Mandy swallowed hard, summoned up her courage and began walking towards Vaughn.  She unconsciously held her books in front of her as a shield. 
 

     “Uh,  Vaughn...” Mandy was able to choke out.  She thought to herself that she had croaked like a frog, but the reality was her own voice with a bit of a tremolo.  Mandy was looking down a bit, instead of directly at Vaughn.
 

     "Hey,  Mandy.  What's up,"  Vaughn replied in his own casual way.  He glanced away from the task of stuffing a book into the top shelf of his locker long enough to flash Amanda a smile.
 

     Mandy summoned up her courage and blurted out,  "Uh,...the last dance of the year is next weekend.  if you're not doing anything..."
 

     "Sure Mandy,  sounds like fun."  Vaughn flashed her another one of those infectious smiles,  slammed his locker shut,  and was gone.  Vaughn has the same social status as April;  they were both on the cusp of being popular and mixed with almost all the cliches at school.
 

     Mandy’s heart soared.  No rouge was necessary for her cheek’s now.  Amanda was so shocked that Vaughn said yes that  she didn’t even realize that he didn’t bother to set things up before he left.   Even an “I’ll call you tonight.  And,  Oh, by the way,  what’s your phone number would have sufficed.”
 

     April was an accidental witness to the whole affair.  When she realized what was transpiring,  April swept her hair out of the way and pretended to get a drink from the water fountain.  She did this as slowly and nonchalantly as possible.  Although out of earshot  April guessed that Amanda was making out well.  Turning her back to the two and walking away, April had a warm feeling inside.  She was happy to see her friend,  Mandy,  find a little happiness.