“You’re a waitress, Maria. You should be used to it.” Isabel said looking at a long black gown. “Isn’t there a decent dress in this entire mall?!”

“She’s gone insane.” Tess whispered to Liz. “What is it you’re looking for exactly?”

“It has to be perfect. I can’t really describe it to you. I’ll know when I see it.” She replied.

“Isabel, it’s nearly closing. We’ve gone through every store with a formal section, except for the bridal shop on the third floor.” Liz said.

“Well, what are we waiting for? That’s where we go next.” She said grabbing her friends.

When Isabel stepped inside the shop she knew her dress was there just waiting for her to find. She walked along the west wall, but only found the horrible bridesmaids dresses. Then she walked along the east wall, only seeing wedding gowns. As she was walking towards the back wall a saleswoman approached her.

“Can I help you find something, dear?” She asked.

“I’m looking for a dress for-“

“A formal?”

“Yes. I didn’t see one that I liked out.”

“I think that I have the perfect dress in back. It just arrived today. I was just getting ready to set it out. I’ll be right back.” The saleswoman said walking into the back room.

Ten minutes later, Isabel walked out of the shop with her perfect dress. The minute she saw the dress she knew it was what she was looking for.

***** The girls walked into the café after their shopping trip. The guys were all sitting at a booth comparing their adventure in renting their tuxedos to the girl’s shopping trip for dresses.

“So, did you find you’re dresses?” Kyle asked.

“As a matter of fact, we did.” Tess told him.

“Where did you go? Phoenix?” Michael said sarcastically.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Maria snapped.

“It’s just that we all agreed to meet here after we were done. We’ve been sitting here for three hours. And you girls, just got here.”

“It takes time to find the right dress. It’s not like going to Mr. Tux and renting the standard black tuxedo. There’s a lot more effort we have to put in.” Isabel said to them.

“Yeah. Okay. So, have we decided who’s riding with who, yet?” Alex asked.

“Well, there’s eight of us and three of us have cars. Since Kyle and Tess live together he should drive her.” Maria said. “And I’ll pick up Liz and Alex.”

“Well, I guess that means Isabel and Michael are with me.” Max said looking at Liz.

“I thought we were all getting ready together.” Liz said.

“Oh, that’s right.” Maria said. “But, we never decided where.”

“Here.” Isabel said adding, “There’s more room in Liz’s bedroom than in either of ours. Besides, I don’t want to go around tripping on Max, trying to get ready.” She said smiling.

“Well, if you girls are getting ready together, her, maybe we should get ready together, too.” Alex suggested.

“That might not be such a bad idea, Max.” Michael said. “We can all get ready at my place.”

“Then, we can just pick the girls up when they’re ready.” Kyle said looking at Tess.

“Actually, since we’re getting ready together, Maria can drive us to the dance and we’ll meet you there.” Isabel told them.

The girls looked at her like she was crazy. But she was wearing a “you-have-to-trust-me” expression on her face. So they went along with her, knowing she had some sort of plan.

“Well, yeah. We’ll just meet you there.” Maria said noticing the look on Michael’s face.

They all agreed to meet at the dance at eight-thirty.

***** Two days later- Liz’s bedroom….

The four girls were all working together to make sure each looked incredible. Isabel and Maria were doing hair, with Liz and Tess doing make-up.

“Liz, you look so great.” Tess said. Liz was wearing a pale blue slip dress with a slit from her hip to her ankle.

“Thank you, Tess.” Liz said noticing the improvement in her relationship with Tess, knowing that Kyle was a major factor in the change. Tess was truly happy. “But, please, you look radiant! Purple is your color.” Tess twirled around in her two piece ensemble.

“And we all know I look fabulous!” Maria said standing in front of the two girls in her black spaghetti-strapped floor length gown.

“Isabel, are you ever going to put your dress on?” Tess asked.

“Yeah, we’re running late and we haven’t even seen it yet!” Liz said.

“You’ve been so secretive about it.” Maria chimed.

“I’m going to need some help, though.” Isabel said.

“That’ why we’re here, babe!” Maria laughed.

Twenty minutes later, Isabel stood before her friends. They were in total awe of her.

“Quit staring at me. I told you I was going to find the perfect dress.”

“Isabel, you look so amazing.” Liz said.

“We’re going to have to peel Alex off the floor.” Maria whispered to Tess.

“Yeah, him and every other guy in the room.” Tess replied.

“Somehow I feel that she did this for only one guy.” Maria added.

“Well, it’s nearly eight-fifteen, shall we go?” Isabel said impatiently, looking at the clock on Liz’s dresser.

***** Meanwhile, at Michael’s apartment….

“Alex, could you be any slower?” Michael yelled towards his bathroom.

“Hey, just because I haven’t adopted the ‘just-rolled-out-of-bed’ look you’re so famous for, don’t yell at me. Perfection takes time.”

Max and Kyle started chuckling.

“What’s so funny?” Michael sneered.

“He’s acting like Isabel. ‘Oh, no, a hair out of place. The world is going to end.’ Maybe those two do belong together.” Max said as they all burst into laughter.

“Hey, I heard that!” Alex said walking out of the bathroom.

“Finally!” Michael said as Kyle ran for the bathroom. “Kyle, you asshole! I’ve been waiting forever for the damn bathroom and it’s my apartment.”

“You snooze you lose!” Max said laughing.

“Funny, Maxwell!”

“Michael, calm down. We have plenty of time.”

“Easy for you to say. You’re ready.”

“Hey, Alex. I heard Jenny Richards asked you to the dance.” Kyle said walking out of the bathroom.

“Jenny Richards? As in ‘With Jen you always win.’?” Michael said walking into the bathroom. “And you turned her down? Why?”

“Yeah, I turned her down. She’s not my type.” Alex responded.

“You mean she’s not Isabel.” Michael yelled back.

“That’s part of it.”

“Alex, she was giving you a shot.” Michael said walking back into the living room.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just me. I don’t care how available sex is. I’m not going to use a girl to have it! I have to care about the person.”

“Alex, don’t be so defensive. I was just razzing you. Lighten up. We all know you’re waiting for Isabel.” Michael said watching Alex turn red.

“Hey! I do not want to hear that about my sister.” Max said.

“Fine. No more talk about sex and Izzy.” Michael said walking towards Max. “Do you think you can tie this thing for me?”

They all started laughing.

“Are we ready?” Max asked as they all nodded. “Then, let’s go.”

“Humans in one car and aliens in the jeep!” Michael said.

***** The guys arrived at the dance at eight-ten. They knew they were early, but they had wanted to get a good table and watch the girls walk through the door.

They decided on a table near the wall. It was in good distance to everything they needed-the food, the dance floor and the bathrooms.

Ten minutes after they arrived the girls walked through the door. Not expecting them so soon, the girls spotted the guys first.

Liz looked at Max dressed in a black tux with a pale blue tie and cummerbund. He looked positively gorgeous. Tess spotted Kyle sitting down next to Alex. Like Max, he was dressed in a black tux but with a purple silk tie. Maria saw Michael leaning against the wall. He was in black from head to toe. Isabel looked at Alex. Out of the group of four guys, he was the only one who chose a white tux with a pale silver tie. He looks great, she thought.

“Isabel, how did they know what colors to get?” Liz asked.

“Maybe, they know us better than we thought.” She replied.

It was at that exact moment that the guys saw them. When Max saw Liz, he froze. She looks amazing, he thought. Michael did a double-take at Maria. Kyle thought that Tess looked gorgeous. But, nothing could compare to Alex’s reaction to seeing Isabel.

Isabel was wearing a white strapless ballroom gown with tine pale silver embroidered roses across the skirt. Here hair was down in “Shirley Temple” ringlets. She truly looked stunning. And apparently the whole room agreed, because they were all staring at her.

And she was only looking at Alex. She walked towards the table and sat down in a chair next to him.

“What did I tell you, off the floor.” Maria said to Liz and Tess as they were walking towards the table.

They all exchanged pleasantries and sat down. The DJ started playing “Most Girls” by Pink. Maria heard the song and grabbed Liz and Tess and dragged them out on the dance floor. Max, Michael and Kyle inched their way towards the edge of the dance floor, content on watching the girls dance.

Alex was still staring at Isabel. He hadn’t said a word since she had walked through the door.

“Alex, are you okay?” Isabel said softly.

“You look amazing.” He replied.

“Thank you. You look great, too.”

“Well, I tried.” Alex said trying to be funny. “I have something for you.” He said pulling a white box from under his chair and handed it to Isabel.

Isabel opened the box and pulled out a corsage made from sterling roses and baby’s breath.

“Oh, Alex. It’s gorgeous. But you shouldn’t have. This must have been so expensive.”

“It was worth it. Besides you needed a corsage to go with that dress.”

Isabel plucked one of the roses out of the corsage and put it in Alex’s lapel.

Maria moved towards Liz and Tess and pointed towards their table.

“Things are going well. I told you it would work.” Maria said.

“I just want to see them happy. You have Michael, Maria. Tess, you and Kyle are starting to have something. And Max is slowly coming around. And I deep down, Isabel cares about Alex just as much as Alex cares about her.”

“Yeah, they just needed a little push.” Tess replied.

“Who needed a push?” Max asked as he, Michael and Kyle invaded the girls’ dance space.

“Now, I get it.” Michael said. “The whole group thing. Separate cars. You girls’ set this up, knowing that us six would eventually pair off, leaving the two of them alone.”

“Isabel is going to kill you.” Max said.

“Not if she doesn’t find out.” Maria said.

“Enough yacking. This is a dance, so let’s dance.” Kyle said as “Crazy For This Girl” by Evan and Jaron started playing.

“It’s amazing how quickly our groups has turned into three couples and us.” Alex said to Isabel, pointing towards their friends.

“I knew it would eventually happen. It just gives us more time to talk. We haven’t really seen a lot of each other lately.”

“Yeah, well, we’ve all been busy. What do you want to talk about?”

Isabel smiled at him. “I heard you turned Jenny Richards down.”

“Man, who hasn’t heard that. Yeah, I did.”

“It’s a first, but I’m proud of you. It takes a real man to turn down a sure thing.”

“Well she’s been a sure thing for so many. I just didn’t want to feel like another notch for her. I’m not into that.”

“I know. You’re a true gentleman. I just hope no other girls discover the truth about you.”

“Why?”

“Because then I’d might lose you.” She said quietly.

Alex grabbed her hands and admitted, “Isabel, you’ll never lose me. We’ll always be in each other’s lives. Trust me, I’ve consulted a higher power.”

“What are you talking about?” She quizzed.

“A few months ago, Maria dragged me and Liz to this psychic her mom goes to. She told me that we’ll always be friends. So you don’t have to worry.”

“I’m not worried about our friendship, Alex.”

“Then, what are you worried about?”

“That we’ll always be just friends. I want to much more. More than I’m ready for. I know that I don’t deserve it, especially with all of the ‘friends only’ speeches I’ve been giving you, but if you’re willing to try again, so am I.”

Alex looked at her stunned. “You want to get back together?”

“Yeah. Why do you think I’ve been such a nightmare lately? I wanted to look perfect tonight. I wanted tonight to be perfect. For you. And so far it has been.”

“You did this for me? Why? You didn’t need to go through all the trouble.”

“I know. I did it because I love you.”

“You love me? I mean, you love me! WOW! I love you too. What made you realize this?”

“Everything. When everyone disappeared that day, I realized how lonely I would be without you in my life. Then, when you were gone, I missed having my best friend here.” Isabel said in near tears.

“I understand. I’ve never missed someone more in my life than you.”

Isabel wrapped her arms around Alex. Just then a familiar song began playing.

I’ve been watching you and all you do…..

“Do you want to dance?” Alex asked.

“It is our song.”

“Yeah, our song.” He said leading her out to the dance floor.

After the song ended all eight friends gathered at their table.

“I wanted to ask you all a favor.” Isabel said, not waiting for a reply she added, “I thought we should all get our pictures done. I mean, who know when we’ll be so coordinated again.”

They all agreed and went to the photo booth. They all had couple pictures taken as well as group and girls and guys pictures done.

Alex and Isabel danced the remainder of the night, as did the other three couples. After the dance, the eight friends went to the café for a late-night meal.

While, the guys were sitting at the counter, the girls were in the kitchen.

“So, Isabel, what’s going on between you and Alex?” Maria asked.

“Hey, Alex. What’s going on with you and Isabel?” Michael asked.

“Not a lot.” They both replied with a smile.