The New American Dream

Part Five: The End Of All Things | Chapter Forty-Six

The music they played was okay. Even if it was a lot of pop music I enjoyed some of it. At least it was enjoyable enough to dance to it.

A slow song came on and finally I got the chance to slow dance with Dan. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I folded my hands behind his neck. Due to my shoes it was definitely easier than usual, as I was rather short while all my friends seemed to be giants.

Dan's hair tickled my arms and my forehead that I had leaned against his shoulder, but I didn't mind. I concentrated on his warmth and his heartbeat, closing my eyes and letting myself be guided by the music and him.

The song was over way too quickly for my taste, I could have spent the rest of my days like that. A new song started playing, a fast-paced one. I looked around for my friends and wanted to invite them to dance with us, but when I laid my eyes on Nate he seemed... angry? I knew him well enough to see through his facade and see that he was definitely not alright.

"Nate-" I started, but he had already turned around and was leaving the room hurriedly. Confused I looked at the rest of my friends but was met with equally confused faces.

"Go after him," Jace said.

Still confused I nodded, grabbed the back of my skirt so I wouldn't trip over it and took off. In the last moment when he turned a corner at the end of the hall I caught a glimpse of him and ran after him. Yes, ran. In 4 inch, spike-studded heels. I could have taken them off but a strap was wrapped around my ankles to keep them from potentially falling off, it would have taken way too long to remove them. I had no other option than to run.

On the other hand, I really didn't want to break anything, so I couldn't run as quickly as I would have liked, which in return meant I lost Nate rather quickly.

Frustrated I let out a groan and spun in a circle, trying to figure out where he could have gone or what had made him so angry in the first place. A thought popped into my head and with any luck he hadn't left prom just yet.

The rooftop.

I made my way up the floors of the school, up the stairs that lead to the rooftop. I hoped against hope that it wasn't locked and he had actually gone up there. I pushed against the door and more than relieved I realized that it opened. After a moment of looking around in the twilight I spotted Nate at the edge of the rooftop, a safe distance away from it, looking out onto the skyline of the city.

Carefully I approached him, very unsure of what situation I found myself in. "Nate...?" I asked quietly as not to startle him, though I was sure he must have heard my heels on the concrete or even the door close behind me.

His head turned into my direction but he kept his eyes on the scenery in front of us. "You should go back inside. Have fun," he said stiffly.

"How can I have fun without you?" I asked quietly, now stepping next to him.

He still looked away. "It seems you're capable of that without me, don't worry."

"What do you mean?" I was only more confused.

Finally he turned to me, but I instantly regretted my wish. There was so much hurt in his eyes. "Allie, you're such a smart person, how can you be so incredibly dumb?"

It felt like he had slapped me and instinctively I flinched away from him, taking a step back.

"No that's not... I'm sorry. That was mean. I'm so sorry Allie..." he said, his hands opening and closing in a desperate attempt to grab the right words.

My heart broke at the sight of it. "Nate, please just tell me what is going on," I forced out of myself. There was something more than wrong here and I didn't like it at all.