The crowd was energized as the fireworks went off, and Sonya easily slipped away from Jody as the flashes blinded her. As she pushed through the thick crowd, she began to miss her old height advantage. Where she would normally have been able to stand on her tip-toes and look over a sea of heads for her boyfriend, all she saw now was a forest of arms and torsos.
She clicked her heels and said "Twelve inches." Her platforms quickly shot up, and she was just able to see most of the faces in the crowd. Someone knocked into her, sending her sprawling onto the lawn. She picked herself up and realized her bracelets had fallen off again. "Dammit," she said. It was too dark and too crowded to find them. She just kept looking for Derek.
A few minutes later, someone tapped her on the back and she spun around quickly, expecting it to be Jody. She looked into Derek's excited eyes.
"I've been looking all over for you!" she said half-angry, half-relieved.
"So have I," he said. He took the leash in his hand. "Sorry we got separated like that. I had just gone to get us some nachos." He put his hand through the leash strap. "Better not let this go again, huh?" He smiled and offered her a plate of nachos.
Too relieved to yell at him further, Sonya ate a few and they watched the final explosions in the sky. Her mind returned to Jody.
"Let's leave," Sonya pleaded. "I ran into Jody and if we see her again it's just going to be awkward."
"Why?"
Sonya hadn't confided to Derek about her strained friendship. "My height, obviously. I can't hide this from my best friend. She's going to figure it out. Besides...," she ran a finger across his chest slowly, "You and I have a lot more to do and I'm running out of time.
A smile slowly formed on Derek's face. "All right," he said. "I'll lead the way." He raised the leash and led Sonya out of the party. He waved goodbye to Kevin across the crowd. Kevin saw him tugging on Sonya's leash, grinned, and gave Derek a thumbs-up.