Jacob stuck his head into Mr. Craft’s office. “Do you have a minute?” he asked.

“Sure, what’s up?” Jacob was glad his counselor had time for him. There were some things he just wasn’t comfortable talking about with his parents.

“I decided to ask Tiffany to the prom. I’m going to make a big poster for a viral prom-posal.”

Girls love glitter.

“I heard that girls love glitter,” Jacob went on. “How much glitter should I use on the poster, to make sure she’ll say yes?”

“Are you talking about Tiffany, from the cheer squad?” Mr. Craft raised his eyebrows; he looked surprised. “Are you two dating?”

“Not yet. I used to be really shy around girls, but I’m trying to get over it. Tiffany’s so beautiful, naturally she’s my first choice for prom. Why not Tiffany? It’s a free country, right?”

“Well, you can ask anyone, but that doesn’t mean they’ll accept.”

“That’s why I’m planning so early. If I ask her first, she’ll have to go with me, right?”

The prom is not first come, first served.

“No, the prom is not first come, first served. If she doesn’t want to go with you, she’ll say no and wait for someone she knows and likes to ask her.”

“Why wouldn’t she want to go with me?”

“Instead of asking why she wouldn’t, ask why she would. Does she know you?”

“We have English together, but I sit in the front and she sits in the back. We’ve never actually had a conversation, but we could get to know each other at the prom if she says yes.”

“Is a girl likely to say yes to a guy she doesn’t know and has never talked to?”

“I never thought about that. I was just thinking how much I’d like to go with her. I mean, it doesn’t bother me that we don’t know each other yet, but . . . ” Jacob sighed. “I guess she’d probably rather go with one of the football players rather than a stranger. Hot girls are like that.”

“Everyone’s ‘like that.’ So, who do you know and like, someone who already knows and likes you, too, that you could ask to the prom instead?”

Find a girl who knows you and likes you.

Jacob thought. “Hannah, I guess. My lab partner. She’s smart and she laughs at my jokes.”

“That sounds promising. But, can I give you one more piece of advice?”

“Sure,” said Jacob.

No surprises.

“Don’t surprise her with one of those big prom-posal events if you don’t know for sure she’ll say yes. I’ve seen too many of those end badly. First, talk to her about the prom and ask her if she’d say yes to a prom-posal from you. Then you can make it as fancy and public as you want, because you’ll already know her answer will be yes.”

That sounded smart to Jacob. The next day in lab, he got his courage up to talk to Hannah about the prom. He learned that she would kind of like to go, but she didn’t have a date. He asked her if she’d say yes to a prom-posal from him, and she smiled and nodded.

What a relief!

By the next day, Jacob had created a poster covered with silver foil and glitter and pictures of computer-robots, one in a tux and one in a gown with a corsage, inviting her to the prom. She said yes, and everyone cheered.

Jacob and Hannah had a great time at the prom. His father drove them, and even wore a chauffeur’s cap like a limo driver. They danced and joked around with their classmates. Later, when he walked her to her door, Jacob got nervous. He wanted to kiss her, but he was afraid she’d pull away. After an awkward silence, he asked her for a kiss. To his surprise, she leaned up and kissed him quickly, then in a swish of chiffon she was gone.

Jacob smiled all the way home.