This chapter is dedicated to YaiEliza, one of my fantabulous followers, for my amazing new cover.
Hope you guys like this chapter.
Unedited.
~*~*~*~*~
"This is the cheesiest thing I have ever seen in my life," I mumbled, staring up at the sparkling fairy lights and glittering paper cut into snowflake shapes.
"I like cheese," Ryan grinned, leading me through the winter wonderland that our gym had become. I don't know why that was our theme exactly. Maybe people were willing it to be a cold enough Christmas for snow. Clearly it didn't work, considering we were in California and it was practically warm enough to be summer all year round.
As soon as we entered the main room of the gym, which was swarming with people, I could tell which girl was Erika. I mean, she wasn't that hard to miss in all her pink disco ball glory. She was right in the middle of the dance floor, trying to be impregnated by a guy through their clothes. Not that her pink sequined dress left much to the imagination, and with her dress being strapless her boobs were practically on full show. She really did live up to her nickname, watermelon girl.
Kyle and Tara drifted across the room to another couple who I recognized as Lee and a girl from the volleyball team, I think her name started with a J. By the way when I say she was on the volleyball team, what I really mean is she thought the uniforms were cute so she joined the team.
"Hey!" Someone slurred near us, catching our attention. Justin was being dragged along by his rather impatient looking date.
"Are you drunk already dude?" Ryan asked with a disapproving shake of his head.
"I'm not drunk, you're just blurry."
"Yeah okay, we're leaving," his date said, glaring at the way his hand hovered dangerously close to her cleavage.
"But why?!" Justin whined, stomping is foot like a child having a temper tantrum.
"Because someone decided to do shots before we even got here," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Who?" He asked, looking around like he was legitimately trying to find the person.
"And that's our cue to leave," his date declared, pulling a reluctant Justin behind her.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"To get you to bed."
"Will you join me?" He asked suggestively.
"Not likely," she replied, shutting him down.
"Will you at least read me a bedtime story?"
"I'll think about it."
They disappeared from my view as they rounded the corner to one of the four emergency exits.
"So Justin turns into a perverted five year old when he's drunk?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Either that or he just cries," Ryan confirmed.
"Charming," I concluded.
Ryan shrugged. "At least he doesn't smash bottles for sport, Lee's a violent drunk and he's a grudge holder too."
"Remind me to never piss him off."
I probably already had pissed him off.
"Don't worry about that, I'd never let him near you."
I didn't respond as the song changed
From a crappy pop song, to a slow song that I didn't recognize.
Ryan grinned, dragging me towards the dance floor. I dug my heels in, pulling in the opposite direction. I don't dance. Scratch that, I can't dance.
"Come on sunshine," Ryan pleaded.
"I don't dance."
"Neither do I, come on its hardly even dancing." He gestured to the other couples who were awkwardly swaying on the dance floor.
I gave him an 'are you serious' look.
"Let's go be awkward robot dancers with everyone else, it's part of the prom experience."
I sighed dramatically. "Fine."
His smile returned as he pulled me onto the dance floor.
I just stood there, not knowing what to do. Ryan noticed.
"Come here."
I stepped closer to him and he took my hands in his.
"You put your hands here." He guided my arms around his neck. "And I put my hands here." His hands were planted firmly on my waist, making me jump a little.
"Sorry," he whispered.
"Me too."
"What for?"
"In advance, for stepping on your toes."
"Stop worrying."
"Sorry."
"What did I tell you about apologising?"
"Sor-"
We started to sway to the music which wasn't hard, it was kind of relaxing actually, but then Ryan decided that we needed to step it up a notch, and by step it up I literally mean stepping. It wasn't just side to side, but it was also backwards, forwards and around in circles. I swear I stood on Ryan's toes more times than I could count on my fingers and my toes, but he didn't complain once.
"How is it that you have an infinite amount of patience?" I asked, as I once again stood on his toes.
"I don't, I just think it's cute that you're clumsy."
"Hey! I am not clu-"
I was abruptly spun out of Ryan's arms, then pulled back in, crashing into his chest.
"You told me you didn't dance!" I accused, smacking his chest.
"Exactly, I said I didn't dance, that doesn't mean I can't dance."
"Let me guess, you're probably some uber talented ballet dancer who wears pink tutus?"
"Not quite. My mom forced me into ballroom dancing classes when I was six, I guess I learnt the basics."
"You know what? Screw you and your dancing skills." I wrapped my arms around his neck again, stepping on both of his feet. "You can do the dancing, I'm just along for the ride."
He chuckled, vibrating my cheek which rested on his chest. He started to move slowly and even as the song changed to a more upbeat tune, we remained dancing slowly. I could feel his heartbeat, which starting beating faster as I repositioned myself so that my head was tucked under his chin. He moved his arms so they were wrapped securely around my waist, making sure I wouldn't fall backwards.
~*~*~*~*~
"These shoes are killing me," I groaned, ditching the heeled shoes under a table, making sure that Tara wasn't watching. She would be mortified.
"Then why did you wear them?" Ryan asked, as we walked over to the table which held a large bowl of punch.
"Ask Tara. She threatened to throw me down the stairs if I didn't wear them."
"Who knew someone so innocent looking could be so vicious," he muttered.
"Tell me about it."
He filled two cups with the sickly sweet liquid which smelled of passion fruit.
I heard a pair of heels approaching, which initially I took no notice of. I mean, half of the people here were wearing heels so it wasn't like there was anything different about this particular person. Except there was, obviously otherwise I wouldn't be talking about it.
"Hey Ryan, baby," someone purred. I clenched my teeth together.
Don't hit her, don't hit her, don't hit her. I chanted in my head. That's a good life mantra.
I didn't dare look at her for I feared my fist might get a little excited and want to have a brief conversation with her face. Metaphorically speaking of course.
"What do you want Erika?" Ryan sighed.
"Do I even have to answer that? I want you, silly," she giggled falsely, batting her glued on lashes flirtatiously.
"I'm not interested okay?" He said, starting to get a little impatient. I've got to give him some credit, he had a hell if a lot more patience than I did.
"That's not what you said last night," she said in a voice that she would probably describe as seductive. To me it sounded like a parrot, squawking to find a mate, but each to their own I guess. She latched herself to his arm in a way that could only be described as leech like.
That made me mad.
He shook her off. "I was baby sitting my brother last night, so unless you were there in ghost form watching us play candy land, then I would highly doubt that you were with me last night. Let alone that I said I was interested in you. That's low, even for you."
She huffed, throwing me a dirty look as if only just realising I was there.
I waved enthusiastically, just to piss her off a little more.
She glared at me, sticking her nose in the air. I stuck my tongue out as she turned back to Ryan, I don't think she noticed.
"Look, this is a one time thing," she said, pointing at Ryan. "I won't just be offering to you anymore."
"Good, then I won't have to reject you twice."
Oooh, buuurn!
Her mouth dropped open, like I could actually smell her garlic breath from where I stood. Honestly I don't know why being rejected by someone she'd cheated on was a huge shock to her. Did she think he was going to welcome her back with open arms? some people need a reality check.
She kept gaping like a fish out of water which wafted her terrible breath in my direction. I scrunched up my nose. Had she been chewing garlic, or having a good old crunch on an onion? I mean, your breath doesn't just get like that, she must've had some decaying flesh or something in there. Y'know, like president snow, the one with mouth ulcers. He was a smart man, wearing roses all the time. Maybe Erika should take a leaf from his book. Or she could just use mouthwash like the rest of us, but that was probably too mainstream for her.
"You'll regret that, there's nobody else out there like me."
"Well isn't that a relief," Ryan remarked.
She glared at him, digging a finger into his chest. "What do you see in her? What does she have that I don't?"
I guess I was the 'her' and the 'she' in that sentence, I mean it could've been someone else I wouldn't really know.
"Do you want me to make a list?" He asked sarcastically.
She looked outraged. "You know what?"
I frowned. No I don't know what. Is that a rhetorical question or just something she said to fill in a space in the conversation that she had no comeback for?
She lurched forward, snatching the two cups of punch that Ryan still held in either hand. He let go in surprise.
"What about now?"
She grinned evilly, aiming both cups in my direction. If felt like it was in slow motion. She threw the sticky orange liquid onto my dress.
I gasped in surprise, watching in horror as my dress changed from royal blue to streaked orange patches.
"What about now? Do you still like her now, all covered in punch?"
Ryan only responded with a disgusted look directed towards Erika, then a disgusted look towards the crowd that had gathered to watch the show. They quickly dispersed.
My only response was a middle finger salute with both hands.
"That's cute," she commented. "Is that all you got?"
"I wasn't born with enough middle fingers to show you how I feel about you," I relied in a bored tone, pretending I didn't care. Deep down I did care but I wasn't going to let her see that.
I turned to Ryan. "Can we go home?"
"Of course." He took my hand in his, linking out fingers. I snatched my shoes from under the table on our way out of the room, carrying then in my free hand.
We started heading out to the parking lot, but instead we took a different turn, leading us down a relatively unused corridor. It was dark and to be honest, it was fucking creepy to even be in the school building at night, let alone an abandoned hallway.
"Where are we going?" I whispered. I don't know why I whispered. Maybe I felt like the quieter we were, the less likely it was that we would wake up any potential zombies under the school.
"Just wait, we're almost there," he whispered, clearly the zombie apocalypse wouldn't be starting tonight.
We stopped at a door that looked suspiciously like a janitors closet and straight away I could tell I was right because a strong chemical smell drifted into my nostrils as Ryan inched the door open.
"Ladies first," he grinned, the light of the moon through the window cast a shadow on his face.
"You're seriously going to make me go in there?"
"You'll like it, I promise."
"Fine," I grumbled, stepping blindly into the pitch black room, clutching his hand tightly to make sure he followed. I heard the door click shut, and Ryan started to shuffle around.
He muttered under his breath. Finally there was a clicking sound and a dull bulb attached directly to the ceiling flickered uncertainly, illuminating the small room stocked with cleaning supplies.
"What am I supposed to be looking at?" I questioned. I mean, what was I supposed to say? Oh, that's a nice broom...
"Hold on a second," he mumbled, pulling on what seemed to be a trapdoor in the ceiling. A wooden folding ladder fell down with a clunk.
"After you." He gestured for me to climb the wooden structure, which was a struggle in my long sticky dress.
I did make it though, wondering where the hell I was as I waited for Ryan to emerge. Eventually he did, and he took my hand once again.
"I didn't know the school had an attic," I commented, as he lead me to another set of stairs, these ones wide enough to fit two people side by side.
"Neither did I until I followed the art teacher up here one day."
"She ditches us to come up here?" I asked in disgust, looking around at the dusty interior covered in cobwebs.
"No, not in here, look I'll show you."
He pulled me up the few steps, to a door at the top.
"You ready?"
I shrugged. "I guess."
He pushed the door open, flipping a light switch at the same time. I could barely see as we stepped onto the pavement. I could tell we were outside because the surface was cold under my bare feet, and a slight breeze caught my hair.
I didn't seem like anything special to me, and I was about to ask when some lights above our heads started flickering. Section by section, fairy lights lit up the area, a few green plants seemed transformed by the light. It was enchanting, like something in a fairytale.
"This is amazing," I breathed.
He squeezed my hand. "Wait till you see the view."
He lead me over to the edge, where we could see all the twinkling lights of our little town in the distance, and the stars seemed to blend in with the lights.
I sighed, resting my head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around my waist.
"Thank you," I said, interrupting the comfortable silence.
"What for?"
"For asking me to prom, from making me dance, for bringing me up here. Everything really."
"I just wish it could've gone smoothly, you deserve better."
I shrugged. "Sometimes you can't stop things from happening, so you just have to go with it."
~*~*~*~*~
Hey.
I'm too lazy to write an authors note.
Until next time.