It had been four days since Mary had been nearly hit by the car (she still hadn't called Matthew.) The boy upstairs, David had come to her rescue like a White Knight on his steed. He had taken care of Mary, washed her scrapes and stayed with her for what turned out to be three hours before her friends could take he back home. She had enjoyed being with him for some reason. He was very kind and gentle... not to mention cute! But Mary hadn't seen him since that morning. He had disappeared. David was gone, even though Mary could easily go upstairs and say hello; she didn't want to. She thought it was too forceful for some reason. Just going to someone's door that you met once didn't seem right. For a day or so, she had wanted to bring something to him as a way of saying "thank you." The best thing would have been a baked good, but Mary didn't know how to cook and she didn't want to appear as the housewife type to anyone!

So, she tried to put David out of her mind and spend more time trying to decide what to do with Matthew. Yet, the more she thought a Matthew, the more she didn't want to. Mary became sad everytime she remembered her first and only boyfriend. She had felt ugly and alone before she met him and that fact that he wanted to date her made Mary feel good; almost pretty. Now that he was gone, she felt ugly again, but Mary wouldn't let her friends know that. No, that was the last thing she wanted. Mary had built up a strong self-confidant image for herself - by hiding her true feelings - and she wasn't about to let any depression knock it down. If fact, the only thing Mary didn't like about her and people knew about was her hair. She had begun to dye it blonde when she was sixteen and still did.

The mail came at noon. Bridget passed out letters, but kept one advertisement in her hands to read. Mary watched as her friend's eyes lit up.

"Hey, the Country Club's hosting a fund-raiser dance tonight!" she exclaimed.

"How much does it cost to get in?" Christine asked, worried about where her precious funds would go.

"A dollar."

Christine was pleased with the low price, while Katy was wondering what the club was raising funds for. She asked this aloud.

Bridget looked back at the letter and raised and eyebrow, "For homeless families in... Trish-aba-daily-nightly-jan-fram-asia?" She passed the letter to Mary who corrected the Bridget's pronunciation.

"That's Trishanog'frimsa. It's a city in Australia."

All the girls said that they wanted to go, except Mary. Why should I go? I don't like going to dances without a boy to dance with? But if I don't then they'll know there's something wrong. So she agreed to go to the dance with her friends.

Christine wanted to fix her hair up a bit. Katy styled it into a French braid, with ribbons twined through hair itself. Then Katy talked Mary into letting her do her hair too. Even though Mary's golden tresses were short, she was able to fashion them into something that resembled an Egyptian: straight and tightly in place.

When it was time to leave, the teens took a short bus ride to the dance hall. It was darkened inside, but the bright colors of the walls could be made out well. The Disc Jockey was playing the Beatles' number "Help!" one of Christine's favorites and she immediately began to dance, although not as well as Bridget could.

Mary felt a bit out of place, as if she didn't deserve to have fun. She had just broken up with her boyfriend. Shouldn't I be crying into my pillow just about now?

Katy noticed her friend was unusually silent and inquired as to why.

Mary didn't acknowledge the fact that she was quiet at all and to prove it, began to dace wildly to Frankie Valley's hit, "Big Girls Don't Cry." She allowed her voice to go all over the place, trying to mimic Mr. Valley's method.

"Hey, you're pretty good, " Katy remarked. Then she to began to sing. The two girls say together and Mary broke off into harmony. Christine and Bridget joined in, each singing a part of the Four Seasons. They mastered it perfectly and that gave Mary an idea.

"Maybe we should start our own band!"

"Maybe," Bridget took the time to add and then went back to singing. It wasn't the answer Mary had hoped for, but she still valued the thought. What would we call ourselves? What kind of music should we sing? Those guys who live above us formed a band, why can't we? For few moments, Mary forgot her worries about Matthew, but they came back as a group of four boys entered the hall. They were dressed identically with maroon shirts and black pants, but one of them wore a green hat that stood out dramatically. Three were the same height, but the boy on the left was much shorter. Even smaller than Mary, who was lowest in stature among her friends. She couldn't get a good look at their faces or hear what they were saying over the music, but it was easy to hear her friends speak for they were next to her.

"There're the noise-maker's, now. They must have just come form a gig," Bridget remarked.

"What do you mean?" Mary asked, turning back to her friends and beginning to wonder whom the boys were.

"It's the band that lives above us. What do they call themselves, Katy?"

Katy didn't know, but Mary knew something. The short boy in the group was David Jones from upstairs and she had some questions about music for him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Boy am I tired. David yawned. He and his friends, who had formed a band called the Monkees, had just come from a music job. They had thought dancing would be a great way to loosen up, but, frankly, David was too tired to stand. He took a folded chair from its place leaning against the wall, set it up, sat down and closed his eyes. David drifted off and fell into a deep dream. In it, he was with Mary, that girl he had met just a few days ago. They were on a white boat in the middle of the sea. Neither of them spoke, but David had his arm around her. The only sound came from the sea, as it sung to them and rocked them back and forth across the water.

"Dave, are you asleep?" Michael Nesmith's voice cut through the dream.

David fluttered his eyes open and shook his head, "No, I'm awake."

Peter Tork raised his eyebrows and turned to Mickey Dolenz, "I didn't know people snored while they were awake."

"Fine, I was asleep, but I'm up now." He suddenly became very thirsty for a soda, "Where's the refreshment table?"

Mickey looked around for a second and then pointed to an area a short distance away. David followed the direction of his friend's arm and found a small both where they sold a wide variety of snacks and drinks. He purchased a root beer and then went back to sit with his friends.

"How much was it?" Peter asked.

"Fifty cents," David replied and then took a long drink. Through the neck of the bottle, he could see through the clear, glass bottom. On the other side of the room was a group of four girls, separate from everybody else. The smallest one, who had had her back to him, suddenly turned around and he got a good look at her face. He choked in mid-sip. Michael hit his coughing friend on the back several times.

"Mary!" David exclaimed.

"Where?" Mickey asked, remembering the story David had told about the girl he'd met.

"Right over there," David motioned... but she was gone. "Where did she go? I have to find her!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memories of Matthew had drifted back to Mary's mind. She didn't want to be at the dance any longer and was about to say so when someone tapped her on the shoulder. It was a boy, about her age, but a few inches shorter with dark long-set hair and brown eyes. She recognized him immediately, "David."

"Hi Mary," he appeared shy and bit at his bit. "Do you want to dance?"

Right away Mary answered, "Yes." Although she missed Matthew, David was really nice and she wanted to get to know him better. Mary let him take her hand and David led her to the main dance floor. They embraced, swaying to a slower number. Mary felt so peaceful in his arms, as if she could stay there forever, but this feeling only lasted for a few moments. Her heart began to pound inside her chest; she felt dizzy. So dizzy that Mary stopped dancing. It took David, who was it in ecstasy, a few moments to notice this.

"What?" he asked.

"I guess I just don't feel very well, tonight."

"Oh," he slowly let go of her. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Mary sat down in a chair.

"Would you like me to stay with you?"

Mary shook her head, "No, maybe I should just go home."

David helped her up, "I hope you feel better."

Mary told her friends that she would take the bus home and let herself in with her new key. This she did and was soon trying to sleep on her cot. Mary had lied to David. The dizzy feeling wasn't making her feel sick, it worried her.

Scared her.

When she had first met Matthew, Mary had had the same feeling. It's the type of thing you get when you really care about someone and you really like them. Enough to love them. Mary had loved Matthew, but he hurt her so much. If she felt the same way about David ...if she loved him... there was a chance they could hurt each other. Mary didn't want to be hurt anymore! I'll just be his friend. Friends don't hurt like lovers do. But, she didn't want to only be his friend if she could be something more. I don't he'd hurt me... but I can't take a chance. I don't know what I'd do if I had more pain.

She cried herself to sleep.