6.

Upon Louis' discovery of the band room, a room he had often avoided and made fun of, Louis found the only person that could have been Tom's cousin. She was a girl wearing a tacky blue plaid shirt, had hair in pigtails, had a couple "love handles" and was sporting enormous bifocals, and was caught entirely off-guard when Louis tapped her shoulder and interrupted her flute playing. The girl shrieked, "What?!"

Louis, a little startled, began with, "Whoa, there, Henrietta. Take it easy there, it's just me, Louis. You know, your cousin's friend."

The girl, still a little startled and a little shy, looked at the ground and said, "Oh, yes, Louis. I know you. I know who you are."

"Well, I know I have not really talked to you very much..."

"Well, I am just a sophomore, Louis."

"Oh, um, ok. That's fine. Well, you see, Henrietta, I was just talking to your cousin Tom and we got to talking about the prom and I had this wild idea. Just think about it for a second. Take a few minutes if you need to. But I was thinking that since the prom is coming up in just a couple of weeks, and I didn't have a date, so I thought I might just ask the cousin of my dear friend, Tom..."

Henrietta was not exactly the most popular girl in the school and being asked to the prom was a very big deal for her. She set her flute down and began to fan herself off with her hands. "OhmygoshOhmygoshOhmygosh!! A boy just asked me to go to the prom with him! Oh my gosh! Louis Stevens asked me to go to the prom with him!! I can't believe it! Louis Stevens!" By this time Louis had stuck his fingers in his ears to block out all the horrible noise. "Oh, I can't believe it! Everybody!! A senior asked me to the prom . . ." she tried to finish, but had hyperventilated. Louis was shocked and didn't quite know what to do with the situation. He smiled nervously at the few students still in the band room after school and hit the floor slapping Henrietta lightly on the cheeks. Uh-oh, she's not coming to. I mean, I know I'm a hunk and all, but I never made anyone faint before, Louis thought. A couple of minutes later she came to and was staring into Louis's eyes which kind of freaked Louis out. Not quite knowing what to say, he said, "Um, I'll give ya a ride home."

At about 8:00 that evening, there was a phone call at the Stevens home. "Louis!" screamed Louis's dad. "Phone!"

"Hello?"

"Hey, Louis, it's Tom."

"Yeah, what is it, Tom?"

"Louis, a little birdie told me today that you asked a certain cousin to the annual promenade."

Louis sighed, "Yep, I did, and she almost died, Tom! Did you hear me? She almost died because I asked her! Do you know what it's like to be standing over a passed out girl with a dozen band geeks staring at you because you just asked the freak out?!"

"Louis, I do not appreciate the tone you are using in your vivid recollection of the asking of my cousin, the lovely Miss Henrietta Honoria Gribalski."

"Alright, Tom, alright. I'm sorry. I'm just a little frustrated 'cause, you know, Tawny's going with that guy from the play. I just needed a date, man. Sorry about that. But tell you what, I'll treat her real good at the prom and at dinner. How about that?"

Tom conceded. "Alright, Louis. Sorry I got upset. I'm fine."

"It's alright, Tom. Anyway, I promise I'll treat your cousin good. Talk to ya later, bud."

"Bye, Louis."