Dear Readers,

 Once upon a time, I went to the 7th grade dance. It was in a dark gymnasium that smelled of Binaca breath spray and sweat. There was a cover band with enough big hair to make Muppets. A Boston song was played. And I was standing on the sidelines in a white eyelet dress my mother made me that looked vaguely as if I had lost my herd of sheep.

I stood on the sidelines for a long, long time. I stood and mouthed the words to bad songs while my friends Jeannie and Marcy and Dale