"Lessons in Love and Friendship"
"Becky would you hurry? We're gonna be late!" 14 year old Dustin Brooks called to his sister.
"I'm hurrying!" 12 year old Becky Brooks called.
"It doesn't matter if your hair is perfect! Now come on!" Dustin called.
"Fine, fine! I'm coming!" Becky said grabbing her backpack. "You know I can walk myself to school."
"You know the deal, Mom said not until you're 13." Dustin said.
"I know, I know." Becky said following her big brother out the door.
Dustin walked his sister to school and then headed to school himself. On the way Tori and Emily Hanson passed him in Emily's car. Emily pulled over.
"Hey, Brooks, you want a ride?" Emily called.
"Sure, that would rock. Thanks Em." Dustin said getting into the car.
"No worries. Now then, what was I saying? Oh yes, Tori, you have to have a date for the dance. If the cheerleading captain's sister goes without a date I will look like a dork." Emily said.
"But you don't even have a date yet!" Tori cried.
"But I will. I have been asked already but I'm waiting till closer to the dance to make my final decision." Emily said.
"Yes, I know, the guy you pick has to meet all your guidelines." Tori said.
"Guidelines?" Dustin asked.
"Yes. As cheer captain I have a certain rep to protect. To do this I have come up with some simple guidelines when picking a date." Emily explained.
"What sort of guidelines?" Dustin asked.
"Ok, well number one the guy must be taller than me. Number two, the guy must be in some sort of sport. Number three, he must be able to stand in a social situation and be likeable but not so likeable he takes attention away from me. Number four, he must have a sense of style. And number five, he must tend to me the night of our date and take care of me." Emily explained.
"In other words treat her like a princess." Tori said.
"Well, yeah. I am the cheer captain after all." Emily said.
"I think we have to walk home Dustin, we won't fit in the car if her head gets any bigger." Tori said.
"Nothing wrong with a girl having her standards." Dustin said.
"Exactly. Thank you Dustin." Emily said.
"No worries." Dustin said.
That night Dustin gave some thought to Emily's guidelines. He had found her attractive for sometime now but never said anything out of fear of rejection and feeling Tori's wrath. Now that Dustin knew the guidelines Emily judged by he was sure to be the perfect guy for her. He planned the next day very carefully.
He woke up extra early the next morning and put on a pair of black dress pants and a yellow button up shirt then he slicked back his curly brown hair so that it was straighter and…well slicker. He sprayed on some cologne and gathered some props for the day then he went downstairs.
"Good morning." He said.
"Dustin Brooks, what is that on your hair?" Britney Brooks asked.
"Hair gel." Dustin said simply.
"And what's up with your clothes. You look like you stepped out of the Gap." Becky said.
"It's my new style. You like?" Dustin asked.
"It's…so…not you." Becky said.
"Sure it is. It's the new me. Now hurry. I don't want to be late for school." Dustin said. He dropped off Becky then rushed to Blue Bay High. He waited for Emily and Tori to get there. He waited by Emily's locker. Finally he saw he walk up.
"Dustin, hey what are you doing in the Senior Hall?" Emily asked.
"I brought you something. For you." Dustin said handing her a single red rose.
"Oh…thank you Dustin…um you look…different today." Emily said.
"Thank you. You like it? It's my new style. Of course afterschool I'm going to the track to ride some moto. You know moto is a very intense sport." Dustin said feeling confident 3 of the five of Emily's guidelines were fulfilled. He was into a sport, he had style, and he was taller than her. Two more to go.
"Yeah, I bet…" Emily said somewhat confused. Dustin's tone was very different than normal.
"May I walk you to class?" Dustin asked.
"Um, won't you be late? You have to get back to the Freshman Hall." Emily said.
"Tardiness is no big deal. I'll just tell the teacher I was with the future Homecoming Queen." Dustin said.
"You're very sweet Dustin" Emily said for lack of anything else coming to mind.
"This way." Dustin said leading her by the small of her back. He walked her to class.
"I'll see you after school Princess." Dustin said as he turned and ran to his own class. He walked in and took his seat next to Tori.
"You're late." Tori said.
"I know." Dustin said.
"You're lucky Mr. Foster is late too. Hey what happened to you? Did a Gap catalog explode onto you?" Tori asked.
"Very funny. This is my new look." Dustin said.
"What's with the sudden change?" Tori asked.
"Sometimes people must grow and mature into something else. I felt it was time for me to grow." Dustin said.
"How profound. Have you been reading too?" Tori asked.
"Let's just say I recently got an education on the man I need to be." Dustin said.
"Man? Dustin, no one in this room is a man yet, except Mr. Foster and the jury is still out on that one." Tori said.
"Perhaps not yet, but soon I will be the perfect man." Dustin said.
"Perfect for what? The new Calvin Klein Billboard?" Tori joked.
"Joke if you must. I know what I'm doing." Dustin said.
"Glad you do." Tori said as Mr. Foster came in and started class.
After school Tori was waiting for Emily and Dustin at Emily's car. She had no clue where Dustin was. He normally beat her to the car and they would talk while they waited for Emily…then again Dustin had been acting strange. Suddenly she saw them both. Emily walking to the car and Dustin right in front of her dropping flower petals at her feet.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" Tori asked.
"Emily is the future Homecoming Queen. She deserves to be treated as such." Dustin said opening Emily's door for her.
"Oh god…give me a break." Tori mumbled as the three left school.
"And Emily, in case you were ever wondering. I'm great at parties. I can carry on a conversation for hours, but of course I am not the type to ever overshadow my date." Dustin said. Ok that was all five guidelines, surely she'd date him now.
"Dustin, what's the deal? You want Emily to ask you to the Homecoming Dance or something?" Tori asked.
"Of course not! That would be improper. I would like to ask her to the Homecoming Dance." Dustin said.
Emily hit the brakes suddenly. "WHAT?!"
"Emily, I would be honored if you would be my date to the Homecoming Dance." Dustin said.
"Oh brother. Now my best friend has a thing for my sister." Tori mumbled.
"Um Dustin…" Emily started.
"It's ok. Take time to think about it. Answer when she's not around." Dustin said glancing at Tori.
"I'm a "she" now…great." Tori mumbled.
Emily drove them to the Hanson home. "Tor, go inside. I need a second alone with Dustin." Emily said.
"No problem. I want no part of this" Tori said jumping out of the car and running in the house. She couldn't believe that Dustin asked Emily to the dance!
Meanwhile outside Dustin and Emily sat on the porch of the house.
"Dustin…I'm very flattered that you would ask me." Emily said.
"I met all your guidelines." Dustin said.
Emily sighed, "Oh yeah, the guidelines, that explains a lot…Dustin I didn't mean for you to change when I said that. I had no idea that you had a crush on me. I'm sorry that I gave you the wrong idea…but…I can't go out with you. You're my little sister's best friend…and honestly you're like a little brother to me. I've know you since you were 7. And I do love you as my brother, which is why this is hard. I don't want to hurt you…seriously I mean that. I know I pick on you and Tori a lot but I do love both of you…what I'm trying to say is…I can't go out with you."
"Oh…ok…I understand. No worries…" Dustin said looking down, feeling more than a little embarrassed.
"I hope we can still be friends." Emily said.
"Of course…I should get home. I'm sure Becky is hungry." Dustin said getting up and walking home.
That night after dinner Dustin was in his room playing video games. He heard a knock on his window. It was Tori. He waved for her to come in.
"Hey, how's it going?" Tori asked.
"Fine. You know you could use the door." Dustin said.
"That wouldn't be any fun." Tori laughed as she plopped down on the bed next to Dustin.
"So what's up?" Dustin asked.
"Not much. Glad to see you traded in the Gap look for your jeans and t-shirt. And I see you took a shower and got that gunk out of your hair." Tori said running her fingers through Dustin's curly hair.
"Yeah, well I guess you can't change who you are." Dustin said.
"Glad you learned that. I kinda like you the way you are anyway." Tori said
"Thanks. So did you ever get a date for the dance?"
"No. Actually there is only one person I could even consider going with."
"Who? Marcus Judd?"
"Nope."
"Anthony Anderson?"
"Nope."
"Then who?"
"You Dustin." Tori said.
"Me? But I thought that we decided…"
"It's not a date. I don't want a date. Dates are too formal and you can't have fun that way because you have to worry how you look and everything. Homecoming is boring enough but I have to go in case my sister gets crowned queen. Since Emily insists I go with someone I want to go with someone I can have fun with and I can't think of one person I'd have more fun with that you." Tori said.
"Ok Tor, I'll take you to the dance." Dustin said smiling.
"Good, but before we make any plans make me a promise." Tori said.
"Ok…what?" Dustin asked.
Tori smiled. "Never change again. I like my goofy carefree Dustin best."