It had been an eventful year for Cindy Steenburg.

First there was the incident when she desperately wanted Skip Whelan to ask her out and she tried her hardest to drop hints and she even told her best friend to ask his best friend but instead he went out with a girl who didn’t even go to Kennedy High and wasn’t even that pretty.

Then there was the time when a total freakazoid called Bobby started following her around and making puppy-dog eyes at her. As if!

So what was a self-respecting, cheerleading, bakesale-organising junior to do when her love life is a total wreck? Go shopping, of course.

And it was at the mall, on that fateful Saturday afternoon, when Cindy bumped into Todd McCaughey. Literally.

Todd was running along in that awkward, slightly geeky way he always did, not looking around to notice Cindy browsing through some totally amazing dresses, when he ran straight into her, knocking her off her feet. Although not in the way Cindy had often imagined Kevin Bacon doing it. Not even close.

But in that moment, with Todd’s face close up to hers, she noticed something she’d never noticed in a whole year of Mrs Beinschmerz’s Biology class. Todd was actually kind of cute.

As they rose to their feet and straightened their clothes, Todd smiled at her with an embarrassed look and a little zap of electricity ran through Cindy’s spine. Neither quite knew what to say at that moment, but they spluttered out some words and pretty soon found themselves talking away like old friends. Which would have been so mortifying if Cindy’s friends had walked by at that moment.
But this was no ordinary time in the life of Cindy Steenburg. It was only two weeks to the prom, and she still hadn’t found a date. And she wondered which social fate could be worse – not going at all, or going with Todd McCaughey.

She didn’t wonder for long, because Todd was already stumbling over the words to ask her to that night of nights. And to her surprise, Cindy found herself saying yes.

And she regretted it for the next two weeks, when Ellen Purstone told everyone about it and the other cheerleaders started to look at her funny. And when Skip Whelan finally asked her out and she almost accepted but changed her mind when she found out Skip had told everyone he was going to get to third base with her before the end of the week. And when Todd tried to pick a fight with Skip and almost had his nose broken, which would have made the prom unbearable.

But somehow she made it through, and as she and Todd walked down onto the dancefloor, joining the throngs of teenagers exploring the possibilities a prom suggests; and as the DJ started playing REM’s “Perfect Circle”; and as Todd put his arms around her waist and started to slow-dance, Cindy felt that maybe, just maybe, things were going to be alright.

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