Penny For Your Thoughts? [unedited]

c h a p t e r • s i x t e e n

I nudged him before taking the glass and scimming off the top.

We watched and waited for a while before Tommy eventually left me to talk business with some other seniors.
I stood by myself, glancing over the sea of socializing rich folks and occasionally sipping from my glass.

"Did they have anything like this at SCAD?" A voice said.

I jumped and turned to see Parker standing there, leaning against the wall behind me with a smug look on his face. He drank from a whiskey glass, probably from the open bar on the opposite side of the floor.
I chuckled before joining him against the wall, suddenly feeling more wallflower-ish than ever.

"Nope, definitely nothing like this. We did have an art dance, one time during August. It was a welcoming dance. No fancy gowns, or suits. Just people, blank canvases, and a shit ton of paint."

"Sounds like a hoot." He chuckled.

"It was." I smiled, glancing into my cup sadly.

"How long are we going to keep this up?" His question caught me off guard, causing me to look at him in confusion.

"What?"

"This whole 'we've never met' facade." He sighed, setting his glass down onto a nearby table.

I thought about it before shrugging.
"I guess, now. They think we just met so I guess we're in the clear."

He smiled and turned to me.

"Good. I'm really tired of tip toeing for my life around your ridiculously buff brothers."

I scoffed. "Calm down. They wouldn't do really any damage unless you hurt me or if we were dating. Then they'd really lose their shit."

He smiled.
"Dating? Doesn't sound like a bad idea."

I rolled my eyes and nudged his shoulder, but couldn't help the smile on my face or the blush in my cheeks.

"C'mon. We've know each other, what, 3, 4 weeks? I don't think so."

He laughed and stuffed both hands into the pockets of his tux.
"What's 3 weeks in the name of romance?"

I giggled, suddenly feeling a lot more relaxed than before.
Suddenly, a noise echoed around the room. Someone cleared their throat into a microphone before tapping on their champagne glass, catching the attention of everyone in the room.

"Excuse me," Dean Henson appeared at the center of the room, under the grand chandelier.

The room quieted as he cleared his throat again and flashed the room a toothy smile.

"Thank you all, for joining us on this our 75th Annual Fall Formal. As most of you know, this is a fundraiser event. There is a raffle in which one of you lucky, lucky students will win a new car!"

The crowd explodes into whoops and cheers before settling down again the here the rest of the dean's speech.

"All proceeds from the raffle tickets go to the Breast Cancer research foundation! Tickets are 100$, so buy them while you still can. This is a night for fun so have at it! Hit it, DJ!"

Henson turns to point at the DJ both that sits a floor above is on a grand balcony. The DJ nods and before you know it, music starts to boom out of speakers.

This was making out to be one interesting night.

***

An hour later and the dance had not slowed down a bit.
After dancing for what seemed like forever, I took a seat at the table with Winn and Sunny, who seemed to be getting tired of the dance all together.