"Damn," Odell cursed underneath his breath. He eyed down the same girl who he tried to forget.
"You gon' sit here with googly eyes or are you gonna approach her?" Shep asked beside him. Odell sighed and then turned his attention to finding their seat.
"Shut it. Let's find our seat man." Shep shrugged and followed Odell further into the ballroom. It was filled with masked-covered kids running around the place. Even out of all the masked adults, he could tell her apart. They found the assigned table and Odell sat beside Shep.
"You still staring man." Shep pointed out.
"Well shit Shep, can I stare in peace?" He laughed and rubbed his hair.
"My bad. You just look like a lost puppy or something." Odell rolled his eyes. He knew when he came here he had a chance of seeing her, but she looked so good that he didn't want to have hate for her. Odell didn't know if it was her dress, that dress, that did something to him. He's seen her in his t-shirts before, but the dress accentuated every single inch and curve of her body. Odell let a breath out and tugged at his shirt collar.
"Okay, now I know something is wrong because you are literally acting too weird right now." Shep curiously stated, peering at him.
"She's just, so fine right now I can't be mad at her." He said, licking his lips. Shep raised his eyebrows and looked at her. She indeed, did look gorgeous tonight and Shep saw were she was greeting the kids.
"Well don't mind me Dell, I'm just gonna say hi." Odell immediately frowned and watched Shep get up to go greet her. He thought Shep was out of his mind, but then it could be preparing him to be without her.
—
"Hi Miss Willow!" Azalea exclaimed when she saw Willow. She gasped while opening her arms. Squatting down as for as her dress would go, she gave Azalea a bear hug.
"Aww, my baby!" Willow pulled back to pinch her cheeks. "How have you been doing lately sweetie?" She asked.
"Can we sit down? My auntie made me wear these ugly heels and they make my feet hurt." Willow chuckled at the pouting Azalea. She pulled a chair out for her and before she could pull her own, Shep came from behind them.
"Shep! I would get up and hug you but I just sat down and I don't feel like getting up." Azalea said. Shep laughed and shook his head.
"No, you're fine Lea." He turned to Willow. "Here's a seat, my lady." She smiled and sat down.
"Why thank you, Shep. It's nice to see you here." He chose the seat in between the girls and glanced over his shoulder at a fuming Odell. Willow matched his actions and caught a glance of him also. She quickly looked away, not wanting for him to catch her staring.
Wow, he looks fine as hell, Lowering her head, Willow cleared her throat and put her attention back on Shep.
"It's nice to see you here as well. It's been awhile, haven't it?" He indicated. She furrowered her brows a bit and shrugged.
"Yeah, it has been a minute. How's Chanel doing?" Shep smiled and exhaled.
"She's doing good, looking good too. But woah, this dress." Willow blushed and looked the other way.
"Girl you are looking too good. Who put you on? I need secrets so I can dress Chanel." He added.
"Thank you Shep, but my best friend packed my whole suitcase so I had no choice." Above them, someone cleared their throat. Willow could smell his cologne and kept her head down.
"Hey, wassup man? Why don't you say hi to Willow?" Shep gestured towards her.
"Odell!" Azalea yelled unexpectedly. She got out of her seat for this greeting and Shep watched with his mouth open.
"Hey babygirl!" Willow cringed and secretly watched the two out of her perhiperal vision. He picked her up and threw Azalea in the air a couple of times. Her giggles calmed Willow down for the moment but she could feel her throat closing.
"Uh, Azalea? I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick. I'll be right back," She shot her a sympathetic smile and dashed away to the bathroom. Odell sighed and sat down in a seat beside Shep with Azalea in his lap.
"Yo, why the hell would you do that?" He harshly asked. Azalea gasped and pinched his cheek.
"Woah Odell, you said a bad word! Now you owe me twenty dollars." Shep laughed on the other side of him.
"I'm sorry sweetie. I'll get you whatever you want okay?" She instantly nodded.
"I'm not done with you Shep. What were you doing?"
"Like I told you before, I was going to say hi. You should have said it to before you scared her off." Shep noticed Odell roll his eyes and smirked.
"You're jealous aren't you?" He questioned. Odell scoffed and waved him off.
"No sir, I am not. This is just preparing me to be without her. Preparing me to see her with another guy."
"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself." Shep pointed out. Odell glared at him and he raised his hands. Willow returned to the table and kept her head low the whole time. Candace came over and sat beside her.
"Hey, you okay?" She whispered into Willow's ear. She looked up and quietly nodded. To kill time, she played games on her phone.
"Hey there Odell," Candace spoke up. Odell took his eyes off of Willow and forced a smile.
"Hey Candace. It's nice to see you." Before she could say anything else, the principal tapped the microphone.
"I wanna thank everyone for showing up to our masquerade ball. The kids wanted to do something a little more elegant and I believe they only chose this idea because of the masks." The crowd laughed a bit.
"But nonetheless, they are enjoying themselves and that's all that matters. I want to also thank the Giants football team for showing up." Some of the players waved their hands in the air, gaining applause from the audience . The speaker let the clapping die down before speaking.
"The kids truly love you and talk about the team all the time. You guys make a difference, whether you know it or not, you give them a glimmer of hope. I'm not gonna hold the mic long, I just wanted to appreciate everyone coming out and making this ball a blast." Willow smiles and clapped her hands with the audience. Azalea hopped out of Odell's lap and stood beside Willow.
"What's wrong baby?" She asked. Azalea laid her head on Willow's shoulder and sighed.
"I wanna have a good time Miss Wilson, but I keeping thinking about having to go home after all this." Azalea said.
"Aww, Lea." Willow picked her up and sat her down on her lap. "It's okay baby." She could hear Azalea sniffing and grabbed a tissue. Odell discreetly watched the two and when he noticed Azalea crying his expression softened.
"Sweetheart, have you ever heard the saying 'Make it last while you can'?" Azalea sniffed and shook her head.
"Well, it means to have all the fun you can before it's time to go. So instead of dwelling on going home, have some fun!" Willow tickled her a little and heard those giggles of hers. Odell smiled when he saw Willow cheering her up.
"You have me, Shep, Odell, and the rest of your friends here. Have all the fun while you can okay?" In a brighter mood, Azalea nodded and gave Willow a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you so much, Miss Wilson. I'm gonna make sure I have so much fun I explode!" She exclaimed, wiggling out of her lap. Willow widened her eyes and grinned.
"I wanna make sure I find all the pieces of your body when you explode so I can put you back together like a Mr. Potato alright?"
"Yes ma'am! I gotta go find my fun so see ya later alligator." Azalea threw up the deuces and ran away. Willow chuckled and shook her head.
"I swear you're so good with kids. How do you do it?" Candace asked. She shrugged and picked up her drink.
"I really have no idea. It comes naturally." Willow answered, feeling eyes on her. She took a sip and nudged Candace. She caught on and smirked.
"Hmm, seems like you have someone's attention." Candace mentioned, wiggling her eyebrows. Willow laughed and set her drink down.
"Come on," She grabbed two masquerade masks and handed one to Candace. "Let's go have some fun."
—
"Whew," Willow said breathlessly, more to herself. The DJ requested that everyone put on the masks to help encourage the kids to wear them. She signed, realizing that she wanted something to drink. She huffed and walked over to the bar to order an water.
This dress Candace picked out for her was something she's never worn before but she honestly had no choice here. It was a long, black lace gown with a left leg slit. Willow thought she wasn't going to get in it by how tight it was, but Candace nipped that in the bud. The only thing she liked about it was the long sleeves that were lace. Before Willow could pay for the water, the bartender stopped her.
"Uh ma'am. Someone already payed for it." She furrowed her brows.
"Who did?" He pointed behind her to him, sitting a table with the other football players. Willow squinted her eyes and he turned to meet hers. She snapped her head back to the bartender and smiled.
"Um, thank you sir." He nodded and went to tend to another customer. Willow sighed and walked back to her table. Observing everyone in the ballroom, she saw Candace dancing with Derrick.
"I didn't know he even came," Willow mumbled, taking a sip of her water. She adjusted the mask on her face a bit. Soon, the energetic atmosphere changed into a slower, calming mood. Everyone on the dance floor was pairing up and even some of the people who were siting down paired up. Willow sighed and kept sipping her water. Extraordinary Love by Stacy Barthe and she internally groaned. It was one of her favourite songs, but it had her feeling too alone right now.
"May I have this dance?" Willow slightly gasped when she saw the hand. She knew who it belonged to and slowly looked up. There he was, standing in all his glory. Odell had on a black mask, contrast to Willow's bright red one. She slipped her hand into his.
"Uh," Willow cleared her throat and stood up. "Yes, you may." He smiled a little to himself and led her to the dance floor. They both turned to each other and he rested a hand on her lower back and grabbed the other one. She laid her hand on his upper chest and stared up at him. Just one hand on her body had it doing tricks inside. Willow tried hard to keep her composure, but Odell noticed it and gently squeezed her hand. She let out a breath and moved with him to the song.
"I was just a girl, you were just a boy..."
"How have you been lately?" Odell asked in her ear.
"Not the best, but I'm still alive so that's counts." She answered, making him pull back to frown at her.
"Together we were one..."
"Me too." It fell silent and Willow lowly hummed the song.
"I've missed you Willow," Odell confessed deeply in her ear. His voice was angelic, but authoritative at the same time which left her tingling on the inside.
"I've missed you too, Odell."
"Talk about in sync, you know what I'm thinking..."
"Are you sure? You left me pretty quick last time." He mentioned, spinning her around. This time he rested his hands on her hips and she wrapped her arms around his neck. Willow laid her head in the crook of his neck and inhaled.
"I know, and I'm sorry I did that. I wasn't there for you like you were there for me and I apologize." She said in his ear, causing the tingling sensation to spread to him.
"So, you do believe me?" Odell gripped her hips and she leaned up to look at him.
"Always." Willow caressed his cheek.
"I was just a girl, and you were just a boy.."
He grinned like a little boy and it made her smile also.
"Two ordinary people..."
Going in for the kill, he dipped his head and captured her lips for a kiss. Willow was taken back, but relaxed and melted into his kiss.
"Made extraordinary love..."
The kiss was getting deeper by the second until a familiar voice stopped them.
"Eww, Shep look! They're kissing again!" Azalea yelled.
"Oh my goodness, not again." Willow muttered and covered her face in Odell's neck. He chuckled and held her tighter against him.
summer workouts + basketball games = an aching body lol. i might even update tomorrow or this weekend because im in a writing mood and i'd hate to lose it lmao. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and thank you for the support.