As soon as they reached the hotel's parking lot, the loud music, hustling and bustling teenagers, innumerable ball gowns and tuxedos made Ally jitter with nervousness. She was afraid of people's reaction and a ton of questions that were waiting to pop up the second she walks with Cameron. She always knew it would be difficult to be with someone so popular and demanded in school. In theory, she had been preparing herself for this moment for a month now, but now as it was becoming real, all her planning was flushed down in that overwhelming moment.
"You ready?" Cameron asked.
"Yeah." But she was far from being ready. She was clutching the door handle too hard, her face turned pale and he noticed that quickly.
"Hey," He reached and put a hand on her exposed thigh, "It's going to be fine." His soothing voice and calming touch gave her a little courage and she smiled at him.
When she was about to open the door, he hurriedly said opening his door, "Oh no. No, wait I want to do this right."
She kept telling him that it wasn't necessary but he didn't listen. She saw him run towards her side to open the door for her. She shook her head, "There was no need for that. I can open my door." She shook her head.
"I know but I just wanted to do this." He offered his forearm for her to hook her arm inside. She inserted her hand clumsily and together they walked like a Victorian age couple.
"You're so dramatic." She remarked as they walked towards the entrance.
"Or romantic?" He proudly said. As soon as they were close to the entrance they caused a lot of heads to turn. All of her schoolmates looked at her differently, some boys even smiled at her probably because they had never seen her dress in something elegant. And some shamelessly stared at them wondering what in the hell were they doing together.
She ignored the stares and smiled at some familiar faces. "Wow. This is crazy." She heard him say scanning the number of eyes on them.
"Just walk and ignore them." She whispered.
Finally, what seemed like an eternity they were inside the hall. In the hall, they weren't subjected to scrutinizing eyes since people were busy dancing and enjoying themselves. Only those who noticed their presence around looked at them strangely, the others were lost in unawareness and ecstasy.
"We made it safely." She sighed and he laughed. She turned her head around to see the hall decorated lavishly with banners, pictures, and a board beside the stage that adorned the best moments from the school year. The DJ was playing party hits against a textured blue backdrop on top of which was a banner- McKenzie High School Class of 2014-15, written in glitters of blue and white. Colorful balloons were scattered on the dance floor and the disco lighting was giving it the vibe of a nightclub.
"Everything looks beautiful, Miller." She said to him still gazing at the colorful patches of lights. "Especially the food counter." There was a long line of food and beverage counters set on either side of the big hall which was already swarmed by their schoolmates.
"Oh, we have kept dishes from different cuisine. I'm glad you like it."
"Good job, Miller." She patted on his shoulder. She suggested they search for their friends and they found them sitting on one of the tables. Ryan, Luke and Ryan's date were sitting on the table lost in watching the crowd on the dance floor.
"Hey, guys." Cameron said and they were welcomed with three shocked faces.
"Hey..." Luke said enthusiastically confused. "Oh my god. Ally I thought you weren't going to come."
Before she could answer, they were joined in by two of her friends, Becky and Haley looked lovely in their dresses. "Oh my god. Ally I thought you weren't coming." Haley repeated putting her glass of punch down.
"What- How did you come?" Becky chimed in. And then she was thrown into a muddle of questions she couldn't keep track of. All four of her friends attacked her with a string of doubts.
"Where did you get your dress from?"
"You said you didn't like prom?"
"I thought you were staying at home tonight?"
"Wait, who's your date?"
That last one asked by a conscious Haley silenced the other questions. They all looked at her with wide eyes waiting to be fed with an answer. She gulped and got ready to finally expose the truth. "I came with him." She said indicating Cameron beside her.
"What?!" The four of them shouted in unison so loudly that the whole world stopped and looked at them for a second. She hushed them and was again in a farm of questions growing each passing minute.
"Shh. One by one I can't understand what you're saying." She screamed to them but they were so hyperactive they continued their own parliament.
"Guys. Guys!" Cameron shouted louder than her and they went quiet at once. "Keep quiet and listen to her."
They twisted their heads to her hopefully. "Okay, do not overreact when I tell you this..."
"Oh god, you're pregnant?" Becky whispered in a horrified voice placing a hand on her chest. This caused a debate to emerge in the group again and they again buzzed together like bees.
"What the fuck is wrong with you? No. I'm not pregnant." She screamed at her friends direction, annoyed. But it was too late, they were already planning the name of the baby and congratulating Cameron for taking care of Ally.
"Shut up, you guys!" She complained as loudly as she could. "I'm not pregnant!" She hissed.
Cameron took advantage of the silence and slipped the news in quickly, "It's just that we're... dating."
She was expecting them to go nuts and start arguing again but a bizarre silence lingered around. They stared at the two of them with blank faces as if they almost didn't hear it. It took a whole minute before anyone spoke.
"What do you mean 'Dating'?" Ryan asked holding the same expressionless face.
"Dating means dating. Going out. As a couple now." Cameron explained to him slowly.
"Like you're a couple now?" Luke asked and his jaw hung open.
"Yes." They said together. She was dreading this moment and it happened exactly like she had expected. Their friends started yelling incoherent things together and basically pranced on both of them with questions and advices. She glanced at Cameron on her side who looked as terrified as her. He glanced back with wide eyes and shrugged his shoulders.
"Okay. Everyone calm down." He yelled back at them. "I said, calm down!" He yelled again when they didn't listen.
Surprisingly, they became silent after that and examined the couple. "Since when have you been dating?" Becky asked first.
"A month." She replied honestly.
"Why didn't you tell us before?" Luke asked.
"Because we knew you'd react like this." Cameron said.
"Do you love each other?" Haley's question caught both of them off guard.
"Uh..." They started together but were unable to say anything." We have not discussed that yet." Thank you for bringing that awkward topic, Hales. I'll make sure to hide my face in a hole for 18 years. She wanted to add but didn't, she simply glared at her friend.
"Wow. This is huge." Ryan gave a smile of disbelief.
"I hope that it's okay with you guys." She said feeling a burden lift off her chest. At least they didn't have to hide from their friends anymore.
"Yeah. Of course, I think it's awesome." Ryan further said and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"So are we going to dance or what?" Becky jumped with excitement and a boy dressed in a blue suit arrived by her side holding two glasses.
"Oh. Becky, you aren't going to introduce me to your date?" Ally teased.
"Oh, sorry. Zack, these are my friends Ally and Cameron." They shook hands and she found Zack to be a decent looking guy with good manners. Apparently, he was in Becky's Spanish class and had asked her just a week before prom. Her friend was all giggly and smile-y so she assumed she was happy with her date.
Then Becky and Zack along with Haley and Luke disappeared on the dance floor leaving only Ryan and his date. His date's name was Vanessa and she was known as a rebel in school. She had a piercing on her eyebrow and a butterfly tattoo on her back. And Ally loved her tattoo peeking out of her spaghetti dress. Vanessa was very friendly and admirable unlike the rumors she had heard.
"Parker, do you want something to drink?" Cameron who was sitting beside her suddenly spoke while she was busy listening to some of Vanessa's stories.
"Um, Sure." She was willing to go back into her conversation with Vanessa but she noticed a pair of wide eyes behind Vanessa signalling her towards the food counter. It was Ryan wanting to spend some alone time with Vanessa.
She understood and got up saying, "I'll come with you, Miller." And they left the other couple alone on the table.
"Ryan is so stupid." She chuckled as they walked away from the tables.
"Let's get something to drink." Cameron said giving a little dab on the small of her back.
"Do we have hard liquor?" She asked.
"No." He looked at her in disbelief. "You don't need to get drunk tonight." He added gravely.
She denied his words and informed him that prom was useless without getting wasted. "There's a party afterwards right? I'm gonna enjoy there." She happily said and he shook his head disappointingly.
When they reached the non-alcoholic bar he ordered two soft drinks. "Wanna dance?" She asked taking a sip from her drink realizing that she was finally alone with him.
"Sure." They finished drinking and she led him deep inside the crowded dance floor. After finding the perfect spot she let herself loose to the beats of a dance song called 'Summer'. She was a different person as soon as music reached her ears. She would forget everything and simply move with the music.
She looked up to see Cameron shyly moving from side to side. He looked funny dancing and she laughed at him.After a long time, she didn't have any care about anyone. She was truly celebrating each moment of the past school year right there on the dance floor with a very special person.
Two songs later Cameron excused himself to get another drink saying that the loud music was triggering a headache. So, she danced alone and with a few friends and a few strangers, she didn't allow herself to waste any moment without singing and dancing to the songs. Prom didn't seem to as boring and lame she had thought. It was actually quite fun seeing a different side of the classmates she had known all her life.
Soon when she was sweaty and her heart was throbbing, she elbowed out of the mob of people to worriedly look for Cameron. He gets the worst headaches and she knew it. She found him sitting on a table, chatting to some girl. She felt a little sad that he wasn't dancing with her but was talking to this hot girl. She looked gorgeous in a red shiny bustier ball gown worthy of catching any guy's attention.
She got closer to them and found the girl was none other than Rebecca. "Hey." Ally greeted him from behind and she couldn't help but feel possessive.
"Oh, hi. You having fun?"
"Yeah. Why don't you come join us?" She said and took a glimpse of Rebecca sitting beside him.
"Oh my god. Hey, Ally!" Rebecca bounced to her feet and surprisingly hugged Ally. She awkwardly touched her naked shoulders.
"Hello, Rebecca." She tried not to grit her teeth.
"So I heard you two are together now?" Ally felt relieved that she was aware of them as a couple, it gave her an edge over Rebecca.
"Yeah." Confidence was evident in her voice.
"That's great. I'm happy for you two."
"Where's Jake?"
"Oh, he's getting me a drink." She said wearing the same toothy grin she always does. The girls sat on either side of Cameron protecting him like a precious jewel. The tension was visible to both girls but he was unaware and reveling in his own chatters.
Thankfully, Jake arrived soon and Ally was relieved to see them acting lovey dovey together. At least Rebecca would keep her dirty hands off of Cameron now. Jake parted from Rebecca's cheek and noticed she had some company, "Hey, Ally!" He excitedly said. He was looking handsome in a black tuxedo like Cameron. She didn't have any feelings for him now but she couldn't deny that he rocked that red carpet look.
"Hi. You look great." She complimented him, smiling as the hesitation that was obvious between them before had now vanished.
"Really? Thanks. You look hot too." She blushed and thanked him. And she could swear she saw Cameron shift in his seat a little bit in her peripheral vision. They began talking and inquiring about each other since they hadn't really met in a long time. She saw him in class everyday but that was for a fleeting moment. Today was different. Today was a little bit special and a little bit of show off.
While they were jabbering with each other, Rebecca had also found some of her girlfriends and was deeply in a conversation with them leaving only Cameron alone at the table. She was enjoying seeing him being jealous of Jake. Finally when a slow song came on, he audibly sighed. "Why don't we go and dance?"
"I don't think we should leave Jake alone." She sympathized with Jake.
"No, it's fine Ally, you guys enjoy. Rebecca and I will join you on the dance floor soon." Jake said being the nice person he was.
"Are you sure?" She pressed. She really loved Cameron's irritated expressions.
"Of course."
"Okay. Now, let's go." Cameron authoritatively took her hand and dragged her to the dance floor.
"But someone had a headache." She said behind him.
"I don't have now." He coldly said and stopped somewhere in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by couples who were beginning to take a Waltz stance.
He placed his strong hand on her lower back and brought her closer swiftly. He swathed his other hand over hers and began swaying slowly to the soothing beat of a song called 'Thinking out loud'. "You're so jealous." She commented.
"I'm not jealous, ok? I just really love this song and I wanted to dance."
"Okay. I'll let you be in denial."
"Besides, you were jealous of Rebecca." He annoyingly smirked.
"I was not." She looked at him like he had escaped from a mental asylum. "I just... wanted to see how you were doing."
"Whatever you want to believe, Parker."
"No, really I wasn't." She whispered as the crowd went silent.
"Shut up, Parker. This is my favorite part of the song." She stopped talking
when she heard the urgency in his tone. He took a step forward so that she couldn't see his face anymore. He was lightly resting his chin close to her ear and moving his hand up and down her back in a relaxing manner. A warm breath hit her chilled neck and she really loved the shiver that went down her spine.
Suddenly she was aware of nothing and everything around her all at the same time. The white spotlight dancing along the floor, the cozied up couples, the yellow walls of the hall and the banner reciting- Class of 2014-15, everything made her feel as if they were the only two in the room. And then he began, in a soft gentle voice that only she could hear, singing along the romantic track and she literally stopped breathing in that beautiful moment. "Darling I will be loving you 'til we're 70. And baby my heart could still fall as hard at 23."
"And I'm thinking about how people fall in love in mysterious ways. Maybe just the touch of a hand. Oh me, I fall in love with you every single day. And I just wanna tell you I am."
"So honey now, take me into your loving arms. Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars. Place your head on my beating heart. I'm thinking out loud maybe we found love right where we are."
She was amazed at her heart which was racing so fast, her own hands felt weak yet she never wanted to let go of his arms. And when the music continued in the background, he whispered warmly and ever so slowly in her ear, "I love you, Ally Parker."
--A/N: Hello! Some romance going on there huh? Did you like it? I mean after days of denial and drama they're finally together. It feels nice, right? Anyway what do you think Ally's answer would be? Let me know your thoughts on this one. And I think we're just one chapter away from *drum roll* the end. Thanks for supporting this story for so long. It's been a great journey. Cheers xoxo