Dragonball FT: The Black Thorn Saga
Chapter 14: Dream, Dance, Death

Xavier watched his reflection in the mirror as he straightened his black necktie. The dance just has to be a formal one. He thought as he ran his finger around the inside of his shirt collar in a futile attempt to loosen it. After doing so, Xavier reached towards the bathroom door and picked up the blue suit jacket that hung on the doorknob. He threw it on, instantly feeling more constrained and thought: This has got to be the closest thing to a straightjacket you can get. With the jacket on, Xavier examined his reflection with a scrutinizing eye. OK...let's see...hair: flattened, not a strand out of place...the magic of hair gel...shirt: snow white and starched...jacket: clean...khaki's: wrinkle free...shoes: shined.

When he finished with his self-examination, Xavier exited the bathroom and walked towards the couch and when he got there, he positioned himself between the couch and television, turned towards the person on the couch, and asked, "Well, how do I look?"

The woman on the couch got up and stood in front of Xavier. "Oh, look at you...my handsome little boy." she said as she straightened his tie and adjusted his jacket collar; neither of which needed to be done, but she did it out of instinct, anyway.

"Thanks, mom." Xavier replied.

His mom sighed and reached into her pocket. "I suppose you'll be wanting these," she said as she held out her hand, in which rested a set of keys.

Yeah," Xavier replied as he took the keys and put them in his pocket. "Thanks again. It was really cool of you to take the night off so I could use the car."

"Don't mention it...I can't remember the last time I took a Friday night off." she said.

"It's been a while, hasn't it?" Xavier replied. "Well, you be sure to get some rest tonight, you deserve it."

"I don't need rest." She replied. "Your sister and I are going to spend some quality time together...it seems like the two of you are growing up behind my back."

"Sounds good, mom." Xavier said as he gave a little smile and thought, If all goes well, by this time next year, you'll be able to take every night off.

"Well, you have fun tonight...and BE CAREFUL!!" Xavier's mom instructed him.

"I will, mom" Xavier said as he turned and walked to the door. When he got there he turned and said, "Bye" and as he walked out the door, he added, "and don't wait up." before he closed the door.

As he strolled along the hallway towards Emily's apartment, Xavier checked his watch. 7:30...right on time. He thought as he knocked on the door. No sooner did Xavier lower his hand than the door opened and Emily poked her head out. "Hey, good timing," She said before turning away from the door and shouting "Bye." to anyone who might be listening. She turned back towards Xavier and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

Xavier was awestruck at the sight that stood before him. Emily was wearing a dark blue dress that fitted and accented her form perfectly. Her black shoes were mostly hidden underneath the bottom of her dress. Wow...she looks incredible. And her hair looks beautiful. Xavier thought as he quickly admired his date's red hair, which was pulled back in a bun, except for two long curls, which began just above the middle of her forehead and fell loosely along either side of her face, ending at chin level.

"You look great." Xavier said, admiringly.

"So do you," Emily replied, with the same tone in her voice.

As the two teens walked to and descended the stairs, they engaged in idle conversation. Rather than stop at the street level, they continued on into the basement of the building. There, beneath all the floors of apartments, were even more floors that made up the building's parking ramp. Three more floors down, Xavier and Emily left the stairwell and made their way past the rows of vehicles. When they made it to the spot that Xavier's mother rented (each spot was rented out, so that any tenant who owned a car would be guaranteed their parking spot) for her car, a small, dark grey sedan, Xavier pulled out the set of keys that he was given earlier and searched for the key he needed. Behind the car, like every other vehicle, whether it was an old-fashioned car, hover-car, or small jet copter, was a safety bar, painted a bright orange, that was parallel to the ground, rested on two similarly painted bars, and served a dual purpose: keep the owner of the spot's car in and others out. Xavier inserted a key into a slot on the top of the bar, turned it, removed it, and watched as the bar sank into the floor. He then walked to the passenger door, followed by Emily, unlocked and opened it, and closed it after Emily was seated. He then walked to his door, got in, and started the car. As the electric motors of the car gave off a low hum, Xavier refamiliarized himself with the driver's controls. It had been at least two months since he had last driven anywhere. When he was satisfied that he knew where all the controls were, Xavier put the car in reverse and backed out of the spot. Before shifting into drive, he pressed a small, black button on the interior roof of the car, located near where the roof, door, and windshield met. When he did so, the bar returned from the ground. Seeing this, Xavier shifted into drive and made his way to the ramp exit.

Even though Xavier hadn't driven in a while, the trip to the school went without incident, aside from a couple brake and seatbelt checks. Xavier found a parking spot a couple streets away from the school and he and Emily got out of the car and began walking towards the school. It was a perfect autumn evening, the air was brisk, not cold enough to see your breath, but cold so that you knew winter was fast approaching. Many of the trees lining the road had changed color, their leaves an array of colors, from bright yellow to deep red; some were mere skeletons, having already shed their leaves, which now crunched with every step that Xavier and Emily took; and a handful of trees still clung to their green leaves of summer, their roots having likely tapped into an underground water source that remained hidden to the others.

As they neared the school, Xavier and Emily could see the throngs of people moving to the main doors of the school. The school itself looked new, as it should have, seeing that it was built only six years prior, after a fire brought down the aged building that once stood on the same ground. The present building, a testament to modern building techniques and deep alumni pockets, appeared the same summer that the old one vanished, a victim of an arson that went unpunished. It was a rumor that whoever started the fire was killed in the very same, but that was merely a tale used to scare incoming freshmen.

The building that Xavier and Emily now made their way towards was massive. The entire school campus took up almost a quarter of a city block and the main building, with its four branches, one in each direction, hence their names: North, South, West, and East branches, took up more than half of the grounds. The closer that Xavier and Emily got, the more imposing the bare grey walls, five stories tall, would have appeared, had they not been accustomed to the sight. They crossed the main parking lot that was nestled between the South and East branches and was now filled to capacity, mostly with cars that parents had reluctantly surrendered the keys of.

The main doors were located at the midpoint of the south branch. Xavier and Emily walked up the stairs - the very same that Jane used to sit on after school and where Emily now waited for Xavier each afternoon, and into the school. Just inside the door, Xavier handed a ticket to a teacher that had 'volunteered' their time for the event. From there, they followed the crowd and turned right. They then walked down the corridor, which was filled with the noisy hatter of hundreds of couples. The noise echoed off the dark green, metal lockers that lined the hall, making the noise seem much louder than it really was.

After walking along the brightly lit hallway, Emily and Xavier entered into a large room that, compared to the hallway, was very dimly lit. It was a type of combined hallway and foyer, was two stories tall, and meant to replicate the architectural style of the old building. Straight ahead were a set of doors that led into the large auditorium/gymnasium. To the left and right were walkways that followed the wall that separated the foyer from the auditorium that led to the West and East branches, respectively. Along the upper half of the outer perimeter wall of the foyer was a line of windows. Behind them was the path that connected the second floors of all the branches.

Emily and Xavier crossed the large foyer and ascended the four stairs that led into the auditorium. The large wooden doors had been propped open and they walked on, unimpeded. After walking through the doors, Xavier and Emily were in an even larger room whose lighting was even less than that of the foyer. They walked down the aisle, which declined in elevation as it neared the front row, between the sections of stadium style seats, to the floor. Here, there was a basketball court that, for the night, would be the dance floor. Across the court were the stage, which was used for only for drama productions, and two sets of collapsible bleachers on either side of the stage, which were used during basketball games.

Standing side by side on the edge of the dance floor, Emily turned to Xavier and asked, "So, you want to dance?"

"Sure, but...." Xavier began while scratching the back of his head.

"But...?" Emily asked, slightly curious and concerned.

"Well, I guess I should just apologize now." he said. Emily merely looked at her date with a confused expression. Seeing this, Xavier continued. "I'm not that good of a dancer, and I'm probably going to make a fool of..."

Xavier was cut off by a joyful giggle from Emily. He didn't reply to the laughter. He didn't have to. The look on his face was one of confusion and embarrassment. Emily just didn't seem like the kind of person to laugh at something like what Xavier had just told her. when she saw Xavier's sudden change in facial expression, Emily put her hand in front of her mouth and quickly cut off her laughter.

"I'm so sorry," she said with a smile. "I couldn't help but laugh. I was going to tell you the same thing. I can slow dance pretty good, but that's about it."

"Same here," Xavier said while returning the smile. Then, taking Emily's hand in his, he asked, "Shall we make fools of ourselves together, then?"

"Let's." Emily replied as she and Xavier made their way out onto the dance floor.

I really hope I don't make too much of an idiot of myself. Xavier thought as he walked with Emily through the crowd of people that had already gathered. They came to a spot with relatively few people and began to dance. After ten minutes, most of which the two teens spent laughing at their own lack of coordination, the flashing lights stopped and the rapidly moving, colored spotlights slowed their travels as the song switched from one with a fast techno beat to one with a soft, slow guitar and bass combo. When this happened, every couple slowed their movements and came together for the next song. Xavier and Emily were no different. As they embraced each other, Xavier and Emily swayed slowly to the music.

To Xavier, time came to a complete stop. Everyone besides Emily was completely obliterated from his awareness. As he held Emily in his arms, she resting her cheek on his shoulder, Xavier could smell her perfume, an odor that he now enjoyed. To him, nothing else but Emily mattered. Everything else was a blur in the background; that is, until he glanced at one of the now bright looking rectangles of light that were the main doors. There, he saw Jane, hand-in-hand with Chris, unsurprisingly and fashionably late.

As he watched Jane and Chris, Xavier's blood began to boil, but then he felt Emily move her arms slightly and he was brought back to his senses. He closed his eyes as the reality of being with Emily warmed his heart.
- - - - - - - - - -

An hour later, Xavier and Emily were sitting in the auditorium seats, about halfway up the aisle when Xavier felt the need to excuse himself. He told Emily he would be right back, got up, and walked to the main doors of the auditorium. Passing through the foyer, Xavier turned left as he hurried into the South branch, and entered the bathroom there.

*a minute later*

The toilet flushed automatically behind Xavier as he left the stall. He walked to the sink and proceeded to wash his hands. As he did, a flush could be heard coming from another stall. Glancing in the mirror in front of him, Xavier could see a figure approaching the sinks, a figure named Chris.

"Hey there, Xavier." Chris said in a friendly voice.

Xavier didn't reply as he concentrated on the mirror, checking to make sure no part of his hair was standing out of place.

"What's a matter?" Chris asked sarcastically while washing his hands. "Forgot how to talk?"

Xavier walked away from the sinks, not looking at Chris or his reflection, and began drying his hands under the air dryer. When his hands were dry, Xavier turned to leave, but found himself face-to-face with Chris.

"Funny, really," Chris began while Xavier stared him in the eyes. "Here you are, not saying a word, but I hear you just can't keep your damn mouth shut when you talk to Jane, CAN YOU!?"

Before the words had stopped echoing in the small, tiled room or Xavier knew what had happened, Chris had gripped Xavier's throat in his right hand and pushed him back so that the hand dryer had embedded itself between two of Xavier's lower ribs and his head hit the wall with a sickening 'thwack'.

"You know," Chris said angrily, "This is the second time you've poked your nose into Jane's and my relationship."

Xavier's face remained stolid and his arms hung limply at his sides.

"When she asked if she could see my wallet," Chris continued, "I just knew you had been talking to her."

There was still no response from Xavier, even though his air supply was constricted and there was a searing pain in his lower back.

"What's going to happen between her and I is inevitable...you and I both know that."

Xavier's face held it's stoical expression, but his eyes snapped to life.

Chris remained unaware of this change in Xavier's demeanor and continued as he tightened his grip on Xavier's throat. "And when I'm done with Jane, maybe I'll move on to that cute little red-head you brought with you tonight."

Xavier's eyes quickly became pools of a nearly uncontainable rage. He could feel the water dripping off of Chris' still wet hand down his neck and the beating of his own heart.

"By the way," Chris continued, bringing his sneering face close to Xavier's. "How much does she cost per hour?"

The rage that had filled Xavier's eyes exploded and spread throughout the rest of his body. One second, Chris was sneering in Xavier's face, the next he was hopping from foot to foot in pain as Xavier held Chris' hand - the same that he had held Xavier by the throat with - and slowly began to close his hand around it, tighter and tighter, in a vice-like grip.

"We need to get a few things straightened out." Xavier said, completely devoid of emotion as Chris struggled to break free from Xavier's grip.

"First, you are going to stand still and shut up. The more you struggle, the more I crush your hand." Xavier said in the same cold voice. Chris stopped moving, but a tear could be seen welling up in his eye.

"Second, you are never going to touch me with your slimy hands again." To this, Chris nodded emphatically.

"Third," here, Xavier spun himself and Chris around so that the dryer dug into Chris' spine. "Third, you are not going to hurt Jane. You break her heart, I break your neck...and spine...and ribs...and skull. Understand?" once again, Chris nodded in agreement as he tried to pry Xavier's hand away with his free left hand.

"And lastly," Xavier continued, "You will never even look at Emily the wrong way, never mind try anything with her like the lies you've probably fed to Jane."

By now, a single tear had found it's way down Chris' cheek. Amid the pain he was suffering, he managed to squeak, "Whatever you say." Xavier gave Chris' hand one final squeeze, which brought Chris down to one knee in pain, before letting go. Chris returned to his feet and quickly backed away like an injured animal as Xavier walked out the door.

- - - - - - - - -
When Xavier got back to Emily, they continued to sit for a little while before returning to the dance floor. An hour and a half later, he and Emily were enjoying the last dance of the night. Emily had her eyes closed and a content smile on her face as they danced together. It seemed like neither she nor Xavier wanted that last dance to end. But after a few minutes, the song, like all things, came to an end. The night, however would not be over for some time. Soon, they would be bowling with three other couples and later would watch a movie or two at Ryan's house. By the time Xavier would see Emily to he apartment door, it would be 5:30 in the morning. Xavier would come home to a sleeping apartment, a state which would quickly overtake him.