Disclaimer: Well unless someone has given me a surprise early birthday/christmas/easter present then I don't own RFR and sadly never will.

PS Crizzy4rfr contributed a few paragraphes in this chapter so say nice stuff about her in your review too!

The Moment

June 30 2005

Summer has finally arrived here in Roscoe. Usually summers here aren't so exciting but this one I have a good feeling about. My band and I have been sucessful with our performing recently and I am really relieved all the stress from school is gone for at least two months. I have had a lot of ups and downs with my friends in 9th grade but we got through them okay. I think things are now at an all time high for me though. I ended the school year on top and everything is perfect, well it's getting there at least. I glued this picture onto the first page so I have something to work towards this summer. Ray broke up with Grace and my feelings are still as strong as they used to be so I'm not letting my chance slip away this time. I've learned from experience that that only leads to a huge ammount of pain and regret but you also can't force things. I learned both of those lessons the hard way. This picture was taken at the semiformal right near the end of the year...

Flashback to: The Semi Formal

The semi formal was held on the last day of school and all the ninth grade class piled onto a bus and headed out to the beach to spend the day. Ray, Travis, Robbie, Parker, Grace, and Lily all spent most of the day together goofing off in the water and enjoying the bright June sunshine. Lily didn't know if it was her imagination but she caught Ray looking in her direction a few times that day. She returned his gaze but it looked like Grace began to notice this too because before they were scheduled to leave, her and Ray disappeared for a few minutes. Grace didn't sit with them on the way back to the school but Lily noticed that her eyes were red. Ray looked a little upset but Lily didn't want to seem too inquisitive so she didn't ask him about it. She figured he'd tell her when he was ready.

When they got back to the school all the girls including Lily and Parker crowded into the washrooms to get ready for the dance. Even Lily had gone out and bought a relatively fancy dress for the occasion. Parker helped her do her make-up to match the blue-green dress she'd bought.

About an hour later they all headed down to the gymnasium. It was almost unrecognizable after the dance commity had finished with it. The theme was the night sky and there were glow and the dark stars and moons all over the ceiling to make it look like the night sky. Lily hardly even noticed the decorations after Ray walked in. He, along with Robbie and Travis came over to sit on one of the benches with Lily and Parker who were already there.

"That dress matches your eyes perfectly," Ray said causing Lily to blush a little.

"Yeah, I like your dress," Travis said to Parker. The two girls looked at each other and stifled the urge to giggle.

"Uh what happened to Grace earlier," Robbie said destroying the carefree mood.

"Well see, I think that's something I should tell Lily first," he replied.

"Yeah, how 'bout we go check out the food table while these two talk things out," Parker said sensing the need for a little bit of privacy.

"Okay sounds like a plan to me," Travis said although Parker could have suggested going to the cricket championships and he would still have agreed.

After they left Lily looked at Ray awkwardly waiting for him to say something.

"Maybe we should go somewhere quieter,"he suggested as the music began to play. She agreed and followed him out the gym doors. They sat down on the front steps of the school and were quiet for a second before anyone spoke.

"So, I saw you and Grace uh talking. What happened," Lily asked fiddling nervously with the material of her dress.

"Well...she broke up with me," he said.

"I'm really sorry," Lily said even though she wasn't all that dissapointed.

"No, it's okay. I think it may be for the best anyways," he said not meeting her eyes completely.

"Not trying to be inquisitive here but can I ask why," she asked him curiously. Lily tryed to stop herself from hoping for a certain answer but she couldn't help it.

"She-Grace accused me of-she said I had a crush on another girl," he stuttered looking anywhere but at the girl in front of him. Lily's heart beat a little faster although she kept telling herself not to get her hopes up.

"Okay...but was it true," Lily couldn't help but ask.

"At first I didn't think it was but now I think it just might have been true all along," he answered finally finding the courage to look in her direction again.

"Lily they're taking pictures we gotta get one, come on," Parker said from the school doorway making her jump about ten feet in the air. She grabbed her arm and dragged her back into the gym. Lily looked back at Ray and motioned for him to follow.

"Ray how about we get a picture together or something," Lily said, unhappy that the moment had been ruined. She was beginning to think that they were cursed or something.

"I'd really like that," he said smiling in a way that gave Lily hope for the rest of the dance as well as the rest of the summer.

They headed inside and proceeded to get their pictures taken. They had a great time doing serious and goofy poses for the photographer (Mr.Waller) until they ran out of money to pay for them.

"That was really fun," Lily said out of breath from laughter as the group walked back to the bench where they had started their evening.

"Well this is a dance isn't it, shouldn't we be dancing," Parker said as No Man's Land's song started to play.

"I'm not sure-" Travis started to say before Parker pulled him onto the dance floor. The rest of them laughed as Travis attempted to dance with Parker.

Near the end of the night a slow song came on and the room became a sea of couples. Lily slowly walked over to the food table alone. Parker was with Travis and Robbie was off talking to the blonde girl who was in charge of the Oracle.

Lily stood there for a few seconds before someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around to face Ray smiling.

"So I guess we're both stuck with nobody," Lily said gesturing to the couples swaying to the music on the dance floor.

"Who would have thought that us of all people would be-hey," Ray interupted himself "why are we complaining about being alone when we've got each other."

"Yeah, we'll always have each other so why don't why don't we stop moping and dance," Lily said grinning at Ray.

"Sure, why not," he replied as they walked onto the dance floor. They looked at each other a little bit awkwardly at first but Ray put his hands on her waist and Lily put her arms around his neck and they began to sway slowly to the song playing in the background.

"Hey, I love this song," Lily said trying to eliminate the awkwardness as she referred to "Shyne Factory's, The Moment" that was playing in the background.

"This was the song that-" Ray started to say as the memories hit him hard.

"Yeah, it was wasn't it," Lily said softly experiencing memories of her own. They danced together silently for a few moments enjoying being close to each other after the time they had spent feeling almost like strangers. Lily breathed in the familiar scent of Ray's cologne while Ray took in the equally familiar smell of Lily's shampoo. It made Lily feel safe and at home.

"Do you ever wonder why we didn't-" Ray asked.

"I know what you mean," Lily said before Ray could finish his sentence. He smiled to himself at this. He loved that no matter how much he loved her she was still his best friend no matter what. Lily was still the girl who knew more then anyone else about him, who could finish his sentences. Those were the things he'd been scared to lose, what he was still scared to lose.

"And then Grace came along," Lily said failing to keep the hint of bitterness out of her voice.

"You didn't like her much did you," Ray replied smiling at the hint of jealousy he heard in her voice at the mention of his ex-girlfriend.

"No, to be quite honest I knew from the start that she was all wrong for you, she didn't have enough spunk" Lily said resting her head on Ray's shoulder.

"Well Jackson was totally wrong for you, I mean what kind of guy wears eyeliner?" Ray joked half teasing half serious.

"Maybe we'll get it right eventually," Lily said quietly more to herself then to Ray.

"Yeah, you never know what'll happen, maybe someday we'll figure out who our soulmates are," Ray said although he hoped she was right.

The song ended and the couples split up as the lights slowly came on. The dance was over and so was the indepth moment that Ray and Lily had shared.

When Lily got home she changed out of the fancy dress and into a tank top and pajama pants before getting into bed with her journal. She wanted to remember this night for awhile, it was the start of something great, she was sure of it.

A/N Well After writing only poetry for basically the past month I'm back and hopefully better. We all get stuck in a rut sometimes and this was the first thing that's made it past my picky critiqueing so please just take the time and tell me what you think? Toodles for now!

Keeley