Tashigi looked around worriedly, trying to look over the heads of students for Jonathan.
'Where is he?'
She thought, her eyes glancing about as Mr. Harrison yabbered on and on about the school's achievements in the past ten years,
'He's over fifteen minutes late...'
She was starting to feel extremely awkward. The black dress suddenly felt exposing, especially since it was strapless, and the ribbon tied loosely around her waist for just decoration felt stupid. Her high heels made her feel uncannily clumsy, and her sleeked down hair felt weird and awkward.
Where was Jonathan?? She nervously bit her lip. At least she still had her glasses on.
"So how does this work?"
Zoro asked his companions as they each grabbed a plate.
"Oh, it's really basic,"
Yosaku said as he selected some cocktail sausages to go onto his plate,
"You just sit on a table, eat, and occasionally dance."
"That's it?"
Zoro said in relief, when Johnny casually added,
"Oh, and at the end, you have to stay to listen to all the awards."
"Awards?"
Zoro asked, his heart sinking. He didn't want to listen to anything after this - he wanted to go up and collapse on his hammock...? Huh? Now where did that come from, Zoro wondered.
"Zoro?"
"Eh?"
He snapped back to attention, dismissing what he had previously been pondering,
"Sorry. Uh, can't I leave early?"
"Of course you can."
Yosaku laughed, when Mr. Harrison popped out of no where and gave a booming laugh as he clapped Zoro on the back.
"So, newbie!! How's life so far?"
He asked, beaming. Zoro stared at him, taking a few seconds to reply,
"Uh, great."
"And you're room-mate's treating you fine?"
"Er... yeah."
"Excellent!!"
Mr. Harrison laughed, gripping Zoro's shoulders and shaking him a bit,
"Just excellent. Are you here alone?"
He asked. Confused, Zoro looked at where Johnny and Yosaku were -- only to find them missing. He noticed them standing many feet away from him, obviously having had run away, and were looking greatly interested in a platter of chicken wings. A nerve twitched in Zoro's head, but he merely said,
"No. I'm here with some friends."
"That's great. So, Zoro, I hope you have fun here, so-cia-li-sing,"
The dean emphasised each syllable with a shaking of Zoro, then smiling he continued,
"Be a good lad and stay behind so I can consult you about something with your timetable. Is that alright?"
"Er, yeah."
"Wonderful. I'll see you at the end of the dinner dance."
Mr. Harrison strolled away with a last clap on Zoro's back.
Zoro stood stunned for a moment, the chance of being able to go earlier having had eluded him, when he realised he was holding up the line. The people behind Zoro were all holding plates and looking curiously at who the 'newbie' was. Feeling a warmth creep up his neck, Zoro hurried along, flipping random things onto his plate and catching up to his two 'friends', who were now staring intently at a tureen of cream of mushroom soup.
"Thanks for abandoning me,"
Zoro muttered, and they started. Then they laughed nervously.
"Uh... we're in a spot of trouble with the dean."
Johnny admitted.
"About what?"
"Well, it's a long story, but it starts with me deciding to wear a pair of trousers that--"
Yosaku began, when Zoro urged them forward.
"Okay, okay, you can tell me later. Just keep walking."
After a few more random selections of food, the three headed to a table and sat down. Cutlery and napkins had been set before all the seats, so Zoro picked up a fork and speared a sausage on his plate and dug into his dinner, listening to Johnny and Yosaku's story about the pair of trousers and spray-paint.
Tashigi couldn't eat; she waited nervously at the back entrance of the auditorium.
'Where on Earth is he?'
She thought concernedly. She could slip out now, but she didn't want Jonathan to arrive while she wasn't there. As she waited, a sense of creeping dread filled her. And again, against her better judgement she did her best to ignore it. However, she couldn't ignore the strange echo of the girls in the cafeteria laughing after her.
Twirling a screwdriver in his hand, Usopp pocketed it and looked at the appliance before him; a television set he was supposed to fix for one of the charity houses he helped sometimes.
"Let's see now..."
Connecting the plug to its socket, he took a deep breath and switched the television on. Fuzzy lines appeared, then thickened and coloured before showing a hazy screen that barely showed the outline of the Eiffel Tower. Groaning, Usopp turned the television around and switched it off, then set about to toggling the VID section of wires.
Her face resurfaced in his mind again, and he sighed. It was impossible to not think about her. Ever since he had seen her on Wednesday evening, he kept replaying the scene; the few seconds he had seen her amidst the shouts and flashes. His chest had hurt so much, but he still remembered clearly. Her eyes... they had filled with tears, and she had reached a pale hand towards him, her lips mouthing just one syllable... the first syllable to his name.
He had also finally remembered her name as soon as he had seen her up close... Kaya. He had never remembered the name of the girl in his dreams. Strangely enough, he had never actually entirely connected himself to who he was in the dream. After all, they were only dreams, right? But...
Thinking deeper... there was Nami in his dreams as well. Not only was that weird... her reaction to the dream he had described to her... He hadn't told her about Kaya yet. He didn't want to bring up his dreams in front of her again -- at least, not until the week ended. But he had also had a dream the previous night... the Nami in his dreams had had a terrible, heart-wrenching past that had woken him up with tears in his eyes. And as if that wasn't enough... she also saved his life.
He shivered at the images in his head of her stabbing her hand, the blood soaking her and him, then him bringing a hand dripping with the dark liquid to his eyes before escaping into clear aqua waters, the crimson dissolving... he shook his head, and tried to concentrate on clipping the plastic off two wires when Kaya's voice echoed in his head again. Yes... line after line from his dreams had come in a rush to him while he had been running to see her.
During that time... he hadn't been himself. At least, he hadn't felt like himself -- he had felt as though... he was the Usopp from his dreams. The Kaya from his dreams was in reality as well, and had known his name. He was sure of it; she had recognised him, just like he had recognised her. There was also a Nami in his dreams that existed in reality as well... and... the Usopp in his dreams... well, that was him.
How was it that someone from his dreams existed and actually managed to recognise him? Maybe she dreams what I dream, Usopp thought. Now I feel like I'm in some sci-fi film... Usopp sighed. All I know, he thought, is that I really need to see her... I need to talk to her, know what's happening... because something seriously weird is going on, he concluded as he tucked the finished wires into the back of the television. Spinning it around, he switched it on again to see if he had succeeded.
The clear image of Kaya looking over a lake on a bridge, a breeze fluttering past her soft blonde hair and lilac dress appeared. Her features were accentuated by the moonlight, and her voice was in a voice-over of the scene.
"Should I go to France?"
Her soft voice questioned above soft, flute music. Usopp stared before scooting towards the screen.
"She's an actress?!!"
He yelped as her voice wondered about seeing Colin again. Staring at her on the screen in wonder, he noticed her lips curl into a smile. He frowned. That wasn't the smile he knew... that was... a rigid smile. He gripped the sides of the television, trying to squish his long nose in a way so he could take a closer look at the screen, when the screen flickered and disappeared while the sound died.
Cursing, Usopp quickly switched it off and began flurried work on the television's wires again.
By the time he had finished and turned the set on again, however, the drama episode had ended.
Nami gave a final twirl as the song ended, and gave a dazzling smile to her partner.
"That was fun."
"Y-yeah?"
He stammered, looking pleased and excited as the next song rolled around. He made as though to dance to the next song, but she gave a little curtsey before saying,
"Thanks, Leon,"
Before heading off to the side tables for a drink. Vivi joined her side.
"How many people have you danced with so far?"
Vivi asked, taking note of Nami's flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.
"Only around four or five guys,"
She said nonchalantly, sipping her Sprite. Vivi tutted, but Nami could tell she didn't really disapprove by the way she was smiling.
"Hey,"
Vivi said suddenly,
"There's that Sandy White guy."
He was dancing with a girl who looked like she in ecstasy to just be dancing with the model. Nami scowled.
"Ugh."
"What's wrong?"
Vivi said in surprise.
"I don't like his vibes,"
She told her, putting down her drink,
"They're so stuck up it's positively painful."
Actually, she wasn't sure of why, but it was always painful to walk past the guy. She didn't like the way her insides went weird whenever she even just looked at him.
"Well, if you say so,"
Vivi said dubiously as she watched Sandy White laugh when the girl accidentally stepped on his toes, blushing like mad while he smiled and gestured to continue dancing.
"Hey, I'm going to see if I can get a dance with the new guy,"
Nami said lightly before walking over to the green-haired student. He had finished dinner, she noticed, but wasn't dancing, and was listening to his friends. Smiling brightly, Nami slid into a chair next to Zoro. She sweat-dropped as the other two companions - Yosaku and Johnny, she knew them - stared at her as though she had just descended from Heaven or something. Ignoring them, she prodded Zoro to get his attention. He looked at her in mild surprise.
"Hey, do you have a date with you?"
He let out a small sigh before saying,
"No, I don't. Man, you don't know how many people have asked me that!"
"You know, I didn't mean to offend you,"
She began, when Zoro shook his head.
"No, I mean... I'm just complaining. Not about you."
They looked at each other for a moment. For some reason, Nami felt very comfortable with the newbie. Strangely enough.
"So are you going to sit there all night or what? Let's dance."
Nami said, tugging on his shirt. He looked slightly scandalised, tensing up, and said rather stoutly,
"I don't dance."
"Oh come on."
He relaxed a little, but remained resolutely in his seat while Nami stood up.
"Sorry... I don't really like dancing."
He said, this time a bit apologetically. She sighed, but smiled, patting his shoulder.
"Fine, fine. Any of you boys up for a dance?"
She asked the other two. From deeply jealous and envious looks at Zoro they changed to astounded expressions, so stunned they couldn't speak for a few seconds. Then Johnny thwacked Yosaku off his chair as he said eagerly,
"Oh, I'd love to!"
"Alright, Johnny,"
She took his arm as he looked startled that she knew his name,
"Let's go then!"
Then she grinned at Zoro and called out,
"What happened to your gold earrings, by the way?"
Then she and Johnny headed towards the center of the auditorium.
Zoro blinked. He didn't own any gold earrings.
Sanji was greatly distracted from the girl he was dancing with as he eyes followed a glossy orange-head walk from the side-table to another table, where Cabbage-head was sitting. His eyes narrowed as he realised she was asking him for a dance.
'Why does she look at me so coldly, but want to dance with the guy who's only been here two days?!'
He thought unhappily, when he realised the girl had stepped on his shoes for something like the eighth time. He patted her shoulder, assuring her in a soothing voice that it was okay, when the song ended. He smiled charmingly at the girl before him, bowing as he said lightly,
"Thanks for the dance."
As she swooned, he walked to the side table, poured himself some lemonade and drank it slowly. He eyed Nami and Zoro, and noticed that he had rejected her because she walked away with one of Zoro's friends.
'The hell!! How dare he reject such a precious treasure of all four oceans!!'
He thought furiously, gritting his teeth, when he blinked. Precious treasure of all four oceans? Well, sure he loved to lavish the beautiful young woman in his mind, but wasn't that a little ... well, off? Treasure, okay, understandable, but all four oceans... where did that come from?
He then noticed that the song had ended, and Nami was curtseying to Johnny and heading towards a friend of hers. Now was his chance!
Mustering all the courage he had, he walked towards the girl he thought of more than any other girl he knew, and intercepted her path so she had to stop and look up at him.
"Yes?"
She said. Sanji couldn't miss the frostiness, but he tried anyway.
"You want to dance the next song?"
He asked, trying to be as suave and as cool as possible. He didn't know why, but for some reason, what this girl thought of him was vitally important to him. Hell, he didn't even know why he was attracted to her... it was something about the way she looked, although the way she looked disturbed Sanji slightly. He had no idea why, but something about her was definitely 'off', but otherwise, he was still attracted to her greatly.
"Yes, I do,"
She said, bringing Sanji back to Earth with joy, when she continued coldly,
"But not with you. Sorry."
With that, she walked past him, his heart plummeting to his stomach. However, determined to know why, he caught her arm as she walked by.
"Hey, hang on,"
He said, feeling hurt,
"Can I at least know why you're so cold to me? You always avoid my looks, and whenever you look at me, it's always--"
He stopped at the sight of her expression. Was it -- pain? She shoved his hand off her arm, her eyes narrowed. She looked up at him defiantly, and Sanji was sure she was about to say something, and braced himself for complete heartbreak. But she didn't say anything.
She looked at him with a bit of a softer expression, and Sanji was sure he saw pain and sadness within her hazel eyes before she turned around without a word and stalked off towards a blue-haired girl.
Sanji was left standing in the middle of the auditorium, his eyes following confusedly the back of the orange-haired girl, rejection smarting painfully in his chest.
A/N: Okay, it's a bit long but I had no choice. XP Okay, I have not finished writing the dinner dance yet, but it looks like it'll be around chapter 11 or 12 when it ends. Why on earth do I take so long to just complete one NIGHT?! You may ask. Well... I do have an awful lot of chcaracters to keep an eye on... except for Luffy of course, lol. XD Sorry folks! I love Luffy too, but... *shakes head* This ain't where he comes out. ^_^;; Bear with me! I warn you that the following chapters may be pretty awful. (Not in context; it's just my writing that makes it bad. XP)
Thank you sooooo much for reviewing. It totally made my day to see that one chapter collected eight reviews. XD Luv you ppl!! Okay, I've blabbered on long enough... thanks again... ^^*
'Where is he?'
She thought, her eyes glancing about as Mr. Harrison yabbered on and on about the school's achievements in the past ten years,
'He's over fifteen minutes late...'
She was starting to feel extremely awkward. The black dress suddenly felt exposing, especially since it was strapless, and the ribbon tied loosely around her waist for just decoration felt stupid. Her high heels made her feel uncannily clumsy, and her sleeked down hair felt weird and awkward.
Where was Jonathan?? She nervously bit her lip. At least she still had her glasses on.
"So how does this work?"
Zoro asked his companions as they each grabbed a plate.
"Oh, it's really basic,"
Yosaku said as he selected some cocktail sausages to go onto his plate,
"You just sit on a table, eat, and occasionally dance."
"That's it?"
Zoro said in relief, when Johnny casually added,
"Oh, and at the end, you have to stay to listen to all the awards."
"Awards?"
Zoro asked, his heart sinking. He didn't want to listen to anything after this - he wanted to go up and collapse on his hammock...? Huh? Now where did that come from, Zoro wondered.
"Zoro?"
"Eh?"
He snapped back to attention, dismissing what he had previously been pondering,
"Sorry. Uh, can't I leave early?"
"Of course you can."
Yosaku laughed, when Mr. Harrison popped out of no where and gave a booming laugh as he clapped Zoro on the back.
"So, newbie!! How's life so far?"
He asked, beaming. Zoro stared at him, taking a few seconds to reply,
"Uh, great."
"And you're room-mate's treating you fine?"
"Er... yeah."
"Excellent!!"
Mr. Harrison laughed, gripping Zoro's shoulders and shaking him a bit,
"Just excellent. Are you here alone?"
He asked. Confused, Zoro looked at where Johnny and Yosaku were -- only to find them missing. He noticed them standing many feet away from him, obviously having had run away, and were looking greatly interested in a platter of chicken wings. A nerve twitched in Zoro's head, but he merely said,
"No. I'm here with some friends."
"That's great. So, Zoro, I hope you have fun here, so-cia-li-sing,"
The dean emphasised each syllable with a shaking of Zoro, then smiling he continued,
"Be a good lad and stay behind so I can consult you about something with your timetable. Is that alright?"
"Er, yeah."
"Wonderful. I'll see you at the end of the dinner dance."
Mr. Harrison strolled away with a last clap on Zoro's back.
Zoro stood stunned for a moment, the chance of being able to go earlier having had eluded him, when he realised he was holding up the line. The people behind Zoro were all holding plates and looking curiously at who the 'newbie' was. Feeling a warmth creep up his neck, Zoro hurried along, flipping random things onto his plate and catching up to his two 'friends', who were now staring intently at a tureen of cream of mushroom soup.
"Thanks for abandoning me,"
Zoro muttered, and they started. Then they laughed nervously.
"Uh... we're in a spot of trouble with the dean."
Johnny admitted.
"About what?"
"Well, it's a long story, but it starts with me deciding to wear a pair of trousers that--"
Yosaku began, when Zoro urged them forward.
"Okay, okay, you can tell me later. Just keep walking."
After a few more random selections of food, the three headed to a table and sat down. Cutlery and napkins had been set before all the seats, so Zoro picked up a fork and speared a sausage on his plate and dug into his dinner, listening to Johnny and Yosaku's story about the pair of trousers and spray-paint.
Tashigi couldn't eat; she waited nervously at the back entrance of the auditorium.
'Where on Earth is he?'
She thought concernedly. She could slip out now, but she didn't want Jonathan to arrive while she wasn't there. As she waited, a sense of creeping dread filled her. And again, against her better judgement she did her best to ignore it. However, she couldn't ignore the strange echo of the girls in the cafeteria laughing after her.
Twirling a screwdriver in his hand, Usopp pocketed it and looked at the appliance before him; a television set he was supposed to fix for one of the charity houses he helped sometimes.
"Let's see now..."
Connecting the plug to its socket, he took a deep breath and switched the television on. Fuzzy lines appeared, then thickened and coloured before showing a hazy screen that barely showed the outline of the Eiffel Tower. Groaning, Usopp turned the television around and switched it off, then set about to toggling the VID section of wires.
Her face resurfaced in his mind again, and he sighed. It was impossible to not think about her. Ever since he had seen her on Wednesday evening, he kept replaying the scene; the few seconds he had seen her amidst the shouts and flashes. His chest had hurt so much, but he still remembered clearly. Her eyes... they had filled with tears, and she had reached a pale hand towards him, her lips mouthing just one syllable... the first syllable to his name.
He had also finally remembered her name as soon as he had seen her up close... Kaya. He had never remembered the name of the girl in his dreams. Strangely enough, he had never actually entirely connected himself to who he was in the dream. After all, they were only dreams, right? But...
Thinking deeper... there was Nami in his dreams as well. Not only was that weird... her reaction to the dream he had described to her... He hadn't told her about Kaya yet. He didn't want to bring up his dreams in front of her again -- at least, not until the week ended. But he had also had a dream the previous night... the Nami in his dreams had had a terrible, heart-wrenching past that had woken him up with tears in his eyes. And as if that wasn't enough... she also saved his life.
He shivered at the images in his head of her stabbing her hand, the blood soaking her and him, then him bringing a hand dripping with the dark liquid to his eyes before escaping into clear aqua waters, the crimson dissolving... he shook his head, and tried to concentrate on clipping the plastic off two wires when Kaya's voice echoed in his head again. Yes... line after line from his dreams had come in a rush to him while he had been running to see her.
During that time... he hadn't been himself. At least, he hadn't felt like himself -- he had felt as though... he was the Usopp from his dreams. The Kaya from his dreams was in reality as well, and had known his name. He was sure of it; she had recognised him, just like he had recognised her. There was also a Nami in his dreams that existed in reality as well... and... the Usopp in his dreams... well, that was him.
How was it that someone from his dreams existed and actually managed to recognise him? Maybe she dreams what I dream, Usopp thought. Now I feel like I'm in some sci-fi film... Usopp sighed. All I know, he thought, is that I really need to see her... I need to talk to her, know what's happening... because something seriously weird is going on, he concluded as he tucked the finished wires into the back of the television. Spinning it around, he switched it on again to see if he had succeeded.
The clear image of Kaya looking over a lake on a bridge, a breeze fluttering past her soft blonde hair and lilac dress appeared. Her features were accentuated by the moonlight, and her voice was in a voice-over of the scene.
"Should I go to France?"
Her soft voice questioned above soft, flute music. Usopp stared before scooting towards the screen.
"She's an actress?!!"
He yelped as her voice wondered about seeing Colin again. Staring at her on the screen in wonder, he noticed her lips curl into a smile. He frowned. That wasn't the smile he knew... that was... a rigid smile. He gripped the sides of the television, trying to squish his long nose in a way so he could take a closer look at the screen, when the screen flickered and disappeared while the sound died.
Cursing, Usopp quickly switched it off and began flurried work on the television's wires again.
By the time he had finished and turned the set on again, however, the drama episode had ended.
Nami gave a final twirl as the song ended, and gave a dazzling smile to her partner.
"That was fun."
"Y-yeah?"
He stammered, looking pleased and excited as the next song rolled around. He made as though to dance to the next song, but she gave a little curtsey before saying,
"Thanks, Leon,"
Before heading off to the side tables for a drink. Vivi joined her side.
"How many people have you danced with so far?"
Vivi asked, taking note of Nami's flushed cheeks and sparkling eyes.
"Only around four or five guys,"
She said nonchalantly, sipping her Sprite. Vivi tutted, but Nami could tell she didn't really disapprove by the way she was smiling.
"Hey,"
Vivi said suddenly,
"There's that Sandy White guy."
He was dancing with a girl who looked like she in ecstasy to just be dancing with the model. Nami scowled.
"Ugh."
"What's wrong?"
Vivi said in surprise.
"I don't like his vibes,"
She told her, putting down her drink,
"They're so stuck up it's positively painful."
Actually, she wasn't sure of why, but it was always painful to walk past the guy. She didn't like the way her insides went weird whenever she even just looked at him.
"Well, if you say so,"
Vivi said dubiously as she watched Sandy White laugh when the girl accidentally stepped on his toes, blushing like mad while he smiled and gestured to continue dancing.
"Hey, I'm going to see if I can get a dance with the new guy,"
Nami said lightly before walking over to the green-haired student. He had finished dinner, she noticed, but wasn't dancing, and was listening to his friends. Smiling brightly, Nami slid into a chair next to Zoro. She sweat-dropped as the other two companions - Yosaku and Johnny, she knew them - stared at her as though she had just descended from Heaven or something. Ignoring them, she prodded Zoro to get his attention. He looked at her in mild surprise.
"Hey, do you have a date with you?"
He let out a small sigh before saying,
"No, I don't. Man, you don't know how many people have asked me that!"
"You know, I didn't mean to offend you,"
She began, when Zoro shook his head.
"No, I mean... I'm just complaining. Not about you."
They looked at each other for a moment. For some reason, Nami felt very comfortable with the newbie. Strangely enough.
"So are you going to sit there all night or what? Let's dance."
Nami said, tugging on his shirt. He looked slightly scandalised, tensing up, and said rather stoutly,
"I don't dance."
"Oh come on."
He relaxed a little, but remained resolutely in his seat while Nami stood up.
"Sorry... I don't really like dancing."
He said, this time a bit apologetically. She sighed, but smiled, patting his shoulder.
"Fine, fine. Any of you boys up for a dance?"
She asked the other two. From deeply jealous and envious looks at Zoro they changed to astounded expressions, so stunned they couldn't speak for a few seconds. Then Johnny thwacked Yosaku off his chair as he said eagerly,
"Oh, I'd love to!"
"Alright, Johnny,"
She took his arm as he looked startled that she knew his name,
"Let's go then!"
Then she grinned at Zoro and called out,
"What happened to your gold earrings, by the way?"
Then she and Johnny headed towards the center of the auditorium.
Zoro blinked. He didn't own any gold earrings.
Sanji was greatly distracted from the girl he was dancing with as he eyes followed a glossy orange-head walk from the side-table to another table, where Cabbage-head was sitting. His eyes narrowed as he realised she was asking him for a dance.
'Why does she look at me so coldly, but want to dance with the guy who's only been here two days?!'
He thought unhappily, when he realised the girl had stepped on his shoes for something like the eighth time. He patted her shoulder, assuring her in a soothing voice that it was okay, when the song ended. He smiled charmingly at the girl before him, bowing as he said lightly,
"Thanks for the dance."
As she swooned, he walked to the side table, poured himself some lemonade and drank it slowly. He eyed Nami and Zoro, and noticed that he had rejected her because she walked away with one of Zoro's friends.
'The hell!! How dare he reject such a precious treasure of all four oceans!!'
He thought furiously, gritting his teeth, when he blinked. Precious treasure of all four oceans? Well, sure he loved to lavish the beautiful young woman in his mind, but wasn't that a little ... well, off? Treasure, okay, understandable, but all four oceans... where did that come from?
He then noticed that the song had ended, and Nami was curtseying to Johnny and heading towards a friend of hers. Now was his chance!
Mustering all the courage he had, he walked towards the girl he thought of more than any other girl he knew, and intercepted her path so she had to stop and look up at him.
"Yes?"
She said. Sanji couldn't miss the frostiness, but he tried anyway.
"You want to dance the next song?"
He asked, trying to be as suave and as cool as possible. He didn't know why, but for some reason, what this girl thought of him was vitally important to him. Hell, he didn't even know why he was attracted to her... it was something about the way she looked, although the way she looked disturbed Sanji slightly. He had no idea why, but something about her was definitely 'off', but otherwise, he was still attracted to her greatly.
"Yes, I do,"
She said, bringing Sanji back to Earth with joy, when she continued coldly,
"But not with you. Sorry."
With that, she walked past him, his heart plummeting to his stomach. However, determined to know why, he caught her arm as she walked by.
"Hey, hang on,"
He said, feeling hurt,
"Can I at least know why you're so cold to me? You always avoid my looks, and whenever you look at me, it's always--"
He stopped at the sight of her expression. Was it -- pain? She shoved his hand off her arm, her eyes narrowed. She looked up at him defiantly, and Sanji was sure she was about to say something, and braced himself for complete heartbreak. But she didn't say anything.
She looked at him with a bit of a softer expression, and Sanji was sure he saw pain and sadness within her hazel eyes before she turned around without a word and stalked off towards a blue-haired girl.
Sanji was left standing in the middle of the auditorium, his eyes following confusedly the back of the orange-haired girl, rejection smarting painfully in his chest.
A/N: Okay, it's a bit long but I had no choice. XP Okay, I have not finished writing the dinner dance yet, but it looks like it'll be around chapter 11 or 12 when it ends. Why on earth do I take so long to just complete one NIGHT?! You may ask. Well... I do have an awful lot of chcaracters to keep an eye on... except for Luffy of course, lol. XD Sorry folks! I love Luffy too, but... *shakes head* This ain't where he comes out. ^_^;; Bear with me! I warn you that the following chapters may be pretty awful. (Not in context; it's just my writing that makes it bad. XP)
Thank you sooooo much for reviewing. It totally made my day to see that one chapter collected eight reviews. XD Luv you ppl!! Okay, I've blabbered on long enough... thanks again... ^^*