I was honestly very upset with that idiot for ruining the dance for my babies. So I gave them what I think would have been a proper dance experience. Besides, he interrupted my Rayallie moment so I was fuming with anger.
Enjoy!
Ray looked himself in the mirror one more time, fixing his hair, or at least attempting to. He felt incredibly uncomfortable in the outfit he was wearing, and the tie around his neck was absolutely choking him.
Was this really my idea?
His brain kept mentally yelling at him to back off from this plan, but the others would be there shortly, and no matter what, he had suggested this, and now he couldn't chicken out. He just prayed everything would go right this night.
It's just a dance. He told himself. Yeah, the first one you would go to. He winced at the annoying voice in his head. He had been going over the worst-case scenarios and had given himself at least two panic attacks since one of those scenarios was Sasha destroying the school if any of the bullies tried something.
He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts and then heard a knock on his door. Allie's voice came from the other side, asking if she could come in. He yelled out a 'yes'
"Dude! I can't believe this!" Allie's voice echoed in the room as she entered, he didn't turn around as he was still fighting with his hair.
"What?" He asked.
"Gabe asked Sasha to be his date!" She said, giving a small giggle afterward.
"I thought that was pretty obvious, it's not like I would've asked her. She's Gabe's unofficial girlfriend after all." He chuckled, and turned around, just to have the breath knocked off his lungs.
Allie laid in his bed, still giggling over the fact Gabe and Sasha were going on a date. But, it wasn't her giggles that made Ray breathless. It was the way she was dressed. She was beautiful. She was wearing a nice purple dress, and the skirt rose above her knee as she laid in the bed, her arms thrown to the side, innocently looking. Her makeup was natural, almost unnoticeable. The way the dress hugged her waist and rounded up around her chest made him blush. He had practically grown up with Allie and had seen the changes when her womanly assets had begun to develop. And of course, being a teenager and in the flourishing state of puberty, his thoughts went south. He reprimanded himself, reminding himself that this was Allie who he was looking at. His best friend, and the only girl that up until now had been so close to him.
Allie noticed Ray staring, and smiled a little, hoping she was looking cute enough for him to at least compliment her. She raised herself on her elbows and looked at him, deciding to take the first step.
"Yo, You look nice!" She said, flashing him a smile. Ray felt as if choking, and now it wasn't the tie. His ears went red, and he stumbled over his words.
"Umm...T-thanks?" He turned around, Allie laughed out loud.
"You should've seen your face!" She said, although a little disappointed that he hadn't returned the compliment, yet satisfied with his reaction.
Ray was a shy guy when it came to this stuff, and she wasn't an expert, but the novels and dramas she had watched made up for her lack of experience. She sat up and opened her mouth to say something else.
"You look cute, too," Ray mumbled, loud enough for her to hear.
The comment took her by surprise, and the blush in her cheeks didn't await to mark her embarrassment.
"Oh! Ummm...Thanks" She said, suddenly taking a small breath of air to ease her racing heart.
Ray coughed a little to ease the awkwardness, he played with his hair a bit. Allie saw his struggle and got up, walking behind him, instructing him to turn around and bend a little, so she could reach his hair more easily.
"Here let me help you." She said and brushed his hair gently. There wasn't much to do, they had learned a long time ago how Ray's hair was anything but obedient. She did as much as to get it into a decent shape, then smiled down at Ray, as her eyes had been looking up to his hair.
Ray felt the blush come back to him, as he stared at the beauty in front of him. Allie was making faces as she tried to control his rebellious hair. Her emerald eyes looked a bit brighter than usual. When she looked down and flashed him a smile he muttered 'thanks' and averted his eyes.
"Well, the lovebirds are downstairs in Dad's car, your mom left already since she has to be early. I came to get you, so since you are ready, shall we go?" She asked, almost giving a bow to him as if she was escorting a prince to a ball.
Ray laughed and scoffed at her hand reaching for him.
"Leave the formalities for Sasha, if anything I'm surprised you didn't come in and dragged me out as we are currently late for the dance." He laughed again, then regretted saying the word late, as Allie looked at his clock beside the desk and realized they were indeed late, very late.
"Omg! Get a move on!" She grabbed his wrist and dragged him out, Ray barely had time to grab his gauntlet, putting it in his pocket as he dashed down the stairs to the car waiting for them in front of the apartments.
"Oh, there you are pumpkin, I was worried." Allie's Dad said.
"No time to talk, dad! We are just in the barge of being fashionably late and just plain late!" She said as if it was a life or death matter.
"Step on the gas!"
Everyone turned around surprised to hear that come out of Sasha's mouth, she looked at them confused.
"What? Isn't that what you say around here?" She asked. Allie came out of her shock and nudged her Dad to drive, he obeyed, suddenly feeling as if he was about to be late.
The drive was short, yet felt like hours as anticipation was eating them alive, and by the time they got there, the music was loud and vivid. The flashing lights gave the room a moving and fun vibe. Ray felt the corners of his mouth shot up as he walked inside with Allie and the rest. He had to admit, this didn't look as bad as he thought.
He nodded as he listened to Sasha admit he had been right, that the room had a pleasant feeling. Then smiled to himself as he saw her drag a very shy Gabe towards the dance floor. He and Allie stood side by side, taking in the view of the place. They had agreed to check up on their friends, since the main objective was to make sure Sasha and Gabe had a good time and maybe, just maybe ended up together at the end of the night.
He was about to ask Allie if she wanted to eat some snacks when he felt arms around his shoulder, and a chirping voice questioned them, "Aren't you guys going to dance?" And before he knew it, he had been thrown into the dance floor along with Allie. He recognized his mother's voice and almost wanted to curse the day she had signed up as a chaperon.
But, his focus went to the equally out-of-place girl in front of him. They smiled awkwardly at each other, and aware of Ray's mom's piercing stare, they started dancing.
"So, this is…" He started, moving his body to the rhythm of the song, fist clenched awkwardly as he tried to imitate the moves from the other students.
"Totally…" He couldn't find the word, it wasn't bad, it was just…
"Awkward. Yeah," Allie finished.
Ray silently regretted not phrasing his words better the day he told his mother he was going to the dance, he had just said Allie and him were going, and of course, his mother had misinterpreted.
Flashback.
"OMG! YOU AND ALLIE!?" She squealed.
"Mom, please, is not like that." Ray had said, though his blushed cheeks were giving away something else.
"Did you ask her out?" His mom asked, his grandpa listened attentively from the couch, lowering the TV volume to hear his grandson's response.
"What? No!" He said, an octave higher than his normal voice.
"Then?" His mom asked, confused.
"We are doing it for Sasha, a new exchange student, she and Gabe….ummm…" He didn't know whether he should rant out his best friend, but it was either throw Gabe under the bus or deal with his mom.
Sorry, Gabe.
"Gabe and Sasha know each other, and like each other. Allie and I thought this would be a good opportunity for them to finally get together. We are going as moral support." He wasn't entirely lying, he and Allie had planned to make sure Gabe and Sasha at least confessed to each other, he was just omitting the part where Sasha was a creature from another dimension, capable of frying them to crisp.
"Oh," His mother sounded disappointed.
"Well, that is very nice of you two, but don't forget to have fun as well, ok?" She said gently.
"Don't worry, Allie and I will have the time of our lives digging up in the snack and drink bar." He and Allie had looked up the list of food that will be served at the dance, and had almost drooled as most of it were their favorites.
"I meant like dancing or even singing together, you know? Like you guys randomly do when you're alone?" Ray looked shocked.
"How do you know about that?!" He thought that was a secret he and Allie had sworn to keep between them, they were weird, but they were weird together and in secret. Oh, God, if Gabe found out about this, Allie would kill him.
"Allie's dad showed me a nice video of you and her dancing the other day in her house when you guys thought you were alone." Ray cursed Allie mentally, they had been studying together, and her playlist had randomly chosen an upbeat song, of course with none around, they had shot up and danced to the song, singing the lyrics, in a very off-key tone, too. They must've forgotten about the cameras in the living room, something Allie's dad had set up after the 'bear' incident.
"Mom, that is just the two of us, is our own way of letting out stress," That and dueling, but he wasn't about to tell her that other part.
"Please, don't mention this to anyone." He pleaded, his neck was on the line.
"Oh, ok, fine!" His mother said, Ray gave her a thankful smile, and went ahead to his room to finish homework and maybe text Allie about the stupid cameras in her living room.
"That doesn't mean you can't show others." Janet had a mischievous smile as she messaged the school DJ responsible for the music this Friday, making sure he added a few 'requested songs' for the dance's playlist.
From his place on the sofa, Grandpa Okamoto prepared himself for the certain fight Mother and Son would have as soon as Ray discovered what his lovely mother had done.
'I will go to sleep early on Friday.' He marked that in his agenda and continued drinking his tea.
End of Flashback.
And now back to our dancing couples.
Janet's plan had worked, well kind of, if it wasn't because that song happened to be one neither of the teens liked, they had moved awkwardly, as they hadn't known what to do. Ray and Allie had decided it was enough humiliation as they didn't know the dance moves, and were mainly imitating others, which had saved some of their dignity, to a certain extent. They headed to the snack bar, where they filled their plates with snacks and sweets. Then, they were on the way to a table where they had a perfect view of Gabe and Sasha, who continued dancing, and at this point, Gabe had loosened up enough to spin Sasha around the dance floor. They sat down and began to eat, giggling as they saw Gabe flushed when Sasha threw her arms around his neck, making them spin, laughing to herself.
Both began to notice how other students were dancing close to them, Sasha's laugh being contagious and soon many girls were imitating the tan girl by doing the same move to their dates, enlisting similar reactions.
"I think they are starting to see Sasha in a 'New light', Your plan worked," Allie said. Ray smiled widely.
"I'm glad." He said, raising the cup of fruit punch as if in a fancy dinner.
"Shall we make a toast to that?" He joked, Allie laughed and raised her cup as well.
"Cheers." They said as they clicked their cups together then proceeded to gulp their contents down in one hit.
"Ahhh." Allie sighed.
"Nothing like a fresh cup of juice." She said, then started to eat some chips in front of her, leaving the pizza on the side for later.
"I think we should do this more often," Ray said, the nice feeling of seeing everyone dancing, not caring for popular status but rather for the fun they were having. He kept looking around when his eyes caught sight of something peculiar.
"Isn't that...Lucy?" He asked. Allie turned around, chewing on her slice of pizza.
It indeed was Lucy, and she looked very nice, she wore a nice black dress and a blue jacket.
"Wow!" Allie said. "Lucy looks so cute!" Ray nodded, agreeing with her.
"I think we are not the only ones to notice that," Ray said, smiling as he saw Kevin approach Lucy, he saw Lucy blushed and then watched as they stepped on the dance floor, where they started to dance to the next song the DJ had chosen.
It was a Bachata song, and Lucy laughed as she started teaching Kevin, and Gabe (plus Sasha) how to dance the Hispanic popular dance.
"That's nice," Allie said, watching the sway of their hips, mentally taking notes of the dance, it looked fun!
"Weren't we listening to a Spanish song the other day?" Ray asked, trying to remember their last song, which they had both been listening to while cleaning the tablets at the temple, earning them a small earful from Master Nadia as they had gotten a bit off track while watching the music video.
"I think so," Allie said, still mesmerized by the movements of the dance. They were dancing as a group now, occasionally spinning each other. Allie wanted to go up and join them, but she wasn't confident in that dance.
Heck, she wouldn't go up even if she was confident in the dance. She didn't mind dancing with Ray, what she did mind was dancing in front of people, Ray too. They had stopped dancing before Carny and his gang, or Portia and Maribel could catch up in what was going on.
"Hey~"
Speaking of the devil.
"Allison, are you on a date with this leper?" Portia asked, she was wearing a wine dress, with spaghetti straps.
"Is this the last resort because none asked you out?" Maribel teased.
Ray had stayed silent, wanting nothing more than to cuss the two witches out, remembering how Allie had felt the day they had bullied her for not having a date to the dance. He felt worse with himself, he hadn't even asked her out, mostly because he hadn't planned on coming, they never went to dances, and Allie always managed to make an excuse, such as her dad going on a business trip and her going with him.
He was close to cursing them out, not caring whether that wasn't proper gentleman behavior, they were messing with his Allie. And God knows that's where he drew the line.
"And what if I am?" Allie locked eyes with Portia, a confident stare burning the pale blonde.
Ray opened his eyes, realizing she had just implied they were on a date.
"Is he aware of that?" His reaction gave Maribel something to work with.
"Yeah, I don't even think he wants to be here with you." Portia came out of her shock and proceeded to belittle Allie again.
"You know if you leave him now, we can ask Carny to dance with you~" Portia chirped. Ray felt a strange rage on him as he imagined that brute putting his hands on Allie. Before he knew it, he had shot up from his seat, walked around the table until he was behind Allie's chair. There he surprised himself when he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, leaning down and looking up at both shocked teens in front of them.
"I don't think her date wants that." He softened his gaze, yet made sure the expression of 'get lost' was evident enough for the two preppy girls to get a hint. He was sort of taken aback by the small blush of both their faces, not knowing whether it was anger or embarrassment.
While the girls were still shocked, Allie was coming out of her surprise. She smiled, taking in an opportunity to play along and before Ray or anyone could react, she reached over with her arm, bending Ray down a bit more, planting a kiss on his cheek.
She made sure to make it a long kiss. Then grabbed his chin and turned him to face her, a grin on her face, noses touching.
"Jealous, Darling?" She asked in a honey-filled voice, she winked at Ray to play along. Ray didn't even fight the blush, and let it cover his cheeks and part of his nose, over to his ears.
"Very." He muttered, breath hitting Allie's face, it was then he noticed how truly flushed she was.
"Ugh! Perverts!" Portia shouted, then stormed off, Maribel following close, but they ran into a bunch of other students as they hopelessly tried to hide their flushed and humiliated faces.
If Ray was jealous of the mere thought of Carny getting anywhere near Allie. Those two were jealous of Allie's catch, silently regretting never really giving the half-Asian boy a second glance, because boy, looking at him today, he was darn fine! And he wasn't even fully grown yet!
Allie and Ray kept the same position until they were sure the two girls were far away enough.
Ray let go of the air he had been holding and buried his face in Allie's shoulder, Allie felt the heat from his face almost burning her skin. Her face was on fire as well.
"Hey…" Allie moved her shoulder, shaking Ray off.
"Not now, let me regain my composure first," He said, not looking up from her shoulder.
"People are staring." She said, aware of the faces from the dance floor now turned to them, with a few teachers giving disapproving looks.
"Let them stare, we just basically dug our grave, those two will spread rumors of us dating now," Ray mumbled, and somehow managed to drag a chair next to him to sit down, covering his face with both arms.
"Well, maybe you shouldn't have hugged me in the first place." She said, pretending to go back to her food.
"How many hugs have I given you?" He asked looking up, his blush lower than before.
"Don't know," Allie said, they were childhood friends, of course, they had hugged more than once, she had lost count already.
"And how many kisses have you given me?" He asked.
"One." She muttered.
"I rest my case." He said, his gaze fixed on something near the teacher's table, and his eyes suddenly went blank. A small 'ha' escaped his lips, as his body made an attempt of laughing, but his own eyes were distant, the small 'ha' sounds continued, making him sound like a crazy person.
"What's so funny?" She asked, as his chuckle turned into a painful laugh.
"My mother saw that." He said, laughing as he was losing his mind. Oh, God! He was never going to hear the end of this.
Allie realized that everyone had gone back to their activities, and now she was having a realization of her own.
We're already at rock bottom, why not dig down a little more?
"Hey." She called, Ray looked up at her with an unamused look, having an existential crisis of his own.
"What?" He asked.
"Let's sing." She said, leaning close to him, Ray raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" He asked.
"Why not? We are on a date, aren't we?" She asked looking away for a second as her cheeks blushed for the tenth time that night. She eyed the karaoke station, quiet as none was being brave enough to step up.
Ray blinked, and seeing the cute blush in her face, he found small confidence in him. He smiled, disregarding his blush, why not, they had already danced, made a lovers scene, might as well put a cherry on the top.
They stood up, everyone (despite them not noticing) shot glances at them. Their friends followed them to the Karaoke station, Sasha curious as to what they were going to do.
"What's happening Gabriel?" She asked, hugging his arm, Gabe smiled at her.
"Just listen and enjoy." Despite his best friends not wanting him to find out, he had seen them dancing and singing together once or twice, and he had to admit, he was offended they didn't want him to find out. But he respected their decisions, he just waited patiently for the day they would show everyone their secret, not Kaijudo, but their other 'talents' He loved dancing by himself too, and it would be fun to dance with his friends at random times to release stress.
Lucy and Kevin smiled, looking as Allie and Ray got up the stage, getting the attention from those on the dancing floor as the DJ stopped the music and gave them the microphones.
In the corner, the bullies stared at the couple on the stage, envy eating them alive.
"Hello Everyone!" The DJ greeted. Ray and Allie put their microphones in the microphone's stands, freeing their hands, and eyed each other, silently giving encouraging nods to the other.
"We have our first singers of the night, they have requested a very nice song," The DJ hyped up the crowd, which became bigger, most standing, ready to dance if the song was nice enough.
"Give a round of applause for Ray-Ray and Allie!" Ray growled at the nickname, mainly because Carny had given it to him during sixth grade, and had stuck to him ever since. It had lost its original meaning, but that didn't mean he liked it when they used it.
He stepped up to the microphone and turned away, so he was facing Allie and not the crowd. Allie did the same.
He mouthed a 'Ready?' and Allie gave him an 'Always' as a response. The background music began to slowly rise.
Ray grabbed the microphone and brought his mouth close to it, foot tapping the ground, counting the beats until the start, the lyrics were already flashing beside him, upon the screen early in case he didn't know the song.
He didn't need them, this song was encrypted in his memory since the first time he had sung it with Allie.
"We were young. Posters on the wall. Praying we're the ones that the teacher wouldn't call." Ray smiled at Allie, a cue for her to join in for the next sentence.
"We would stare at each other, Cause we were always in trouble" Their voices harmonized perfectly, synchronizing with their swaying bodies, which seemed to loosen up a bit.
"And all the cool kids did their own thing. I was on the outside, always looking in." Ray sang, his feet taping as he gently swayed them from side to side to the music.
"Yeah, I was there, but I wasn't" He locked eyes with Allie and gave her another cue.
"They never really care if I was in." The harmony was lower from Allie's side this time, but it was fine since the next part was completely, hers.
"We all need that someone, who gets you like no one else. Right, when you need it the most~" Her voice resonated in the walls as the music paused for the upcoming beat, the small background music blended perfectly with her vocal cords.
"We all need a soul to rely on. A shoulder to cry on. A friend through the highs and the lows!" Her body and Ray's made a small drop movement at the same time the beat dropped.
"I'm not gonna make it A-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lone, I'm not gonna make it A-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lone" Their voices united once again with power and their bodies danced to the music, in place, and on opposite sides, their movements seemed to mirror each other with ease.
"Then I saw your face, your forgiving eyes, looking back at me from the other side." They took the microphones off the stand, walking towards each other.
"Like you understood me." Ray reached out a hand to Allie, making her spin as she sang the next line.
"And I'm never letting you go, oh!" Her vocal range spiked a smile from Ray's face.
"We all need that someone, who gets you like no one else. Right, when you need it the most…!" Both voices trailed.
"We all need a soul to rely on. A shoulder to cry on."
They locked eyes with each other, hyping each other up for the following mic drop.
"A FRIEND THROUGH THE HIGHS AND THE LOWS!" Their heads were thrown back as the notes came from within the deep of their throats, potent power and control.
A playful smirk was visible in Ray's face, as they started dancing with each other on the stage, all the while singing the chorus, in complete control of their breathing and yet managing to move with accuracy and complexity.
"I'm not gonna make it A-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lone, I'm not gonna make it A-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lone"
At this point, everyone in the crowd was dancing, either in circles or groups, or pairs. And their voices echoed in the gym too. Allie and Ray gave the DJ a rapid clue, and he lowered down the music, a way for their voices to join the rest in an acapella masterpiece.
"I'm not gonna make it A-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lone, I'm not gonna make it A-La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-lone"
Ray turned to face Allie.
"Because you are that someone, that gets me like no one else. Right, when I need it the most~" His hand caressed her cheek, a gentle smile dedicated towards her.
"I'll be the soul you rely on. Your shoulder to cry on. A friend through the highs and the lows…" They joined hands. Ray spun her one last time before their voices came together for the final sentence.
"I'm not gonna make it alone."
The crowd erupted in cheers and whistles, most coming from the group of proud friends in front of the stage.
"Heck, Yeah!" Gabe yelled, Sasha clapped loudly and yelled something along the lines of 'You guys are my favorite humans!' Just to then say 'Aside from Gabe'
Ray looked at Allie by his side, one of his arms had wrapped itself around her waist and held her close to him, she didn't seem to mind.
He stared at her for a couple of seconds, taking in the events of the night. And realized something vital.
He had wanted everyone to look at him and his friends in a 'New light'
He never realized he would be the one to be seeing his childhood friend from a different perspective, too. He smiled and hugged her closer to him.
'I might come to the next dance, too'