Chapter Fourteen

"Ace, can we go now?"

I was impatient and hot. The weather was sticky and humid for this early on in Spring but I was glad. It wasn't like i had a nice enough coat to wear with my dress.

I stepped out of Ace's bathroom in the dress Gordie had bought me to find Ace and Eyeball in deep conversation in the kitchenette.

Both boys stopped and stared long enough that I began to feel shy. The emerald green dress fit like a glove and even I could see that it accented my green eyes. I had found

a fancy updo style in a magazine at the diner and Fran had said I could tear out the page to copy on the night of the dance. After several failed attempts and plenty of hair

bins, I had the distinct feeling I'd pulled it off. Lastly, and I felt kinda bad about this, I'd 'borrowed' a pair of Mrs Lachance's shoes. They were strappy silver heels that I'd

found at the back of her closet. They were not the kind of shoes you would wear every day, Mrs Lachance certainly wouldn't either and, besides, I planned to return them

tomorrow.

Ace cuffed Eyeball about the head sharply.

"Put your tongue away, Chambers."

Eyeball rubbed his head with a half smile on his face.

"You're one lucky son of a bitch, Merril."

I expected Ace to be proud or to at least say something about how I looked but he only grunted.

"So can we go now please?" I asked again, stepping further out into the room.

Ace picked up his cigarettes and tossed his jacket over his shoulder.

"Let's go, before I change my mind."

We dropped Eyeball off first. We had dropped him home plenty of times but it still startled me to see the state of the Chamber place. I didn't come from the greatest

neighbourhood but the peeling Chamber house was practically derelict. There was old furniture tossed in the front yard and what looked like the back seat of a car. Becky

and the youngest Chamber, Lily, were jumping rope out front.

Becky waved as soon as she saw me and I smiled to see she was wearing the jacket I'd given to Chris for her.

"Later, Ace." Eyeball called as he strode towards his front door. Before Ace could put the car in gear, Becky was at my window.

"Wow, Nina, you look like a princess! Are you going to the dance too?"

"Yep" I said. "Your hair looks pretty today."

Becky put her hand to her blonde french plait and patted it proudly.

"Jenny did it at school. We were playing hair dressers."

"Alright, kid, scram." Ace said, jamming the car into reverse. Becky stuck her tongue out at him and stepped away from the car while I waved. I watched her tiny frame disappear in the rear view mirror.

"Did you have to be so mean to her?"

Ace ground his teeth together before he stuck a cigarette in his mouth.

"I don't like kids," he said gruffly.

I looked out of the window and tried to pretend he hadn't said that.
Ace tried several times to spark his cigarette before he frustratedly tossed the empty lighter out of the window.

"Ace, what's the matter?"

"Nothing."

I gave him a long sideways look.

"Sure don't look like nothing."

He said nothing else, keeping his eyes on the road ahead before he suddenly and unexpectedly swerved and pulled the car onto the side of the road. I put my hand onto the dashboard as we jolted to a stop before fixing him with a stare.

"What's wrong?"

"I don't want you going, okay? I don't want you in that room with a hundred horny assholes dressed like that."

"Dressed like what?" I looked down at the dress which fell almost to my feet. The straps of the dress weren't even spaghetti style; they curved neatly over my shoulders.

"Like that!" Ace rummaged around in the car for another lighter before I handed him one from the glove compartment. " I don't want you dancing with other guys, Nina. I'd much rather you went with Lachance than went by yourself. Guys are gonna see you as fair game."

He lit up his cigarette and inhaled deeply before blowing his smoke out of the window.

"Well, why don't you come with me?" I asked him. "We could go home now and you could get dressed-"

He fixed me with an icy glare and I snapped.

"Well, you can't have it both ways, Merrill. Either I go alone or you take me."

"You could stay home with me," he said. He reached over and slid his arm around me. "I could take the dress off you. Or you could keep it on." He brought his lips crushing down onto mine and after a few seconds of being lost in the kiss I realised what he was trying to do.

"Ace!" I pushed him away. "I'm going to the dance whether you like it or not."

He let go of me instantly.

"And what if I won't take you?"

"That's fine." I put my hand on the door. "I'll hitch."

"You'll-" Ace looked like he was going to explode. "Fine. You wanna go get mauled by a bunch of assholes, do it. I don't give a shit."

He restarted the car aggressively before sinking down in his seat and driving the rest of the way in silence.

In the school parking lot, the music from the dance could be heard clearly and couples hand in hand passed by us in smart suits and fancy dresses. We sat side by side in a tense silence as girls and boys threaded their way between the parked cars.

Ace scowled at them all until I put a hand on his arm.

"I don't wanna fight with you."

"Well, don't go then," he huffed.

I took a breath.

"Ace, you remember the night you drag raced Billy Stern round Dead Man's Curve?"
He threw me a bewildered look.

"Huh?"

"Do you remember the night you raced Billy Stern round Dead Man's Curve?" I repeated. " I didn't want you to. In fact, I begged you not to. And I have never been so scared in my life watching you do it. But you love to race. And you love to win. And you wanted to."

He didn't answer me but he looked less angry now.

"I've never been to a dance before," I told him. "Not a proper one. And nothing's proper anymore. Not my family, not where I live. But just this one time- this one time- I wanted to do something normal. Like get dressed up and go to my high school dance."

His eyes wandered over to mine and I saw his face relax a little.

"Please come with me, Ace. You could go home and get changed now. Meet me here in a little while?"

He was quiet, his eyes on my face before he leaned over and kissed me. I kissed him back before withdrawing and wrapping my arms about his neck.

"Will you come back?" I whispered in his ear.

He was quiet for a long time, his breath hot against my neck.

"I'll think about it," he finally said, pulling away from me.

My face must have lit up but he nodded at the door.

"Go on, before I take you home again."

Flashing him a grin, I lifted up the bottom of my dress before opening the car door and stepping outside.

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The dance sucked. Frontwards, backwards and upside down.

At first, the loud music and twinkling lights made me feel excited. But then when I realised I was grouped with the females nobody had asked, I felt miserable.

I kept glancing at the door, hoping Ace would show up. I wasn't expecting a tuxedo and a corsage but just showing up with a clean shirt on would have been more than I

could have hoped for. All night, guys were coming towards me then asking one of the other girls to dance. I didn't think I was the best looking girl there but I knew I wasn't

that undesirable. The problem was everybody knew I was with Ace and everybody was scared of him and the Cobra's.

Apart from the goofy foreign kid whose trousers were way too short for him.

"We dance?" He offered gallantly.

"No, thanks." I'd just seen the way he'd stepped on his last partner's shoes and I didn't want to run the risk of him ruining Mrs Lachance's shoes.

I didn't really have any friends there, only a couple of girls I said hello to from my economics class. I saw Teddy sipping from a bottle of vodka with a bunch of other guys. He gave me a nod curt as our eyes met but I could see he was half wasted already.

And Chris. Chris who was wearing black jeans, a white shirt and a faded brown blazer that probably belonged to his Dad. On anyone else, it might have looked what it was- a cheap thrown together outfit due to lack of options. But somehow, he made it look stylish. Lucy Rowe was stuck to Chris' side for most of the night, wearing a satin yellow dress with a yellow flower in her hair. Throughout the night they danced, talked, sipped punch together.

I thought about how fun it would have been had Gordie come along but after a couple more hours of watching the door for Ace to arrive, I was wondering why I had ever wanted to come in the first place.

"Thirsty?"

I looked up to see Chris offering me one of two cups of punch he was holding.

"Isn't that for Lucy?" "No, this is Lucy's." He raised the other cup. "This one's for you."

"So many women, so little time, huh?" I took the cup listlessly. "Where is she anyhow?"

"Bathroom," he answered. "Wanna dance?"

I stared at the hand he was offering.

"What about the deal?"

Chris shrugged.

"Maybe I'm taking the night off."

"Well, what if someone tells Ace?"

He shrugged again.

"Life on the edge."

I had a flashback of the two of us nose diving down Mackenzie River in the battered old canoe. I looked again at his outstretched hand and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"You coming or not?"

I looked down at my dress. This was a dress that deserved to be danced in. I put out my hand. Chris placed Lucy's punch next to mine and pulled me to my feet. His fingers were warm and his palm was soft.

The song playing was medium tempo and we danced opposite each other amongst the crowd.

"So how's the job going?" I asked him over the music. For once, I didn't want to talk about Ace.

Chris nodded.

"Okay. Tiring. Three days on the nightshift and I'm spending the other four nights at the diner to keep up my homework. How you hanging in without Gordie?'"

"Just fine," I told him. "I'm staying at Ace's."

There was his name again. And then came the inevitable question.

"So where is he tonight?"

"Out, I guess." The song came to an end and a new one started up.

It was Richie Valen's "We Belong Together'. I looked uncomfortably around us as the couples started to move closer to each other.

Chris was smirking at me.

"I never had you down as shy."

"Oh, shut up," I said, grabbing his elbow and pulling him closer. I slid my arms up around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist. It was the strangest thing but as we swayed to the music, I felt a trembling of butterflies in my stomach. I felt so strange I couldn't even look at him and focused past his shoulder at the streamers and lights decked around the hall.

It was then that I saw Lucy in her bright yellow dress, arms folded at the side of the dance floor.

"Um, I think your date is a little pissed," I said, nodding towards her.

Chris didn't turn around.

"It's just a dance."

"But she's your date," I pointed out.

"My date, not my girlfriend."

The nervous feeling continued to rumble in my stomach. I told myself it stemmed from Lucy's annoyance but a little voice in my head said that the feeling had arrived as soon as Chris and I were dancing body to body. I didn't say anything else as he turned us casually around, making sure my back was to his date.

"Thank you," I said suddenly. It sounded strange out of the blue but just for a second, I felt important to somebody. Important enough that he would risk pissing Lucy off, important enough that he had asked me to dance despite the risk of Ace's fury.

His serious blue eyes met mine.

"What you thanking me for?"

I smiled maybe the first real smile I'd smiled all night and reached down to fan out my dress.

"For dancing this dress around the dance floor. It seemed wasted on the bleachers."

"That's what I thought," he said quietly.

I felt eyes on us again but when I looked up, expecting Lucy, it was Jennette Richardson who was now glaring at me. She was slow dancing with Jenson Brady nearby but her

attention was definitely elsewhere. "You know it's hard to know where to look when I've got all these angry women glaring at me."

Chris glanced quickly at Jennette before he turned his attention back to me. He withdrew one of his hands from behind my back and used it to tilt my chin upwards.

"Look here then," he said, looking straight into my eyes.

My entire face tingled from his touch and I could only hold his gaze for two seconds before avoiding his eyes. Even though we didn't talk again I enjoyed dancing with him. His

arms were strong and warm and I felt comfortable. Comfortable and safe.

"Hey, I was looking for you." Lucy had known exactly where Chris was and had chosen the closing moments of the song to cut in. "You don't mind do you, Christina?"

Before I could even answer she was tugging Chris away from me.

I stepped back, smiling at them both while Chris said an awkward 'see ya later.'

I found my seat on the bleachers again and watched as Lucy dragged Chris towards the drink stand. I picked up the two drinks Chris had brought over to me and downed

them both.

"It's Christina, right?"

I turned to see Violet sitting next to me in a white lace dress. She looked different dressed up, not the usual dowdy girl I was used to seeing.

"Hi." I smiled politely and refocused on the dance floor.

"I just wanted to say hi to you because I know you're Gordie's best friend," Violet said. "And me and Gordie are sort of-" She trailed off, embarrassed and I squinted at her.

"Sort of dating?"

"Yes," she said in relief. "Sort of dating."

I looked beyond her but she seemed to be sitting alone.

"Who you here with?"

"Myself," she said. "All my friends have dates."

"Me too. You could have gone with someone else though. Gordie wouldn't have minded."

Violet shrugged and stretched out her legs beneath her white dress.

"I didn't want to."

I kept my eyes on Lucy as she pulled Chris back onto the dance floor. I had always pegged Lucy as a good girl but she was pulling out all the stops to keep Chris's attention. I stared as she pressed her body against his and ran her hands down his arms.

"He's a good dancer, huh?"

I wished Violet would take her Gordie-worship elsewhere at this particular moment in time.

"Who, Gordie?" I asked distractedly.

"No, Chris Chambers."

I nearly dropped the cup I was holding as I realised she knew I'd been watching him. What the hell was the matter with me? I had a boyfriend.

"Listen, Violet-"

She cut me off before I could finish.

"Don't worry. I won't tell. Not even Gordie."

I opened my mouth and closed it again, mortified at the thought of Gordie discovering I had- was it a crush?- on Chris Chambers.

I watched with a growing annoyance as Lucy turned around and danced in front of Chris with her ass practically in his groin.

"Christina-"

"It's Nina, okay?" I snapped at Violet. If she was determined to get in my business she may as well call me what everyone else did.

"Nina…" Violet said more softly. "He looked way happier dancing with you."

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