Matchmaking 101

Biana's Gala- Part 2

I rubbed my clammy hands on my dresses sash and told myself to take deep breaths. The fifty sets of eyes staring at me didn't help my nerves either. I scanned the room, hoping to spot a familiar face in the crowd, but it was hard when everyone was wearing similar suits. 

Linh came to save me. She placed a hand on my shoulder and said, in a commanding voice I didn't know she had, "Welcome! Um, please feel free to mingle around, and, I guess, wait for Biana to talk to you? Uh, we have plenty of refreshments and food around. Sophie will help if you need any questions- uh wait where's Sophie?" Linh spun around and then shrugged. "Well, I guess you guys all know Sophie anyways, ya know, the savior of the Elvin World, blond hair, short, brown eyes- oh wait! There's Sophie by the food station! Uh, Sophie, can you wave or something?" 

I stifled my laugh at Linh's attempt to organize the event. Sophie waved shyly over by the food. Linh's face was turning pinker by the moment, but she nervously swallowed and continued talking. "Anyways, during the annual dancing movement, the music will play, and then Biana will dance with many of you. Umm, hope you have fun?" 

Marella quickly fiddled with the wires across the room and the calming music started again. Everyone started to mingle with each other.

"Thank you Linh," I said. "I could have never done that." 

Linh blushed. "I'm sure you could have," she replied. 

"Nah, I'm way to nervous."  

Linh opened her mouth to speak, but then I heard a deep masculine voice speak. "Biana Vacker?" 

I turned around and saw a deeply tanned boy with messy blond hair and electric blue eyes. He wore a deep purple suit and a black tie. I noticed he had a strange tattoo on his left arm, 12 black lines drawn across his bicep. 

"Yes that's me," I said, trying to keep a stutter out of my voice. The guy wasn't exactly my type, but I couldn't deny that he was extremely good looking. 

"I'm Jason Grace. You were my number 41 on my list." 

He spoke in a very proper manner, but I could tell that he was uncomfortable by the way he kept glancing around the room and avoiding my eyes. He was acting the same way that I was, so I was pretty sure that he had a girlfriend already or something. That might be good for me. Starting off talking with a guy who already had a girlfriend meant crossing another one of the list. Who knew, maybe we could even be friends once the awkward tension diffused. 

"Hey!" I said, adding in an awkward curtsy that even Sophie would be proud of. I glanced towards Linh and she gave me a, 'go ahead', kind of look, but it was also mixed in with a 'don't be so awkward Biana everything's going to be fine' look and a 'don't you dare cheat on my brother' look. I guess stares that communicated way too many things was a running trait in the Song family.

We started strolling around the perimeter of the room. The conversation was non-existant. 

"What level are you in Jason?" I asked, hoping to break some of the tension. 

"Oh. I'm about to start Level 7 once the semester starts again. You?" 

"Oh yeah, I'm going to be starting Level 5. Why did you just get your list in Level7? I don't mean to be nosy, but don't you usually get your list in Level 4, 5 or 6?" 

"My girlfriend  didn't feel comfortable with it. Our relationship just started last year." He said girlfriend like he was hoping the word would get him shown to the exit door. If I had the power to let him go, I would have, because I knew how it felt. 

"Congratulations." Then, after a moment of thought I added, "That's longer than me and my boyfriend have been together." 

Jason's shoulders relaxed like a huge weight had been removed from them. He actually flashed a smile. "You're stuck here too?" 

"Yup." 

"Well, then I should leave you to find your boyfriend. Have fun Biana." Jason turned away and left, looking much happier than he had arrived. 

I felt a tap on my shoulder and groaned inwardly when I saw that it wasn't Tam. Another boy, this one tall, with wild cotton-candy pink hair and a mischevious grin that would make headmasters all around the world tremble in fear, held out his hand to me. 

"Hello Biana," he said, the grin still on his face. It was infectious, and it made me want to do something crazy, like vandalize Foxfire, or pull a giant prank. His dark blue eyes sparkled. "I'm Jace Johanson. I was your nineteenth match." 

The name was familiar. I glanced him up and down, taking note of the flashy white suit and pink hair. Then, I sighed. Why didn't I think of it earlier? With a grin like that, he definitely had to be Keefe's friend Jace that he had mentioned to me earlier. 

I shook his hand. "Hello Jace. Kefee told me about you." 

Jace faked being upset. "You only remember me from Keefe? Does that mean you forgot me??? How is that even possible to forget this face?!" 

We laughed, and started to walk around the room together. "Yeah, we've met before. Many times actually. I remember the day I met you, that I came over to Everglen with Keefe when he was...oh right, Level One, and we played Base Quest with Fitz and some other guy, I think his name was Harvey?" He grinned again. "I always won, just so you know. Then, that day, I saw an adorably small little 10 year old girl run towards us. She was about this tall."   

He bent down and placed his hand so close to the ground it was almost touching, and then straightened up. 

"I wasn't that short!" I replied, in mock anger.  

"Oh yes you were." Jace replied, running his hands through his hair absent-mindedly. "Anyways, you said that you just had to play Base Quest with us, and Fitz  kept groaning and saying that you was too young to be playing with three older guys."

"Was?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at his grammar mistake. 

"I meant to say that on purpose grammar freak," Jace replied. He leaned in to my face, smirked, and said the words again. "You was toooooo young."

"Oh, stop it," I said, rolling my eyes, and he straightened up again. 

"Anyways, I remember that Fitz stuck you on my team because he didn't want you on his. And guess what? We actually won that day. I remember Fitz being so upset and muttering it wasn't fair to have two Vanishers on a team." 

"I remember that now!" I said, snapping my fingers. "You looked so different back when you still had brown hair!" 

Jace laughed again, but this time his face molded to something more serious. "Yeah. That was the day I started liking you." 

I froze at the words, and turned around to face him. 

"What?" 

Jace looked slightly embarrassed but he managed to remain composure. "Yeah that was the day. I remember that I kept coming over to Everglen, sometimes with Keefe, sometimes with Fitz. I kept coming for both my friends and for you." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I couldn't belive it when I got so high on your list."         

I swallowed nervously. What was I supposed to say? What was I supposed to do? I thought that knowing the people I was talking to would make things better, but it just felt even worse. And Jace was such a good person, he deserved so much more than a girl who was just going to reject him like this. 

"I-"

"JACE!! MY BUDDY!" Keefe suddenly popped out of nowhere holding a glass of bubbly yellow liquid. 

'Keefe to the rescue', I thought. 

"KEEFE!" Jace shouted back. They then did some weird handshake that involved grabbing each other's fists, and jumping against each other. Everyone stared at them. 

I saw Dex sigh from the corner of the room and put his face in his hands. We made eye contact across the room, and I could tell we were both thinking the same thing. 

'Wow Keefe. Just- wow.'