"You're just jealous that you're not in love."

"It's true," she shrugged. "One day. I hope."

"It'll happen," I assured her.

"Miss Burke," the driver called, opening the door.

Sadie and I hurried forward—well, as fast as we could go in heels.

A small part of me hoped that Maddox would be waiting for me in the limo, but of course it was empty. We'd facetimed earlier and it had been good to see him. I hated that he was so far away in L.A. I'd flown out at Christmas—my mom had been okay with it since Karen and Paul were there—and while I was in L.A. Maddox had dragged me to the recording studio so that we could record our duet. It was one of my fondest memories. And thanks to Maddox I no longer was scared of what the future held after graduation. I knew what I wanted to do, and that was to write songs. I didn't feel this impending fear when I tried to see my future. Instead, I felt peace.

The drive to the hotel where prom was being held was short, and my nerves started up once more. I hated being stared at, but I knew that's what I should expect. I already experienced it every school day in the halls.

"Show time." Sadie called, bounding up the steps of the hotel while I trudged along like a fifty-pound weight clung to my ankle.

We stepped into the ballroom, a really loud techno song playing in the background. Blue lights pulsed, giving the ballroom a club vibe.

I watched the way some of our classmates danced and wrinkled my nose in disgust. Um, ew.

"Come on, let's dance," Sadie dragged me onto the dance floor with our classmates. A few eyed me, but surprisingly most people seemed oblivious to my presence. I guessed their minds were otherwise occupied for the night. Thank God.

Between the dancing and the heat of the packed bodies it didn't take long for a fine sheen of sweat to coat my skin.

"I'm going to go get water," Sadie said, backing away from me. "You want some?" She asked, but was looking over my shoulder. I turned to see what she was looking at, but didn't see anything besides our classmates.

"Yeah, get me water," I told her, but when I looked back she was already gone, having abandoned me.

Great.

I started to dart off the dance floor, but was halted in my tracks when a familiar song began to play on the speakers.

A song that—as far as I knew—hadn't been released to the public yet.

I whirled around, trying to find the DJ—to demand to know how he got his hands on my song—and instead collided with a very solid chest.

"Whoa, Em. You're going to give yourself whiplash."

My heart skipped a beat and I closed my eyes, scared to believe it was really him.

"I'm here," he whispered, his fingers skimming along my neck and down my arm. "You can open your eyes now."

I did and was met with a silvery gaze. "H-how?" I stuttered. "I thought you were in L.A. this morning?"

"Did you really think I was going to let you go to prom without me as your date?" He asked, raising a dark brow. I noticed that instead of a tux he wore a crisp button down white shirt, a black bow tie, and black pants. I was sure that if I looked he'd even have his drumsticks in his back pocket.

"Well, yeah," I finally replied.

"Oh, Em." He grinned, shaking his head. "Why do you ever doubt me?"

I eyed him.

"Right," he chuckled.

"The song?" I asked, lifting a hand in the air as if I could touch the notes and our words.

He grinned. "The record label agreed to put it on our album as a bonus track."

"Are you serious?" I asked, my eyes threatening to bug out of my head.

"I wouldn't joke about that, Em."

I squealed and threw my arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tight.

"Careful." He wiggled away, reaching into his pocket. "You might squish Sonic."

My mouth fell open. "You brought your hedgehog to my prom?"

"Of course. Sonic deserves to go to prom too," he grinned, lifting the hedgehog onto his shoulder. "Look, I even knitted him a bow tie." He pointed to the item dangling around the hedgehog's body.

I dissolved into a fit of laughter.

Maddox simply grinned at my amusement. I think it was his goal to make me laugh as many times as he could in a day.

"Can I have this dance?" He asked, holding out his hand.

I looked from the hedgehog into his silvery eyes. "Yes, and each one after it."

His smile was blinding as he wrapped a hand around my waist and pulled me against his body. We swayed with the music—our music, and I smiled as I imagined all the adventures that were yet to come.

THE END


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I'll be uploading the first three chapters of Mathias' story (Never Too Late), Ezra's story (In Your Heart), and Hayes' (Take A Chance) but at this time the full books will not be available on Wattpad. You can read them individually on Amazon, B&N, iBooks, or Kobo and you can read the full set (All 4 books plus bonus material) in Kindle Unlimited. 

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