Author's Note: And here we have the long-awaited ball.... Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone :) The mysterious phone conversation was between one of our familiar characters (guess who) and presumably a friend (or more specifically ex-girlfriend) named Christie. ^.~ If you can't figure it out, check back next chapter!
**I regret to inform you that I'll be leaving on vacation, for a place where I will be unable to write or access a computer...but I'll hopefully rack up plenty of fic ideas. Be back August 4!!
Part III, Chapter 8
Eighty minutes later, locked into Rei's room with the others scrambling into their dresses and shoes and fiddling around with makeup and jewelry, Ami was forcibly seated in a chair before the vanity.
She was in her dress, the silver ribbon had been tied in an immaculate bow, and she was wearing her diamond necklace, Mina's bracelet, and earrings. They weren't her usual, simple blue dots: the little star-shaped jewel at her ear was still blue, but tiny silver chains ending in more stars dangled from it. Because they were so small, they weren't garish or ostentatious.
She was promptly lost in the confusing jabber of voices. "You know...I really don't want to wear this make makeup..."
"It's just a little bit," Serena said comfortingly before turning to confer with the other two.
"How about this eyeshadow? Or no–that one!"
"Are you sure you like that lip liner?"
"Hm..it's a little too dark for her. We'd better stick with a lighter color."
"Do you have any more foundation?"
"Ooh, wipe it off, wipe it off!!"
Ami was afraid to look in the mirror for fear of catching a glimpse of the face of the horrible monster she must resemble by now.
"Okay, hold still now."
She felt a slight pressure on her eyes.
"Open them a little..."
A black brush came into her vision and began attacking her eyelashes. They began feeling heavier and slightly sticky.
"Oh, Rei, you're so good at this! There aren't any clumps! Now, make sure you don't cry tonight, Ames."
She smiled nervously. "I'll try not to." Then Lita yelped, for she had been putting on some lip gloss. From that point on, Ami was forbidden to move or speak unless directed.
"Silver eyeshadow or blue eyeshadow?"
"Blue!"
"Silver!"
"Ami, you're the one wearing it, so what do you think?"
"Don't ask me! I just want to get out of here!!" was her response.
Rei nodded decisively. "Blue it is!"
When she was allowed to open her eyes at last, Ami relieved to see that she still looked a lot like her normal self–just jazzed up a bit. They hadn't put that much makeup on her after all; her eyelids were dusted with a pale blue that matched her dress, her complexion looked much better, and her lips looked perfect. She wasn't caked with makeup and bright red lipsticks like the other girls used.
"What do you think?" Lita asked, proud of their work.
"Um...looks good, I guess. Thanks, guys!"
"No problem! Okay, Sere, you're the next victim..."
While Serena went willingly to her doom, Ami plopped down on the bed and looked at her friends. Serena was wearing a white dress, and she looked like an angel. Strings of milky white pearls circled her meatballs, and she wore golden moon earrings. Lita was wearing a forest green dress because it was her favorite color–"even though it's tacky wearing green on Christmas."
Rei had smiled. "We're a matched set then, because I'm wearing red."
Lita's dress was more daring than Ami's, not quite as bold as Rei's. Her heels weren't very high, because she disliked being taller than all the guys in the room. Rei's dress was a shockingly bright red, but it suited her well.
Ami, who was feeling slightly envious of Rei's exotic beauty, hoped that Jaden would notice how beautiful she looked. She was feeling a little apprehensive about Zach's plan...she hoped he had forgotten about it by now. An angry Rei was not something to be trifled with.
"Ami...wake up...."
She realized that she had been staring into space for the past ten minutes.
"Come on, girl...it's time to go!" was Lita's contribution.
Her face pale, she looked up, aghast. "What, already?"
"No duh, genius."
"Ignore Rei. She's grouchy about the red carpet treatment," Serena teased, her eyes sparkling.
Her mouth fell open. "'Red carpet treatment?' What are you talking about??"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not walking down that." Ami's eye were huge as she looked at the magnificent, spiraling staircase–and the girls who were strutting down ahead of them to the raucous cheers of the young men. The adults were waiting in the ballroom, sipping champagne, chatting, and wandering around, admiring the decorations they had put up earlier.
"Yes, you are," Rei said firmly, giving her a little push.
"Alone?"
"Alone," Lita confirmed with a little sigh. "It's so romantic! If only I had a guy waiting down there for me..."
Rei gave her an odd look. "Don't you have a date?"
The brunette chuckled sheepishly. "Oh, yeah. I forgot. But it's only Ken...we're just friends."
Serena was flittering around excitedly, her eyes shining. "Ooh, it's so much fun! Can I go first? Can I, can I?"
"Yeah, whatever. Just calm down before you give yourself a heart attack, meatball head. Darien's not a med student yet–the only CPR he can give you is the kind we've already seen you doing...all too often."
The blonde gave her friend a very cold look before she cracked and giggled for a good thirty seconds.
'At this rate,' Ami thought cheerfully, 'I may not even have to go down this stupid thing!' Then a new thought suddenly occurred to her. 'I wonder who Zach's date is...?' As she watched Serena floating gracefully down the stairs (Rei had closed her eyes and was praying under her breath), she felt a plummeting sensation in her stomach. Serena practically ran into Darien's arms, and the lovebirds, completely absorbed in each other, left for the ballroom.
She turned to Rei and Lita, who were watching her expectantly. "I can't do this."
"Yes, you can! Come on, Ami, don't back out now...look, there's Zach!"
She covered her face with her hands. "I feel sicker than ever."
"Oh, look, he's waving at us!" Lita chirped, waving back so heartily that she could have been signaling a lifeguard.
Ami snatched her hands away from her face and stared down into the bewildering crowd of faces. There he was–his curly hair tamed, for the moment, and neatly pulled back at the nape of his neck. It gave her a sort of perverse pleasure to see the challenge in his eyes, and she held her head up high as she descended down the stairs without another word.
Rei and Lita were close behind her, their surprised glances fixed on Ami–until Rei spotted Jaden.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As she sailed down the last turn of the staircase, her left hand resting gently on the well-polished banister, Ami failed to see the treacherous, high-heeled shoe that shot out and craftily tripped her.
Ami stumbled down the last few steps in a rather clumsy manner and toppled into Zach, who let out a surprised "oof" as he caught her before he (grinning devilishly) set her on her feet. "Twice in one day, Ami?" He turned to Jaden and joked, "I told you all the girls were throwing themselves at me–and you didn't believe it!"
Ami, who had been about to thank him, wrinkled her nose at him. He grinned at her and said, "It's lucky for me that you're so light. I might have sustained serious injury otherwise."
"I hate you," she said flatly.
His eyebrows flew upwards. "What? I thought I was complimenting you!"
"Were you the one who thought of this insane spectacle?" she asked in an accusatory tone, waving at the decoration-clad staircase.
He smirked and replied promptly, "Nope. It was all my mom...I swear."
"Oh...sorry," she apologized, blushing.
Zach winked. "No problem. Although I appreciated it a lot–ten minutes of ogling you in that dress, and you never noticed!"
She swatted him on the arm. "Save it for your date."
He blinked. "What, didn't I tell you? I don't have one." He smiled as she stared at him, aghast. "Since you wouldn't let me ask you, I don't have a choice–we'll go alone but together."
"Your mom is going to kill you...I already had a minor talking-to from my parents....
He slung his arm around her casually. "Don't worry about it. She knows. By the way, I wasn't just flattering you before–you really do look great." He switched abruptly from his cocky, bantering tone to a softer (and gruffer) voice that was much more genuine.
Ami smiled happily and said, "You look...."
"Marvelous? Smashing? To-die-for handsome, as usual?"
"I was just going to say 'nice.' I'm telling you, it's not attractive for you to be complimenting yourself every other sentence," she teased.
"But it's agreed that bloated ego aside, I'm very attractive?"
Jaden rolled his eyes, having already taken the opportunity to pay his respects to Rei. "Please, you two, stop flirting and let's go."
Ami, Zach, Jaden, Rei, Lita, and Ken set off together, amidst cheerful arguing, even though only two of the six were officially a couple. Aileen (and a number of young ladies) had been grieved to discover that both of her sons were extremely insistent upon the fact that they were going dateless to the gala.
Melissa gritted her teeth as she watched them go, ignoring her clueless date. 'Urgh..I was so close! Maybe if I had actually kicked her in the ankle... Who does that bitch think she is, anyway?'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The first dance was rather boring: it was a sappy, romantic Christmas song that the parents and couples danced to–Rei, Ami, Jaden, and Zach sat it out, watching their parents act embarrassingly childish.
As soon as it was over, faster songs began to play, and Jaden and Zach were both asked to dance. Zach couldn't ask Ami to dance yet, because he was still waiting for the perfect moment to put his plan into action...while he was busy thinking about it, he neglected to pay much attention to Melissa Cromwell, his current dance partner.
He noticed, however, when Ami made her way to the dance floor (blushing slightly) with some guy who he couldn't quite identify but suddenly disliked. A lot.
Lita stood by the refreshment table while Ken took a turn with Rei, sampling the tiny desserts. Her thoughts ranged from "I could do better" to "Mm, good...I need to get the recipe for this one!"
She was rudely interrupted when Jaden showed up at her elbow looking surly. "Dance. Now."
"Not if you ask that way. What's your problem, anyway? Why can't you dance with Rei?"
"Because she's dancing with Ken," he answered matter-of-factly.
His cousin rolled her very green eyes. "I meant, why aren't you two a couple?"
He grinned suddenly. "It was my idea! Or, it was my idea after much groveling. You know Rei and I had a fight last week, so we were pretty pissed off at each other until Ami told me to apologize. We decided it would be a good idea to make things between us look cool for a while. When they're both free, I'll ask Ami to dance. That'll be Rei's signal to snag Zach. Then we'll 'accidentally' meet up. Ami and Zach, the kindhearted, completely oblivious souls that they are, will probably suggest that we switch partners, thus giving us a chance to make up. Never mind that we already did plenty of that."
Lita put on a disgusted face. "I don't need to hear about that, Jade. You're my cousin, and Rei's one of my best friends. You're going to make me sick."
Jaden laughed delightedly and replied, "You wouldn't feel sick if you didn't gorge yourself."
"So if that's your brilliant plan, why are you asking me to dance?"
"Because Zach's dancing with someone right now, and so's Ami, and so's Rei," he said hurriedly, catching a glimpse of his pursuer.
"So wait," was her unsympathetic response.
"I can't!"
Melissa joined their merry little crowd. "Hi, Jaden," she purred. In a less seductive voice, she said, "Hello, Lita." Then, in a mock-surprised tone, she inquired, "Oh, were you two talking? I don't mean to interrupt..."
As she trailed off, Lita gritted her teeth in annoyance. She had spoken so that they had no choice but to tell her no, she wasn't interrupting anything, and that they were delighted to see her. "That's fine," she said stiffly with a falsely sweet smile. So this was who he was running away from. She couldn't really blame him.
Melissa ignored her from that point on. "Jade, sweetie, would you dance with me?"
"Um–actually–Lita–"
Melissa swung around to face her, and Lita raised her eyebrows as Jaden mouthed "save me!". But she still hadn't forgive him for that "gorging" comment. "I think I see my date waving to me...hi, Ken! I'll be there in a minute!" Ken was, in fact, nowhere near them. "Jade and I were going to dance, but I'll have to give him a rain check," she informed Melissa with an evil smile. Lita then turned to Jade and suggested in an innocent voice, "Why don't you dance with Melissa?"
He gave her a frigid look as she tripped off, laughing to herself, and resigned himself to another (couple) dance(s) with the clingy brunette...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
At first, Ami had been flattered by Saffir's attention, had soon become a little annoyed by his fixation upon her. He was constantly at her side with his sleek smile, pressing cookies on her, complimenting her on everything from her hair to her shoes, and asking her to dance.
She glanced around the room, searching for Rei, Zach, anyone: they were all busy. Jaden was dancing with that hussy Melissa, smiling as if he had a toothache and listening dutifully. He wasn't even flirting with her...perhaps he thought it was dangerous to encourage her. Rei was trying to rescue Serena from a guy with white-blond hair, and Lita was currently dancing with Darien.
"Ami, your lips are like two flawless rose petals..."
"Thank you," she replied automatically, barely listening to Saffir anymore. He was really getting on her nerves. Why couldn't she spot Zach in the crowd? Ami began feeling nervous. The last time she had seen him, he'd been dancing with a blonde girl named Belinda...Rei's words about his blond preference echoed in her mind. "Excuse me," she said politely, "I have to use the ladies' room."
She left Saffir quickly, ignoring his disappointed expression. She slipped out of the ballroom, which looked even more gorgeous than it had in the afternoon. She just wished she could actually enjoy it...how had she gotten separated from Rei, Lita, and Serena??
Ami wandered through the halls closest to the ballroom, scrupulously avoiding couples who were making out in dark corners. Her stomach flip-flopped: were Zach and Belinda one of them? She really didn't want to check...
The murmur of lowered voices drew her to another hallway. She peeked around the corner cautiously, but when she spotted Zach's coppery hair, she ducked back, flattened herself against the wall, and prepared to eavesdrop shamelessly.
She caught the tail end of something Belinda was saying.... Her voice was, Ami thought a trifle enviously, smooth like black velvet. Her own voice was a bit girlish, high and sweet instead of dark and elegant.
Then Zach laughed–not his careless, breathtaking laugh that was heard when hew as genuinely amused. It was his often insincere "flirting" laugh that Ami had heard two summers ago at the beach.
Suddenly, he went silent, and Ami looked around the corner again to find the two of them kissing and pressed close together; Belinda had her arms around Zachary's neck. She practically had him in a stranglehold. Ami let out a small gasp before running back into the ballroom, hoping they had been too "involved" to hear her.
Rei grabbed her arm as she went past her. "Ami! I've been looking for you all over–is everything okay?"
"Yes," she heard herself say tonelessly, "everything's fine."
Her heartbeat thudded dully in her ears. 'Fine...fine...fine..fine. I'm not fine.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The rest of the night passed somewhat unhappily for Ami, Zach, Jaden, Rei, Serena, and Darien. Ami and Zach were never partner-less, and Ami was determined to escape Zach. Jaden and Rei were frustrated–it looked like they would never get a chance to dance. Lita and Ken seemed oblivious to the problem, dancing happily and chatting up a storm.
Jaden perked up. Now looked like a good time...no, Zach went to dance with Emily.
Rei's purple gaze was intent as she raised her eyebrows pointedly at Ami, who was standing alone by the refreshment table. Jaden plunged towards her rapidly but halted in his tracks when Saffir crossed his path.
Ami she smiled up at Saffir, who handed her a glass of champagne–which she refused but which he kept pressing on her.
"No, thank you. I don't really care for champagne."
Saffir would have protested more, but he saw his brother Demando signaling him from across the room. His brother was having problems wresting Serena away from Darien.
Ami sighed with relief and went to hide in the shadow of one of the smaller Christmas trees. Zach, spotting her at last, disentangled himself from Emily and made his way over to her. She was looking in the opposite direction, so she jumped what seemed like ten feet to Zach when he put his hand on her shoulder.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you. But there's no need to be so jumpy."
When she was over her initial surprise, she gave him a cool look. "No, there isn't."
Zach's eyebrows rose almost to his hairline. As the night had gone on, he hadn't seen her blush since the first time Saffir had showered her with compliments. She had put on her ice-princess mask, and it seemed that it wasn't coming off, not even for him. "Hey, do you think it's a good time to put the plan into motion? Both Rei and Jade are free."
"Are you sure you wouldn't rather spend more time with Belinda? You looked very cozy together. Or perhaps Melissa or Emily would be more to your tastes, since you seem to have finished dancing with Belinda."
He stared at her, his mouth agape. "What–what are you talking about?!"
Her lips were tight as she looked away, pointedly ignoring him. Then Saffir showed up, taking no notice of the fuming Zachary. "Ami, would you like to dance?"
"Of course, Saffir."
Zach's eyes narrowed, and he strode over to Rei, who was patting Serena on the back. Darien and Demando were having a fight over her, and Jaden was breaking it up. "Why didn't you tell me Saffir was all over her?" he hissed.
The raven-haired girl looked up. "Saffir? All over who? Who is he, anyway?"
He turned her in Ami and Saffir's direction. "He's been hanging over Ami all night!" It was true, even though he'd only been witness to that one time. He had been too busy trying to remember all the girls' names, and he had missed the ten-odd times they had danced.
"Is that a problem? She's allowed to have fun, you know."
"Not that kind of fun," he answered grimly. "Saffir and his brother Demando are my third cousins. They're complete womanizers."
Rei smirked. "Who in your family isn't? Ami can handle herself."
"Ordinarily, I'd say yes. But Saffir and Demando are persistent–and Demando was expelled from his last school for stalking a girl. It was more than just following her around campus; he managed to fix cameras in the girls' showers."
"Oh, that's sick!"
"I know. Saffir's the younger brother, and he idolizes his brother. He's also much sneakier and a lot smarter."
"Hm..." Rei was beginning to feel worried herself. Demando had given Darien a bloody nose (outside the ballroom, of course), and Serena had now returned to fluttering over her date. "Zach, they're not here anymore."
"What?!"
"They must have left." Her eyes were huge now. "Ami wouldn't have left here...not with him. Not under any circumstances," she declared with great conviction.
Zach's eyes were stormy as he commanded, "Stay here in case they come back in. I'll check outside."
She nodded, biting her lip as she watched him go.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Saffir, what are we doing out here?"
She stopped speaking abruptly when he pushed her against the wall, hard.
"Stop it! That hurts!"
"I knew I wanted you from the moment I saw you, Ami. And then, when I heard that my dear cousin Zachary was after you as well, I knew I had to have you."
"What are you–"
Her question was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers, hard.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Zach turned around the corner and halted in his tracks when he saw Saffir and Ami kissing. Then he ran forward and yanked him off her. "What the hell are you doing?!"
"Get off me!" Saffir growled.
Ami was wiping her mouth frantically on her wrist when she saw Zach drawing back his feet. She leapt forward and grabbed his arm. "No–Zach, don't!"
Saffir chose that opportune moment to disappear, sneering at them.
They stood looking at each other for what seemed like forever–it was only seconds, for Ami was jolted back into reality by the stinging of her lips. She dropped his arm as if burned and turned away, fighting back tears. She couldn't help but think that Saffir's kiss was so different from Zach's...so different.
"What were you doing out here?" His voice sounded deadened.
She didn't reply; she couldn't trust herself to speak at the moment. Half of her wanted to turn around and hug him, needing to feel his secure warmth. The other half of her was still furiously angry about seeing him with Belinda.
Incensed, Zach turned around and stalked back into the ballroom, leaving her alone in the hallway. Ami wiped her eyes quickly, and when she was sure that she could face everyone again, reentered through the large double-doors.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Young Zachary, is it? ... You seem to be quite popular with the ladies. You know who I really think you should take a turn with? Miss Mizuno-Anderson..."
"Ah, that angel Ami?" a plump older woman asked.
"Yes, Richard and Kira's daughter. She's quite pretty and a very graceful dancer. I'm quite fond of her myself."
"Thank you, sir," he said coldly, unwilling to continue this conversation.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Meanwhile, Ami was dancing with her father, who was looking at her with concern. "Are you feeling all right, Ami?"
"I'm fine," she answered quietly.
Richard shrugged, not wanting to bother her. Especially on Christmas Day. So he asked, "Have you danced with Zach yet?"
"No. And between you and me, I'm not planning to."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aileen Coruni intercepted her son next. "Zach! I haven't seen you all night! Are you having fun?"
"Oh, lots." She missed the sarcasm.
"Kira and I were just talking–would you mind dancing with Ami? We think you'd make such a cute couple...we're having a mini-bet with the Cromwells, you see. Now don't tell your father about it; he wouldn't approve. We just want to see how cute you look together! I'm sure she would suit you much better than Melissa." Aileen lowered her voice to a whisper at the end, not wanting to speak ill of her guests too loudly.
"I don't want to dance with her."
"Zach!" Aileen looked after her son, astonished, as he disappeared into the crowd.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey, Ames, have you danced with Zach yet?"
Ami was feeling a little more than annoyed, and she whirled around angrily. "Not you, too, Lita! What's so great about Zach anyway? He's nothing but a flirt."
The brunette's eyes widened. "Calm down, Ami. You know we're friends, but I really don't like it when you talk about Zach that way. Especially now. I thought you got to know him better."
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ami said bitterly, "So did I." Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, Lita, we just had–a little misunderstanding, and it seems like everyone is telling me to dance with him. Ours mothers even have a bet going on about us!"
Lita raised her eyebrows, but before she could answer, Jaden popped up. Finally. He glared at his cousin, still sore that she had trapped him into dancing with Melissa. "Well, Demando's locked in the bathroom, Darien's nose isn't broken, Ken's looking for you, Lita, and I'm feeling much better! How about a dance, Ames?"
"Oh–sure," she smiled weakly. Just because she was majorly pissed off at Zach didn't mean that the sentiment included his brother. "I'll talk to you later, Lita!"
Jaden smiled down at the top of her head. She was a few inches shorter than Rei, but she and Zach would look so cute together... "Haven't seen you all night," he said breezily.
Ami laughed. "Maybe you haven't seen me, but I've been watching you! How many times were you conned into dancing with Melissa?"
He groaned. "Please don't remind me."
"Um...Jade, you were joking about Demando being locked in a bathroom, right?"
He didn't answer her, just smiled innocently and began searching for Rei in the crowd. He really, really hoped that she had sensed his intentions. It was the second-to-last dance, and if he didn't get to dance with Rei, well...he'd do something drastic. Very drastic.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* "Hey, Zach...did you find Ami?"
"Yeah," he said morosely.
Rei was about to ask him what she had been doing, but then she saw Jaden and Ami dancing. Now was her chance! "Well, that's great! Thanks, Zach."
"No problem."
"Hey...would you dance with me? Pretty please?" Inwardly, she made a face. She sounded like Mina...and Mina would be incredibly proud of the hare-brained scheme she and Jaden had cooked up together. Rei couldn't wait to tell her friend about it.
Zach smiled half-heartedly. "All right. Let's go, Hino."
She winced as he led her through the whirling couples. Hino?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Rei," Jaden said emotionlessly, even though his eyes were twinkling mischievously.
She had to repress a joyful smile herself. In her sternest tone, she replied, "Jaden."
Ami and Zach exchanged nervous looks before they remembered that they were both mad at each other. But they realized that their original plan that had somehow worked out, although neither of them had made any effort to carry it out. Wasn't making Rei and Jaden up worth the sacrifice? Simultaneously, they mentioned that they hadn't had the chance to dance with each other all night...
Jaden hid a grin. Rei smiled to herself and stepped on his foot discreetly when she noticed him staring at her dress (or, more precisely, the parts of her that weren't covered by the dress).
"Ouch," he moaned.
"What was that?"
"Nothing." He smiled painfully.
'Serves you right' was Rei's feeling.
Zach pretended to look torn. "Mm...Ami and I should really dance...I wanted to talk to you, Ames. But I don't want to abandon Rei."
Stiffly, Jaden said, "I wouldn't mind dancing with Rei. Far be it for me to neglect a lady."
Rei raised an ironic eyebrow. "Well, thanks so much, Jaden. Maybe we have a few things to talk about ourselves."
They switched partners quickly, and as Zach put his arms slowly around Ami's waist and she slipped her arms around his neck, Rei and Jaden spun off, laughing.
Ami stared at them. "What in the world is going on with them?"
Zach was equally perplexed until Rei and Jaden started smooching. "Damn! I get it now..."
Ami's mouth opened slightly in horror. "They match-made us...they tricked us into thinking they were still fighting!"
"We thought we were doing them a favor, but they were really plotting against us," Zach added gloomily. "So we really match-made ourselves!" They didn't notice that they were dancing quite close together, both fuming at being tricked.
Then Ami said grudgingly, "Thanks for saving me from Saffir."
"So it was saving you, then?"
She looked up at him in confusion. "Of course! You thought I wanted him to practically attack me by pushing me against the wall and then slobbering all over me? It hurt, you know."
He was suddenly engulfed in a wave of protective emotion. "I'm sorry, Ami. I thought that–you know–it was...consensual."
Ami looked highly insulted. "Yes, well, just because all of your kissing is consensual doesn't mean every other girl has to be a slut."
"Excuse me?" he managed to get out.
She looked away, pouting slightly. "I saw you and Belinda in the hall."
"That? That was..."
*flashback*
"Belinda...I think we should go back now."
"Why?"
"Um...there's not much to do around here."
She smiled slyly. "Are you sure...?"
Before he knew it, she had wrapped around him like a snake and was kissing him deeply.
*end flashback*
"She practically had me in a headlock."
Ami sighed, much more willing to lay her head on Zach's shoulder now. She was suddenly feeling quite tired, and his presence was warm and comforting again instead of cold and hurtful. He felt exactly the same way. "Why are we always getting ourselves into these kinds of situations?" she asked ruefully.
He laughed. "I don't know, but let's not let it happen again."
"I missed you, you know. I kept looking for you, and you kept dancing with all these pretty girls."
"None of them were as beautiful as you are."
To his surprise, she rolled her eyes. "Please. I've heard enough of that from Saffir." As he tensed, Ami giggled slightly and said, "That reminds me. If you thought that the kissing was consensual, why did you feel the need to punch him?"
Zach flushed a bright red. "I was..."
"Angry? Jealous?" she asked sweetly.
He smirked. "If he was such a jerk, why did you stop me?"
"Because you would have gotten in trouble," she said seriously.
He smiled and kissed her temple. "Thanks for watching out for me, then."
"You're such a troublemaker," she teased.
"While you're thinking of a suitable punishment for me, let's keep dancing."
Ami nodded, her eyes glistening. "As long as we can."
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"Aw...they're so cute!" Aileen gushed.
Kira, meanwhile, was holding her hand out to Melissa Cromwell's mother. "I believe we won our bet."
Mrs. Cromwell's expression was pinched. "I don't believe it's settled that your daughter and Zachary are better matched than him and my Melissa."
Aileen burst out laughing, attracting their attention. She pointed at the floor, where Zach was now kissing Ami. "It seems like he has a definite preference."
Melissa's mother slapped the money most ungraciously into Kira's hand as Derek Coruni and Richard Anderson swooped over to collect their wives for the last dance...
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Ami's cheeks were a little pink as Zach drew back. He grinned. "I don't have to lean down as much tonight–what a refreshing change."
"I know. I hate being so short."
"I think it's cute." After a few minutes of blissful silence, he looked back at her. "Ami?"
"Mm?" She was smiling happily, watching Darien and Serena, Rei and Jaden, and Lita and Ken dancing near them. The last two were only friends, but they looked equally happy to be together.
"When I kissed you...in the hallway last night...was it your first kiss?"
She looked back at him, her eyebrows raised. "Yes."
"I thought so." Zach didn't sound smug, as she had expected; instead, his tone was pensive. "It wasn't mine."
"It doesn't matter. I didn't think it would be," she replied softly, her voice level.
"You mean more to me than any of the others."
Ami smiled slightly. "You certainly mean more to me than Saffir does."
He didn't reply to the jest. "Even though it wasn't my first kiss...you make me wish that it was, Ami."
Her eyes sparkled with tears as he cut off her reply by kissing her again.
When the final stroke of the clock sounded, her head was resting on his shoulder again. She was listening to his heartbeat, so close to her ear, with her eyes closed. It was steady and strong...with the erratic beat here and there that made her smile. She didn't need to look into his eyes to see the emotion shining there. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve without fear, and it was all for her.
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