Chapter 4: Dance (Part 1):
A/N: This chapter doesn't feel as good, but I NEED to get something published, I'm having trouble with it for some reason... It's hard for me to focus on it! It's really weird, but I need to keep going anyway, and hopefully the next chapter won't be as hard.
T.K was jealous. He was angry. But mostly, he felt like a jerk. The jealousy and the anger made the guilt worse. Kari could tell she'd made him feel bad. She didn't know why she knew, she just did. She hadn't even meant to be paying attention to him, but when she thought that Davis was looking elsewhere; her attention always seemed to fall to T.K.
Davis noticed, but he pretended not to. He figured it was better to go with the flow, since this was likely to be the only time he ever got to be with Kari like this. It did hurt, he was jealous, but it was better than making her unhappy. The line, or more crowd, finally moved forward enough that Davis showed the ASB President his wristband, which was his ticket into the dance, and entered the school, Kari entered not to long after him.
The gym, where the dance was being held, was decorated to a theme. This time, the theme was 'polar', and there were enormous paper-cutouts that looked like, or at least were supposed to look like, glaciers. The music was some crappy pop song, and the room was dimly lit. There was a table in the hallway leading out of the gym behind which a member of the ASB was selling pizza and soda.
The chaotic, festive environment just made T.K feel even more down. He felt that his guilt was causing him to miss the fun. Irrational as it was, this turned guilt to depression. Meanwhile, half way across the across the gym, Kari ended a conversation with Davis, which had been mostly made up of, 'What? I can't hear you over the music!' and told him she'd be back for the first slow song. He smiled, and told her that he'd be where he was at the time when the slow-song started.
She walked across the gym, to where T.K was sitting, depressed.
"What's wrong?" She asked, worried.
"Nothing much. I'm just feeling like a complete jerk for what I said earlier, and it's making it hard to enjoy something that should be fun." He said, smiling slightly.
"Hey, don't go making ME feel bad!" She said, smiling slightly, "If it makes it easier for you, you're forgiven."
He laughed, and although Kari couldn't hear it, she knew that he'd laughed.
"Yeah, sure." He said.
The DJ announced that the next song would be a slow song, and Kari knew she had to go back to where Davis would be waiting.
"See you." She said, reluctant as she was.
"You too." T.K said, equally reluctant, but feeling much better than before.
Kari walked to back to where Davis was waiting.
"Hey, Davis." She said.
"Hey, Kari!" He KNEW who she'd been talking to. He knew perfectly well that it wouldn't be long before she dumped him... or she started cheating on him. But he didn't want to start that fight now, so he acted cheerful... Plus, he wanted her to be happy, but he didn't exactly want to give her up just yet.
From across the gym and through the crowd, T.K was watching, feeling more jealous and less guilty. As the music changed, he wished he could be the one with his hand on Kari's shoulder, wished that HE could be the one dancing with her, the girl of his dreams.
Kari might have enjoyed dancing with Davis... if it weren't for the constant reminder of someone she wanted so much more. She could see T.K, who was watching, looking vaguely angry, from across the gym.
He turned away, and left for the hallway in which the ASB was selling food. He bought a slice of pizza, more as an excuse to drag himself away from Kari than anything else. The hallway was less full, less zany.
In this less chaotic environment, T.K managed to regain some semblance of control of himself. He knew that he needed to pay less attention to Kari when she was with Davis, it only hurt him to pay attention to them, and he knew that her constant awareness of him was making it hard for Kari to pretend for Davis.
As the music changed, he re-entered the dance hall, wishing he'd chosen not to show in the first place.
