The dates, smiling shyly, return to the dinner table. The conversation carries on until Brett serves their steaming dinners.
Then, full of fresh pasta and eager to start dancing, the young people caravan to the Opera House in downtown Los Gatos. Excitement mounts and hollers of enthusiasm erupt as they cruise into valet parking.
Following a week-long foray of academics and after-school sports, the gathering of more than 40 percent of Saratoga High's student body at the Winter Ball is the highlight of the week.
"This is the best dance so far," senior Jordan Jones, says. "This was a cool place to have it, too." The elegant Victorian-era Opera House is adorned with festive balloons.
Howard Yang, also a senior, was in charge of organizing the dance. Karen Hyde, activities director at the school, says, "The kids did all the organizing. They negotiated the contracts and hired the DJ. They did all of it."
When she and Howard met that afternoon to check last-minute details, she says, "we realized we needed less tables and more dance floor. Our kids are dancers!"
Be-boppin' to the rhythmic beat of contemporary pop music and old-time swing, the teenage revelers appear to appreciate their surroundings and the chaperones who dance and observe nearby.
"This group is great and very respectful," Loretta Goleman, facilities coordinator for the Opera House, says. "I think they like the fact that they're here and not at the school gym."
Principal Kevin Skelly looks on approvingly. "The kids are really enjoying themselves," he says. "They look so great all dressed up."
And they finally had their ties on right.
At the dessert table, the students snack on cakes and cookies and sip Shirley Temples from the bar. In the background, flashbulbs blaze as groups pose for their official Winter Ball pictures.
Back on the dance floor the foot-stompin', neck-jerkin' beat of "Y-M-C-A" rattles on.
All too soon, the dance ends, signaling the start of post-boogie activities.
"I'm so tired," says Howard who, along with Omar, swam more than two miles in swim practice earlier in the day. "But I can't wait to get to the hot tub."
Photograph by Scott Lechner
Erik Johnstone and Keri Klayko, two of the more than 400 SHS students who
attended the Winter Ball, dance on the balcony overlooking the main
dance floor in the Opera House.
Amanda Wise's parents are waiting, and the hot tub is steaming when the friends arrive to wind down from the dance.
Soon Amanda is in the kitchen pouring root beer over vanilla ice cream, while Cheryl plays the piano. Michelle LaMore and Elissa are getting ready to go into the hot tub.
The purring of the jets blankets the soft chatter as the group relaxes in the tub while watching the movie Austin Powers on the outdoor television.
It's now 1:30 Saturday morning, and a light breeze sweeps across the faces of the young people; a swirl of steam rises from the hot tub. For this group of seniors, the final Winter Ball is history. Soon enough, their high-school days will end, and their adult lives will beckon.
For now, though, they're home safe, surrounded by friends and enjoying these last moments of adolescence.
Saratoga, California Since 1975
