, then why are you here?" Jeremy asked.
"The drama," they said in unison.
"Do you have dates?" Jeremy asked, glad that he had company.
"Nah, we did the date thing last year and realized there is too much pressure to dance with only that person," Ana said, "Besides, some of the people that are worth dating are dating the wrong people." When she said this, she looked at Hillary, who sounded like she could relate.
"Why didn't you bring a date?" Quinn added.
"Too last minute for me. Besides, I don't know many people around here," Jeremy said.
Just then, a few more girls came up to their table that were also in the eighth grade. They looked like they were popular.
"Hi, Ana," one of them said. She had blonde hair in a bun.
"Who is your friend?" a second one said. She had long, straight brunette hair.
"What do you want, Lucy?" Ana said, annoyed that they were there. Jeremy could tell that there was some tension between the two groups.
"We were just trying to show some hospitality to your friend," the second one (Lucy) said. He looked over the older looking cute male sitting with them.
"Hospitality? Don't you have your own dates to show some hospitality towards?" Quinn said.
"They are getting us something to drink," Lucy said. "What did you say your friend's name was?"
"My name is Jeremy," Jeremy said as he extended his hand out. "Jeremy Gordon."
"Gordon? Do you have a sister or something?" the first one asked. Lucy looked at her friend confusingly.
"Yeah. Why?" Jeremy asked curiously.
"She was in my Latin class last semester. She is smart," the first one said.
"I think she is too," Lucy added.
"Oh yeah?" Ana asked, as if doubting Lucy's last statement. "How would you know?"
Lucy smiled fakely at Ana and replied; "I have seen her around school before."
"What does she look like?" Quinn asked.
"She looks like Jeremy . . .only female," Lucy said. Her first friend as well as everyone who knew what Olivia looked like looked at her as if she were crazy. Jeremy smiled to try to restrain himself from laughing. Except for a few small features, Olivia looked nothing like him.
"I have never heard anyone say that before," Jeremy said, still trying to keep from laughing.
"Yeah, and she is very pretty," Lucy added, not realizing what was going on.
"Thanks." Jeremy said.
"Anyway, I was looking over here earlier and you looked like you were bored," Lucy said as she ignored Ana, Quinn and Hillary's existence. "Anyway, do you want to dance?" Lucy asked as she smiled at him.
*****
A/N: Will Jeremy dance with Lucy? Will he dance at all? How is Olivia? How is Ben handling Spencer? Will anything happen at all? Find out. Review!
Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Chapter Eleven
The car ride was mostly silent, which nervous chatter every once in a while. When they got to the dance, as expected, they were early. Jeremy had a meeting to attend, so he dropped Olivia and Michael off in the gym.
In the meeting, there were about fifteen or so parents and one of them, which Jeremy assumed was the leader, started to speak about the rules.
"My name is Loretta Jones. My daughter is in the eighth grade, so this is our third year of these dances. I have chaperoned seven of the eight dances in the past three years, and have come to learn the rules very well. They are pretty simple. First of all, some of you may be assigned jobs like pouring drinks and setting up tables. Also, we have worked it out so no one has to stay after the dance to help clean up. Anyway, if you are watching the kids, they are not allowed to touch each other inappropriately or kiss each other. This hasn't happened yet, but that is what I am required to say. If that happens, the school forces us to call their parents and have them picked up immediately. Also, you are allowed to dance yourselves and encouraged to dance amongst yourselves. Other rules are on the wall, and they include no weapons, no vulgar language, no talking back, and no disrespect. There are some rules for the chaperones, also. All of the above applies for you, and I am not sure how YOUR parents would react if they were to receive a phone call saying you kissed someone at a middle school dance. (Laughter) Anyway, a few years back, the students took a survey or appropriate behavior for chaperones, and the parent committee agreed to the following: 1) Do not force anyone to dance if they don't want to. 2) Do not hang around your son or daughter and only pay attention to them. 3) Do not embarrass anyone. 4) This goes for the children also, but no alcohol is allowed for anyone. 5) Help them when they are in need of assistance. 6) Do not ask your son or daughter to dance with you. If they ask, that is fine, but otherwise, that could be embarrassing. 7) No gossip amongst yourselves about a teacher, student, or fellow parent. Now, I am the head of the chaperones so to speak, so I will check around every once in a while and ask how things are going and make sure you are doing your job. I think I have said everything I need to say, are there any questions?" The leader asked.
A few people asked questions, and then Loretta gave everyone a nametag and assigned everyone a job. Jeremy was in charge of watching the tables and making sure everyone was okay when they sat down, and they were sitting down because they were tired, not because they were in physical or emotional pain. His job allowed him to sit down and watch everyone.
By the time the meeting was over, they dance was to begin in about twenty minutes, and there was a crowd of the chaperone's kids who were already there as well as quite a few early arrivers. The crowd was sort of in three very distinct clumps, divided by grades. The student association was still setting up, but the room was pretty much together. The DJ was setting up so there still wasn't any music.
Jeremy was not sure as to what he was supposed to do while the dance had not yet started, so he just sat down at the set up tables and looked around at the people. People watching or the psychology involved in people watching always fascinated Jeremy. He guessed he got that from his dad's side of the family.
After studying the clumps of people, he figured out what groups belonged to what grade. The sixth graders were in a small clump, looking at everything nervously and speaking amongst themselves in a marveled manner. They all looked shy and positive about the outcome of the night. The seventh graders seemed more "experimented" with this kind of social gathering. There were a few clumps within the clump that were carrying on conversations and whispering about gossip and possibly what happened last year when Kyle Proker dumped Holly Linder right in the middle of a slow dance as they were dancing. (Ana told him during their lunch a few days before) They looked less clueless yet more confident around everyone. Then, Jeremy turned to the eight graders. They thought they looked pretty cool, being the oldest of the school, and pretty darn confident. The clump was divided into social groups, or so it seemed to Jeremy. There were the jocks, the popular girls, the average girls, the average boys, and the geeks.
Seeing the social ranking reminded Jeremy a lot about when he was in middle school and how much he hated the ranking system. He played Lacrosse and soccer, but he wasn't exactly Mr. Social or Mr. Popular, so you would think he would fit in with the average guys? He didn't because he was smarter then them and took high school courses. They considered him a geek, but even the geeks didn't like him because he didn't have the same interests. He was in between them all, and school couldn't accept that. Alex and Luke (A/N: see ch. 6) did, but no one else could.
Anyway, the eight grade people fascinated him. Among them, he saw a lot of people he knew including Ana as well as Luke's little sister, Quinn. Ana and Quinn were apparently in the same social group because they were standing and talking together with another girl. They all looked very well rounded. They weren't obsessing over their hair and fashion like the group near them. They seemed like they were having a deep conversation about the world around us and everyone around them. Jeremy then noticed Ana glance at him and smile and wave. The other two girls looked over and saw him as he gave a little wave back. Ana then proceeded to talk back with her friends.
The dance finally started ten minutes late, and by then, everyone was there and the place was really crowded. The music started, and was way too loud. Jeremy figured no one could be in pain this early, so he put is head down as if he had a headache.
He was half asleep when he felt a slight tap on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw that it was Ana and her group that he saw earlier.
"Jeremy?" Ana asked, "Are you awake?"
Jeremy sat up in his chair. "Yeah, sorry."
"Well, sorry about waking you up, but some of the chaperones were eying you," Ana said. She sat down and the other two girls say down also in the same table.
"Well, thank you. I guess I am sort of tired. How are you?" Jeremy asked.
"I am okay. I don't really 'dig' the atmosphere of these things, but I figured it is worth it for the drama," Ana said. "Oh, I feel so horrible for not introducing everybody. Jeremy, this is Quinn to my right and the one sitting next to her is Hillary. Quinn and Hillary, this is Jeremy, a friend of the family."
"Pleasure to meet you. I think I know Quinn. Luke was my best friend in middle school," Jeremy said.
"I thought you looked familiar," Quinn said as she smiled.
Jeremy yawned. "What time is it?"
"6:50," Ana answered as she smirked. "You still have a good three hours until you can leave."
Jeremy tried to hide his disappointment, but it didn't work to well. "How old are you?" Hillary asked.
"I just turned sixteen last month," Jeremy said, realizing that they were here for more than just waking me up.
"Wow! I thought you were older! What are you doing here?" Hillary asked.
"He is probably here because Olivia is here. Olivia is his sister," Ana said.
"Yep. I am a chaperone. My parents couldn't do it, so they got me to do it instead."
"Oh and I bet you are having the time of your life," Ana said with sarcasm.
"It isn't too bad," Jeremy said.
"Yeah, well this is only the beginning," Quinn said.
"If you don't like it here, then why are you here?" Jeremy asked.
"The drama," they said in unison.
"Do you have dates?" Jeremy asked, glad that he had company.
"Nah, we did the date thing last year and realized there is too much pressure to dance with only that person," Ana said, "Besides, some of the people that are worth dating are dating the wrong people." When she said this, she looked at Hillary, who sounded like she could relate.
"Why didn't you bring a date?" Quinn added.
"Too last minute for me. Besides, I don't know many people around here," Jeremy said.
Just then, a few more girls came up to their table that were also in the eighth grade. They looked like they were popular.
"Hi, Ana," one of them said. She had blonde hair in a bun.
"Who is your friend?" a second one said. She had long, straight brunette hair.
"What do you want, Lucy?" Ana said, annoyed that they were there. Jeremy could tell that there was some tension between the two groups.
"We were just trying to show some hospitality to your friend," the second one (Lucy) said. He looked over the older looking cute male sitting with them.
"Hospitality? Don't you have your own dates to show some hospitality towards?" Quinn said.
"They are getting us something to drink," Lucy said. "What did you say your friend's name was?"
"My name is Jeremy," Jeremy said as he extended his hand out. "Jeremy Gordon."
"Gordon? Do you have a sister or something?" the first one asked. Lucy looked at her friend confusingly.
"Yeah. Why?" Jeremy asked curiously.
"She was in my Latin class last semester. She is smart," the first one said.
"I think she is too," Lucy added.
"Oh yeah?" Ana asked, as if doubting Lucy's last statement. "How would you know?"
Lucy smiled fakely at Ana and replied; "I have seen her around school before."
"What does she look like?" Quinn asked.
"She looks like Jeremy . . .only female," Lucy said. Her first friend as well as everyone who knew what Olivia looked like looked at her as if she were crazy. Jeremy smiled to try to restrain himself from laughing. Except for a few small features, Olivia looked nothing like him.
"I have never heard anyone say that before," Jeremy said, still trying to keep from laughing.
"Yeah, and she is very pretty," Lucy added, not realizing what was going on.
"Thanks." Jeremy said.
"Anyway, I was looking over here earlier and you looked like you were bored," Lucy said as she ignored Ana, Quinn and Hillary's existence. "Anyway, do you want to dance?" Lucy asked as she smiled at him.
*****
A/N: Will Jeremy dance with Lucy? Will he dance at all? How is Olivia? How is Ben handling Spencer? Will anything happen at all? Find out. Review!