"Wow..." Zane said without quite meaning to.
Rikki looked into Zane's eyes, lost for just a second. Instantly, she snapped herself out of it and dropped her eyes. Ducking her head, she walked briskly down the hall towards the lady's room.
"Wait, Rikki-" Zane called after her, but the she didn't turn around. The restroom door slammed shut behind her.
Zane waited for a few minutes to see if Rikki would come back out, but she didn't reappear. Shaking his head, Zane turned to head back to Nate. He didn't know what he was doing. What if Rikki did come back out? What did he have to say to her?
Zane walked slowly, feeling as if he was walking through cement. Each step further from Rikki seemed to be harder and harder.
'What is wrong with you?' Zane thought to himself. He forced himself to pick up the pace, but it wasn't easy.
Rikki stood in the bathroom, leaning on the sink to hold herself up. She was breathing hard, trying to hold herself together. She wasn't succeeding.
"Come on, Rikki. Come on.' She repeated over and over in her head.
Rikki leaned over the sink and closed her eyes. After a few more deep breaths she felt ready to venture back out.
Walking quickly, before she could second guess herself, she marched out of the restroom and headed straight back to Cleo and Bella.
"Let's dance." Without another word, Rikki took Cleo's arm and dragged her out onto the dance floor.
"Ok..." Cleo said, confused, as she followed her. Bella tailed along closely.
Rikki took Bella and Cleo out onto the middle of the dance floor, dodging dancing couples as they went.
"What are we doing?" Bella shouted over the noise of the loud music.
"We're dancing!" Rikki shouted back.
Bella and Cleo met confused eyes, then shrugged and joined Rikki in dancing to the upbeat music.
Rikki danced fast with her friends, trying desperately hard to forget about bumping into Zane.
"May I cut in?" Came an unfamiliar male voice.
The trio looked up, trying to identify the voice. It came from a good looking guy who was smiling, unmistakably, right at Rikki. He had blonde hair and blue eyes and, Rikki had to admit, as incredibly good looking.
"I don't think she's interested." Cleo said politely.
"No." Rikki spoke up just a little too loudly. " Sorry," She composed herself. "I mean, I would love to dance with you." Rikki flashed a dazzling smile.
Rikki started to walk off with her new friend. Cleo grabbed her arm before she could disappear into the crowd.
"Rikki," She said concernedly. "Are you sure?"
"Positive." Rikki said firmly, before following the stranger out further onto the dance floor.
"I'm Sam." The stranger shouted over the roar of the music.
"Rikki." She shouted back.
Sam nodded, and then pulled Rikki in close to dance to the upbeat song that was playing.
The pair danced to the music, an upbeat song that seemed familiar to most of the crowd. Bella and Cleo kept an eagle eye on Rikki, but Rikki had a smile on her face as she danced with Sam.
Truthfully, Rikki was miserable, but there was no way she was going to let Zane see it. She kept a bright smile on her face, but her eyes gave away the sadness she felt. The lights were dim, so Sam didn't seem to notice.
Rikki and Sam danced to one song after another, and it only took about ten minutes for Zane to notice.
Zane had been looking around for Rikki ever since he'd bumped into her in the hallway, but he hadn't spotted her along the edge of the crowd. Zane was standing along the edge of the dance floor trying to carry on a conversation with Nate at the moment. Zane didn't remember Nate being quite this boring. Nate was talking endlessly about all kinds of things that were going on, but Zane couldn't seem to get interested.
"Yeah..." Zane said absently as he caught sight of Rikki's blonde hair out in the crowd of dancers.
Zane zeroed in on Rikki as Nate continued droning on about motor bikes. She was dancing, but Zane didn't see Cleo or Bella with her. So who was she dancing with?
Zane shifted to the side a few inches to get a better look. She was dancing with a boy? Who was that?
"Zane? Zane!" Nate's voice grew louder and more irritated.
"Sorry, what?" Zane didn't turn to look at Nate, he was still trying to get a look at the boy Rikki was dancing with.
"Do you want to get out of here?" Nate moved to stand in between Zane and the dance floor, blocking his view of Rikki.
"No." Zane craned his neck to look behind Nate. Rikki was dancing with a guy Zane didn't recognize. And she was smiling. Zane didn't know why, but looking at Rikki dancing with that boy made him feel... angry?
No, not angry, Zane realized. Jealous. He was jealous.
Zane's brow furrowed. Why would he be jealous, he didn't care who Rikki danced with. Zane focused his attention onto Nate, but he found his eyes continually straying out onto the dance floor towards Rikki.
Rikki was forcing herself not to look for Zane. She kept her face smiling right at Sam. He had been talking to her while they danced, but she didn't hear any of it. She kept thinking about Zane and the way he'd looked at her that evening.
Rikki found her eyes straying towards the people standing around the dance floor, looking for Zane's familiar silhouette.
'No.' Rikki thought to herself, making her eyes look back at Sam. 'You are not thinking about Zane tonight.'
"Are you alright?" Sam looked at Rikki concernedly.
"Oh, I'm fine." Rikki almost managed to smile.
"You look like you could use a break." Sam stopped dancing and took Rikki's hand, surprising her. He led her towards the concession area. "I'll get you a drink."
Rikki looked at Sam's fingers entwined in hers as she followed behind him. They just didn't look right.
"Wait here, I'll be back in just a second." Sam said with a wink. He left Rikki waiting a few steps from the counter and went to get in line.
Rikki sighed and turned to look back out onto the dance floor. She located Bella and Cleo, who were standing on the other side of the floor with school friends. Rikki met Cleo's eyes.
"Are you ok?" Cleo mouthed at Rikki.
Rikki nodded and gave Cleo a cheesy thumbs up.
"Rikki." A male voice behind her caught Rikki's attention.
Rikki plastered a dazzling smile on her face and turned around, expecting Sam to be back with their drinks.
Zane was standing right behind her.
Rikki's eyes widened as she took in Zane's face. "Zane..." She breathed. Rikki immediately turned to walk away and almost walked right into Sam, who was holding two drinks in his hand.
"Sam!" Rikki said, surprised.
"Here you go," Sam held one of the cold drinks out to Rikki.
"She needs a straw"-
"I need a straw"- Rikki and Zane spoke at the exact same time. They looked at each other in mild surprise.
Sam examined Rikki and Zane carefully, a confused expression on his face. "Ok..." He said as he turned to walk back to the counter.
"Why did you say that?" Rikki asked Zane coolly.
"I don't know." Zane said, bewildered. "It just popped out."
Rikki composed herself quickly. "What are you doing here, Zane?"
"I came out with Nate." Zane answered defensively.
"No, I mean why are you here. Talking to me." Rikki crossed her arms over her chest.
Zane wracked his brain, trying to decide what to say. In reality, he didn't really know why he was there. As soon as he saw Rikki walking off the dance floor with her guy friend he had immediately followed her. He couldn't help it.
Rikki was still waiting for an answer. "Well?"
"Do you know him?" Zane flickered his eyes toward Sam, who was still looking for a straw for Rikki.
"Sam?" Rikki raised her eyebrows. "It's none of your business."
"Hey, I just asked a question." Zane said irritably. "I don't care who you dance with."
"You don't care about anything." Rikki said coldly.
"You don't know what I care about." Zane said quickly, taking one step in closer to Rikki.
Rikki also stepped in closer. "Well, I know what you don't care about."
Zane edged in just a little closer. Their faces were only a few inches apart. "Are you sure about that?" He said quietly.
"Um, Rikki?"
Rikki and Zane snapped their heads towards Sam, who was standing awkwardly beside them. He still held the two drinks, one of which now had a red straw in it.
Sam held the drink out to Rikki but he was looking Zane up and down. "And who are you?" He asked politely.
"No one." Zane said dismissively as he turned his back on the couple and stalked back to where Nate was waiting impatiently.
Rikki watched him walk away before she turned her attention back to Sam, who was still standing there holding the drinks.
"I'm sorry." She said quickly.
Sam stood there with a confused look on his face. "Who was that guy?" He asked as he held out the drink to Rikki.
"Oh... he's..." Rikki stirred her drink as she thought about how to answer. "He's... just a friend."
Sam's brow furrowed. "An old boyfriend?"
"Kind of." Rikki said absently as she looked through the crowd for Bella and Cleo. She spotted them standing near the games.
"Hey, Sam?" Rikki looked up at him. "Thanks so much, I had fun dancing with you. But I need to go."
"Go? Now?" Sam said, surprised.
"Yeah, sorry." Rikki handed him back the drink and took off towards her friends.
Rikki practically ran up to Bella, surprising her.
"Rikki! You scared me." Bella laughed.
"What's going on? Where's that guy you were with?" Cleo looked around but didn't see him.
"Sam? I don't know." Rikki spoke fast. "Can we go home?"
"Sure." Cleo was worried. Rikki had a practically panicked look on her face. "Come on."
Three girls stepped outside, Bella and Cleo practically jogging to keep up with Rikki's quick pace.
"Rikki!" Bella called. "Slow down!"
Rikki stopped walking and turned around. "I'm sorry." She said, looking at her friends.
"Rikki, I need you to talk to us." Cleo put her hands on Rikki's shoulders. "Do you want to talk about Zane? We're worried about you."
Rikki didn't want to talk about it. In fact she wanted to be alone. "I'm really sorry, guys." She said apologetically. "I shouldn't have dragged you twp out tonight. I think I just need some time to get used to all this."
"You don't need to apologize." Bella said encouragingly. "We just want you to know that we're here for you."
"I know." Rikki pulled her face into a vague smile. "Thank you. I'll call you both tomorrow?"
"Why don't I stay with you tonight?" Cleo suggested.
"I'm fine. Really." Rikki tried to sound convincing.
Cleo and Bella didn't quite believe her, but they didn't know what to do other than to do what Rikki wanted.
Slowly, Bella and Cleo walked away. Rikki watched them go. She felt bad for the way she'd treated her friends that night. They were just trying to be there for her, but she didn't feel like confiding in anyone. Seeing Zane had really shaken her up.
It was weird, he kept telling her that he didn't care about her, but the look in his eyes tonight seemed different. Almost like the old Zane, but not quite.
Rikki walked onto the sand, looking out over the water. She just wanted to be far away from everyone so she could think.
Breaking out into a run, Rikki tore out into the waves. She dove in as soon as the water was deep enough and sped off to Mako island.
Zane and Nate were still inside. Nate had given up trying to talk to Zane and had struck up a conversation with a group of girls who were trying hard to ignore him.
Zane stood alone, trying to find Rikki in the crowd. He spotted Sam and walked over to him quickly.
"Where's Rikki?" Zane demanded.
"Oh, you." Sam didn't seem very glad to see Zane again. "I have no idea." He shrugged. "She took off."
Zane turned and walked away without another word. He walked outside and looked around, but didn't see anyone. He pulled out his phone as he started walking towards his house.
Zane dialed Rikki's number and then paused. He felt drawn to her, and he couldn't explain why. He didn't want to get closer to Rikki, but he found himself wanting to hear her voice.
Zane pressed send and held the phone up to his ear nervously. It went straight to voicemail. He couldn't decide if he felt relieved or disappointed that she hadn't answered.
The porch light was on as Zane walked up the path to his front door. Zane's dad looked up from the couch as Zane walked in quietly.
"You don't look so good." Harrison said seriously as he stood and walked over to examine Zane. "Are you feeling alright?"
"Yeah, I'm just tired." Zane said wearily. "I think I'll go to bed."
Zane made his way up the steps and to his bedroom. He fell heavily onto his bed, exhausted. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the little box where it sat on his nightstand. He reached over and took the box in his hand, pulling it open.
The little ring sat, sparkling, on the black velvet. Zane looked at the ring for a long time.
A little fire seemed to have been set in Zane's chest. In a second he went from being exhausted to not being able to sit still. Zane paced in his room, his eyes never looking away from the little ring.
Zane needed to talk to Rikki. He practically ran downstairs and out the front door.
The lights in Rikki's house were dark and no one answered hen Zane rang the bell. Without hesitation, he took off towards Cleo's house and knocked on the door.
"Zane?" Cleo said, surprised, as she opened the door. Bella, Lewis, and Will were inside as well.
"Is Rikki here?" Zane asked hurriedly.
"No..." Cleo answered carefully. "Is she ok?"
"I just need to talk to her." Zane explained. "Do you know where she is?"
"She just said she wanted to be alone." Bella answered.
"Do you want to come in for a bit?" Cleo opened the door wider.
"No. Thanks." Zane turned around and headed towards the water. He knew exactly where Rikki was.