Honor Among Friends (NaNoWriMo14)

Chapter 9-B

"That was some kiss," he rasped, his voice deep and hoarse.

She took a moment to swallow. Then asked, "Worth the wait?"

"What do you think?" His hand gathered some of her curls that had fallen out of her hair-do.

Gently, she patted her hair and felt an array of exposed bobby pins and loose curls. The intricate hairstyle Kelly worked hours on was ruined in a matter of minutes.

Carson stilled her busy hands. "You look beautiful."

"I look like a mess."

He smirked. "No, you looked thoroughly debauched."

Madison couldn't control the smile that spread across her face. Smoothing out his wrinkled tie, she stated, "You do have a way with words, Mr. Marks."

He took her blonde locks and pinned them back in place. "I know of another corner we can corrupt. What do you say we head over so I can try to dislodge all your curls?"

She swatted him playfully. "You promised me dancing."

He twirled the silver earring dangling from her ear. "What about a dark closet? I remember how much you like those."

A tiny thrill trickled down her spine as his words. It was amazing how much changed since their first meeting. She would never have imaged developing feelings for the straight-laced Boy Scout. Not so straight-laced, she thought to herself, remembering her "debauching."

"Fine," he conceded, taking the silence as her answer. "We'll dance. But expect a dark closet in the near future," he warned. She would have chuckled at his joke, but his solemn expression said he was very serious.

He held out his hand and led her onto the outside dance floor. They danced with their arms wound around each other, their bodies in a tight cinch. Her cheek pressed against his chest, while his chin rested on top of her head. No words were needed, just the feeling of the other.

Time passed and before she knew it, Andrew, the student body president was talking over the loudspeaker.

"Attention Edgewood High. Please head into the gym so we can reveal this year's Homecoming court."

Carson sighed and reluctantly let her go though he kept a hand on her lower back. "I don't see the point of this. We already know who's going to win."

It was true. Madison hadn't even bothered to vote much look at the ballot that was passed out during homeroom class. "The king and queen are locked, but we don't know the rest of the court."

The way Edgewood worked was various names from every grade were nominated. Then the top five names were voted on. The king and queen were picked from seniors while the prince and princesses were chosen from the rest of the grades.

They followed the throng of students into the gym. Carson kept a tight hold on her so they wouldn't become separated. Madison saw a flash of dark red and jumped up to get a better look.

"Who are you looking for?" Carson whispered from behind.

"Avery. I thought I saw her."

Carson used her shoulders as leverage as he strained to see over the crowd. "I got her," he said. Grabbing her hand, he weaved his way through the crowd. She trailed close behind, his bulk creating a small pathway for her to use without getting trampled. 

"There you are!" Avery exclaimed. "When you didn't come back, I thought you'd gone home or something."

A sliver of guilt entered Madison's conscious. She'd been so wrapped up in her own world, she'd forgotten all about Avery and the rest of the group. "Sorry. I got..." her eyes slid to Carson, "...sidetracked."