auggy1984-- Yep, they're going to the prom together :). Let's see what happens.
colorado2-- (Blushes) Glad you liked the father/daughter bonding!
Dr Brown slowed down and stopped the car at the school gates where Ephram and Hana got out.
"Have fun, and don't be home too late," he smiled and winked at Ephram before driving off. Ephram helplessly tried to ignore him as Hana attempted to hold back a grin and failed. The entire drive had been so much fun for her, with Ephram only getting more and more mortified as Dr Brown spilled tidbit after tidbit of embarrassing stories about him.
"Aww Ephram, don't worry about it," Hana laughed now, trying to console him. "Your dad's really nice".
"Yeah really nice at humiliating me," Ephram said sarcastically. But this only made Hana laugh more. She stopped however, seeing the sullen look on his face. Their schoolmates were pouring through the gates, and Hana recognised some people from her classes. How different everybody looked tonight.
"Come on," she said containing a shiver of excitement and linked her arm through Ephram's. "Let's go in". But Ephram still didn't look quite cheered up yet. She poked him in the side and he jumped, startled.
"Ticklish eh? Well if you don't cheer up right now, I'm gonna tickle you to death," she said with an evil smile.
Ephram burst into a grin. "Yes Your Highness," he laughed and they slowly poured their way in with the rest of the suits and dresses.
You're gonna have have a good time tonight, Ephram told himself as Hana and him entered the school auditorium. The committee had done a great job with decorating by the looks of it. A myriad of colours swam around on the dance floor, and fast-tempoed music blasted through the several speakers that stood around the room. Some people were already dancing and laughing on the dance floor.
He turned to look at Hana and saw a big smile on her face, the coloured lights throwing dim reflections on her skin. They made her look otherwordly. A happy, otherwordly creature hanging onto his arm. He had always thought she was pretty even underneath her usual baggy clothes and glasses, but right then she literally glowed. She looked like she was on the verge of some adventure, like a kid who'd just made a stop to Disneyland.
Hana must've felt him looking at her for she turned around. "What?" she asked, a grin still on her face. Ephram shook his head.
"Nothing," he replied with a laugh.
But as they walked on, he slowly began to feel bad. Hana didn't know it, but the real reason why he had wanted to come here tonight was to see Amy again. Maybe he would have his chance to talk to her. His eyes scanned the faces of the many people around the room as they walked, and then finally, he spotted her.
She looked as beautiful as ever, her long blonde hair loose and clipped up at the side simply, sitting down at a table across the hall from him. Ephram saw Colin bend over to her and say something in her ear. She nodded and smiled, and he got up, heading towards the drinks.
"Heeey...Earth to Ephram..." he suddenly heard Hana say. He turned to look at her, startled.
"You wanna sit down or what?" she asked him, laughter sparkling in her brown eyes.
"Yeah," he snapped himself out of his thoughts and hastily pulled out a chair for her.
"Thank you," she chirped and sat down. When she was settled, he pulled out a chair for himself beside her. He studied Hana for a moment when she wasn't looking, still not completely over how different she looked. The dew-crystals on the corsage he had pinned onto her earlier glittered merrily and he wondered why his pulse had begun to quicken.
"Torn?" he heard somebody ask beside him. He whipped his head around.
"Yeah..." the girl at their table sniffed disconsolately, holding up the bottom of her dress where there was a slight rip. Her date, most probably her boyfriend, kissed her on the cheek affectionately.
"Ah don't worry about that, it's a small one," he consoled her. "No one will notice when they take a look at you anyway".
Ephram turned himself away, a slight frown on his features.
This must be the best night of my entire life, Hana thought. Everything was so perfect, like something out of a dream. She felt beautiful and free, and Ephram was her date. Well, she would let herself believe that for the moment even though he'd said they were only here as friends. It completed the perfectness of everything.
She'd never smiled or laughed so much in one night. Guys had come to her to ask her to dance! At first, she turned them down, because she'd never danced in public before and felt awkward about it. But with a little pushing from Ephram, she'd said a reluctant, unsure 'yes', and before she knew it, she had been whisked away to the dance floor and was now dancing with partner after partner, most of whom couldn't believe that she was the same geeky Hana from their classes. She'd tried to pull Ephram along with her but he'd shook his head and laughed, and was now sitting down stubbornly at their table. She couldn't help sneaking glances over at him now and then as she danced. He looked lost in thought. There it was on his face, that look again; the same one he'd given her just before they'd entered the car. Something was 'off' with him tonight.
And then suddenly, she realised. He wasn't lost in thought, he was staring at something. Hana turned to see what it was, and she wasn't surprised to find that it was a someone- Amy, content in her own happiness with Colin. Hana sighed a breath of bitter disappointment. Why couldn't Ephram just move on instead of moping about her? Then again she might as well ask herself why she couldn't just move on from Ephram and be content in them being just friends.
"Hey, I'm feeling a little dizzy so I'm just gonna go sit down for a while," she excused herself from her current dance partner, Shah from Science class.
"Oh sure," he nodded and eyed her concernedly. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," she nodded earnestly. "Just need to take a breather". She pushed her way through the dancing bodies and walked out of the auditorium unnoticed. Why did she feel so betrayed? She had known all along that Ephram would never think of her as more than a friend, didn't she?
But this night, all that she'd done with herself, to herself, had been for him.
Oh, don't be silly Hana, she told herself as she walked ahead with blurry unseeing eyes. She'd known from the very beginning that Ephram's heart was for Amy. Hana relievedly found a small secluded spot by the stairs. She sat down in the corner and tried not to cry.