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Chapter 19
"Melrose?"
Melrose was on her way to Glee club when she heard someone call her name. She turned around to see Colin Shaw, one of her classmates, head her way. He was someone she didn't know very well- he was in a couple of her classes, he seemed to be a nice guy but Melrose had never really spoken to him before.
"Hey Colin, what's up?"
"Just wondering if you were going to the Valentine's Ball?"
Friday evening was the annual Fairfall Prep Valentine's Ball. It wasn't held on actual V-Day so that people, including teachers, could actually celebrate, but pretty much everyone attended if they could. Melrose was planning on going anyway, as The Top Notes had been invited to perform a few songs. She figured it'd be fun, just some dancing and food with her friends.
"Yeah, the glee club is performing a few numbers so I will be there."
"Well, I was also wondering whether you'd like to go with me?"
That took Melrose aback. She wasn't used to male attention.
"Me? You want to take me?"
"Yeah, I think you're really cool."
"Can I ask why me?"
"Well I've always had a bit of a crush on you since the start of the school year. You're kinda hot actually and I like the way you argue with Ms. McLeary about the meaning of the books and representation and stuff like that, even if I don't understand what you're saying. You're also super talented in Glee club; that assembly you guys did was like, super amazing. I'm not saying it'll be a super serious night or anything, but I'd just like to get to know you better."
"I'd really like that."
"Really? Great," Colin's face lit up like a Christmas tree, "Oh wow, I wasn't sure if you'd say yes, but I thought you'd be cool if you said no anyway."
"Well I am surprised, but excited."
"I'd love to talk more but I have Model UN to go to, so text later?"
"Yeah, I have Glee to go to, I'll text you later."
"See you round."
"See you."
Melrose couldn't wipe the smile off her face as she headed to the choir room. She was practically bouncing along the corridors, thrilled that she was being asked out as a girl. Of course, she couldn't tell Colin the truth, at least not now. If things got more serious, she would, but Friday would just be a date to the ball.
I used to think maybe you loved me now baby I'm sure
And I just can't wait till the day when you knock on my door
Now every time I go for the mailbox, gotta hold myself down
'Cause I just can't wait 'til you write me you're coming around
I'm walking on sunshine (Wow!)
I'm walking on sunshine (Wow!)
I'm walking on sunshine (Wow!)
And don't it feel good
Hey, alright now
And don't it feel good, hey
Melrose entered, trying to hide her burgeoning grin. She tried to wind it down as she entered the choir room, but she was so happy that she had to tell someone. Looking around, she decided upon Robin. He was her closest friend in the group and the only one she could imagine telling something like this to. She liked the girls (apart from Diana, Diana was a bitch), but they already had their own little clique. Robin tended to like gossip anyway.
"You wanna hear something cool?" she whispered.
"Always, duh," Robin rotated in his seat, "What's up?"
"I got asked to the Valentine's Day Ball."
"Shut up! Who by?"
"Colin Shaw, he's in a couple of our classes."
"Oh I know him, he's actually really nice. We did a project together last semester, cool guy. When did he ask?"
"Like just now before Glee club. He walked up and asked me, said he always thought I was attractive and cool."
"Tell me you said yes Melrose."
"Of course I did. How often do guys come to me?"
"Well I'm happy for you; it'll be a cool date."
"What about you?"
"The only other boy who likes boys openly in this school is Jason and he's not really my type. You can't take people from out of Fairfall Prep, so it's not like I'd be able to take anyone. Besides, I'm not the only one going solo so I don't feel too left out. I'm just praying that some nice gay or bi guy transfers to Fairfall soon."
"I'll pray for you."
"Thanks Mel."
Tess entered, looking merry.
"Hi everyone! Well I think this week's theme is slightly obvious. As it's Valentine's week, love is in the air. I know that you'll all be performing at the dance on Friday night and I will be there chaperoning along with Will."
"Ooooooh," they all teased.
"I know that you're all practicing so I won't be asking for you to do that. Instead, I just want you to perform your favourite love songs. Whether it's on your own or in groups, I just want your own personal spin on some romantic tunes. Maybe you could go for a song that isn't a romance song but you think could be interpreted as such. Now if anyone wants to go, the floor is yours."
"Lina and I have been working on something," Oliver put a hand up.
"Oh," Tess couldn't hide her surprise, she couldn't imagine Oliver Grant singing a love song, especially with Adelina Parker, "Well of course, come on up."
Libby and Addison smirked at one another as the two went to the middle, everyone else also wondering where this was going.
Oliver started the song.
Yeah
Sunday morning, rain is falling
Steal some covers, share some skin
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in
The two moved around the room, exchanging flirtatious glances. Even Adelina was smiling genuinely, unable to hide her blush when his hands brushed against hers.
But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road, get up and go if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you
That someday it would lead me back to you (someday)
It was quite the surprise when the two started holding hands as they song. Everyone apart from Addison and Libby were in a state of surprise, even Tess was trying to work out what the hell was going on. It was hardly a surprise that they were confused- Oliver and Adelina were as different as night and day.
Addison and Libby gave them a standing ovation, whooping as the rest of them clapped half-heartedly, still really surprised by what they'd just seen. Oliver and Adelina just stood in the middle, not really knowing what to do or say.
"Great job guys," Tess broke the ice, "A fantastic take on a contemporary love song and dare I say it, a lot of chemistry?"
"Yes, Lina and I are together," Oliver announced, "Lina told Addison and Libby already, but we didn't tell the rest of you because of reasons that should be fairly obvious. Any questions will not be answered because I honestly don't care what any of you think."
"Is this for real?" Hayley asked what everyone was thinking.
"Yes," Adelina nodded, "I know that this is somewhat unexpected but I am happy with Oliver and am looking forward to going to the dance with him."
She went to kiss Oliver, who happily accepted. There were a few cheeky wolf whistles from some of the group. When they broke apart, they sat beside one another, ignoring the looks they were receiving from everyone else in the room. Adelina and Addison shared a side hug, smiling softly at one another.
The rest of the session went by smoothly. Everyone was still talking about the new couple as they left, Melrose and Robin included. When Robin went off to speak to a teacher about his grade, Tyler summoned up the courage to talk to Melrose.
"So Oliver and Lina? That's quite a surprise," he asked, catching her step as to immediately get her attention.
"Unexpected but whatever," Melrose shrugged, "It's their business, as long as they're happy."
"Yeah I guess. It looks like they'll be going to the dance together."
"Yep."
"You excited for the dance? You're going right?"
"We're all going," Melrose told him coolly, "We're singing."
"Duh yeah," Tyler couldn't believe his own stupidity, "Not singing all night though, are we?"
"Well I will be dancing with my date."
"You have a date?"
"Is that such a surprise?" Melrose accusingly asked.
"I erm, just didn't know if you were with anyone."
"I'm not, but I got asked by a nice guy from my year and I said yes. "
"Ah cool. I think I'll just ask one of the cheer squad or something, Jessica Bartlett just broke up with her boyfriend so I might be in with a chance."
"Well good luck to you," Melrose shrugged, "See ya around."
"Well, bye."
Tyler stared at her as she walked away, dumbstruck. He didn't know what he was thinking anyway. His parents would hate the idea of him even going to a dance with a poor, black girl. Hell, Tyler barely knew her anyway. He liked her because she was tough as nails and hot to boot- oh, and that girl could dance.
Was it Melrose he liked or the idea of her? Was it wanting to be with her or wanting to rebel against his parents?
Not far away and Maddie was heading to her locker.
"Hey Melrose!" Isabelle came flying down the hall.
"Hi, what's up? Are you ready for me to kick your ass in basketball this week?"
"You may be the jock Maddie, but I have a few tricks up my sleeve," Isabelle laughed, "Are you going to the dance on Friday?"
"I have to be there, I'm performing."
"Would you be going anyway?"
"I guess," Maddie shrugged, "I like school dances."
"Well how about we go together?"
"I'd love to!"
Isabelle's eyes lit up, "For real?"
"Yeah, it would be so great to go with another LGBT friend! We can wing Robin in as well, he's going solo."
Isabelle's hopes were dashed. She was hoping to take Maddie as an actual date. Fairfall Prep only allowed students to attend, so no outside dates were permitted- which meant that Isabelle did not have to worry about Hannah barging in and ruining everything.
It wasn't like she could say anything without looking like a total fool. Maybe if she played her cards right, Maddie would be into her in that way.
"Of course, we gotta look after our other LGBT classmates," Isabelle faked a smile.
This would take time.
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE-
When it was unusually warm, many of the students would laze about on the bleachers. Several members of The Top Notes were spending their afternoon on there.
"So Maddie's going with that Isabelle girl?"
Addison nodded at Adelina, "Yeah. Well I'm going with Ned Santos from homeroom. So Maddie's going with Isabelle, Lina is going with Oliver, Melrose is going with some guy in her class, Tyler is going with Jess, Adrian and Lizzie are doing a friendship date, Jason is going with Natalie Sharp and I think her cousin is going with Nick as a favour. Oh yeah, Amber and Jack are doing a friendship date as well. Jay isn't going; Robin is going solo, so that leaves Libby, Diana, Deacon and Hayley."
She and Adelina looked at Libby.
"What?"
"You totally have the hots for Deacon, you should ask him," Addison encouraged.
Libby went red.
"I don't like have a crush on him or anything, I just think he's pretty cute and nice."
A few metres away, Diana was listening in. She was furious with Libby. Her so called 'friend' had abandoned her to hang out with Miss. Prissy and Miss. Bossy. She had lunch with their table now, no with Diana and some of the other hangers-on. Libby had told Diana she was busy when Diana wanted to go to the mall with her, but then she saw her with Adelina and Addison shopping.
Libby was just some chubby loser who desperately wanted to be something she was not. She thought she was hot shit, when Diana was clearly the hottest girl in school. It had been an act of pity- Diana felt sorry for Libby and decided that she'd be good enough as a follower/friend.
Well, Libby wasn't going to get away with it. As she saw Deacon running down the track, Diana smirked.
"Hey, Deacon!"
He stopped running, sweating like mad, "Yeah?"
"How about you and me at the dance on Friday?"
"No."
"Excuse me?" Diana looked surprised.
"No."
"Why?"
"You're a pretty horrible person," Deacon told her bluntly, "So thank you, but no."
Diana stared at him in shock, mouth agape and eyes fluttering. No one ever said no to Diana Collins, it simply didn't happen. Boys never did, hence her success rate. Right now, Deacon Dawson had dared to reject her.
He wasn't even that cool anyway.
Addison and Adelina were trying not to laugh. Diana saw them sniggering and grabbed her bag, storming off in a huff. When she disappeared, Addison almost collapsed laughing.
"Jesus that was beautiful," Addison finally controlled her laughter, "Lib, go ask him now."
"I can't! He said no to Diana, it wouldn't be right to ask him out- she is my friend."
"Diana treats you like utter crap and you know it. You deserve to be happy."
Libby looked at Adelina for support- she just nodded in agreement.
Taking a deep breath, she stood up and went over to the edge of the railings. A little downward saw Deacon taking a water break.
"Deacon?" she called out nervously.
He looked up, "Hi Libby."
"Would you like to go to the dance with me?" it shot out of her like a rocket before she could even control herself.
"I'd love to," he grinned up at her.
"Great, great," Libby tried to wipe the demented smile away from her face.
"Well, gotta run," Deacon pointed to the track, "Literally. See you later."
Libby giggled at the bad joke before heading back to her friends, dancing happily.
Meanwhile, Deacon sang along with his phone.
If I was your boyfriend, I'd never let you go
I can take you places you ain't never been before
Baby take a chance or you'll never ever know
I got money in my hands that I'd really like to blow
Swag swag swag, on you
Chillin' by the fire while we eating fondue
I don't know 'bout me but I know about you
So say hello to falsetto in three two
I'd like to be everything you want
Hey girl, let me talk to you
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE-
When you have a school as wealthy as Fairfall Prep, they do dances like no other.
It was awesome without being tacky. Strands of silver came down from the wall, the disco ball shining on them to create a glowing effect. Thousand of confetti hearts decorated the tables, matched by pink napkins and white paper plates. Even the food looked like it had come from a high end restaurant.
It was one swinging party.
Adelina entered on Oliver's arm. She looked pretty in an off the shoulder blue dress with ruffles for sleeves and the hem, her hair in delicate curls and make-up as classy as usual. Oliver hadn't been able to take his eyes off of her for the entire ride from her house. He'd met her housekeeper; her parents were obviously not at home. Oliver doubted that the Parkers even knew their daughter was dating anyone or even that she was in the Glee club.
"People are staring," she whispered.
"Because of our hotness," Oliver chuckled, before seeing how serious she was, "Lina, I don't care what people think and neither should you. All I want to do is dance with my girlfriend at a school party and not care about what anyone else thinks. We're with our friends, having a good time. You don't have to be who you aren't around me Lina, not at all. I said I liked you for who you are and by God, I mean it. Now, loosen up hot stuff and let's go see our friends."
Adelina took his hand and smiled as they walked over to their friends.
Whilst Oliver was happy with his date, Tyler certainly wasn't.
Jessica was pretty hot, nice and a sparkling conversationalist. They'd probably at least get to the third base at the after party. She was being really cool to him and he should be paying attention to her, but he was not.
Melrose was stood across the room, looking drop dead gorgeous in a red dress and free-flowing afro. She was talking to Robin, Colin, Lizzie and Adrian, doing some motions and making them all fall about with laughter. Melrose didn't even notice him, completely controlling the conversation. Tyler, however, was stood there like a fool staring at her.
"I'm sorry, what?" he suddenly realised Jessica had said something to him.
"I asked if you wanted punch."
"Yeah, that'd be great thanks," he gave her a strained smile.
"Ok everybody, eyes up here!"
They all looked to the stage to see Ms. Flynn, the drama teacher and liaison to the events committee.
"Welcome to the Fairfall Prep Valentine's Ball, can I get a cheer?"
They all cheered.
"We have an awesome night planned! Both the Fairfall Choir and The Top Notes have performances lined up for us, as well as the sound system that will be playing all of your favourite hits. The punch is being monitored so NO spiking will be allowed, save that for the after party folks- just pretend that I didn't say that, ok? We've got lots of food to spare and as always, nothing more than kissing will be accepted here. Keep it family friendly, got it? Ok our first live performance is from the lovely Hayley Dawson and Diana Collins!"
The girls, Hayley in purple and Diana in red, went up on the stage. Though both were somehow the only dateless people in The Top Notes, if you didn't count Robin. Hayley had come a long way since her fall from grace and Diana was still pissed that Libby had essentially abandoned her. Diana and Hayley had an unspoken alliance in which they would stick around with one another.
Honey honey
I can see the stars all the way from here
Can't you see the glow on the window pane?
I can feel the sun whenever you're near
Every time you touch me I just melt away
Now everybody ask me why I'm smiling out from ear to ear
(They say love hurts)
But I know (it's gonna take the real work)
Nothing's perfect but it's worth it
After fighting through my tears and finally you put me first
Deacon and Libby were dancing together, finally having a proper conversation. They were in the same circles, but they'd never gotten to know one another until now.
"Senior year is months away and I still don't know what colleges I'm applying to or what I want to do with my life. I'm lucky that my parents aren't pressuring me to be lawyers like them; they're nothing like Jay's folks. I'm quite good with computers so maybe like Silicon Valley or something? Berkeley has a really good computer science programme, so do Carnegie Mellon and Georgia Tech. Sorry, I'm rambling, what about you?"
"I want to go into medicine."
"Really? Any kind?"
"Paediatrics. I've always liked kids and I actually get pretty good grades, so that's what I can. I'd like to save these little kids and comfort them when they're most in pain. I'm aiming for Ivy League but places like Stanford and Duke are really great."
"You'll be a great doctor."
"You think?" Libby asked with a smile.
"Yeah, I think you'd be amazing. I can totally see you comforting a scared kid then bringing them back to life a second later with those paddles."
"Thank you. I for one cannot wait to see you becoming a less annoying version of Bill Gates."
"That is the aim."
Across the room, others danced with their dates. Jason's date was moving around his crutches, being as gentle as possible with him. Even Nick was happy with his essentially arranged date Stella, as she was a nice girl.
Isabelle was making Maddie laugh harder than usual whilst Oliver charmed Adelina.
Tyler forced himself to be a good date by looking at Jessica and talking to her normally. Across the room, Melrose was making everyone look bad by showing off her killer dance moves.
Tess watched from the sidelines, smiling. Every single member of Fairfall staff had been massively surprised by the pairing of Oliver and Adelina, which had been the gossip surrounding the teachers' room for the past few days. It seemed the students were the same, gawking at them.
There were some cute couplings. Tess knew that Adrian and Lizzie were here as friends, but they were a really nice pair- she knew they'd be long time pals. Deacon and Libby seemed happy, as did Colin and Melrose.
"Care for a dance?"
She turned around to see Will smiling at her.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" she went up to kiss her fiancé.
"I thought I'd sneak in one little dance with my hard working chaperone fiancée. I think the rest of what I have in mind might get you fired."
Tess chuckled.
"May I have this dance?"
She took the accepted hand as Jason and Nick came on the stage. Nick helped his brother up, Jason propped up by a stool to help his balance. Natalie and Stella, to make up for their dates singing, had been invited up on stage to watch.
"Hi guys," Jason greeted them, receiving a huge cheer in response- he was a popular and liked guy, "My lesser twin and I are ready to perform a classic rock number for you all."
Nick punched his brother's shoulder playfully as they ramped up their guitars.
You know you drive me up the wall
The way you make good on all the nasty tricks you pull
Seems like we're makin' up more than we're makin' love
And it always seems you got somethin' on your mind other than me
Girl, you got to change your crazy ways
You hear me?
Say you're leavin' on a seven thirty train
And that you're headin' out to Hollywood
Girl, you been givin' me that line so many times
It kinda gets like feelin' bad looks good, yeah
"SING IT WITH US ALL!"
I go crazy, crazy baby, I go crazy
You turn it on, then you're gone
Yeah, you drive me crazy, crazy, crazy for you baby
Hi all, hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Next Time: Amber discovers that her future stepmother is hiding a huge secret, Addison starts her campaign for student class president and Hayley attempts to rejoin the cheer squad.
Questions:
Will Tyler ever tell Melrose how he feels?
What is Isabel (Amber's stepmother)'s big secret?
Will Addison drum up support?
Will Hayley's attempts work?
Who are your favourite characters so far?
Thanks again, don't forget to review and let me know what you think xxx