𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧: 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐋𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 as people went in and out of the building with decorations in their hands. there was gonna be a dance later on in the week, and thea wasn't exactly look forward to it. she knew eric was gonna force her and otis to go since that was something that he loved. but if thea didn't have a date, she didn't want to go. she continued walking, watching a student struggle with some things for a second before he got it. she smiled slightly when she had seen maeve leaning on the outside of the building, smoking a cigarette.
"hey." the pink haired girl greeted.
"hey." thea repeated, leaning on the wall next to her.
"how are you?" maeve questioned.
thea furrowed her eyebrows at this, tilting her head slightly as she looked maeve. "i'm fine. why?"
"what do you mean, why? i'm asking how you are. that's not weird, that's normal." maeve reasoned.
"it's weird for you, considering you've never asked me how i am before." thea answered.
"okay! bloody hell! i won't do it again, then. sorry for asking." maeve snapped, making a smile pull at thea's lips.
"there she is." the milburn girl mumbled, looking down at the ground.
maeve turned to look at her, cigarette in between her lips as her eyebrows furrowed. thea looked back, raising her eyebrows in a teasing manner. maeve rolled her eyes, taking the cigarette from her lips before she pressed it onto one of the dance posters that were on the brick wall.
"awe, you don't want to live happily ever after?" thea teased.
"please. do i look like i have a cinderella complex?" maeve shot back. "are you going?"
"probably, since eric is gonna force me and otis. but i honestly don't want to go." thea replied, shrugging her shoulders. "it's a stupid american tradition that celebrates sexism and peddles an unrealistic portrayal of romantic love."
"agreed. ritualized teenage fun sucks." maeve nodded.
"i also don't want to go because i don't have a date." thea admitted, making maeve smile. "i mean, i totally agree with all the things i just said. but it's more fun to go to a dance with a person that you have romantic feelings for. are you going?"
maeve raised her eyebrows at that. "i'm not sure. jackson will probably force me to go."
"ah, the golden boy." thea teased, earning a nudge from the shorter girl. thea smiled, looking around to see otis talking with some guy a few meters away. "what's his deal?"
"he's having trouble asking a girl out to the ball." maeve answered.
"i know that feeling." thea mumbled before she turned to look at maeve. "how are things with your brother?"
"okay." maeve muttered. "he was still here when i left this morning, so. . ."
thea nodded, "how did he like golden boy?"
"what's with you and all the questions?" maeve snapped.
"just wondering" thea shrugged. "speaking of which, are you gonna keep my jacket for the rest of our lives or were you planning on returning it at some point?"
"oh, i was actually planning to give it to my brother so that he could take it into space with him." maeve answered sarcastically, earning a confused chuckle from the taller girl next to her.
"i - i don't know what that means. but. . . okay." thea laughed. "i'll see you later, yeah?"
"see you later." maeve repeated.
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𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐒𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐍 eric's room, watching him go through all the dresses that she had brought over. she was sitting on his bed, watching the effiong boy throw out dress after dress. he was trying to look for the perfect dress for the dance that's happening. eric was already dressed since mr.groff had given him permission to go (he had gotten suspended for punching anwar). he was dressed in a beautiful suit with traditional african patterns, a green head wrap, and wonderful makeup. thea was happy to see him dressing in his usual attire again, having missed her loud and colorful friend. otis was already at the dance with ola, neither thea or eric asking any questions.
"how is it that you have no dresses?" eric questioned, turning to look at thea. she only shrugged as a response. "well, my lesbian goddess, we have to have you looking beautiful, okay? just because i am your date and we are both gay -"
"what does that have to do with anything?" thea asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"well, we're not dressing to impress each other, are we?" eric challenged, earning a confused look from the milburn girl. "we're dressing to impress others. especially you. you have to impress a certain pink haired girl."
thea rolled her eyes at the mention of maeve. "for the last time, she is going with jackson."
"thea, we both know that they do not belong together. that girl belongs with you." eric told her.
"what makes you say that? she doesn't even have feelings for me." thea mumbled.
"for a girl with an impeccable gaydar, you sure are blind." eric laughed as he continued to search thea's wardrobe. "maeve wiley is in love with you, not jackson. you can tell by the way that she looks at you, the way that she talks to you, even the way that she acts around you, thea. she doesn't give a rat's ass about head boy jackson marchetti."
thea smiled, a small sense of hope appearing inside her at eric's words. she knew that there had to be some truth to what he was saying. i mean, they did almost kiss. and maeve's walls always seemed to tear down whenever she was around thea. "maybe."
"maybe, my ass." eric muttered before he let out a loud gasp. "oh, my god! i found a dress! i found a dress! i found a dress!" he exclaimed, turning around with a dress in his hands.
thea examined the dress, taking in it's details. it was a short black dress, with spaghetti straps, and gray piping going through it. "when the hell did i even get that?"
"doesn't matter. put it on." eric instructed, gently placing the dress onto the bed before he went into the corner of his room with his back turned.
the blonde girl let out a sigh, standing up from the bed before she started to strip of her clothing. she made sure that she was careful with putting the dress on, struggling to zipper the back up before she went over to where her mirror was. she smiled when she looked at her reflection, twirling slightly so that she could get a better look. eric effiong was a gift from whatever being was in the cloud.she then slipped back on her doc martens.
"you can turn around now." she told eric as she sat down at his desk.
the colorful boy whirled around, an excited smile on his face as he approached thea. "are you ready?"
"yes." thea nodded, mirroring eric's smile.
about thirty minutes later, eric was finished with thea's makeup. she had to remind him not to go to heavy since she barely like wearing makeup. with that, the two went down stairs, entering the living room where his family was. the effiong family consisted of eric, his parents, and his four younger sisters. thea and otis were rarely ever at the effiong residence, but whenever they were, eric's parents were always so kind.
"we're going to the dance." eric announced, gaining the attention of his family. they all took in his appearance, thea feeling slightly uncomfortable in that moment. "come on, thea." eric mumbled, turning around so that they could walk out of the house.
"wait." abeo called, making the two teens pause. "i'll drive you."
eric nodded, watching his father get up from his chair and walk towards the door. with that, eric and thea followed after him, the latter quickly waving goodbye at the rest of the effiong family. she got into the back seat of abeo's car. the whole ride to moordale was silent and very uncomfortable on thea's behalf. eric's father clearly wanted to talk to his son, but didn't want to do it in front of her. when they had gotten to the school, thea was quick to get out of the car, eric being right behind her.
"eric, wait!" abeo called, making the boy in question turn around. "are you sure you want to go in like this?"
"yes." eric nodded.
"are you sure you're sure?"
"yes." eric repeated before he stopped walking, also making thea stop. "why? what's wrong with it?"
before abeo could respond, a car honking gained his attention. he had blocked someone in. "wait a second, please." he told the driver before he turned to look back at his son. he then turned to look at thea. "thea, can you please go inside?"
thea turned to look at eric, the effiong boy nodding his head. "yes, sir. thank you for driving me."
with that, she went into the school, passing adam groff. he was smoking a cigarette, watching eric and his father talk from afar. thea didn't say or do anything, hoping that adam wouldn't do anything because of how eric was dressed. thea smiled slightly at how the hall that led to the gym was decorated. the dance committee had obviously worked hard on this. once she had entered the gym, she had immediately found otis and ola sitting at a table. she walked over to them, sitting down in one of the seats.
"hey, ola." she greeted, grabbing the shorter girl's attention.
"thea." ola smiled, perking up in her seat. "hey! you - you look great!"
thea smiled at that. "thank you. you look great, as well. and oats, you look very handsome."
"thank you. did eric pick out your dress and do your makeup?" otis asked.
"obviously." thea nodded, gesturing to what she was wearing. "has maeve and jackson showed up yet?"
"nope. no sign of them." otis answered.
"cool." thea nodded.
"hey, thea, you wanna go take some photos?" olay questioned. "otis here won't take any with me."
"sure." thea smiled.
the two girls got up from the table and walked over to where the pictures were being taken. once they had gotten there, they took a lot of photos, obviously annoying the photographer. they didn't care though, all that mattered was that they were having fun. after about five minutes of doing some ridiculous poses with one another, the duo had went back into the hall to go back to the gym. just as they entered the hall, they were met by jackson marchetti and maeve wiley. thea immediately felt her heart skip beat at the beautiful sight in front of her.
maeve was wearing a black dress that hugged her body in all the right places. her hair was pinned over to one side. it seemed like everything had slowed down while thea admired the slightly shorter girl in front of her. she didn't think it was possible for a person to become more beautiful, but maeve had obviously proven her wrong. she didn't know why she was so shocked to see maeve at the dance, already knowing that jackson would've persuaded her.
"hey." jackson greeted, a smile pulling at his lips.
"hi." thea breathed out, it being more so towards maeve than jackson.
"you're - you're here." maeve pointed out.
"and you're here." thea repeated, a small smile on her lips.
"i'm ola." ola introduced, sticking her hand out for jackson to shake.
"jackson." the marchetti boy smiled, shaking the shorter girl's hand. thea had noticed the orange soda bottle in his hand, eyebrows furrowed.
"nice to meet you." ola smiled.
"you too." jackson nodded.
"oh, i'm sorry." thea quickly apologized, shaking her head slightly. "ola, this - this is maeve. she's my - my friend."
"hi." the girls greeted in unison, waving at one another. ola had noticed the way that thea had started to act, eying the taller girl.
"uh, i should - we should go. i've lost my brother." maeve informed, making thea's eyebrows raise.
"you're brother's here?" the milburn girl questioned, watching maeve turn into a hallway.
"are we not gonna get a photo?" jackson asked.
"no." maeve answered, making thea's smile widen slightly. jackson trailed after the pink haired girl.
"they seem cool." ola mumbled.
"they are." thea nodded.
with that, the girls went back into the gym, seeing that eric was now sitting with otis at the table. they quickly joined them, the twins introducing ola and eric to one another. they spent a majority of the dance just talking to one another, otis going on a rant about how fairytales were about female suppression. thea completely agreed with the boy, but also loved the thought of fairytales, so she was quick to shut her brother down. that then led to ola and thea dancing with one another, ola doing some weird version of the robot. how was ola otis' date, but they weren't dancing? eric was quick to join them, dragging otis so that he could at least have some kind of fun at the dance.
thea had ended up laugh at how awkwardly otis was dancing, going to help him with his moves. eric then tried to help the boy, letting thea go dance with ola again. while the two girls were having the time of their lives, maeve was watching them both from afar. the pink haired girl was jealous, her chest aching as she looked at the smile on thea's face. some part of her wanted her to be the one that made thea smile like that. she wanted to be the one that was dancing with the taller girl.
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𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂 𝐀𝐍𝐃 thea had still been dancing. otis had gone back to the table to sit while ola had went to use the bathroom. otis had went to go find ola after about ten minutes. thea and eric had continued to dance for a few more minutes, doing a bunch of weird moves. the both of them then went to go take some photos, which only added onto the photographers annoyance since thea was already there. when the duo was done, they had made their way back to the gym, noticing that otis was back at the table, a disappointed look on his face.
"what's the matter with you?" thea questioned as she sat down.
"i made ola mad at me." otis mumbled.
"how'd you do that?" eric asked.
"doesn't matter." otis dismissed.
"well, they're playing a slow song now. do you want to dance with us?" thea asked.
"it'll help you feel better, oatcake." eric added, a smile on his glittered covered lips.
"i guess." otis muttered.
"yes!"
the trio went back onto the dance floor, eric and thea having to teach otis how to slow dance. the three laughed amongst themselves, earning a few looks from the other students. that continued for a few more minutes, the three best friends dancing horribly to the slow song that was being played. thea had started to look for a certain pink haired girl, but there was no sign of her. there wasn't even any sign of jackson.
"lizzie!" was suddenly yelled out, gaining the attention of everyone in the gym. thea's head snapped up, seeing that the boy from earlier was leaning onto the fake moon while his feet was barely on the cardboard castle. she remembered maeve telling her that his name was liam. "it's me, liam. up here on the moon!"
"liam. get down, now!" mr.groff ordered.
"not until i speak to lizzie!" liam said, thea noticing that his words were slurring.
"i don't know him! he's just a weird guy that follows me around!" lizzie informed everyone, making thea look at liam like he was crazy. so he's basically a stalker.
"i love you, lizzie. do you love me?" liam slurred.
"no." lizzie answered.
"come down this instant!" mr.groff demanded.
"no." liam mumbled.
"enough. get down, now!" groff spat
"what's the point? lizzie doesn't love me." liam challenged. "nobody loves me. i'm gonna jump!"
"whoa! wait! liam! don't do this!" thea yelled, stepping forward as she shot her hands forward. this made people turn to look at her, their eyebrows furrowed.
"who are you?" liam asked, looking down at the blonde girl with furrowed eyebrows.
"i'm - i'm thea! i'm otis' sister!" the girl in question responded, gesturing to the milburn boy behind her.
"well. . . hi, thea." liam greeted, still holding onto the crescent moon.
thea shook her head at that, "you don't wanna jump."
"no, i think i do." liam said.
"you don't." thea reassured. "sometimes, the people we like don't like us back, and it's painful, but there's nothing we can do about it."
"you don't understand." liam told her.
"trust me, i do. i do understand. i know what it's like when someone doesn't feel the same way about you. it's. . ." thea reasoned, her voice trailing off as she started to think about a certain girl. that same girl was stood at the front of the crowd that had formed around thea. "someone you can't stop thinking about. and, it - it hurts to know that they're not thinking about you. to know that they're. . . they're thinking about someone else. but you can't make people like you."
"i don't like her. i love her." liam corrected.
"i know. but love isn't about grand gestures, or the moon and the stars. it's just dumb luck. and sometimes, you meet someone who feels the same way. and then, sometimes, you're unlucky. but one day, you're gonna meet someone who appreciates you for who you are." thea said.
"really?" liam asked.
"yeah, you're brilliant! you seem. . . you definitely have dedication." thea nodded, forcing a smile onto her face. "you're gonna make someone really happy one day."
"but it will not be me!" lizzie added.
"not lizzie, definitely not lizzie, but someone." thea continued. "and it won't happen if you fall off that moon and die."
"okay." liam mumbled, starting to push himself off the moon. he then started to climb down the castle, somehow slipping and falling onto the snacks and drinks table. he shot up from the floor. "sorry, it's fine. i'm fine." he mumbled before passing out.
"well, at least he's not dead." thea muttered.
"okay, everyone. it's time for the macarena!" mr.hendricks said into the mic.
the band started to play a completely different song, but thea didn't complain. she had no hate against the macarena, but i don't think this is really the place to play that. thea let out a puff of air, running her fingers through her blonde strands before she walked out of the gym. she needed a breather after that. she ended up leaning on some lockers, taking a breather.
"hey." a familiar voice greeted, making thea look up.
the milburn girl immediately smiled once she saw who it was. "hey."
"where's your date?" maeve asked, leaning on the locker's next to thea.
"eric is somewhere in the gym." thea answered.
"not, eric. ola." maeve corrected.
"ola wasn't my date. she was otis'." thea informed, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"oh." maeve mumbled, feeling some sort of relief wash over her. "that was pretty crazy in there. you were amazing."
"thanks, i guess. crazy bastard still got hurt though." thea shrugged. "this whole time, i've been thinking that lizzie knew who he was and they were some sort of friends. but it turns out that he was basically a creepy mccreep who wouldn't take no for an answer."
"the way you describe things never ceases to amaze me." maeve teased, making the taller girl chuckle.
"guess i just have a way with words." thea muttered, turning so that she was looking at maeve. she felt her body start to feel fuzzy as she admired the pink haired girl. "i never got to tell you how beautiful you look, maeve."
maeve smiled at that, feeling her cheeks heat up at that. she couldn't believe that she was blushing. "you look just as beautiful, bear."
thea smiled, her eyes flickering down to maeve's lips. she then forced herself to look the shorter girl in the eyes, "so, did you ever find your broth -"
"who was it that you were talking about?" maeve questioned, interrupting what thea was gonna ask.
"what?" the blonde girl asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"in the gym. you said that you understood what liam was going through." maeve reminded. "who were you talking about? who do you have feelings for?"
thea suddenly felt nervous, feeling her hands go clammy and her heart start to beat faster. she looked down at the floor. "you know who i was talking about." she whispered.
maeve tried to catch thea's gaze, but the taller girl just wouldn't look at her. she had a feeling that thea was talking about her, but there was some part of her that wanted confirmation. she went to open her mouth, going to say something.
"maeve?" jackson called, thea turning to look at him. he was clearly drunk and he had puke on his button up.
"just a minute, jackson." maeve quickly said, finally catching thea's gaze.
"hey, thea, if i give you another 50, will you tell me how to get maeve to like me again?" jackson slurred, making thea's head snap towards him.
"what are you talking about?" maeve asked, looking at the drunk boy with furrowed eyebrows.
"well, she told me how to get you." jackson answered, thea closing her eyes at that. "i gave her 50 and then she gave me the book stuff, and then the song and then the feminist stuff that you like. because you're difficult, maeve, to know."
maeve looked at thea, hurt evident in her eyes.
thea opened her eyes, her heart breaking at the sight in front of her. there was tear welling in maeve's eyes, hurt written all over her face. "maeve. . ."
"he paid you to tell him what i like?" the wiley girl questioned.
"no! he asked, and i -" thea stuttered, her eyes starting to stinging. "i tried not to take - i gave the money to you!"
"you gave it to me?" maeve repeated, nodding her head before she looked down at the floor.
"i'm gonna be sick again." jackson announced, walking down the hall as a grimace took over his face.
"maeve, please. just let -" thea tried, her voice breaking.
"stay the fuck away." maeve spat as she grabbed jackson's arm, starting to guide him towards the bathroom.
thea felt the tears trail down her cheeks. she brought her hands up to her face as she let out a loud groan. she then brought her hands away before she punched the lockers that she was leaning on, denting the metal. she walked down the hall, roughly wiping the tears away from her face. she entered the gym, easily finding her brother and eric, thanks to eric's wardrobe. she made a b-line towards them, shoving past people without a care in the world. she just wanted to go home. the night had gone from okay to absolute shit within the matter of minutes. she approached her brother, grabbing his arm and tuning him around.
"hey. whoa. what's wrong? why are you crying?" otis quickly quizzed, immediately noticing the tear marks on his sister's cheeks. that also gained eric's attention, the effiong boy looking down at thea with a worried look.
"can we just go, please?" thea asked, her voice breaking as she wiped at her cheeks again. "please. i just - i just wanna go home."
"yeah. of course we can go home, thea." eric nodded.
"yeah. i don't wanna be here anyway." otis added, trying to lighten the mood but it didn't work.
with that, the trio left the crowded gym. thea was between otis and eric as they walked out of the school, otis giving thea his brown blazer so that she wouldn't be cold. thea tried to smile as a thank you, but it didn't reach her eyes. as they walked away from moordale, thea could see maeve guiding jackson down a different path, her eyes softening. she knew that there was no chance in hell that maeve was gonna ever forgive her. she knew that any chances that she had with the girl had been thrown out the window.
eric noticed that the blonde was looking at something, following her gaze to see that it was maeve and jackson. "something happened between you and maeve, didn't it?"
"she found out about the jackson thing." thea mumbled. "he blurted it out because he was drunk. now, maeve hates me."
otis wrapped his arm around thea's shoulders, pulling her closer. "she'll get over it."
"i don't think she will." thea sighed.
"all you gotta do is give her some time." otis told her. "but, she'll come back around. if you apologize and show that you know you messed up. which you do know."
"i guess." thea muttered, wrapping her arm around otis' waist. she then did the same to eric, the effiong boy wrapping his arm around her's. "can we eat toast with nutella when we get home?"
"is that even a question?" eric and otis questioned in unison, looking down at the girl with smiles on their faces.
daij speaks!
this is possibly the longest chapter for this book. i was gonna split it into two, but was like nahhh. we gonna make this shit long. my thaeve heart hurts. LIKE WHY (screams even tho i'm the author)
i hope u guys enjoyed🫶🏼