And then he came. All of the suddenly his arm was around my waist so warm and tight and he said very casually, "May I skate with
you?" and then he took my hand. That's all there was to it. Just that and then we were skating. It wasn't that I never skated with a boy before. Don't be silly. I told you before I get around. But this was different. He was smooth! He was a big shot up at school and he went to all the big dances and he was the best dancer in town except Arnold Wright who didn't count because he'd been to college in New York for two years! Don't you see? This was different. I can't remember what we talked about at first; I can't even remember if we talked at all. We just skated and skated and laughed every time we came to that rough spot and pretty soon we were laughing all the time at nothing at all. It was all so lovely. The tone of this excerpt from Daly's "Sixteen" is _____.
Explanation: Just to elaborate a little on the answer, it can be added that the tone of the excerpt refers to the attitude of the author towards the events that she is describing — the chance encounter between two teenagers at an ice skating rink. That attitude is clearly an attitude of excitement. The author was observing the main character and she describes her reaction when a young boy invited her to skate with him, and the feelings of happiness and enthusiasm that that unexpected and warm invitation arose in her.
