THE ADORNED GYM held no surprise for me and the girls. We'd helped all day to string up the fairy lights, disco balls and streamers. Snack and punch tables lined one side of the room. When we were done, we had a huge confetti fight. Resting tables were draped in white sheets, with fresh flowers at the center. The music from the DJ boomed, and the dance floor was already packed.
At the opposite corner, Chuck greeted an influx of students at the photo studio. My chest tightened with discomfort at his sight, but luckily he didn't see me.
"Are you okay?" Adam's thumb grazed my forearm, snapping my attention back.
"Yeah, why?"
"Dunno, you looked a little tense," he spoke over the music.
"I'm good." I pointed at the snack table, the furthest one from Chuck. "I'm kind of thirsty. Want me to bring you something?"
He squeezed my hand gently. "Orange soda, please."
I left him and the group to head over to the food and juices. I filled a cup with soda for Adam and another one with chocolate milk for myself. I came back with both in each hand, greeting a few classmates and a chaperone on my way. I found the group settled at a table adjacent to the dance floor. Emma was already dragging her date along to the music, and soon enough, they disappeared amid the mass.
After a couple of minutes, Adam asked me. "Want to dance?"
"I thought you were supposed to wait for a slow to come on. You know, like in the movies."
His teeth glowed in the neon lights. "Rules are no fun. Especially when my date is you."
I must have blushed so hard he picked it up even through the multicolored lighting. He was being bold, tonight. An entire cloud of butterflies seemingly fluttered in my stomach.
"I don't know how to dance."
"You danced well enough at the victory party back at my house," he replied with a smirk.
I didn't have a clue it was that memorable. "You know I was drunk and it was not my fault."
"Come on, I'll show you if you can't remember. No one's really watching, anyways." He got up and offered his hand.
I took it, and it was nice and steady. Sam and Jen silently wished me good luck. We weaved through the crowd, stopping in the middle of it. He took my other hand, and then proceeded to shake it loosely.
"You're a little stiff, be flabbier."
"Interesting choice of words," I pointed out as he rotated me like he was playing with a stuffed animal. Then, he spun me around and brought me closer to him, grinning when I clumsily bumped his chest. Embarrassment flushed over me, and my cheeks exploded with warmth.
"I'm going to be so bad at this."
"Who cares?" he said, eyes bright. "Just follow the music and do whatever you want. We're here to have fun."
I couldn't help the next silly thing that escaped my mouth. "Oh, so I can twerk if I want to?"
I wanted to fill our conversation with something funny and not seem dull or worse—uninterested, but it came out weird. It would have been better if I had let that sit in my brain.
Adam seemed to give it some thought, then nodded. "I won't stop you. Hell, I'd do it with you."
It was sweet of him to make me comfortable, despite that. But I was not making an even bigger fool out of myself.
"I can't manage that in heels, sadly." I made a pout. If that happened, the whole school would remember. I could try to see how far he could go. "But I dare you to do one for the both of us."
He blinked. "You're serious?"
"Do you want to impress me or not?"
His eyes narrowed. "All right, challenge accepted, Addison. Watch, because I won't do it twice and you're about to witness some life-changing moves. I won't hide behind excuses."
"Do proceed." This ought to be good.
He glanced around and took up some space. His expression was as mischievous as ever when he lowered and popped his fancily-dressed butt once. It was so quick I barely saw anything.
I slow-clapped. "Beautiful."
Adam bowed. "What can I say? I'm a natural."
"It definitely shows."
He approached me and brought our bodies together. He smiled cheerfully as he landed a peck on my cheek.
"What was that for?"
"Because you're dancing," he said. The goofy smile widened. "Told you."
I giggled, dropping my forehead on his shoulder. The beat picked up, and he gave ma a challenge of his own. We tried to one-up the other with the worst moves during the whole song, laughing wildly and forgetting about the crowd.
It was childish, but so amusing. I didn't care if I looked ridiculous, I was having a great time. Then, the DJ changed the music, and the first slow filled the air.
We struggled to calm down, our breaths erratic. I bumped his chin with my knuckles in my search for his shoulder, and we broke into hysterical laughter. I eventually found a comfortable space with my head leaning on his, lulled in his gentle arms. We didn't speak as he swayed me to the serenade. Slowly, very slowly, his chin shifted. His jaw brushed my cheek, his nose almost touching mine.
The dancefloor blurred around me. Adam's lips were extremely close. It was all I could see in the semi-darkness.
I could tip my head and catch them, just a few inches... My heart rate accelerated in anticipation. I'd always liked him since day one, but I never thought at the start it would be more than friendship. This was more than okay, however.
A throat cleared next to us just as I was about to do it.
I instinctively turned to find the source, only to revel in the pure horror of Luc standing there, looking substantially foiled with annoyance. Adam looked at him. For the first time, I could detect a slight impatience in his stare.
"Luc...?" he called, perplexed.
"Hey, man. I know this is weird, but I need to talk with her. It won't be long, and you guys can go back to... whatever you two were doing." He made a face, and I wanted to kick him in the nuts with a heel.
Could he not see we were having a private moment? Really?
Adam pondered over it and shrugged, though his shoulders were tense. "Sure, I'll wait by our table."
He removed his arms from me and excused himself, ushering himself through the crowd as I waved back at him. I scowled as Luc replaced Adam and soaked in the tempo. A hand fell above my waist, and his thumb accidentally swept bare skin.
The air thickened between our close bodies. Mine grew rigid with awareness, and I wondered if he felt it, too. Tingles fired from the spot he'd touched, a complete affront to my mind working to ignore it. I inhaled deeper under his gaze, and he quickly shifted his palm, avoiding any further contact.
"Hello, Luc. What a lovely surprise," I greeted flatly once my mind cleared.
His lips pressed into a harsh line. "These days, I keep showing up in places where I don't want to be. Whatever your discomfort is, consider that mine's worse. I just wanted to know if you're still going to the after-party."
"Well, yeah. Why?"
He gave me a bland stare. "It's outside and late at night. There's a lot of people, granted, but we can never be too careful."
"Okay." I rolled my eyes at him. "So, you sabotaged my first kiss with Adam to tell me this?"
He seemed reluctant to admit it, but then he flashed a quick, fiendish smile. "I'm just a simple guy trying to make the best of my circumstances. I was sorely missing a good clown moment, Sunshine." He turned serious seeing as I was about to rip myself out of the dance. "But I actually have something for you."
My curiosity spiked despite it all. "I'm all ears."
"You should come with me. To our lockers."
✩
Luc is lowkey petty, as you can tell from this chapter.
See you next chapter :)