Eighth grade, for many people, was the year of first dates and first kisses. It was in… Eighth grade, for many people, was the year of first dates and first kisses. It was in eighth grade that girls may have learned the “rule” for when to accept a “date” and when not to. If a guy asked a girl out for the weekend on or before Wednesday, then it was OK to accept. But if he procrastinated until Thursday or Friday, then a girl should decline – she doesn’t want to look like a loser with no plans for the weekend.

It’s Wednesday, so that means you have ample time to find someone to go back to those glorious middle school days with. On Friday, WPTS 92.1 FM, Pitt’s radio station, is hosting ’90s Dance Party: Dance Like You’re In Eighth Grade.

And dance like you’re in eighth grade you shall. Some of the pressures of those horrible Friday night dances will probably be gone – like convincing the ‘rents that you are old enough to wear lipstick without looking like a tramp or that the brown stuff on your chin is stubble, not dirt, so you simply must shave.

Throw on your flannel shirts, peg your jeans and get ready to feel the angst as you rock out to Nirvana, steal kisses to slow, annoying Mariah Carey songs and drink un-spiked – or not – punch as Ini Kamoze gets you all revved up with “Hot Stepper.”

Since we’re older and, hopefully, more mature, after you gather the courage to ask that special someone to slow dance, chances are you won’t be doing so arm’s length apart. Try not to imitate “Dirty Dancing,” though, this is a ’90s dance party, not an ’80s one.

And finally, the pure beauty of this dance party is that, unlike those middle school soirees, people from other schools can attend – as long as they are from schools of higher education, since anyone younger won’t be able to truly appreciate the music of the ’90s – and you no longer have a curfew.

The ’90s Dance Party: Dance Like You’re In 8th Grade takes place Fri., Oct. 10, from 10:30 p.m. until 2 a.m., in the William Pitt Union Assembly Room. A college ID is required and admission is $4.