Autumn's Wish by Bella Thorne

amazing posture, like a ballerina. Every time I look at her I feel like a hunchback. I never noticed her until J.J. told me she’s his favorite person in the world. I thought he had a crush on her, but he said it’s just because her last name’s an anagram of her first. He likes to call her Harami, another anagram that in his fantasy is her actual middle name. “We’re already making it a costume party.”
    “Done to death. We need to do something better.” Then I bolt upright as inspiration strikes. “Like turn the school into a giant haunted house! We’ll theme it like a school from the turn of the century…for kids with ‘special powers’…and as people walk through the rooms we’ll have these tableaux set up with scary lighting and kids getting experimented on…like a walk-through horror movie—”
    “Budget,” Carrie says, cutting me off. “And creepy. But mostly budget.”
    Gus sighs. “Here’s what I say. If I wasn’t on the Senior Social Committee, the
only
way you could get me to a school gym dance is if you promise me I’ll find the man of my dreams.”
    Everyone murmurs agreement, and even though I know they don’t think they’re being serious, an idea starts to percolate in my head. One that will not only solve the Committee’s problem, but might also change the course of my friends’ futures for the better.
    “What if we make it a matchmaking dance?” I ask. “ ‘We’ll match you with someone so perfect, it’s
scary.’ 
”
    “I
love
it, Autumn!” Swoozie Lyman bubbles. “But how do we do it? Just the ten of us pairing people up together?”
    “No way,” I say. “No one would go for that. They’d think we’re messing with them. It has to be all computer. Secure website, questionnaires people fill out, the program matches them up based on interests and things…like a real online dating service, but just for the people coming to the dance.”
    Everyone smiles and buzzes, and I’m happy they’re all into it. Only Carrie is frowning, and I’m not surprised when she tells us why.
    “What about those of us already
with
our perfect match?” she asks.
    I’m ready for the question.
    “Most likely, the computer will pair you up!” I say. “And even if there’s some glitch and it doesn’t, we just make some ground rules. Like…you’re not
forced
to be with your date—”
    “Your Scare Pair!” Swoozie cries.
    “Love it!” Gus seconds. “And yes to Autumn. Everyone gets a Scare Pair, but you don’t have to be with them all night. You don’t even get their name until you get to the dance, so no one’s a jerk and doesn’t show if they don’t like the name.”
    “The Don’t Be a Jerk rule,” I second. “That’s perfect. No—the Don’t Be a
Ghoul
rule. And we’ll have one song near the start of the dance that’s specifically for Scare Pairs. It can even be a fast song, so no pressure.”
    “Exactly,” Gus agrees. “And in the spirit of Don’t Be a Ghoul, everyone has to dance with their Scare Pair partner for that one song. ’Cause seriously, I don’t care who it is, it won’t kill you. If the pairs want to hang more after, great. If not, they don’t have to. That way we get the singles and we don’t scare away the couples. Carrie?”
    Carrie’s lips are scrunched all the way over to one side of her face. “I don’t know…”
    Kassie Cooper, one of Carrie’s best friends and who looks almost
exactly
like a darker-skinned brown-haired Carrie, leans dramatically on Carrie’s desk. “Cair. I get it. I want to scratch out the eyes of any girl who
looks
at Ty. But even I’m totally cool with him having one fast dance with someone if the computer fixes them up.” Then she smiles. “Plus, I want to know who it’ll give
me.
Aren’t you a little bit curious? I mean, we’re here for less than a year. Don’t you want to know if there’s someone you overlooked?”
    Carrie meets Kassie’s eyes and smiles, then glances nervously at me and