“What time is prom starting?” I asked as I pinned the last bit of my hair up, raising my eyebrows in the mirror as I watched Caleb button his jacket up and run his fingers through his hair to ruffle it up a bit.
“Um, 6:30,” he met my eyes in the mirror, “Are you going to be okay with being by yourself at this party?”
“Yep, Dad will be there and I’m small enough people will think I’m just a bug anyhow,” I replied.
“So am I,” I laughed, “Seriously, just stop. How do I look?”
I had found a black, knee length dress that had sleeves to cover my arms. It was a dress I had bought when I had been out shopping with Caleb one year that I had never gotten the chance to actually wear. My hair was in a loose bun with what felt like four inches of makeup so that my green eyes shined without the dark circles underneath to drag them down. Red lipstick finished off the look. I actually looked healthy. Well, as healthy as I could with hollow cheeks and skin clinging to bone.
Caleb smiled, “You look really pretty.”
“Thanks,” I said even though it felt like I had just been slapped. I was all dolled up and he still couldn’t call me beautiful.
“Listen, its 5:35, I need to get going,” Caleb watched me carefully, “Are you sure you will be okay?”
“I’ll be just fine, go,” I waved at him. He nodded, smiled and did just that. I watched him leave with a heavy heart. It was foolish of me, to have these feelings for Caleb when I knew; I knew that he didn’t feel the same for me.
My phone beeped with the alert that the party was about to start. I ran my hands down the sides of my dress and attempted to smile at my reflection.
My lips merely twitched.
The living room looked completely different than usual. The furniture had been removed and instead a temporary bar was in the corner for drinks and another bar lining the wall for food. It was a nice set up and with music that actually wasn’t classic spilling from the speakers, it created a joyous atmosphere which all of the guests seemed to enjoy despite the fact that they were wearing floor length gowns our suits.
Several people –along with a pretty brunette on his arm giggling – surrounded dad looking incredibly comfortable and relaxed in his own environment. His booming laugh filled the room as the brunette whispered something funny in his ear. I wanted to puke. I grabbed a carrot and munched on it even though it tasted akin to cardboard. My phone buzzed in my bra, alerting me that someone – who was I kidding – Caleb had texted me.
CALEB: yo, hows the party?
ME: Fine, how’s the dance?
CALEB: fun r u ok?
ME: I’m good, now quit bothering me and have fun
CALEB: i will
I put my phone back in the cleavage of my dress and froze. At the bar was a man engulfed in blue fire. The same man from the bar…and the one from six years ago. He turned to say something to the woman next to him who was covered in red fire. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the pair of them, even when the man’s eyes snapped to mine. His lips barely moved and the woman – who was curvy and tall with black hair – looked at me too. Her eyes, I noticed were the same color as the fire around her.
The man started walking towards me and every single instinct inside told me to run but it was too late. He had definitely seen me and was coming towards me. If I ran, it would look even more…stalkerish than it already did. Plus I wouldn’t make it very far, at all.
He came to a halt in front of me and offered his hand, “Can I have this dance?”
I blinked, “Sure.”
He took my hand in his, squeezing it gently as he guided me to the middle of the room where there were already several other couples slow dancing. I felt extremely small in this man’s arms. Not only because of the staggering height difference – I was 5’4 while he was 5’11 – but also he was fit. When he put his hands on my waist and my hands were on his shoulders, I could feel the muscles. He seemed like the Hulk compared to my stature. My fingertips brushed against the blue crackling flames, I tensed expecting it to burn but it barely tickled. My heart seemed to stutter.
I had to distract myself, “What’s your name?”
“Timotheus,” he smiled down at me.
“Timotheus? That’s a very different name,” I commented.
“It is, I got teased quite a bit for it when I was teased a lot but now I quite like it,” Timotheus flashed a crooked smile, “ What is your name?”
“Jaye,” I replied, “with an ‘e’.”
“Ah, the daughter of Stone,” Timotheus gave me an eerie, dead-eyed smile. “You’re much too beautiful for that title.”
“You don’t like the name Stone or you don’t like who my father is?” I asked, ignoring the compliment.
Timotheus’s hands tightened momentarily on my hips before he said, “I haven’t seen you at any of these before. How come?”
I narrowed my eyes at his blunt and obvious refusal to answer my question. But I guess I didn’t blame him, you couldn’t really go around saying bad things about your boss to his daughter. I bit my bottom lip as I considered his question. What did I say to that? I shrugged, “I’ve always been busy.”
“You know, the funny thing is,” Timotheus smirked, “I don’t believe you.”
“What giv-“
Timotheus cut off my retort before I could even really start it, “But I’m glad you are here. You make the party more interesting.”
With that, his hands slipped from my waist and his left hand grabbed my right where he escorted me to the sidelines. I glanced over my shoulder to see Dad staring at us before a couple obscured me from his line of sight. Taking the opportunity, Timotheus bent and kissed my cheek before flashing another charming smile and slipping away. I watched as he easily weaved through the crowd to join the woman with red fire around her.
In the next minute, they were gone. I rubbed at my chest unconsciously as I tried to wrap my head around what had just happened. 1. Two people with fire around them, 2. A handsome man asking me to dance, and 3. Said handsome man complimenting me.
My phone buzzed with another text from Caleb. I barely suppressed a grin at how overprotective he was being as I grabbed it and read the text.
CALEB: hows the party
I grinned and texted one simple word in reply: Good.
“How’d you like the party?” Dad asked me when he escorted the last guest – the brunette woman – out the door.
I paused with my foot on the first step, “It was good.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Dad hesitated, “Who was that guy you were dancing with?”
“I don’t know,” I laughed as though it wasn’t a big thing, “He just asked for a dance. Probably because he felt sorry for me when I ran into him.”
Dad watched me for a few seconds before smiling, “Alright, just wondering. He won’t be coming around, right?”
“No, don’t worry,” I replied quietly. I didn’t ask why he would want to know that.
As I watched him walk away, my stomach sunk to the floor when I realized that I had actually – briefly – let myself be fooled that I could be a normal freaking teen. My eyes burned and I took a steady breath, heading up to my room.
A/N: Next chapter will have author’s notes. Thank you so much for reading. Please vote, comment, and share!