Allure

He walked in looking like a prince.

There was too much music, too many people, too much noise. Holly finds herself standing awkwardly by the food table, recalling with a twinge of regret the missed time she could have had reading to her new flower - the one who was now sitting all by its lonesome with only her cat for company.

With a sigh, she moves even closer to the wall as someone pushes her aside for seconds of the cake (she really begins to think she shouldn't have come at all).

Her gaze moves upward to search for her friends. Komari is happily chatting away with a few strangers, Kasumi sticking close to her side. Illuka and Siluka look to be enjoying themselves, though she can't exactly tell what they were up to. Her eyes scan the entire room for Lisette, and only at the entrance does she catch sight of the pretty blonde. She's been surrounded by guys.

No wonder! She looks gorgeous, Holly thinks to herself and slowly looks down at her own attire, grimacing. Compared to Lisette, who looked like something right out of a fairy tale, she paled in comparison (more like an average frog, Holly chuckles).

She had only come because she wanted to make it to at least the senior prom year, make a few memories at least before she and her family moved away. Again. And from the urging of her friends, she walked in with no hesitation, ready to make it the best night there was.

But then their group had scattered, leaving her alone to drink fruit punch to her heart's content.

She let out a pitiful sigh before collecting the courage to walk up to one of her other classmates she was well acquainted with.

"Hey, Ford!"

The young man looks up from his book and gives a small smile in greeting. "Good evening, Holly. Enjoying the prom so far?"

She gives a half-hearted smile, nodding her head. "Yes, it's just - ah, wait. Where's Brad?"

Ford pushes his glasses back as he looks around the room. "Dancing with Carrie, it looks. He's having a good time, Carrie does as well."

"And Wayne?"

"Wayne? He's- Speaking of the devil, here he comes in now."

She turns her head towards the direction of Ford's gaze, which is at the doorway. She heard a few girls gasping.

Wayne was dressed in a tuxedo, his usually curly and unruly looking hair all combed back. He had a bright smile and a light in his eyes which greatly contrasted Holly's own sullen expression as she stared at him. Briefly their eyes met and his smile only grew wider. (Wait. Was he looking at her or Ford?)

She turns to look at Ford, who had slipped back into reading. She looks back towards Wayne, whose already being oogled by his fangirls, and she feels an odd excitement as she sees him coming over. Obviously to say hello to his friend, who was an introvert by heart either way, be it at home or at a party, but it would be nice to be so near to such a popular person. Maybe his smile could rub off on her (Good luck with that, she chortled to herself).

However, when Wayne finally arrived, he looked straight at her. He wasn't coming over to talk with Ford at all! she paled slightly.

"Evenin' Holly," he sends her a wink as she gave a shaky smile in return. (Would his fangirls kill her later? She had only Ford, Brad, Carrie... oh wait, she had everyone as her connection to him. Oops.)

"You all by your lonesome here, or is Ford keepin' you good company?" His eyes move over to Ford, who only hm's in reply.

"Fruit punch seems to be my only loyal companion," she finally says, half-jokingly, half-serious. Wayne laughs.

"Well then, I'm sure fruit punch won't mind if I ask such a lovely lady like you to a dance," he beams.

"Mind a few sore toes afterwards?" Holly asks, concerned. "I... well, can't really... dance."

Wordlessly, he takes her hand and gently tugs her to the dance floor.

"Then I'll show ya how," he says confidently.

(This is... going to make some interesting memories, Holly muses. But it'll sure bring a lot of smiles for the future ahead.)

AN: This is a highschool AU of some sort, so my apologies for any confusion at first. ^^; Five more chapters to go since I missed so many days! And wow, thank you so much to everyone whose read so far! I really appreciate it. :)