A/N:
Released on February 14, 2017
Edited on September 9, 2018
Word Count: 1824
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Chapter 7: Dizzy Times and a Shocking Crisis
Vanessa is disappointed when the slow song ends, wishing she could keep dancing with John. It was nice while it lasted. He seems to think the same thing because he doesn't let go of her.
She opens her mouth to say something, not knowing what yet, but John suddenly spins her out to the time of the music.
Before Vanessa can blink, John is directing her with his steps and they're dancing better than anyone in the building. She lets out a small laugh of joy when he pulls her close again.
"How-?" Vanessa starts to ask, but John jumps in.
"I'm a dancer. It's what I'm good at." He shrugs like it's no big deal.
"Of course! You're a natural!" Vanessa compliments. He smiles back at her, only half of his mouth turned up and his chin bent down a little so he's looking at her through his eyelashes.
Vanessa smiles in full and just barely catches herself from laughing again. "That was amazing. Thank you."
"Anytime." John responds a bit shyly. Vanessa's trying to figure out what to say next when he speaks up.
"Would you like to hang out sometime?" He stares right into her eyes, causing her to nod as her blonde hair falls in her face.
John's still close to her, so he reaches out and pushes the stray hair back behind her ear. When he starts to pull his hand away, Vanessa reaches up and holds it there.
He stares down into her eyes, as light and clear blue as the ocean, the opposite of his deep blue eyes. She lets go of John's hand and it stays there for a moment. Then he drops his hand back to his side.
"Yes, I'd like to hang out with you." She answers the question that John forgot he even asked. She pulls out her phone and says, "Here, let's trade numbers."
After John leaves, Ivie and Selynn come over to Vanessa. Selynn neglects to tell her about the world spinning, crazy feeling thing that occurred.
Ivie asks Vanessa about what happened with John and she said it went fine. She knows that Ivie wasn't as happy as she should be, so she decides to keep boy talk to a minimum.
~*~
"Thanks for the dance, Lucas." Lena tells him once the song finished and they separated.
"No problem. I wouldn't want a pretty girl like you to be alone." Lucas smiles in what he thinks is cute and teasing, but he's stunned by his own actions.
How did he say that? He's never been the type of guy to just tell a girl how he feels. What's changed?
"Oh, thanks." Lena says, not missing a beat. She looks straight into his eyes, not acting like any other girl he's met before.
The only girl who ever looks Lucas in the eye for more than a second is Jerica, and that's to show him that she's not backing down.
"So... you saw Jerica ditch me?" Lena's tone is slightly accusatory but her eyes are telling Lucas that she's only teasing him.
He plays along and rolls his eyes in irritation at the mention of Jerica. "Yeah, she's always on the phone with Alex."
Lena frowns and asks, "How did you know it was Alex?"
He shrugs, trying to act normal. "I heard her say it was him." Why do people keep asking him that question?
"Weren't you way over there?" She inquires, tilting her head in the direction that Lucas was standing earlier with Mason.
"Yeah." He says simply.
"Can you hear Jerica now?" Lena asks out of curiosity. There's no longer a tease going on since she's genuinely interested.
"I don't know... isn't she too far away?" Lucas shifts from foot to foot uncomfortably. He wishes she would stop staring at him like that, like she knows something strange is going on.
"Just try! Please?" This time Lena bats her eyelashes, trying to use her "girl charms" as Mason calls them.
"Fine." He gives in so she'll stop asking weird questions about him. He listens intently until he thinks he hears his sister's voice.
"I think I hear her." He mumbles in surprise. She must've come back and was somewhere close. "She's laughing in a super girly way."
"Lucas, I thought you were being serious! You've just been messing with me." Lena declares with a scowl.
He's glad that she thinks he was joking. He's sick of the weird looks and questions that he's getting. He just wants to go home now.
Although he is upset that he may have erased whatever good time he'd just had with Lena because she's mad at him now.
Jerica walks up to them just then and breaks the awkward tension. "Sorry I was gone so long, Lena! Alex kept making me laugh." She smiles as Lucas and Lena's jaws practically drop to the ground.
"I have to go now." He announces with a nervous tremor in his voice, then shoves his way through the crowd.
"What's his problem? Were you two having a moment?" Jerica asks her best friend when Lucas is out of sight. She explains what happened and Jerica waves it away as a coincidence. Lena shrugs and lets it go.
~*~
As Lucas shoves people aside to get through, he's breathing hard and feeling claustrophobic. He shoves one guy too hard by accident, making the guy fall into his friends.
Lucas tries to apologize, but no words come out of his mouth, only a low growl. His heart is beating like crazy and he's breathing faster now. Why is he shoving and growling at people?
He's suddenly standing outside in the cold and he doesn't remember going through the doors. He goes around the side of the building, where he can unfortunately still hear the music, and leans against the wall. Maybe some peace and quiet will calm him.
He breathes in deep to steady himself, listening closely when he hears Lena's voice. "What do you think is going on with Lucas?"
"I have no idea." He hears Jerica reply.
He looks around, expecting to see the girls exiting the club. But no one comes around the corner. It sounds like they're right next to him.
"Actually, he might've gone out to check on his wolf bite." Jerica suggests to her best friend.
"Oh yeah, how is that? Is it healing okay?" Lena's voice is full of concern for Lucas. His racing heart starts to slow down a bit.
"You should ask Lucas, since he won't really tell me." Jerica lies. She hasn't been bothered to ask in a while.
"Why would he tell me and not you?" Lena questions in confusion.
"Maybe he doesn't want me to worry." His sister replies, trying to cover her tracks.
"But I would worry!" Lena exclaims sincerely.
"Really? You would?" Jerica questions, forgetting about her lie and focusing on the strangeness between her best friend and her brother.
"Yes, I would because Lucas is my friend and your brother. How could I not care?" Lena retorts.
"He's not more than that to you?" Jerica taunts.
"It was one dance, Jerica! I'm not in love with him yet." Lena huffs like she's annoyed.
"I'd totally be okay with that, you know, if you were in love." Jerica teasingly gives her blessing.
Unfortunately, Lucas doesn't hear Lena's response because the music suddenly floods his hearing.
He stumbles with a gasp, recovering more quickly than he thought. He decides it's not good for him to be out with this many people when he's not feeling like himself.
So Lucas heads inside to get Mason and Jerica to go home.
~*~
Inside the teen club, Mason has been dancing with Selynn. He can't help but be mesmerized by her dancing. She's a storm to be reckoned with. But after a few songs of jumping around crazy he starts feeling dizzy.
For a moment he hears Lucas call his name, but doesn't see anyone that matches the voice. He stops dancing and puts a hand on his stomach.
"Mason, what's wrong?" Selynn asks him when she notices he's stopped dancing.
Lucas walks up to them right as he answers. "I feel kind of sick." Mason grimaces as he gets lightheaded again.
"Come on, Mason. I'll take you home. See you later, Selynn." He says for his brother. Lucas helps him walk over to lean against the wall. Mason grabs a water bottle from a cooler on the refreshments table.
"I'll go get Jerica!" Lucas shouts into Mason's ear so he'll hear. Mason has to work hard not to flinch at the extremely loud noise.
~*~
On the way to get Jerica, Lucas almost passes Ivie. "Hey, Lucas." She greets him. He feels it would be rude to walk away so he stops for a moment.
"Ivie. Happy birthday!" Lucas draws as much enthusiasm as he can into his voice.
"Thanks!" She replies happily.
"Great party. I've gotta head home now but thanks for having me." Lucas adds cheerfully. Ivie blushes but he's already gone.
He rushes up to Jerica and says breathlessly, "Hey, we have to go. Mason feels really sick."
"Seriously? Now?" Jerica whines.
"Yes, now!" Lucas feels his heart speed up angrily at her. Why does she always have to be so difficult?
"I have to go, Lena. See ya." Lucas grabs Jerica by the arm a little too roughly and drags her back to Mason. Jerica ends up driving because he doesn't feel the best either.
~*~
Around 10:00 p.m. Lena tells Ivie that they have to go. Their mom gave them a curfew of 10:30. They hear rain pouring down outside on the roof. It sounds like a mean storm.
All of Ivie's friends are gone except Selynn and Vanessa, but they're having a lot of fun and decide to stay a little while longer. Selynn seems to have forgotten about the bad feeling.
"Run for it on three?" Lena suggests from where they're standing in front of the doors. Their car is parked at the very end of the street, so they'll definitely be soaked by the rain.
"I don't know..." Ivie says nervously.
"One..." Lena starts, looking at her sister with playful determination. Ivie sighs and grips her bag tighter.
"Two..." Lena pushes the door open so they'll be able to run down the sidewalk.
"Three!" She races forward first with Ivie making a mad dash right behind her. Thunder rumbles overhead but they don't slow down. They're both breathing hard, and Lena actually laughs.
When they're halfway down the street a bolt of lightning strikes Lena, causing her to crumple to the ground, instantly engulfing her in a black numbness.
The force of the blast sends Ivie flying into a tree. On impact, her whole body goes limp and she fades away into darkness.
The street is void of people. No one notices the two teenagers who were just hit by lightning.