One Shoe In San Fransokyo (A BH6 Cinderella story) (entered in #Wattys2015)

Chapter 9: (Felicity's POV)

(A/N: Be warned: this is a longer chapter than previous. (Actually, it's REALLY long.) Also, I have made a few edits to the previous chapter. Enjoy!)

Everyone who was coming to the ball seemed to already be there. Walking in, I felt a little self-conscious. 'What if everyone is staring at me?'  Actually, I wouldn't mind (much) if most people stared at me - it was a select few that I was worried about. I scanned the room and my eyes focused on Lady Tramurn and her daughters. Araminta and Delilah were gaping at me, which was a change, but Lady Tramurn was staring at me as if trying to remember something. I decided that it was time to get out of plain sight, and tried to blend in with the crowd, not wanting to draw attention to myself, but what caught my attention was the delicious-looking spread of food on a table to the side of the room.
'But of course it looks delicious - this is a cafe!' I told myself. I walked over to the table, and was about to reach out and grab a cupcake, when a hand gently grabbed my arm. I looked up to see a boy, about my age, staring right back at me. He was wearing a blue mask, a creamy-white suit, and had a head of jet black hair that looked untamable, no matter how much brushing or hair gel you used.

"Um... Hi!" I was the first to speak - the boy looked lost for words. He glanced to the right and I followed his gaze; A few older-looking kids were grinning and giving him the thumbs-up. The boy gulped and finally spoke.
"Uh, um, I'm supposed to choose someone to d-dance with," he stuttered, blushing slightly. I giggled - I couldn't help it. "W-would you like to, uh,"
"Of course I'll dance with you!" I said happily, answering his unfinished question. I heard a faint cheer, and, as if on cue, music began playing, and the crowd had parted to form a space in the centre of the café. The music was slow and orchestrated, and the boy groaned and rolled his eyes, before turning to a couple of older boys at the turntables. The boy raised his hands, as of saying, 'what the hell?' One of the older boys, who was dark and buff-looking, looked like he was about to protest, but the other guy, paler and lankier, said a few words to the first guy and replaced the music CD. Almost immediately, a song began to play;

"So don't you dare look back,
Just keep your eyes on me!
I said 'you're holding back,'
She said 'shut up and dance with me!'"

"Is this a bit better?" I asked the boy, grinning. The boy smiled back, and I noticed a gap in his teeth, which looked rather cute.
"Yeah, I guess!" he replied, sounding less nervous, so I grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dance floor.

"This woman is my destiny,
She said 'ooh-ooh-ooh,
Shut up and dance with me!"

I linked my hand with his, which made him blush more. With a bit of guidance from me, I twirled, dipped and danced with him through the song.

"I looked in her eyes,
I think I see the future!
I realize this is my last chance!
She took my arm,
I don't know how it happened.
We took the floor and she said,"

Gently, I placed his hand on my waist, and he looked at me, slightly surprised and slightly flustered. I gazed into his brown eyes, and sung along with the lyrics;

"So don't you dare look back,
Just keep your eyes on me!"

The boy joined in, still a bit nervous, but more confident than before.

"I said 'you're holding back,'
She said-"

I finished with;
"Shut up and dance with me!"

The song finished with us holding hands, our heads centimetres apart. (A/N: think of the pose from the end of the village dance scene in Tangled.)
"You're a pretty good dancer!" The boy told me, slightly out of breath as the crowd around us erupted in applause.
"Thanks!" I replied, still slightly out of breath. "What's your name anyway?"
"Uh, Hiro!" he told me.
"Ohh, so you're the most talked about teen in San Fransokyo then!"
Hiro smiled sheepishly. "Am I?"
"And modest, too!" I laughed.
Hiro gave me a small smile, but glanced around uneasily as all the other people began to fill the dancefloor.
"Come on, let's go to my room," said Hiro, and, so I grabbed his hand and followed him. Before we climbed up the stairs to where Hiro lived, however, he went over to the food table and grabbed a handful of Gummi Bears, releasing my hand so he could eat them. I decided to grab a cupcake, before we headed upstairs.

As we walked and ate, I looked around, drinking everything in. I noticed some photos on the wall. One of the photos seemed to be fairly recent, and showed Hiro, in a more casual outfit, with the lady that I had seen on the stage, and another male that looked a few years older than Hiro. His hair was the same colour as Hiro's but neater and flatter. He had the same eyes too. Another photo showed Hiro and the other boy when they were younger. Hiro was trying to pull apart a toy robot, and the other boy was sitting next to him, trying to help. 'His brother,' I guessed. I smiled at how adorable Hiro was. However, despite the many happy pictures, something didn't add up.
"Well, here we are!" Hiro announced as we reached his door, and he opened it with a flourish. Hiro's room had the average level of messiness for any teenager, but Hiro's bedroom was cluttered with science books, robots and unfinished projects. To the right-hand side of the room was what I guessed to be the bedroom of Hiro's brother, separated by a dividing wall, which was currently half-closed. That room was much neater and more organized than Hiro's, but I could see a thin layer of dust upon everything there, as if it hadn't been touched for a while. 'This could mean one of two things,' I thought. 'Either Hiro's brother is staying somewhere else, or-'
"My brother, he uh, passed away," Hiro said, confirming my suspicions. His voice had changed almost instantly, from friendly and relaxed, to sorrowful and almost shaky.
"I'm sorry," I replied, unsure what would be appropriate to say and what wouldn't.
Hrio sat down on the edge of his bed and I sat next to him. "No, it's ok. He died in a fire. We caught the guy who started it, though," He saw my expression and became slightly flustered. "Uh, I mean, the police caught him."
I laughed. I don't know why I did it. Maybe it was the look on his face, or maybe I just really wanted to ease the tension. Hiro started to laugh too. His laugh was contagious, and soon we were gasping for breath.
"What's your name anyway?" He asked, when he was finally breathing normally again. "I told you mine!"
"Felicity," I answered, and we began to talk some more.

Minutes melted into hours as we chatted. I learned that the host of the party was his aunt, and that his parents had passed away when he was three. ('So that's why I didn't see many pictures of them!').
"So, maybe we could meet up one day?" Hiro asked, blushing. "Maybe we could go see a movie, or uh..." I smiled, and was about to explain that I didn't live in San Fransokyo, when I saw the time on his digital clock. '11:50?!?!' I stood up quickly. "I'm sorry, I really must be going. It's a bit hard to explain. But thank you for the dance and everything, it was really nice, and you're really nice too!" I said quickly, almost gabbling. Hiro stood up too, confused, but I had already opened the door and was running out, hitching up my dress slightly. As I headed down the stairs from his room, one of my  shoes came off, 'dammit! How come these choose to come off NOW?', but I kept going. There were less people around when I reached the cafe, but still enough that I had to push, shove and "excuse me" though the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Araminta, Delilah and Lady Tramurn begin to say their final words, which made me sped up. I practically jumped into the limo waiting for me, ordered the driver to go as fast as possible. In the end, I only just made it back before the others.