¤~Nothing Like This Feeling~¤
by Scrat with a G
Chapter Three

It was about a week later. Jamie was sitting on the same bench he had met Rusty at only a week or so before. He was staring into space, just chilling after a long day of school when the blonde-haired girl appeared before him. She smiled and wrapped her jacket tighter around herself.
"Don't you have anything better to do than stalk me?" Jamie asked, annoyed.
"Well, I was just going to ask you if you had a date for the dance," Rusty replied calmly, sitting next to him casually. That's right, Jamie remembered. There's a dance next Friday. But does she want to go with me? And if she does, then why?
"No, not yet," Jamie replied, trying with all his might to not say something sarcastic. "Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," Rusty said. She looked up at him, casual as ever.
Sure, why not… Jamie thought. Its not like I've got anyone better to go with… Brittany's going with Kevin, and Shayla's going with Michael…
"Don't the guys usually ask the girls, not the other way around?" Jamie asked skeptically, unable to hold back the sarcastic comments.
"Has that ever stopped me before?" Rusty raised an eyebrow.
"I wouldn't know."
Rusty sighed. "Fine, would you like to ask me then, Mr. Traditional?"
"All right, I will, then," he replied. "Would you like to go to the dance on Friday with me, Rusty?"
"Yes, Jamie, I would," Rusty answered. She grinned. The wind tossed her blonde hair a little. "Well, that's all I needed. I'll see you at school tomorrow." She smiled at him and walked off.
"Um… bye?"

~*~

That Friday, only three days later, Jamie found himself standing outside Rusty's apartment door, waiting for her to come out. He was wearing a new pair of khaki cargos and a bright yellow shirt that read in black letters, CaFFeiNe, which was the brand of the shirt. For some reason, Jamie had felt the desperate urge to buy new clothes for this particular dance, which was odd, because normally, for dances Jamie wore the oldest, grungiest clothes he could find in his closet, just to annoy his peers.
Sighing, Jamie knocked again. Rusty swung open the door. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a bright yellow tanktop (not the spaghetti strap kind – the kind with the thicker straps).
"Sorry about that," she said. "My sister just had to ask me where I was going."
"It's cool," Jamie assured her. "Shall we?"
"We shall."
Jamie led her down the steps to the parking lot, where his mother was waiting in her car. He opened the door and let her slide in first, then he got in and shut the door. His mother started up the car and they drove away.
"Oh, don't you two look so cute!" Brooke gushed, glancing at Jamie and Rusty through her rear-view mirror.
"Mom," Jamie groaned through gritted teeth.
"Oh, sorry, honey," Brooke apologized. "I forgot." She smiled. "So what's your name?"
"I'm Rusty," she replied. "Rusty McCartney."
"Nice to meet you, Rusty. I'm Brooke English, Jamie's mom."
"So I gathered." Rusty smiled.
There was an awkward silence. Luckily, before anyone had to say anything, they pulled up in front of Jamie's school. Rusty and Jamie climbed out as quickly as they could.
"Have fun, kids! Don't drink too much punch!" Brooke called. Jamie blushed and grabbed Rusty by the wrist.
"C'mon," he muttered. He dragged her inside, trying to get to the gym before anyone saw him.
"God, you nearly pulled my arm out of the socket!" Rusty exclaimed, rubbing her wrist once he had let go. "What was that about?"
"My mom is sort of, um, embarrassing," he admitted.
"Whose isn't?" Rusty shrugged. "C'mon, the dance has already started." She pushed the door open. The gym was dark, with red, blue and green lights dancing about, creating a colorful effect on the walls and floor. There was cheap crepe paper strewn about, and a disco ball hung from the center of the room. The DJ was stationed in the far left corner, playing a fast song to get the party going.
"Wow… they've outdone themselves…" Jamie muttered.
Jamie and Rusty went over to the refreshment table, where some of Jamie's friends and their girlfriends were.
"Hey, Jamie," said the redheaded Kevin. His girlfriend, Brittany, clung to Kevin protectively at the sight of Rusty.
"Hey, Kevin, hey, Michael," Jamie said to his friends. Shayla giggled and flipped her hair.
"Who is this sexay lady?" Michael asked as he ran his eyes up and down Rusty's body. She scowled, but he didn't notice.
"This is Rusty McCartney," Jamie said. "She's my date."
"She new?" Kevin asked.
"Yeah, she moved here a couple weeks ago," Jamie replied, but that's all he could fit in, because the song ended and the DJ's voice boomed through the speakers.
"Hey, all you cats and chicks, I'm Supah Dave, and I'm here to get this partay started!" he announced in a low, suave tone. "Need a request, just groove your way up on here and tell me, and I'll play it for you. First off, we're going to start with a Snowball."
Oh, grand, Jamie thought. There was nothing he hated more than a Snowball. A Snowball was where the DJ played a slow song, and a couple started slow-dancing, and when the DJ said, "Snowball," they would split up and start dancing with other people. Repeat until everyone is dancing.
Jamie looked at Rusty pleadingly.
"Oh, don't worry," she said, recognizing the expression on his face. "Snowballs aren't my thing." Supah Dave selected Kevin and Brittany to be the starter couple, and began playing the song. It was "A Thousand Miles," by Vanessa Carlton. Rusty gasped. "Oh, Jamie… this is my favorite song…"
Jamie sighed. "Oh, all right," he gave in. He grabbed her hand and led her to the middle of the floor. He placed his hands on her waist as she put hers around his neck. She began singing along softly to the song.
"And now I wonder, if I could fall, into the sky, do you think time, would pass me by, and I know I'd walk a thousand miles if I could just, see you…"
"Snowball!" Supah Dave announced. But Jamie and Rusty had no intention of switching partners. They were perfectly comfortable in each other's arms. What the fluck? Jamie asked himself. Maybe I'm sick… yeah, that's it… I gotta ask Mom to take my temperature after this dance…
Jamie rolled his eyes as two boys waltzed past, laughing as people pointed at them and wrongly accused them of being gay.
"Snowball!"
"Jamie," Rusty said softly.
"Hmm?"
"Can we go outside? Its hot in here," she murmured.
"Sure." They broke apart and started towards the back doors, which led to the football field. Rusty took his hand, which made his heart leap.
God… now I'm having heart seizures… something is really wrong with me…
The two sat down in the grass on the edge of the football field and watched the sun set behind the horizon. Suddenly, something came over Jamie and he leaned over to Rusty, placing a soft, passionate kiss on her lips. He didn't know what he was doing until he had done it.
Oh God… did I just do that? He surveyed her expressionless face while million thoughts raced through his head at once. Oh no, she's gonna hate me forever… what if she thinks I'm a bad kisser? Oh God, oh God, oh God…
However, Rusty said nothing and only returned his kiss.
As surprised as Jamie was, he could only feeling joy. He couldn't explain it – a couple of days ago, he'd hated her like she was the most annoying thing he'd ever set eyes on, and now, he was kissing her.
The two spent the rest of the night out on the football field, kissing and enjoying each other's company.

a/n: Sweet, no? I just had to get the fluffiness going before it drove me insane…