hockeylover - Thanks for the help on the dresses.

PinkPrincess – Thanks for the details about Quinceaneras.

A/N - "Thoughts"

Chapter 11 - Winding Him Up

As she sat at one of the tables, Amanda grinned to herself as she rubbed her sore ankles. The so-called plan, was working flawlessly. Jason's slack jaw expression when he first saw her was going to be forever engrained in her memory. "He looked so cute, standing there all awe struck."

Her dress was a dark purple, wrap style dress that tied around her waist. It had quarter sleeves, the neckline plunged into a shallow v, and it fell to just below her knees. Lizzie and Miranda had tailored the dress so it beautifully accented her body, fitting everywhere perfectly. She was also wearing a simple gold chain necklace with a small heart shaped pendant and small gold hoop earring. The backless heels, even though were killing her legs, were a nice touch. Every time she stumbled, it meant the tighter she had to hold Jason and he didn't seem to mind it either. That was a definite added plus to the heels.

As Jason walked up to the table and put a cup of soda in front of her, her eyes wondered over him. He had on a black suit with a white dress shirt and a black and silver striped tie. "Damn he looks good," she thought to herself as she bit her lip.

"You look nice," Jason said as he sat down next to her.

Amanda smirked at him, "Thanks…again."

"Uh?"

You've said that like five times already," she told him, "Not that I mind constantly hearing it," she teased with a small giggle as Jason looked away embarrassed. As she let her eyes wonder over his body again, she tried hard to hide her smirk. "You clean up nice too." For a moment, they looked at each other and grinned.

After a moment of rare awkward silence between the two, Amanda tried to think of something to talk about. "You parents really went all out for this didn't they?"

"Yea," Jason said as he slowly looked around. "My mom said it was a very important part of our culture. She said it was originally meant that a girl was ready to be introduced into society, ready to be married. But now, it's like a rite of passage, I guess."

"Sorta like your Bar Mitzvah," Amanda said and Jason nodded. The silence returned.

He was trying his hardest not to stare at her but every five seconds he found himself glancing at her. "Damn, she looks good in that dress," he mumbled under his breath and thanked god that Amanda hadn't heard him.

Jason couldn't understand why he felt so uneasy around Amanda, but he was. He was pretty sure Maria and the other girls were behind them being coupled together and why Maria had been so insistent on him being one of her glances.

"Umm…,"Jason fidgeted nervously in his chair, "You wanna dance?" When Amanda looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he shot her a grin, "I promise not to step on your toes. Well, at least not purposely."

"Ok." Than the words just seemed to slip out of her mouth, "Just keep your hands above my waist." As soon as she heard herself say it, the smirk vanished and a look of horror replaced it. While she had meant it as a tease, in truth, she hadn't meant to say it at all. Luckily, Jason choose to ignore it, cause he wasn't sure how to answer it. Instead, he stood up and waited for her to do the same.

As they were walking towards the dance floor, one of Amanda's heels slipped out again. As her legs buckled from lack of support, Jason quickly grabbed her around her waist and held her against him; Amanda could feel her heart skip a beat.

"You ok?" Jason asked her.

His voice's softness in her ear sent a shiver down her spine. "Yea, yea. I'm ok," she said as she regained her balance and they walked out onto the dance floor.

If getting out there had been a task, trying to figure out what to do next was harder. Holding each other awkwardly, neither was sure what they were doing. Finally, Amanda stepped forward, leaving barely a gap between them and laid her arms on his shoulders, and bending them around his neck. He responded by loosely wrapping his arms around her waist.

Grinning at each other, as they both liked holding each other like this; they tried to dance to the music but basically just ended up swaying a little side to side. But neither really cared as they were far too preoccupied with each other to notice.

A few feet away, Maria watched Amanda and her brother with a grin. As she watched them bump into each other a few times, she snickered softly.

Maria's dress was the same style as Amanda's but was a lighter purple and was wearing a simple pair of matching pumps. She also had on a simple gold chain necklace with a butterfly and letter M pendants. She was also wearing a pair of diamond earrings her mother had given her as a present.

Eric, who Maria was dancing with, pulled back a little and looked at her, "What?"

Maria smiled and shook her head, "Its nothing, really."

Shrugging, he grinned back at her, "So enjoying your day Princess." He had been calling her that all day, especially after they put a tiara on her head.

"You keep calling me that and I beat your sorry ass," Maria told him. "I'm starting to regret choosing you as my chambelán."

"Oh? Who else are you going to beg to do it?" Eric teased back.

Maria smirked, "Well, I could've asked Derrick Maynard. But then you'd get jealous, do something stupid, and get your butt kicked." Eric glared at her and Maria just snickered. "Than I would've had to listen to you whine and," Before Maria could continue, Eric kissed her. "And where did we learn that little trick?" she asked sarcastically.

"You," he answered simply with a smug grin.

At the main table, a little off to the side of the dance floor, Miranda sat with a smile as she watched her two children. Feeling a pair of hands gently rest on her shoulders, her smile widened.

"Your daughter is up to something," he whispered to her.

"What makes you say that?"

Gordo grinned and wrapping his arms around his wife's shoulders, gently kissing the top of her head. "That smile. You get the same one when you're scheming." Gordo's grin widened as he heard Miranda laughing. "I love that sound."

"Well than, what about your son?" she said, pointing over to the other couple. Amanda and Jason were standing close together, off to the side on the other side of the room.

"If he's my son, than we should be more worried about what Amanda is gonna make him do." Gordo than leaned down, so that his lips were near her ear, "By the way, nice work on the dress." He chuckled to himself as he heard Miranda laugh again.

"It was actually your daughter's and Rebecca's idea."

"But you had no problem going along with it," he teased back.

Miranda shrugged, "I can't help it, they look so cute together."

Gordo shook his head and letting his arms slide off her, he sat down next to her, "You're hopeless you know that?" He snickered when Miranda glared at him. "Just promise me, you'll just nudge them. The last thing they need is everyone getting involved and making them feel like they're being forced."

Miranda looked at him seriously for a moment and then nodded. "Its just so frustrating watching them."

Grinning, "Its not so easy on the other side either." Miranda grinned back before leaning across to kiss him.

On the other side of the room, Jason and Amanda were trying to talk but both were so nervous, that it was barely anything other than some mundane comments.

"Why can't I just tell her, I like her. I mean how hard is it to say, I like you as more than just a friend," Jason thought to himself as he half listened to what Amanda was saying. "She's absolutely gorgeous. Besides the fantastic body, she's funny, smart, she's perfect. So why can't I just say it."

"My parents are having some people come over tonight, mostly family. I was wondering if you wanted to come, we could hang out or something. My sister is bad enough by herself but with her friends, its crazy," Jason said, trying desperately not to jumble or stumble over his words.

Amanda smiled. "Sure. Sounds like fun."

"Tell him! Tell him you think he is the great guy and you're crazy about him. That you wanna grab him, run your hands through his hair while you kiss him." Amanda took a deep breath as she tried to stop herself from getting frustrated. "Why does the guy have to make the first move? All I gotta do is just say I like you and I want to be your girlfriend. How hard is that?"

The attempt at conversation grinded to halt as they both got lost in their own thoughts, berating themselves for being cowards and not telling the other how they felt.