"Yeah, November, but you can call me Nova," I reply, swallowing heavily. "Jaden, is it?"
                          
"Yeah, it is," he answers before glancing back at his friends, who are now all staring at their phones. "So how do you know Kat?"
                          
"We, uh, we met in a school club," I admit after a second of thought. Saying math club would make me sound nerdy and that's the last thing I want him to think. "What about you?"
                          
"We went to high school together," he says calmly before shrugging a little. "Kind of."
                          
"Kind of?" How do you kind of go to high school with someone?
                          
"She was a freshman when I was a senior." I try not to act shocked. So he's a senior in college now? Jeez! Judging by his laugh, I assume I'm not that good at hiding my surprise. "I'm a bit older."
                          
I shrug it off in an attempt to act nonchalant. "It's all cool." That's such a dumb thing to say. Who says that?
                          
"So...do you want to dance?" he proposes and I stumble over my words. I don't know how to dance! Dominic didn't say anything about dancing! That's because the only dance he's ever done is the horizontal grind. Why would you think about that? I nearly gag in disgust at my nasty train of thought.
                          
"Sure," I agree nervously. "I don't really know how to dance though."
                          
"Good thing I'm a dancer." He seems satisfied with himself for having that skill set. He puts down his drink and nods in the direction of the living room, where a majority of the people are standing. Not many people are dancing but then again, there aren't many people here.
                          
He teaches me a basic dance and how to maintain it through any tempo. It's basically rhythmical grinding. I try not to think too much as I dance with him and instead, wait for the song to end. As someone who isn't a fan of physical contact, I can determine that dancing is not for me. Luckily enough, the person whose phone was in charge of the music gets a phone call. Jaden, as smooth as he is, laughs and leads the way to the couch. I follow when I figure there isn't much else to do.
                          
He makes small talk, laughing at the corny jokes that I make even though I know they're not funny. It's hard to tell whether he has a bad sense of humor or a strong urge to get in my pants. The answer is made clear when he puts his hand on my thigh. "You're really cute," he says bluntly and I give him a half smile.
                          
"Thanks." This is awkward. Very awkward. "I guess you are, too."
                          
His laugh is genuine this time. "You guess?" he wonders.
                          
"You are," I clarify before shrugging. "I just feel like you already know that."
                          
I start to think about all the experiences I've missed out on in high school. All the things that everyone else did: making out and relationships and everything. Though I've never outright wanted to do any of that, they've always been in my mind. Maybe if I liked someone and they liked me back, I'd have done them. But that didn't happen. So now I'm starting to think that maybe I should do it just to experience it. Who knows if I'll get another opportunity to? I look at Jaden, whose eyes are locked on mine. He's talking but I'm not exactly hearing him. He's cute. What have I got to lose?
                          
I exhale and scoot closer to him. "Huh?" I lean in to him. I hope this works. I've seen it done in movies and it usually gets the ball rolling. I probably look like an idiot though because the music is playing but it's not too loud that I can't hear him. Maybe he'll interpret my closeness as me just being hard of hearing. I hope he takes the hint or else this is going to be weird. I can tell by the look in his eyes that he's going to go for it. 
                          
It suddenly occurs to me that I have no idea what I'm doing. According to the movies and books, it just happens and you go with it. You're supposed to feel sparks, right? Another damning realization hits me: I don't want my first kiss to be with some random boy that I don't know! I couldn't even tell you this boys last name. As he's about to close the gap between us, I jump back.