A/N: Hey, guys! How's it going? It's about...5-almost-20-ish AM where I am... I just HAD to finish this story and get it posted, so I hope you enjoy it! I shall pray all of the hard work paid off!
On This Night
"You should come down, too." Kyle smiled, hoping Jessi could postpone her leaving for just a bit longer. Unfortunately, she shrugged dismissively, voicing the same in the form of a short hum.
She looked towards the parking lot far below them and he understood immediately, his heart heavy. She was leaving, and nothing would change that. She directed her eyes back to his, both pairs drenched in tears, yet kept back from falling as of yet. Strangely, a mischievous smirk was plastered onto her face.
"I'll stay until the results for Prom King and Queen are read. Then, I'll have to go." Kyle's face broke into a smile and the tears dried instantly, reverting back to their ducts to wait to be useful.
"I'm glad." She sighed softly in content, the smirk having turned into a full-blown 'Jessi' smile by then.
They began to walk back towards the roof door that lead back down the school halls and gymnasium, Kyle gently placing his hand on Jessi's lower back to allow her to go down the stairwell first, as was the gentlemanly thing to do. Jessi smiled at his very 'Kyle' antics, shaking her head slightly as she walked, inwardly laughing.
As they walked trough the doors and back into the gymnasium, they realized they were just in time. Everyone's attention was to the stage and the entire building was silent. Mark gad turned off the music and was also looking toward Hillary, who was currently about to speak into the microphone.
"All right, my little babes and hotties! Let us compose ourselves for this very glorious occasion!"
She grinned brightly, probably adoring the feel of the spotlight, and then cleared her throat to instigate a boy in the crowd to climb onstage and hand her a white envelope, promptly jumping off and spinning around to face the spunky blond again.
"Now, what has just been placed into my hands is what we've all been waiting for, am I right?!" The crowd erupted into cheers, Hillary clearly enjoying herself as she continued to beam. "Whoa there, kiddies! That's right: the results for this year's Prom King and Queen! Which I shall reveal in five, four, three, two, one!"
The crowd had joined in by that time, counting down ecstatically; the room was buzzing with so much excitement, Kyle and Jessi weren't surprised when some of them exploded into uncontrollable laughing fits.
"And the Prom King and Queen are…Kyle Trager and Jessi!" The crowd was silent, Hillary being the only one wildly cheering until she realized no one else was following her lead, causing her to stop and stare at everyone like they were crazy.
Kyle and Jessi, meanwhile, as soon as their names had been called, had snapped their heads to stare at each other, eyes wide, each silently asking the other what they should do.
Suddenly, the crowd erupted into an insane amount of applause, whistles, and shouts, many of them congratulating the two and giving them pats on the back.
However, Kyle and Jessi didn't feel them, for their minds were somewhere else. Their shock had consumed them, so much so that they couldn't move their mouths or limbs, that everything else was a blur except each other.
Finally, realization hit them: even though they weren't a couple and never had been, nor had their friendship given any implication of such a thing occurring, others saw something they didn't. Something…'special', as Nicole would call it.
They broke free of their temporary void of intense shock, becoming known to all of the sounds of the gymnasium sheltering them.
Without warning, Kyle smiled as he caringly offered his hand to Jessi, who simply stared at it.
The crowd around them had gone silent once again, waiting to see what would happen between the two.
After a few seconds, Jessi reached out to him and grinned as well, grasping his hand in hers strongly, he following suit.
At that moment in time, they both took notice to something significant: Jessi's movements were no longer frightened, unsure, scared. Instead, they were confident, certain, trusting in Kyle and all those around her.
An indefinable pressure that had been pressing down on their hearts was lifted; no, had been for a while now. It had simply taken that long to realize it had vanished.
"Come on, Kessi! I love you and all, but we're wasting some serious groove time, for which I will not be held responsible!" Hillary scoffed into the microphone from onstage.
It seemed everyone had forgotten her in all of the Kyle and Jessi excitement, particularly the attention-bound two, but realized she was right when looking towards the gym clock. It was currently 9:35, and the prom ended at 11:00.
Kyle glanced towards Hillary, and then turned his smile to Jessi. Understanding immediately, Jessi returned in kind, laughing in a soft, good-natured way as she shook her head. Hillary's antics never failed to bring out a chuckle or two.
He gently began to lead her towards the stage, she catching up to his stride in a heartbeat, hands still clasped tightly.
Leaning over close to Kyle, still smiling warmly, Jessi whispered in his ear.
"What does 'Kessi' mean?" Now, it was Kyle's turn to laugh and he, in turn, whispered in hers.
"She makes up names for couples. Like, Andy and Josh is 'Jandy', and-"
"Ours is 'Kessi'. Got it."
Stepping away from each other, they made it to the steps, Kyle going first and guiding Jessi afterward.
Both walked over to where Hillary stood, the blond wearing a very sly grin; her arms folded across her chests, her eyes narrowed and her chin tilted upward a bit, and a smirk playing on her lips: the living definition of 'suspicion' if there ever was one.
When they reached her, she whispered discreetly,
"Well, you two certainly look in tune tonight. I like it; it brings out your dangerous side, Kyle. Rawr."
She grinned playfully at him and he smiled, Jessi's own beam becoming wider as Kyle gently squeezed her hand. She rubbed her thumb on the back of his, and Hillary seemed to notice. She raised her eyebrows, her curiously crafty grin becoming even more so, but it disappeared as she turned toward the upper grade student body once again.
"I give you…" she announced dramatically into the microphone before swiftly popping up between Kyle and Jessi, her hands across the lengths of their backs and on the shoulders farthest from her reach. "The Prom King and Queen!" The crowd cheered louder than before. "That's right! Cheer them on, my lovelies!" She pulled the two guests of honor to her side in excited, one armed hugs, laughing and grinning as they were.
Abruptly, a voice broke out through the merry uproar.
"Now, as Kyle and Jessi are relatively new to this school, I'm sure they don't know what comes after the results of the ballot are revealed, am I right?!"
Mark asked enthusiastically and mysteriously, and, as expected, the two in question's faces were donned with questioning expressions. There was an eager explosion from the crowd, and the nineteen-year-old handed a cordless microphone to Lori, who spoke with the same abnormal undertone.
"Well, it just so happens that the tradition is the Prom King and Queen sharing a dance together, and I, as Kyle's sister and the one who helped Mark count the ballots before tonight in order to have enough time, helped Mark settle on the perfect song for them!"
She was bombarded by whistles and shouts of exuberance from all corners of the gym, and then felt her brother's eyes on her.
She gazed across the room to see Kyle staring at her in a mix of wonder, elation, and slight questioning; she smiled tenderly and didn't even avert her eyes when she waved her hand in signal to move onto the dance floor, guiding the needle of the player towards the record and placing it there carefully as she observed.
Kyle and Jessi elegantly made their way to the indicated area slowly, yet it was graceful in a way the onlookers couldn't describe.
Though Lori had already commanded the song to begin, it seemed to wait for them, causing everything to seem a little more anticipated than prior.
However, when the music began, Kyle and Jessi positioned in the middle of the sea of students, the gracefulness halted and a whole new meaning to the word was invented.
Kyle and Jessi's eyes widened at the first note of the song; they recognized the music's origin immediately, and swiftly snapped their necks to stare in shock at Lori. The redheaded Trager smiled at them, her eyes displaying more joy, laughter, and love than thought possible, one arm wrapped around her stomach and the other's fist supporting her chin.
Their faces broke out into beams, and they turned back to each other, intense emotions rushing through their systems. Kyle gently, yet hesitantly slid his hand to rest of Jessi's waist, the other taking her hand strongly; Jessi grinned and lightly laid her hand on his shoulder, squeezing his hand reassuringly, jovially, affectionately, allowing him to relax.
They let their hearts guide them across the floor to the piano and then accompanying guitar's tune, beaming even brighter as the words began to flow around them.
I'm haunted by this photograph
Don't know why
Every time I look
I get shivers down my spine
There's such a beautiful face
I know those eyes
They take me back in time
The words rang true for them, truer than any except the Tragers would ever know. Jessi peered into Kyle's eyes, and he into hers; they recalled all they had been through to get to where they stood, or rather, danced now.
She could be you
I wouldn't even know
She could be you
But that was long ago
She could be you
I wish that I could tell you
What you don't know
I dream about that day
But it's impossible
In another world
I'd be yours tonight
But I can't break free from this life
This was the only untrue statement of the song, this second verse. They were free to break free from this life they were living; heck, they'd done it so many times before…and they were doing so now. Dancing together, allowing the words, as well as each other, to fill their souls…even if just for tonight, they were each others.
She could be you
I wouldn't even know
She could be you
But that was long ago
She could be you
I see it all the time
I know it's true
A picture doesn't lie…
She could be you
I wouldn't even know
But that was long ago
She could be you
She could be you
She could be you
As the song ended, Kyle and Jessi stopped unhurriedly, neither one moving their eyes from the one whom held them captive with their gaze. Kyle's hand gradually removed his hand from Jessi's waist as she did hers from his shoulder, but kept their hands intertwined.
For the umpteenth time, applause, cheers, and whistles greeted them, but they only vaguely heard it as a steady background tone. Their hearts beat in perfect synchronization, their bodies radiating warmth and caring towards the other, and their eyes locked and burned with something undefined as of yet.
Seemingly captured under one another's spell, they took no notice when the music became rougher than their song had been and the students around them had begun dancing again. That is, until another classmate accidentally, but forcefully bumped Jessi, thus causing her to be knocked from her stupor with Kyle and fly forward, straight into Kyle's chest and steadying arms that immediately enveloped her.
She lifted her face from his chest, slightly shaken and surprised, but she smiled at him anyway, he returning it, the concern leaving his eyes and face as he was made aware of the upward curving of her lips.
Releasing her from his hold cautiously, he took her hand and motioned his head towards the door leading back the way they came. She nodded, and they carefully picked their way through the dancers, Kyle keeping a watchful eye out for more hip-colliding dancers, for Jessi's sake.
With finally a tranquil moment to themselves, they ventured across the roof to where they had previously been standing. They turned to face each other, yet one more mischievous smirk was plastered onto Jessi's face, and Kyle smiled at her.
"I wonder how Lori got into your room without you knowing…" He laughed.
"Who knows? I could have been preoccupied at the time. At least, she did it for a good reason."
"True." Jessi relented, looking down at her feet and grinning, closed-lipped, her eyes glistening with bliss.
"You have to go now, don't you?" Kyle asked somberly; Jessi could sense the smile and jubilance had deserted him, for hers followed directly after. Holding Kyle's hand tighter than before, she replied quietly.
"Yes. Sarah wants to leave as soon as possible."
"I see." The mood around them had turned despairing and hard to face, as though no words could erase what would inevitably come at some point.
Kyle suddenly, yet kindly at the same time, jolted her toward him by their eternally clasped hands and held her close to him, to his heart. He needed to feel her heartbeat alongside his, needed to feel her small frame fit undeniably well against his…needed to let her presence melt into his veins and memory, his mind and body, his heart and soul.
She equaled, if not doubled the strength and need with which she returned the abrupt gesture, burying her head in his chest to better hear the tantalizing sound of his heart. The sound of his steady breathing, of fabric against fabric as he adjusted his arms to hold her ever closer to him …of everything that made the beautiful, living being in her arms himself. She committed all of it to memory, to mind, to body, to heart, and soul.
Neither wanted to do it, but they had no choice: they relinquished their grasp on each other so excruciatingly slowly, they thought, for a fleeting, happy moment, they might stay in such a pose forever, never having to leave either behind.
Life is not always fair, however, and the next second, a car horn resounded in the parking lot down below. Jessi's eyes deepened their color in an incredibly disheartened fashion, slowly bringing her head to stare at the roof patch between their feet, Kyle's watery eyes burning holes into the top of her head under her hair.
Affectionately, Kyle slipped a gently curved pointer finger under her chin and gradually tilted it upward, smiling at her, despite the water droplets clearly visible in his eyes. She forcefully, yet voluntarily peered at him, crystal tears shimmering in her own orbs: it was now or never.
She kissed him on the cheek leisurely, letting her lips linger there before she whirled around, broke into a sprint, and jumped.
She was gone…