"Iris, are you done yet?"
I jumped violently; nearly toppling over on my pants, which were sprawled out on my bathroom floor. "In a minute!" I called back, running a hand through my hair to mess it up a little.
"Well hurry up! We have to do our makeup to, you know!"
Ignoring Chloe's impatience, I turned back to the mirror. In it, a stranger was staring back at me. A stranger wearing way too much make up than usual, a just-above-the-knees, blue-to-white dress, a silver necklace, silver bangles, and a pair of white heels. To top things off, she was gorgeous.
It was hard to believe that girl was me.
I had to give myself credit— for not wearing make up much, I really knew how to work it. For once in my life, I actually thought I looked better with it. Maybe wearing a little more every day wouldn't hurt things...
I shook my head. No. I didn't need to make myself too pompous.
"Iris!"
"I'm coming!" I snapped, snatching my pants from the floor. "Geez!"
When I opened the door, Chloe gasped in surprise, her eyes scanning my body. Cindy popped her head around Chloe, a wide smile spreading across her face. I shuffled under the attention, dropping my gaze.
"You look hot!"
"Oh, shut up."
"It's a compliment," Chloe told me, slapping my bare shoulder. "Who thought you'd clean up so good? Although, for someone who wouldn't even change in front of me and Cindy, you're showing a lot of skin."
I rolled my eyes at her. "You guys better do your makeup before the limo gets here."
All of us shared an excited look. Before the limo gets here... It was strange saying that. It was only Snowball, not prom, and yet we were still taking a limo to the school. That was only because of Gold though. And Cindy. She'd insisted we get ready at her house, so we could actually take the limo. Otherwise we could've walked from the dorms.
"We can share a mirror," Cindy offered, stepping around me. "I think we only have like five minutes."
"That's not enough time—"
"You better hurry then."
I laughed at Cindy's remark. Contrary to my thoughts about Cindy's personality, she wasn't as shy of a person as I'd figured. In fact, she reminded me of Chloe a lot. Both girls were hyper and pushy. Cindy could be calm, but her true personality seemed a lot less demure than she usually acted. It was kind of refreshing— and at least it wouldn't be awkward now.
A sudden knock on the door startled all of us. After exchanging surprised expressions, I moved forward, opening the door to reveal three young men in black dress suits. My breath caught in my throat as I took Gold in. Handsome couldn't even begin to describe them. Noah had his hair gelled back stylishly, Luke kept his hair messy, and Rian had seemingly got a hair cut, making his hair look straighter than usual.
"Is Iris here?" Noah asked, his eyes widening as he took me in.
I blushed, scowling at him. "I am Iris!"
"You're so pretty!" he gushed.
"Shut up!"
"It's a compliment!"
"That's what I said!" Chloe called from the bathroom.
Noah tried to step into the room, but I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. He pouted. "Why can't I go in?"
I stepped out into the hall, shutting the door behind me. "You guys aren't allowed in."
Luke shrugged. "We can wait out here."
My gaze shifted to Rian, who'd been silently the whole time. He was staring at me in awe. After a few moments he seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly snapped out of it, clearing his throat uncomfortable. His eyes met mine and he scratched the back of his head, letting out a sheepish laugh. "That shirt matches your eyes," he said after a moment.
"Shirt?" Luke questioned, turning to give Rian a curious look.
He glowered at him. "Dress! Whatever!"
"You were too taken away by her beauty..."
"Shut up Noah!" I cried the same time Rian did. Our gazes locked again and I couldn't help but smile.
"Oh hot damn! Who is this mighty fine chick?"
My eyes snapped to the side, where Kevin stood in all his handsome. He grinned at me, showing off his pearly whites. He was wearing a simple tuxedo with a white tie, his hair messy and wet.
"I feel like I haven't seen you in a year," I responded, earning a grin of my own. "You don't look half bad."
"It feels like I haven't seen you much either. Although that might be do to the fact your always busy and never invite me to tag along..."
Rian chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. "Come on, Yun! I invited you tonight, didn't I?"
"Iris didn't," he muttered moodily.
"Do you have a date?" I inquired, furrowing my eyebrows. "I would have asked if you could come if you did."
He looked at me like I was stupid. "A date? If I took a date, I wouldn't be able to dance with all the pretty ladies."
Noah nodded his head in agreement. "You know what's up."
"Noah you have a date!"
He grinned sheepishly. "If I didn't though... but I was lucky enough to have such a beautiful girl say yes," he added quickly when seeing my death glare. "Haha... Seriously though, I am glad I'm taking Cindy."
I nodded. "Good."
"I'm so excited!" he burst, hopping from foot to foot. "My first formal school dance!"
I stared at him. "Your first?"
"For all of us," Luke informed me, running a hand through his hair, looking nervous. "We move around so much we never get a chance to go to one."
Rian nodded. "I've been invited to one a few times, but we changed schools before I could actually go."
"Are you kidding me?" Kevin said, his eyes widening in disbelief. "Oh, man! You guys are in for one of the greatest days in your high school career! Good thing you switched here!"
Rian nodded. "It's a very good thing we switched here..." A smirk tugged at his mouth while he locked gazes with me.
I couldn't help but to smile back at him. Silently, I agreed. It was a good thing they transferred to this school.
"Iris should I lock the door?"
I turned my head to see Chloe and Cindy standing behind me, their makeup finished. Immediately I felt jealous. They were ten times better looking than me. Chloe was dressed in a deep red gown that reached to just above her knees and looked nice with her blonde hair. Chloe was wearing a green, layered dress with her hair up in a French twist with a few loose strands hanging down.
"Foxy ladies," Kevin greeted, causing both girls to blush.
"You look good too, Yun," Chloe responded cheekily, her eyes than travelling to Luke.
"How do I look?" he asked, batting his eyelashes.
She smiled at him. "Very handsome."
"What about me?" Noah chirped up, giving her a smug look. "Speechless?"
"Hmm... I thought you'd look cuter."
His mouth dropped as Rian snorted. I turned my face to hide my smile, noticing how Cindy had somehow escaped behind me to Luke's side. They were talking quietly to each other, glancing with amused expressions at Noah and Chloe every few moments.
"We ready to go?" Rian questioned, glancing at his wrist. I cocked an eyebrow when I realized he wasn't wearing a watch. He grinned sheepishly. "Whoops. Forgot I took it off. Either way, the limo driver is probably bored."
"I'm ready," Kevin commented, heading down the hallway. "I love limos..."
"Tell me I'm cute!" Noah demanded, grabbing Chloe's arm.
"I don't want to lie—"
"Chloe!"
She laughed, pulling Noah's hand off her. "Go bother your girlfriend for compliments."
With a puppy-dog look, Noah turned to Cindy. "Am I cute?"
"Yeah," she told him, looking embarrassed.
I held back a smile. So she was shy around Noah? How cute.
"You're the cutest!" Noah cried, pulling her into a bear hug.
"Let's go!" Kevin called from the end of the dorm hall. "Hurry up!"
Rolling my eyes, I headed toward him. "Fine!"
"Iris, wait for me!" Rian demanded, taking a few hops towards me. He swept my hand into his, swinging them vigorously. "Promise me the first and last dance slow dance."
"Just the first and last? Did you deicide you're going to dance with your fans?" I asked, feeling a little bit disappointed.
He smiled cheerfully. "Not if you don't want me to."
"Ah, no, you can," I told him, dropping my gaze. "That wouldn't be fair of me..."
"It's not like I'm going to be able to dance with all of them anyway. Only a few, which would make the others feel left out."
I returned my gaze to him. "And dancing with me won't?"
"Nope, because you're my date. I'm obliged to dance with you."
"Obliged?"
"You know what I mean."
I nodded. "Oh, yeah. That you feel like you have to dance with me."
He bumped my hip with his roughly. "I want to, Iris."
"Don't do that," I ordered, wincing. "Your hip is so bony!"
"Don't do this?" he asked, bumping my hip again. "And you should be the one to talk."
I glowered at him. "Rian."
"Igloo."
"Are you really going to call me that again, Rhino?"
He made an annoyed face. "Can't I have something different? Please. I don't like Rhino. It's so... no."
"Like Igloo is any better!"
He laughed. "Well, look what you're wearing. You look like an igloo. The best looking igloo I've ever seen too."
"I would say the same, but Rhinos aren't cute to begin with."
"Would you two stop flirting and walk a little faster?"
Our gazes snapped away from each other and towards the sound of the voice. To my surprise, Noah, Luke, Chloe, Cindy, and Kevin had all managed to get a good way ahead of Rian and myself. I flushed, picking up my pace to catch up with them. Rian chuckled from beside me, keeping up with my steps easily. "Sorry," he apologized, grinning at Noah. "We get caught up sometimes."
"Obviously."
The frigid air bit at my exposed body parts as we stepped outside of the dorm and into the night. We hurried to where the limo was idling. I admired it for a few moments before the cold got the best of me and I urged Luke and Noah to climb in quicker. After them I got in, scooting next to Kevin, and finally Rian clambered in, taking the seat to my left. He shut the door and the area immediately became warmer, making me sigh in contentment.
"This limo is so cool!" Chloe declared, looking around excitedly.
"Is it your first time being in one?" Luke questioned, raising an eyebrow.
She nodded her head. "I'd never be able to afford one!"
"Me either," Cindy admitted, also looking thrilled.
"What about you, Iris? Yun?" Noah inquired, turning to each of us in turn.
We shrugged simultaneously. "First time."
Kevin cracked a grin. "Twins."
Rian slung an arm over my shoulder, leaning closer to me. "I'm sure you'll get used to riding around in a limo. Especially if we go on a lot of dates."
Kevin raised an eyebrow. "Since when did you two become an official couple?"
"We didn't," I said at the same time Rian stated, "about a week ago."
Kevin furrowed his eyebrows. "What?"
"We are a couple," Rian clarified. "But Iris won't let me brag about it..."
"I don't want you to brag!"
"Fine, she won't let me tell anyone."
"Because of the whole Noah thing..."
Noah laughed sheepishly. "I almost forgot about that..."
Kevin rolled his eyes. "Please, Iris. No one will care."
"See!"
"Fine," I sighed, sinking back into my seat. "You can tell everyone... but if I get crap for it, I'm calling you Rhino for the rest of your life."
Rian beamed at me. "Really?"
"It's not like after tonight we can hide it anyway."
"True... This night keeps getting better and better," he commented, looking satisfied. "Now all we need is some alcohol—"
I elbowed him in the side. "No!"
"Why not?"
"It's like prom. You get drunk, you go home with your date, you crash in the car, and you die. That's a bad idea."
He stared at me. "But we have a limo..."
I rolled my eyes. "Not everyone has a driver to bring them home safely."
"That kind of ruins the fun..."
"Aw, come on Rian! You can have fun without getting drunk," Chloe chirped, pushing a lock of her hair behind her head. "Trust me."
"I hope so," he muttered.
I nudged him with my elbow again. "You'll see."
The gym was bursting with music when we entered it. There were already gaggles of students on the dance floor, dancing as close as they could to each other without being yelled at by the chaperones. The two, colossal speakers by the DJ pumped Sexy and I Know It, the bass literally making my heart shake.
Before I could blink there was a sizable group of students surrounding Gold, cutting me off from them. I smirked to myself, shaking my head and walking toward the beverage table. It wasn't surprising— everyone would want to hang out with Gold tonight. I'd be shanked if I tried to monopolize Rian's time. Even if I really wanted to...
I shook my head. There was no reason I had to be around him all night. I could have fun with my other friends. My face fell when I realized Chloe, Kevin, and Cindy were still with the boys...
"Iris!"
Relief washed through me as I turned to see Nick coming towards me. "Nick! It's so nice to see you!"
"You saw me earlier...?"
"Still."
"Where's your date?" he inquired, glancing around me. "I heard from the bean stalk that you hooked up with Rian."
A grimace crossed my face. "That's not the right saying, Nick—"
"But is it true?"
"Yeah," I admitted quietly, trying to keep the smile off my face. As much as I didn't want to be judged for dating Rian, it was nice to be able to say we were together. Especially if that kept the girls away...
No jealousy, Iris, I told myself firmly. There were tremendous amount of Gold fan girls. Jealousy would only make me a jerk.
"Where is he?"
I pointed to the crowd of people near the entrance. "In that mosh pit."
Nick chuckled. "They're popular, huh?"
"Guess so."
"Want to dance in the mean time? I think my date is one of those girls pestering them," he offered, holding out his hand.
I smiled. "Sounds good to me."
He took my hand, dragging me toward the mass of dancing bodies on the dance floor. As soon as we were in the mix, the song changed, blasting Shots. Nick paused, wrinkling his nose in distaste. I ignored him, making him move to the beat.
"Do you like music like this?" he shouted, cringing as a junior elbowed him in the side.
"Not really," I responded, swaying my hips. "Ready? Jump!"
"Jump?"
"Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots!" everyone in the vicinity yelled, jumping up and down with their fists pumping.
Nick looked terrified as he bounced along with the rest of the crowd. I laughed again, trying to jump as high as I could. Without any warning my heel slipped out from under me and I fell backward, my hands flying out in shock. Before I could fall for more than half a second, a pair of hands on my shoulders steadied me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Noah raising an eyebrow at me. "Careful."
"Thanks," I said, grinning sheepishly at him. "I'm not used to heels."
He shrugged. "Neither am I."
"That's a good thing," Nick commented, seemingly relieved we weren't jumping anymore. "These kids are crazy..."
I shook my head at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm afraid you might not be a normal teenager."
"I'm much too mature for that."
I laughed, thinking he was joking, but quickly sobered up as I took in his serious face. Noah snickered as I grinned sheepishly. "Well..."
"I think I may go take over the DJ booth," Nick announced, sending a wary look to the group of students behind him who were beginning to jump again. "I really don't feel like dying."
"Hey! In about twenty minutes will you call everyone's attention?" Noah requested, catching Nick's attention. "Gold's going to make an announcement."
Nick hesitated for a moment. "I suppose... as long as it isn't anything bad."
"I promise it isn't," Noah responded, grinning excitedly.
"Very well. Twenty minutes from now then."
As soon as Nick disappeared between the tangled mass of people, I turned to Noah, furrowing my eyebrows together. "Announcement? What announcement?"
"That Gold is creating a song with Chasing Silhouettes," he notified me. "Might as well let the people at our school know before the rest of the world, right?"
"Is it okay to do that?"
He shrugged. "I don't know."
I grimaced. "Then I don't know—"
"It'll be fine," he assured me, slapping my back roughly. "Our record label won't care at all!"
"But you just said you didn't know—"
He cut me off again. "Don't be such a worry wart. Come on, let's dance."
Reluctantly, I allowed him to drag me back into the ocean of teenagers. I didn't recognize the song that was playing, but swayed my hips to the beat all the same. Noah was a horror to dance with. Nearly every second I had to duck out of the way of his flying fists of fury. I wanted to remind him this was a school dance, not a mosh pit, but he happened to be near one of the few juniors I didn't particularly like, so I kept my mouth shut.
My eyes wandered to beyond Noah, where Rian was still surrounded by a group of girls. Annoyance spread through me again, but I forced it away. He was famous— even if we were dating the girls would still be all over him. I caught Luke by the refreshment stand, laughing about something Chloe must have said, because she looked pleased with herself. A few junior girls stood idly by them, but none dared to move closer. I almost laughed, picturing Chloe's "stay-away-from-my-man" face. One time I'd been on the receiving end when she'd had a crush on Kevin... I tried to repress the memory.
"You know what? We should do something fun before the snow melts," Noah spoke suddenly, pulling me from my reverie.
I cocked an eyebrow. "Like what?"
He shrugged. "I don't know, but something that has to do with snow. You, me, Rian, Luke, Chloe, and Cindy."
"Speaking of Cindy," I started, looking around for her. "Where did she go?"
"To dance with her friends," he muttered moodily. "She left me to fend for myself amidst all those girls..."
I chuckled. "Can you blame her? They're pretty scary."
He gave me a flat look. "You're telling me."
"It must be hard being famous," I commented, my eyes wandering back to Rian.
"It's fun though," Noah said with a shrug. "It's worth it."
The song switched now, causing my heart to go from a steady beat to a quicker one. It was another song I didn't recognize, but it was definitely a slow song. Noah looked around, probably searching for Cindy, but when he couldn't find her, he shrugged, placing his hands on my hips. I glanced toward Rian yet again, not surprised to see the girls pulling on his arm and dragging him toward the dance floor.
"Wrap your arms around me," Noah ordered. "Let's dance— oh wait!" He dropped his arms, his puppy grin coming onto his face as Cindy walked into view. "Never mind! There's my date!"
Cindy sent me an apologetic look as Noah bounded over to her, pulling her to his chest in a dramatic gesture. "I thought I'd never see you again!"
Rolling my eyes, I turned to walk off the dance floor. If Rian wanted my first dance, I wouldn't dance with anyone until he managed to escape his fans. It was only fair... even if I wanted his first dance too. To keep myself from looking like a loser, I headed toward the bathroom. Just before I reached the exit of the gym, a strong hand grasped my arm, pulling me back. I turned to see Rian giving me a disapproving look.
"Didn't I say I wanted the first dance?"
Shocked, I blinked at him for a few seconds before responding. "I— How did you escape your fans?"
"I told them I made prior engagements," he enlightened me, gently tugging me back to the dance floor. "Come on, Igloo, I wouldn't leave you hanging."
I scowled at him. "Call me Iris!"
"Right, right," he responded, the corners of his lips curving up. "May I have this dance then, Iris?"
"You may," I murmured, bringing my hands to his neck. "Since I promised and all..."
"You never promised," he said.
"Whatever!" After a second I remembered I really did promise him. "Hey! Yes I did! Earlier today you liar!"
He chuckled, pulling me as close to him as possible. "You're so gullible."
I dropped my gaze, trying to force an oncoming blush back. How was it he managed to make me so flustered all the time? I wasn't like this with anyone else. "So I heard you're going to make the announcement that you're making a song with my brother?"
"Yeah," he responded offhandedly, "but I don't want to talk about that."
I pulled away from him a little bit, surprised. "Eh? Why not?"
"Eh?" he repeated, a smirk crossing his face. "You're so Canadian, Igloo."
"I'm not!" I protested. "A lot of people say eh. Not just Canadians, you know."
"Eh, whatever." I glowered at him, making him laugh. "You're really adorable, especially when you're angry."
I looked away from him, puffing out my cheeks childishly. "Shut up."
For the next few moments we stayed silent, swaying to the slow tempo of the unidentifiable song. He rested his head on my shoulder, letting out a small sigh. "This is a nice break from reality."
"How so?"
"Outside of school it's all work, work, work," he informed me in a tired voice. "School, hanging out with you, doing after-school activities, going to Yun's, and this dance are all nice breaks. Don't get me wrong, I love singing, but sometimes I just want a break, you know?"
I nodded my head, pulling back so I could see his face. "I never really thought about how tough work must be for you."
"It really depends on the day," he replied, letting his grasp on my waist relax. "Usually it's not that hard."
"Hey, hands on the waist," I demanded, narrowing my eyes as his hands traveled lower.
He blinked, immediately pulling hands back up, an embarrassed expression crossing his face. "Sorry! I seriously didn't mean to do that—"
"It's fine," I told him, laughing quietly. "It's my dress, right? Because it's so slippery?"
He pursed his lips at me. "Very funny, Iris."
For a second I was distracted by his lips— his soft, light pink, kissable lips... I caught myself staring and swiftly looked back into his eyes. My lingering gaze didn't go unnoticed. A smug smile was tugging at the lips that had distracted me. I pretended I didn't notice, staring determinedly at Luke and Chloe, who were whirling around out of tempo with the song.
"Hey Iris?"
I returned my attention to Rian, noticing his complacent expression was replaced with a curious one. "Yeah?"
"What do you think about long-distance relationships?"
"They never work out," I declared shortly. "Why?"
A frown flitted across his face. "So do you think if I suddenly had to move away we couldn't be a couple still?"
My heart skipped a beat and an unexplainable tenseness ran through me. "W-why are you asking that?"
"No reason!" he said quickly, his eyes widening. "I'm not moving away or anything! It's okay, relax."
Doing as he commanded, I let my shoulders sag back down. Why was I getting so upset in the first place? It was just a question. And we barely just started dating. "Um, well we wouldn't know unless we tried it, right? But you aren't moving away, right?"
He grinned again, nodding his head. "Yeah, definitely. I'm not going away. I was just curious. I would be willing to have a long distance relationship. I really like you, Iris."
I smiled at him. "I like you too."
"I know you really don't believe that someone can like someone else the day they meet them, but I felt that way about you. Maybe it's your unusual eye color, or the shade of your hair, or maybe how soft your voice sounds when you speak... then again it could be your snippy attitude, or your indifference to fame, or your cute little nose. Maybe even your amiable personality and stubbornness?"
I didn't know how to respond, so I stayed quiet, with my eyes on the floor. When I peeked at Rian, he was smiling down at me expectantly. "What?" I inquired.
"Aren't you going to say what you like about me?"
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes. I should have known he wouldn't have given me random compliments just for the fun of it. "I like how you're famous."
He faked shock and horror. "How could you?"
"Well like, you're totally hot for starters, and like, you sing like a God. And when you flip your bangs out of your face I totally melt!" I stated in my most girlish voice.
"Why thank you," he responded, playing along with my act. We both laughed for a second, until he gave me a serious look. "But really, you're not good at expressing your feelings, are you?"
I puffed out my chest defiantly. "It's not my fault!"
"I never said it was."
"Your persistence."
"What?"
I grit my teeth together for a moment. "Your persistence! I like your persistence!"
He furrowed his eyebrows. "That's a weird thing to like..."
"You can be sweet too—"
"Aww—"
"Can be," I repeated forcefully, leading him to pout. "And yeah, you're cute."
"So she admits it!"
I glowered at him. "If you keep making comments I'm going to stop!"
He held up his hands defensively for a brief moment before returning them to my waist. "Sorry, sorry. Keep giving me compliments."
"Greedy," I muttered, earning a chuckle. "I like your eyes too. You're also really nice to your fans, and it's really admirable."
"Without them there is no me," he pointed out. "Besides, it's only douches who aren't nice to their fans."
"Even if they're really annoying?"
He hesitated. "That depends... if you can't get something through to them, sometimes you have to lay down the law. For example if they touch you inappropriately—"
"I don't want to hear about that."
Rian's eyes twinkled with amusement. "Fine, fine."
To my dismay, the song we were dancing to ended. After a brief, shared look of gloom, we parted. Rian held up a finger, and I stared at him in confusion. After a few more moments he randomly hooked a thumbs up. I then noticed he was looking at the DJ booth. My head snapped around to Nick, who was looking gratified from receiving a thumbs up from Rian. Realization set as Rian dragged me closer to him again.
"One more song," he sang in a cheerful voice.
I couldn't help but to smile at him. "You shouldn't use your swagger on Nick like that."
Rian chuckled deeply. "Swagger?"
"You know what I mean," I said, shaking my head.
"I do, but I can't help it."
An incredibly familiar came on overhead, making my heart jump in excitement. I stared up at Rian with wide eyes. "I love this song!"
"I know."
"You know?"
He nodded. "I asked Yun what kind of slow songs you like."
Slowly the pieces came together. "Wait, so you requested this song for me?"
"I was going to save it for later, but decided this was a better time."
I wrapped my arms around him again, smiling widely. "You're too sweet."
"I do want you to know, I'll hold you up, above everyone, " he sang to me, his eyes twinkling again.
Embarrassed, I dropped my gaze. "Don't sing to me..."
"Why not? Come on, sing it with me. It's a duet after all."
I shook my head. "No way! I can't sing!"
A hand on my chin forced me to look back up at him. "Just once, Iris? Please?"
"No!"
"Pretty please?" he begged, giving me his best puppy dog eyes. "Come on, just the chorus! Please!"
I sighed, knowing I couldn't resist him. "Just one chorus, okay?"
"Okay!"
As soon as the song came up to the chorus I braced myself, singing quietly. "And I do want you to know, I'll hold you up above everyone. And I do want you to know, I think you'd be good to me, and I'd be so good to you."
Rian blinked at me. Feeling self-conscious, I turned away from him. He waved his hand in front of my face. "Iris! You can't sing? What lies!"
I shook my head. "I can't sing!"
"I think you again. We should do a duet together—"
"No way!"
"I'm kidding," he assured me, a bright expression on his face. "Although, I am surprised you like this song. Not many people do."
I shrugged. "It's cute."
"You're cute," he told me, rubbing his nose again mine.
I jerked back, startled by his actions. He laughed through his nose at my reaction. I frowned at him. "Stop laughing at me."
"I can't help it! You're so adorable!"
"Nope. You're adorable. So cute. So lovable. My adorable, little igloo."
"Igloos aren't adorable," I protested, but feeling pleased nonetheless. No matter how I acted, his words were flattering. Each one caused my heart to pound frantically.
Rian shrugged. "My Igloo is."
"Well my Rhino isn't too ugly for rhinos..."
He made a face. "Ew. Don't call me that."
"Don't call me Igloo then!"
"I think it's cute!"
"I think Rhino is cute!"
"No you don't. You just like annoying me," he corrected me, knocking his head against mine. "I take it as a form of affection from you though." He abruptly pulled away from me. "Come on, let's go get a drink."
I stared at him bemusedly. "But the song isn't over..."
"Come on," he urged, grabbing my hand, and pulling me with him. "There will be other slow dances."
Feeling completely bewildered, I followed him out into the hallway that led to the water fountains. Why he didn't just get a drink at the drink stand, I didn't know, but followed him anyway. It wasn't like I had a choice not to though. Even though we were far away from the gym, I could hear Good To You still playing. When we arrived at the water fountain, Rian let go of my hand and stuck his head over the spout, taking in enough water to fill up a small pool.
"Save some water for the fish," I joked, nudging him in the back.
He pulled his away, gasping for air. "Sorry, it was hot in there."
"Don't apologize..."
He half-smiled at me. "I won't, at the second."
What was that supposed to mean? Shaking my head, I shifted on my feet. "So was there a reason for coming all the way out here to get a drink?"
"Yeah, you don't like PDA."
"What?"
Rian took a step closer to me. "You don't like public displays of affection, right?"
"Yeah, but I don't think dancing counts as that," I told him, falling back a step. "We can dance in the gym..."
"I didn't mean dancing. I meant something more... physical?"
My mouth went dry at his innuendo. "Um..."
"I did say I was going to steal a kiss from you," he announced, grabbing my face with his hands. "I'm being polite and respecting your feelings. Although, you had no idea how hard it was not to kiss you when you were so close and cute."
"But Rian—"
"No protesting," he ordered in a low voice, moving his head closer to mine. "If you really don't want me to kiss you though, say stop now."
"I..."
"Five, four, three, two..." The one never came.
As I expected, Rian's lips were downy and velvety— probably way smoother than my chapped ones. He pushed me backward until I hit the wall, his lips never leaving mine. When he had me pinned between his body and the wall, his hands left my face, opting for my lower back. I raised my hands to his hair, dragging my fingers through his silky strands. His tongue flicked my bottom lip, and I parted it from my upper one, allowing him entrance. For the moment, I relinquished the fact we were still in school, Rian was a superstar, and I was plain old Iris. Instead, I found myself immersed with everything about Rian— the way his body felt against mine, the minty taste of his kiss, and how his hands massaged circles into my back. When we finally parted, I was gasping for air. He, on the other hand, didn't look the least bit out of breath.
"Inexperienced," he deadpanned.
"I'm not!"
He chuckled, leaning toward me again. "I can fix that."
Chagrined, I took the lead in the next kiss, wrestling for dominance with him. He seemed surprised by my actions, but didn't desist from being the dominant one in our kiss. I was the first one to pull away, a pout slipping onto my face. He ruffled my hair pityingly. "Don't worry, Iris. You'll get better."
"I'm fine!"
He laughed. "I'm kidding. You are fine."
I puffed my cheeks out at him. "Jerk."
"Hey!"
Both Rian and I jumped, my heart shooting into my throat from the sudden shouting voice. Coming down the hall was the principal. She narrowed her eyes accusingly at us.
"Hey, Ms. Long," Rian chirped, looking sheepish. "W-what's going on?"
"What are you two doing at here?" she demanded, crossing her arms. "Students aren't allowed to leave the gym."
Simultaneously, Rian and I pointed at the water fountain. "Getting a drink."
The suspicious expression never left but she sighed, shaking her head. "Very well. Are you done then?"
We nodded. "Yes."
"Then head back to the gym," she ordered.
"Right away m'am!" Rian responded, promptly seizing my hand. "We're on are way!" He started running, haling me behind him.
"No running in the halls, Mr. Drew!" she yelled after us.
Rian ignored her, a grin crossing his face as we hastened back to the dance. His smile was contagious, and I found myself grinning as well. An overwhelming feeling of attraction for him came over me, and I squeezed his hand tightly, never wanting to let go. He seemed to share the feeling, because his hand was like a vice on mine— but I wasn't complaining. He was my Rian, after all.
And suddenly, I wanted everyone to know that.
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This chapter has been written for years (the story has been finished too), but I thought I couldn't update it, but I'm doing it anyway..... so enjoy! I'll post the other chapters as well!