A/N: Hi friends! First of all, belated Happy New Year! It's already 2018 can't believe that this fanfic is about to turn 5 years old (whaaaat). I know, I'm sorry it always takes me forever to update. Still, I really am thankful to all of you who keep reading and supporting this little story! Your reviews and comments honestly brighten up my day and help me improve my writing.
Just a little trivia: A particular scene in this chapter is the very first scene I thought of for the story. And I thought of it probably a week or a few days after our Junior and Senior Prom (I was a senior then). The scene has already evolved over the years, but I'm just happy that what once was an idea is now written as a story. To the person who asked what inspired me to write this fic, I hope this can be a small giveaway to that. I'll try to answer the other questions in the next chapters! For now, I hope you enjoy this one. Let me know your thoughts and comments!
Chapter 30: Best For Last
[BACK TO APRIL'S POV]
"Just one more," Mom said, about to click the camera's shutter button.
I rolled my eyes. "Mooom, stop. You've taken hundreds of pictures already."
"Smile!" The flash filled the entire room before I was even ready. Mom looked at the camera and was obviously dissatisfied. "Why aren't you smiling? One more."
I groaned. "It's not like this is my first dance ever."
Dad appeared from the kitchen and said, "April, this photoshoot can take all night until your mom gets the perfect picture."
Mom shot him a quick glare, then turned to me again. "Last one, sweetie."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Oh, my friends are here. Gotta go." I took a step forward, but she stopped me, raising the camera. I rolled my eyes again, but decided to just step back and force a smile for the picture.
"There. Perfect!" Mom exclaimed.
The doorbell rang again. "Can I go now?"
"Alright. Enjoy the dance sweetie!" she gave me a kiss on the cheek. Dad did too.
"Thanks. See you later!"
I opened the door, and saw Claire standing on the other side with her usual big smile. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Preston!" she greeted my parents quickly before we headed to the car.
"Heeey! What took you so long?" Mae called. Her window was rolled down.
"My mom won't stop taking pictures. Sorry," I replied before getting in the car.
It was a 6-seater vehicle, with Matt on the driver's seat and Mae beside him. At the second row was Ethan, and at the very back was Olivia. I sat beside her.
"Welcome to the bachelorettes' area," she said jokingly.
"Alright. Next stop, Winter Dance!" Matt announced.
"Wooo!" exclaimed everyone, except the two people with no dates at the back who just smiled.
The trip to school was quicker than expected—no traffic whatsoever. When we got to the parking lot, the loud music playing from the multi-purpose hall could be heard through the windows of our car. The party must have started already.
"We're late. I knew it," Mae said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Doesn't really matter." replied her boyfriend, Matt.
"Maybe if Claire didn't take too long with her hair, we would've gotten here earlier."
"What? I didn't take too long with my hair!" Claire replied.
Olivia rolled her eyes. "Can everyone just get out of the car? Nobody cares if we're late," she said.
Ethan opened the door beside him. "Yeah. I think it just started anyway." He got out and reached for Claire's hand to help her get off the car.
While we all started walking to the school, Mae came suddenly up to me and whispered, "Hey. Why didn't you ask us help for your dress?"
"Why? Is there something wrong with this one?"
She eyed me from head to toe. "No, no. I mean, it's still gorgeous, but—"
"Of course it is. You guys helped me pick this before." It was actually the same gold dress I wore at Heather's party.
She lowered her voice even more, "Yeah, I know. But didn't you, like, wear that already?"
"Yeah, and so?" I only used it once and even had it dry-cleaned twice.
"So?" She didn't seem to understand how I couldn't see any problem with it. "People already saw it. There are already pictures of you wearing it."
"Who cares? Why do I have to buy an expensive gown or something and use it once in my entire life?" That's one thing about these stupid school dances. People make it such a big deal like it's the most important event in their life, when it's just a mere one-night-student-get-together-slash-party.
"Sorry to butt in, but yeah, Mae. She has a point. Just let her be," Olivia said. "Looking fab, by the way," she told me.
"Fine, I'm just saying…" Mae replied. "Nevermind. Sorry." Then she walked ahead of us, locking arms with Matt.
"Thanks for backing me up," I whispered to Olivia.
"No problem."
From the entrance of the gym, we saw a bunch of people already dancing to a fast-beat song. Beside the entrance was a photo booth, which caused a bit of delay from joining the party. The two couples with us went to fall in line and take a picture. Good thing the line wasn't that long. Olivia and I waited for them near the registration table. After they finished, the two of us led the way because the table number was with us.
I stopped before entering the main area, looking at the table numbers. "This way." I turned right and found the table assigned to us, right next to the dance floor.
"This is the perfect spot!" Claire said.
Honestly, it wasn't the perfect spot. It was too far from the food.
"Sooo, what are we waiting for?" Ethan said, not just to Claire, but to all of us, "Let's party!"
"Yeaah, alright!" Matt said, pulling Mae with him.
Claire, Ethan, Matt, and Mae all went straight to the dance floor, leaving their bags on the table.
"I think I'm getting a drink," Olivia told me before she crossed the hall towards the food and drinks area.
I just nodded and remained standing there, observing the entire gym. Well, they did an okay job making the place seem bigger than it is. White, light blue, and a bit of pink and purple lights filled the entire room. Giant snowflakes made of styrofoam were hung as the stage backdrop. Smaller versions of those snowflakes served as decoration for the walls. Balloons were scattered everywhere.
Just as I sat down, Olivia came back to our table. She sat beside me.
"Hey I saw Heffley there," she said, drinking from her cup.
"Really? Where?" I might have turned my head way too fast to peek through the crowd of dancing people.
She laughed at my prompt reaction. "He's over there by the food."
"Oh." I turned back to face the table. Obviously I couldn't see him because I was sitting down and everyone was blocking the view.
"By the way, speaking of Heffley," she paused to drink some juice, then continued, "Didn't he ask you to the dance?"
"What?" I sounded baffled. "Haha, no. No, he didn't. I mean, why on earth would he do that?"
Olivia shrugged. "I thought he would."
I shook my head. "I wouldn't even expect such thing."
"If you say so." She drank from her cup again.
Did I never, not even once, think about Rodrick asking me to the dance? Nope! Well… Actually, maybe I did. I don't know.
We spent the entire weekend together, even a few hours after class the past few days, studying for the exams. Those days really were something. I mean, normally I'd be buried in reviewers and no one could talk to me, sometimes I didn't even bother eating dinner because I was too busy. I would take a break only if I felt super tired already. But him being there just helped a lot in adding balance to my entire study routine for major exams. We even watched a movie, would you believe that? Anyway, those past days, he asked me a couple of times if I was attending the dance. Whenever he did, it may or may not have occurred to me that he might ask me to go with him. Then whenever I thought of that, I felt that it was completely stupid to even assume that he might actually do that just because we've spent a lot of time together. Forget it, I told myself.
But honestly, it would have been nice if he did.
But he's definitely not obligated to do so, and why the heck would I even think of these things?
"April! Olivia!" Claire appeared beside us, interrupting my train of thought. Thank goodness. "What are you guys doing there? Come on here!" She grabbed our arms and started pulling two of us up towards the dance floor.
"I'm okay here," I said.
"No, you're not! You have to dance with us!" She pulled us harder.
"Wait, wait! I'm not yet done with my punch!" Olivia took her cup and tried to finish her drink in one gulp. "Okay, fine. Let's go." Then she and Claire both pulled me into the crowd where people were just dancing like whatever. We found Mae, Matt, and Ethan in the middle.
"Where were you guys?" Mae asked, almost shouting because the music was loud.
"At the table watching your stuff!" Olivia joked.
"Oh, sorry!"
"Just kidding."
"Well they're here now, so wooo!" Claire said.
The song got to its 2nd chorus, which turned the crowd up even more. If you had the bird's eye view, you'd see a big bunch of people jumping and shaking their hips and grooving to the beat. And then there's an awkward fellow in the middle of it all who didn't know what to do.
That awkward fellow was me.
Just freakin dance, April. Dance!
It's not like I literally didn't know what to do. I just had to dance. Simple as that. I mean, I'm no dancer but not everyone in the room's a dancer anyway. They were just having fun.
What are you even doing in a dance when you're not gonna dance?
I watched my friends having the time of their lives. With their energy up high, they were smiling widely and laughing. Nothing to worry about, just being in the moment.
I tried going with the flow. All smiles and laughter, moving with the beat, dancing like whatever.
What are you doing? You look so stupid. Dance properly!
I really should learn how to shut out my inner thoughts more effectively.
"I'm getting a drink," I told my friends. I barely got noticed when I made my way out of the crowd. Just as I did, a slow song started playing. Good timing, I commended myself.
"Nice dress," a voice said, somewhat sarcastically. Then I heard a scoff. I turned and saw Anne with an eyebrow up and a sly smirk. "Recycling is great, isn't it?" she added with a laugh. A few people turned around upon hearing what she said.
Before I could say something, some dude asked her to dance. Her date. "Well, duh, of course. Where were you? The song started like 2 seconds ago." She looked at me one last time and said, "See you around." They headed to the dance floor.
I gritted my teeth and went straight to the food and drinks table. We haven't talked for a long time and this is the first thing she tells me?! I took a cup and filled it with punch, then drank it straight. I did the same thing twice more.
"Are you that thirsty, miss?" The waiter behind the table asked after the third time I did it.
By that time, I had already calmed down a bit. Who cares if I repeated a dress? Who cares if immature people make a big deal out of it? It's not a big deal at all.
"No, I'm okay," I told the waiter.
"You drank so much. Is it because you don't have a date or something?"
"What?!—No!" I looked at him in disbelief. "What kind of question is that?"
"Heh, sorry." He looked down, embarrassed.
I filled my cup with the drink again, but paused halfway, realizing something. "Wait a minute, does this punch have alcohol in it?"
It took a while for him to answer. He even asked the other waiter to confirm, and it only made me scared that I might have already drank 3 cups of punch with alcohol. I got so annoyed at Anne that I didn't even ask what was in that drink.
"No, ma'am. Apparently, we're not allowed to serve alcohol in high schools," he said finally.
I sighed with relief. "Right. Thank goodness." I filled the cup completely, and watched people around.
It was the first slow dance of the night, so the floor was for those with dates, although I just spotted Olivia dancing with someone. Good for her then.
Others either chatted with their friends, or headed back to their tables and kept their eyes on their phones. There were some who stared longingly at those dancing like sweethearts. Their hands were under their chins as they sighed watching those on the dance floor. A few were just observing others, very much like what I was doing.
I decided to walk around. I wasn't necessarily looking for someone, but I was hoping to spot him somewhere. Olivia said he was hanging out by the food, but I checked and he wasn't there. After seeing half of the tables in the gym, he was still nowhere to be found. I figured that maybe he was in the middle of the dance floor, with his date or some other girl.
That was a plausible reason I couldn't find him, right?
True enough, when the song ended, there he was, emerging from the crowd.
This guy was different from the Rodrick Heffley you'd see on an ordinary day, but you'd definitely know it's him, especially since you won't be able to get your eyes off of him for a while. His punk rock image seemed to have disappeared for a night as he looked so dapper in his black suit and tie. He probably styled his hair a bit, but still kept that messy look, which always looked great on him. Wow, did he look so good, especially with that cute smile on his face. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if girls lined up to dance with him.
And that was the only time I noticed the girl he was talking to. I didn't know who she was. I didn't even want to find out. Whoever Rodrick's date was that night was totally none of my business.
Another slow song started playing. I headed back to our table, and became one of those people who just scrolled on their phones. But my mind was too busy wandering somewhere else that I couldn't even pay attention to what was on my phone.
When Rodrick first asked me if we could study together, I thought it would've been a disaster. But, like I said earlier, it turned out to be the opposite. If the English project helped sort out our differences, I felt that the past week somehow brought us closer. From just smiling from a distance whenever we saw each other at school, we'd casually chat almost every night about the most random stuff, despite the fact that we had exams that week. The outdoor bleachers had officially become our favorite place where we could talk, eat, study, or just sit comfortably and stare at the trees. Whenever he went to my house to study, I watched him try his best to absorb all the information I put in the reviewers. There was probably too much information there, and at times I felt a pang of guilt whenever he kept asking for longer breaks, and told me that his head was aching. I wondered if I was giving him a hard time. But aside from that, he barely complained. I was actually surprised that he put so much effort in studying, and I'm glad it was worth it. I was also really thankful he kept me company while studying, tried to make me laugh whenever I started getting cranky and too serious, let me sleep for an extra 2 minutes when I asked him not to, forced me to watch a movie and not wake me up when I completely dozed off. Those simple moments made those days really something.
I just don't know if those days meant something to him. Seeing him smiling while talking to that girl brought up a feeling I couldn't really explain. I did my best not to bother rationalizing those mixed feelings because, let's be honest, he could dance with whoever he wanted. I tried not to overthink anything, because I knew Rodrick and I are just friends.
The night started feeling longer and more boring, especially when everyone else was having a good time. I yawned. What am I even doing here?
"Thank goodness that first slow song finished playing." Olivia sat beside me. "I had an excuse to take a break from dancing with that weird guy."
At least there was finally someone to talk to. "Yeah I saw you. Who were you dancing with?"
"I forgot his name. But I think we were classmates last year or something. I don't know." She shrugged and shook her head. "He kept talking about lizards while we were dancing—"
"Lizards?!"
"Yeah. I don't even know why. It was so creepy." She cringed. "Anyway, what's up with you? Did anyone ask you to dance yet?"
I just shook my head, but gave a smile. I didn't want to appear like getting to dance with someone would make the night better. I can just try to have fun with my friends… when they're not out there dancing to romantic songs.
She was quick and sensitive enough to change the topic. "Tsk. Doesn't matter anyway. When can we start eating?" She looked around and peered, trying to get a glance of the waiters.
I frowned, and looked towards the direction of the food and waiters. "Yeah. I'm getting kinda hungry too."
She leaned closer and whispered, "Honestly, I just came for the food." That made me laugh.
After a while, more people stepped up on the dance floor for the fast-beat songs. We weren't really sure where Claire and Mae were. They didn't bother pulling us back into the crowd for some random dancing. From time to time, Olivia got up to refill her drink. But for the most part, we were just sitting there by our table watching people. Before we knew it, about forty minutes had passed and they finally told us that we could start getting food. Olivia and I were two of the first people to line up at the buffet table.
"By the way, have you seen Heffley yet?" Olivia randomly asked while the waiter put some chicken on her plate.
I shrugged, and then shook my head. I was really trying not to think about where he was at that moment, what he's doing, and who he's with.
The line moved forward. "Ah. I saw him again earlier. His friend was talking with him, but he wasn't too focused. He seemed to be looking for someone."
"Probably his date," I said blankly, watching the waiter put pasta on my plate.
"His date?" She shook her head. "I doubt he has one."
I shrugged again as we started walking back to our seats. "You never know. I saw him talking to a girl earlier."
"I thought you said you hadn't seen him yet."
"Did I say that? Uh, I don't think I did."
"If he had a date, he would have been dancing the entire night with that girl, not secretly eating desserts he stole from the buffet table with his friend."
I suppressed a smile. That was typical Rodrick. "Hey. Just because some people have dates for a dance, it doesn't mean that they dance all night. I bet Claire and Ethan, and Mae and Matt are also lined up for food right now."
Olivia put her plate down on our table once we got there. "April, just because a guy was talking to a girl during a school dance, it doesn't automatically mean that they're each other's dates."
She sat down, while I remained standing, not knowing what to say for a moment because she was right. "Whatever." I sat down as well. "It doesn't matter anyway."
The dance floor was almost cleared out already as we started eating. Everyone probably needed to take a break from all the dancing. There was also someone onstage reciting some love poem. It was part of the program, I think. Sadly, people would rather keep on eating and chatting with each other than lend him their ears. The food was, well, satisfactory, not that bad but not that good either. I was just happy I could finally eat. A few moments later, Claire, Ethan, Mae, and Matt all arrived. They ate while chatting with us.
"By the way, Olivia, Matt has this friend. I think he wants to meet you," Mae said when we were almost done. Some people started getting up again to dance again.
Matt nodded. "Yeah, yeah. It's Joshua. He was asking about you earlier."
"Uh, sure," Olivia replied, but it seemed like she didn't really care.
"This night's so fun. Right, April?" Claire asked me.
I forced a nod. "Yeah." She turned to observe me. "What?" I said.
She shook her head. "Nothing. By the way, I still haven't seen your best dance moves."
"Heh. I don't really know how to dance," I whispered.
She laughed. "What makes you think I do?"
"But you've seen how awkward I was earlier. It was embarrassing."
She shook her head. "I didn't see it." Of course she didn't. She was busy laughing and dancing with her boyfriend. "But nobody here knows how to dance, April. Except the dancers."
I smiled. "Right."
"Okay! I'm done with my dessert. Let's go!" She stood up, tugging my arm.
"What? Go where?"
"Let's dance!" she announced to our table.
"I'll join you guys!" Mae said, getting up from her seat. "I'll be back, Matt."
"Go ahead," he replied, leaning back and relaxing on his chair.
"Guess I am too!" said Olivia. She and Mae already started making their way to the dance floor.
"See you in a while, Ethan!" Claire waved at him as she pulled me to the dance floor. Ethan just nodded. Meanwhile, my friend noticed that I was still hesitating. "School's over! Just let go and have fun, April!" she said over the loud music.
I smiled. She was right. I went here to have fun. And I didn't want the night to be a complete waste. I nodded. "Fine. Alright, let's go!"
"Yay!"
We found Mae and Olivia, and in a moment we just let go and had fun. I probably danced the same way I did earlier, but more carefree. I shut my inner thoughts, forgot about what others would say, and just lived in the moment with my friends. We smiled, laughed, screamed, jumped, raised our hands up in the air. Matt and Ethan even joined us for the next song. The night had finally started feeling like an actual party.
After a few fast songs, they started playing slow ones again. Obviously, it was time for the couples to do their thing, so Olivia and I started going back to our seats. But Mae tapped her arm.
"Olivia." She motioned for her to come closer, then she pointed to Matt.
"This is my buddy, Joshua." Matt said, gesturing to a boy standing beside him. His hair was combed back, and he wore a navy suit. His smart glasses completed the look. "Joshua, Olivia. Olivia, Joshua."
"Hi." Joshua reached out his arm.
They shook hands. "Hi. Nice to meet you," Olivia said, trying to be polite.
"Would you like to dance?"
Olivia looked at Mae and Matt, who both nodded. Then she looked at me. I nodded and gave two thumbs up. "Sure," she replied.
I backed up, and made my way to our table again. But before I got there, a guy appeared in front of me.
"Hi," he greeted, waving awkwardly. He had curly light brown hair and a sheepish smile.
"Um, hi."
"Do you want to dance?"
I just stared at him. I wasn't really sure if I knew him, but he did seemed familiar.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Lance by the way. I've seen you in Science class before."
"April." We shook hands.
"So, would you like to dance?"
"Uh, sure."
"Great!" He smiled again and led me to the dance floor. It was already halfway through the song, but we danced anyway.
Starting in the middle of the song turned out to be a good thing.
"Great night, huh?" he started a conversation. I nodded. There was awkward silence, then he started talking to me again. "Remember that time in Science class when we were discussing about dinosaurs?"
It was a pretty random topic to talk about while dancing. "Um, yeah."
"Well, what do you think?"
I really didn't know why he was bringing up dinosaurs while we were dancing. "What do I think… about dinosaurs?"
"Yeah. I mean, I still believe there are dinosaurs in our world today." He looked somewhere far as if he was imagining dinosaurs walking behind the doors of the gym.
"Aren't they all extinct?"
He shook his head. "Nope. Lizards are actually dinosaurs, you know?"
Oh my gosh, is this the lizard guy Olivia was talking about?
"They're like descendants of dinosaurs. If you look at their appearance, they really resemble dinosaurs, don't you think?" He looked at me, enthusiastically waiting for an answer. I just stared at him, completely weirded out. He then started talking non-stop about that specific reptile. "Lizards are very fascinating beings. There are big ones and small ones. Then some even change color. Amazing, right? I tell you, they really are some kind of dinosaur mutation. And, and I watched somewhere that for snakes that have legs, their pee can cure any kind of sickness—"
"I'm pretty sure lizard pee is dangerous." I didn't even know why I was still responding.
"No, you should watch this documentary called Lizard Fun." That didn't sound like a reliable documentary. It could have been some random Youtube video uploaded just to make fun of people. "They give all sorts of trivia. It's a series, you know…" He kept blabbering and blabbering, but I wasn't listening anymore.
Thankfully, the song ended quick. I immediately let go of his hand. He was a bit surprised that I did. "Um, the song's over."
"Oh, is it? I didn't notice." Another slow song started playing. "Wanna go for another round?"
"Uh, I think I'm gonna get a drink." I took a step back slowly.
"Ah." He grinned. "Okay, I'll join you—"
"No, it's okay. Thanks for the dance!" I turned and walked away as fast as I could.
When I reached the buffet table, I spotted Olivia and the guy he danced with. They both got a drink as well.
"Hey," I said, reaching to get a drink too.
"Hi April!" Olivia said when she saw me. She had the widest smile for the first time in months.
"Hi!" Joshua waved at me too, then she turned to Olivia and said, "I'll be back. I'll just go to the restroom."
Olivia nodded, and he left. Then she turned to me. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Mae's right. He's kinda cute."
I looked at her. "Wow, I think this is the first time in forever I'm hearing you say that about a guy." She nodded slowly. "Bachelorette no more?" I joked.
"Hey, things don't escalate that quickly for me," she replied, suppressing a laugh. "And you? I saw you dancing with someone there a while ago."
"Oh thank God that dance was over." I drank from my cup.
"Why? Did the guy step on your feet or something?"
I shook my head. "I think it was the lizard boy you were talking about."
"Curly hair? Dinosaurs? Lizards? Then lizard pee?"
I nodded.
She patted my shoulder. "Been there, done that." Just then, Joshua got back and asked her if she wanted to dance again. She said yes. "See you later, April!" she told me before they headed back to the dance floor.
I finished my drink, then got one of those free cupcakes. I probably looked like one of those people who just hung around the food and ate just because they can. Who cares? I munched on it while watching the people dance to the slow song. I got pretty tired dancing anyway.
Looking around, I spotted Rodrick talking to his friend. They were seated not too far from the buffet table. That's probably why Olivia told me they hung around near the food a bunch of times since the party started.
I watched them. His friend was pointing at someone and laughed hysterically. For some reason, he always did that. Rodrick laughed too but not that loud. Then he glanced at my direction.
I was taking a bite of my cupcake then. And he glanced at me.
I immediately looked away and wiped the icing that could have been on my lip the entire time. How embarrassing. What if he thought that it was totally weird that I was watching him from a distance while eating a cupcake? Thinking about what I was doing just made me cringe. Thinking about someone eating cupcake while watching me like that just made me cringe even more.
April, why?
I finished the last of my cupcake, got a drink, and quickly headed back to our table, not glancing back at Rodrick even once. For the rest of the night, I tried not to even think of him.
A few minutes later, they decided to play some party songs again to take a break from all the slow dancing. My friends were having fun in the middle of the dance floor with their partners. I finished my drink, and then went to the bathroom.
When I got back to the gym, I saw three girls having their photos taken at the photo booth. It was the school's famous trio: Anne, Heather, and Madison. Anne had really returned to their group, and completed the picture. They had about a hundred different girly and cutesy poses to show off their hair, lippies, manicure, and dresses. I sighed. It's just annoying how she ditched my friends without even a proper goodbye or what.
I continued walking, but paused by the registration table because the ballot boxes for Snow Queen and Snow King caught my attention. They were really sparkly, and I didn't know there was such thing in a minor dance event?
"I think I've seen you somewhere," A voice said. I turned around and saw Heather Hills eyeing me from head to toe.
"Of course. We're schoolmates," I replied as nicely as I could.
"Hmm… I'm pretty sure I saw you somewhere else."
"At your birthday party," Anne answered before I could. "Don't you recognize her dress?" She pointed at it.
"Oh riiight." Madison nodded.
"Ah. I knew it. I've seen that dress before." She pointed at my dress with the most fake smile ever. I rolled my eyes. Not the dress again. Her expression then changed, as if she realized something disgusting. "Ew, why would you repeat a dress though? Did you, like, wash that and stuff?"
"Of course, I did." I scoffed. "I'm not some kind of idiot who doesn't wash her clothes."
Heather raised both of her eyebrows as if she was offended by what I just said. "Okay, first of all, how dare you talk to me like that?"
"Don't be so butthurt, April. No one called you an idiot, except you," Anne told me with an insulting smile.
I sighed. "First of all, why don't you three just run off and mind your own business?"
"What's wrong with her?" Madison asked her two friends.
"Oh, she's just like that." Anne waved her hand like she was shooing me away.
"Anne, can we like go now before this girl ruins our night? I'm not really in the mood to argue with someone like…" she glared at me again as if I was some odd organism she wouldn't dare touch, "her."
They all turned, locked arms, and started walked away, murmuring and giggling about how I wore the same dress. Anne gave one last turn to say, "Bye, April!". It sounded friendly, but there was definitely a hint of mockery.
"Ugh. Spoiled brats," I mumbled as I made my way back to our table. Don't let them ruin this night, April. Don't. Let. Them. I heaved a sigh.
When I got there, I changed my mind. I started crossing the dance floor to go to the buffet table again. I know, I think I ate a lot that night. Along the way, Mae and Claire found me and pulled me to dance with all of them. And so I did. That lifted up my mood a lot.
I didn't know how much time had passed, but we did a lot of dancing. When it was time for the slow, romantic songs again, I gracefully exited the crowd, only to see a guy approaching me.
He was tan with dark hair that's neatly cut, a bit of freckles, and a really cute smile.
"Hey. Uh, you're April right?" He pointed at me.
I nodded. "Yep. And you're?"
"Leo. I, uh... We're classmates in History?"
"Leo..." It took me a few seconds to remember his face in class. "Oh, Leo! Yeah, yeah. I remember." I smiled. He was one of those who sat at the far left near the front. Always active in class. I bet he always got A's or something. This was the first time I actually got to talk to him.
He laughed shyly, and scratched his head. He looked down at his shoes for a second before looking at me again. "I know we're not really close, but, um, would you like to dance?"
I wasn't sure what to say.
When I didn't reply immediately, he said, "Oh, if you don't want, that's... That's okay. I mean-"
"Sure."
"Sorry?"
"Sure. Why not?" I smiled.
He smiled as well and took my hand gently. "Okay."
We had a pretty short and normal conversation while dancing. He didn't mention any animal fun facts, which was great. He actually seemed like the quiet type of guy.
"So you just moved to Plainview this year, huh?" he asked.
"Yeah. Last June."
"Oh, that's why I haven't seen you around last year." He nodded as he realized that. "How has it been so far? Have you adjusted well?"
I nodded. No one had asked me that question in a while. "Yeah. It's all great. I have good friends. School's okay too."
"That's good to hear." He smiled. Both of us just smiled at each other for the most part. He had a really, really cute smile with a cute dimple. Then we both kept quiet for a while, just listening and dancing to the music. It honestly felt a bit awkward, because it's like meeting for the first time.
Later on, he started a conversation again. "We haven't really talked that much in class, huh?"
"Heh, I know. You're quite memorable though. You always recited."
"It's my favorite class, that's why. There's just something about History that keeps me interested, you know?" he said, with a hint of excitement in his voice. I thought he was gonna continue talking about the ancient times or World War II or something. "But I don't wanna bore you. That's a topic for another time."
I laughed, "Right."
"Aside from school, though, I think I've seen you somewhere." He narrowed his eyes, trying to remember something.
"Really? Where? I don't really go out a lot, so..."
"I'm not sure."
We both kept silent again until the song was almost ending.
"Oh, I remember now!" he said suddenly. "At Heather Hills's party."
"Ah, you were there too?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I was, uh... I was sort of dating Heather that time."
"Was?" I clarified.
He looked down. "It was totally unclear and complicated, so we stopped a month after that."
"Oooh. Sorry to hear that." I patted his shoulder lightly.
He shrugged and gave a smile. His dimple showed again. "It's okay. I'm over it."
"Well, I'm surprised you remember me." I didn't really do anything spectacular back then. He narrowed his eyes again to think. And just when I thought everything was going well with this guy...
"I think it's the dress." He looked at it. "Wasn't that the exact same dress you wore back then?"
"Oh." I suddenly wanted to just glare at him and then walk away, but he was nice to me and I felt like he didn't really mean any harm. But I was still slightly offended that everyone was bringing up how I repeated a dress. I nodded slowly, looking down at it. "Yeah, it's the same."
"Ha! I knew it. I have a pretty good memory, eh?" he joked. "But let me give you a pro-tip." He went closer to my ear and whispered, "I don't really think it's a good idea to wear the same dress in two events where the same people attended. You know how these people are."
Now I wasn't just slightly offended. "I learned it the hard way," I replied blankly.
The song ended a few seconds after that. I instantly let go of his hand and forced a smile.
"I, um…" He was taken aback. "I think they're playing another one, so would you like to-"
"It's okay." I raised my hands a bit when he reached out his. "I have to... go out for a while." I already took small steps backward.
He blinked, processing my reply. "Oh, okay."
"Thanks for the dance. It was nice meeting you." I forced a smile again.
"No, thank you." He waved.
I turned and walked out of the gym. I went straight to the washroom. A lot of girls were hanging out there, taking pictures, chatting, giggling, and retouching their make up. I had to say 'Excuse me' a lot just so I could wash my hands, and make my way to the exit. When one girl wouldn't move away from the door, I wasn't able to stop myself from yelling "Excuse me, can you get out of the way?!"
She was startled and immediately stepped aside, glaring at me the entire time.
When walked past her and was about to pull the door open, I heard her say, "What a bitch."
"Just ignore her," replied her friend. "At least you don't wear the same dresses in events."
"OMG, she wore that already? When?" another answered.
"Heather's sweet sixteen."
Then all of them gasped and murmured about it, knowing I was just right there. I was being backstabbed on the spot with at least 10 knives.
"She didn't even make any effort."
"Ew. That's just… Ugh, I can't."
"Doesn't she know that wearing a new dress in a dance like this is a big deal?"
"I saw her pictures before. It's the same dress indeed."
"I know right? Anne told me about it too."
"And she thought she had the right to shout at me like that."
I turned around and eyed each one of them, which made them stop and just stare at me. Some of them even acted like they just realized that I was standing right there. I wanted to curse and scream at them—I was about to—but I took a deep breath, and just gave them the death glare before storming out. No, there was no need to waste my time and energy on people like them.
I walked slowly in the hallway without really any intention to go back to the dance just yet. Suddenly, all my energy had been drained. I sat down on the nearest staircase and just stared blankly at the wall across me.
The night went up and down, and up and down. I was having fun, until everyone started making a fuss out of my dress.
Maybe I should have just bought a new one, I thought. But then I realized how expensive dresses were, and I didn't have enough money to get a new one. Then I started to regret the fact that I tried not to care about what other people would think if I wore the same dress. I was no one in the school, and I honestly thought that they wouldn't mind it at all. However, high school really was full of immature brats who only paid attention to their reputation and status. Somehow, maybe I was a part of that. I tried to act like I didn't care, but I guess the fact that I was sulking alone by the staircase, offended by others' comments on what I was wearing, I think that kind of proved that deep inside, I did care. Part of me wanted to cry, but what's the point?
The door of the gym opened, and for a moment I heard the music playing from inside. Some balloons were swept to the hallway and one stopped in front of me. I picked it up and just stared at it as I twirled it around my fingers. I started to regret that I even attended the dance in the first place. All along, I knew dances always sucked for me, but I still decided to go for the sake of having fun with my friends, who, by the way, were having fun with their boys. Meanwhile, I had to dance with a dude who talked about lizard pee, and a guy who was actually cute but also had something annoying to say about my dress.
I sighed. I just couldn't wait for the night to end so I could go home.
"Hey."
Someone was standing in front of me. I first saw shiny black shoes, then a suit. Slowly, as I looked up, I realized it was Rodrick holding a cup of punch in his hand.
"Hey," I replied.
"What's a well-dressed girl like you doing outside the party?" he asked, almost jokingly.
I looked down at the balloon again and didn't reply immediately, but eventually I said, "I'm just, um, taking a break."
"They're announcing the Snow King and Queen now." He pointed to the doors of the gym with his hand. I just nodded. "It's pretty lame, if you ask me… That's why I went out," he added.
I forced a nod and a smile. "I see."
He sighed and sat next to me. I kept my eyes on the balloon. "Are you okay?" he asked.
I nodded again, even though I knew I wasn't okay. He probably noticed that because when I glanced at him, he just gave a comforting smile and offered me his drink. I dropped the balloon and took the cup, sipping from it silently.
"School dances suck," he said.
"Yeah," I replied. "They do."
We both looked at each other and then gave another smile. After that there was a moment of silence, wherein I just finished the last of the drink he gave me.
"It seemed like you had a fun night though," I told him.
"It's only fun because we kept sneating before they even allowed us to eat."
"You kept what?"
"Sneating. Sneak-eating. Haven't you heard that word before?"
I laughed, and shook my head. "No. There's no such word."
"Remind me to lend you my dictionary."
I tried to hide my smile, but failed. Rodrick was once again succeeding in lightening up my mood.
"What are you doing here anyway?" I asked.
He shrugged. "Nothing. I got bored inside."
"I'm pretty sure it's more boring out here. It's too quiet."
He shook his head. "Nah. It's just right."
"Won't your date look for you though?"
"Date? What date?" He looked confused. "I don't have a date tonight."
"You don't?" I didn't mean to feel and sound so relieved. He shook his head. "Then who was that girl you were talking to?"
He narrowed his eyes, trying to remember something. "Which one?"
I knew I said I wouldn't be surprised if girls lined up to dance with him, but I slightly had a hard time believing it. And was he just bragging about it? "Wow," I said, "you danced with a lot of ladies tonight, didn't you?"
"Are you still surprised?" he replied, sounding proud of himself.
"If that's true then I'm impressed."
He gave a laugh, then stopped abruptly to shake his head. "No, I got to dance with two." I looked at him, and he nodded to confirm it. Then he tried to redeem himself. "But like I said before, I know a lot of those girls are secretly head over heels for me."
I snorted. "Whatever—"
"I talked to more than two though. So which one?"
I forgot how the girl looked like so I just tried to remember when I saw them talking. "I think… it was some time after the first slow dance just ended."
It took a moment before he replied. "Oh, you mean Sheila?" He smirked after saying that. I wasn't really interested in knowing her name. "She's this girl who went to my party before. I was asking if she wanted to dance with me, but I got a solid no."
"Aw, it's okay." I patted his shoulder.
"But, guess what? I got to dance with Heather Hills."
Now that was shocking. "No way!"
He nodded, once again proud of his achievement. "Yes way. The song started, and I happened to be standing right beside her, so I turned, asked her to dance. I held her hand and we swayed to the music for like 5 seconds, then I guess she realized who she was dancing with so she shook my hand off and left."
I couldn't help but laugh, a bit louder this time. "You danced with her for 5 seconds?!" I laughed again, and he pretended to be insulted. I stopped, trying to hide my laughter. "Smooth move, Heffley. Smooth move."
"Yeah, keep laughing. It's a privilege to get to dance with the one and only Heather Hills. Even though it was just 5 seconds."
I actually did tear up laughing, so I knew I had to stop before I totally ruined my make up. "Fine, if you say so… But didn't you say you're already over her?"
He nodded. "I am. But she's still Heather Hills, you know?"
I rolled my eyes. "What a thing to brag about," I said sarcastically.
"How about you? Don't you have a date? I just saw you dancing with some guy back there." He pointed to the doors of the gym.
It was my turn to ask that question. "Which one?"
"Woah, look at you. How many unlucky boys did you dance with?"
I frowned, and hit his arm playfully. "Stop being so mean."
"Ow, I'm just kidding!" He rubbed his arm. "So how many?"
"Two."
"Oh. Let me guess. The guy you last danced with is your date."
I didn't know that he actually saw that. "Leo? Huh. He's actually cute," I said. Then Rodrick looked like he was about to frown. "But no. He's not my date," I added. What that guy told me was still fresh in my mind.
Rodrick nodded, looking somewhat relieved. "So it's the kid with the curly hair, then?"
"No!" I cringed, remembering what he talked about while we were dancing. "I don't have a date. Especially not him! He started blabbering about dinosaurs and lizards while we were dancing. Ugh."
"Ohhh, it was Lizard Boy!" He cackled.
"Stop laughing."
He tried to, but he couldn't help it. He just patted my shoulder. "There, there… Lizard Girl." He snickered.
I shook his hand off my shoulder. "Stop it."
"Okay, I'm sorry," he said in between laughs. "I'll stop laughing now." I rolled my eyes again, and kept quiet. Still trying to get me to stop ignoring him, he offered a bargain. "Okay. As a peace offering, I'll get you one of those cupcakes from the buffet table. You looked like you enjoyed them a while ago."
Oh gosh. He really did see that. I tried to set up a defense comeback fast. "How did you know? Were you watching me eat the entire time?"
"No! When I saw you, you were already looking at me. I did my best not to be creeped out you know."
How embarrassing. I was dying internally. "You're the one there who knows who I danced with."
He acted shocked, and instantly denied it. "Excuse me, I just happened to, uh… be watching people around. And then I saw you there. You're the one who was asking about that girl I was talking to—"
"Okay!" I interrupted him. "I think we're even."
"Yeah. Forget it."
The door opened. Both Rodrick and I instinctively looked to that direction, and saw some people walk out to go to the washroom. I heard music playing—they started playing slow songs again.
"By the way," Rodrick started, speaking in a lower and more serious tone. "My ex-bestfriend asked me if I wanted to dance with her."
"What?!" I replied, almost a whisper.
"I know." He shook his head. "I can't believe her."
"But why? I mean, why would she suddenly ask you to dance with her?"
He shrugged. "Who knows what that witch is up to."
"Well what did you say?"
He looked at his shoes. "I didn't say anything. I just walked away."
I nodded. "Yeah. I mean, girls asking guys to dance is totally okay. But how dare she," I muttered, as the things she said to me earlier and the things she did to Rodrick popped up in my mind again. Rodrick glanced at me and then stared at his shoes again, nodding. "School dances suck," I declared.
"Yeah," he agreed. "They really do."
The door opened and closed a few times more. The slow songs continued to be played.
Rodrick sighed, and then he got up. "Come on. Why don't we go back inside?" he said when he turned to me.
"You go. I'm okay here."
He put his hands in his pockets. "It's almost over, you know? I dressed up, you dressed up. Let's not throw the night to waste."
I paused to think. Then I smiled. "Okay. You're right." I prepared to get up.
Then suddenly, he held out his hand. I stared at it, not sure what to do at first, until I came back to my senses and realized he was trying to help me. I took it, and he pulled me up. When I did, I thought he'd let go. But he didn't. I was somehow glad that he didn't. We started walking back to the gym.
"Nice dress, by the way," he said, smiling at me. I thanked him. "I remember that. You wore that before, didn't you?"
I slowed down and loosened my hold on his hand, but he didn't let go. "Not you too," I muttered.
He stopped walking and turned to face me. "What? Why?"
"Everyone's been making a big deal about this dress and how I repeated it. Mae, Anne, Heather, Madison, those girls in the washroom… And even that other guy I danced with."
"And so?" He gave me the look I gave Mae earlier that night when she talked to me about the dress.
"And so? It's embarrassing." I stared at the floor. Everyone's comments had already piled up in my mind. "I kind of regret wearing this tonight."
"Stop it," he said firmly. I looked up at him. "Why should you care? Heck, wear that dress every day if you can! Forget what those losers said. You look amazing in it."
I looked at him, wondering if he was serious. He lifted his eyebrows in his attempt to convince me to believe what he just said. He was being genuine—no making-fun-of-April whatsoever.
I smiled. "Thanks, Rodrick."
Then he tucked some loose strands of my hair behind my ear after he said that. I was a bit surprised that he did. I actually felt my heart beat faster for a moment. "Shall we?"
I nodded.
Still holding my hand, we both entered the gym, stopping right past the registration booth. The slow, romantic song that they were playing just ended, and they were about to play another one.
Rodrick let go of my hand, and turned to me. "Okay. If this isn't too weird, um…" He cleared his throat and started imitating a British accent. "May I have this dance?" He even bowed with one hand behind him, and another reaching out to take mine.
I couldn't help but laugh again. "Of course, you may," I replied in a British accent as well. Then I took his hand, and we started walking to the dance floor.
"Your British accent is so bad," he whispered.
"Oh shut up," I said casually, although every step we took towards the dance floor made me more nervous.
When we found some space in a crowd of dancing people, we faced each other. For a moment, we just stood there as if we forgot what to do next. The others around us had the girl's arms around the guy's neck, and the guy's hands on the girl's hip. That felt a little too close for us. I mean, we were just two friends dancing, you know. Snapping back to our senses, I placed my left hand on his shoulder, and he placed his right on my hip. His left hand was holding my right.
Both of us weren't really used to this. I mean, we were friends and all, but we've never danced like this with each other. We've never been this close to each other. Well, no. Looking back, we've been at a very close proximity to each other a bunch of times. But not like this, when there was a romantic song playing in the background and most of the people around us were couples or dates.
It was definitely another awkward moment to add to our list. Rodrick cleared his throat a bunch of times, looking at the decorations. Meanwhile, I gulped and stared at the ceiling, and when it started to hurt my neck, I watched the other people dancing for a while. We were avoiding eye contact and not saying a word. Not to mention, he almost stepped on my foot.
"You suck at dancing," I whispered, trying to start a conversation.
"You too," he whispered back. Then he started chanting, "Left, right. Left, right," every time we took a step.
I laughed. "Are we joining a military march or what?"
He shrugged. "Fine, I was just taking precautions. I don't want my toes to get murdered." He looked at his feet.
"Hey, you're the one who almost stepped on me! And 'murdered' is a pretty strong word."
He looked at my shoes. "Those heels are pretty dangerous."
We just laughed it out to break the ice. I was glad that the awkwardness was lessened. He even tried to keep making jokes every now and then.
After a while, he fell silent, gazing at me.
"What?" My cheeks were probably getting redder every minute.
He shook his head. "Nothing."
Mentioning that just made me curious. "Then why are you looking at me like that?"
He didn't respond immediately. Instead, he just looked at me, and I couldn't really read through his face. "You look really beautiful tonight,' he said, and then smiled.
I blinked. Once. Twice. I wasn't sure if I heard it right, coming from Rodrick. "You're joking," I concluded. "Everyone looks great tonight. You look handsome in that suit too."
"I'm not joking," he said, suddenly becoming all serious. He didn't even react to the compliment I gave him. "You're probably the most gorgeous girl in the entire school right now."
By that time, I was pretty much sure that I was blushing. I pressed my lips, hiding a smile. However, I still didn't know the right words to say. "Stop it." I gave a nervous laugh. "Why are you being like this all of a sudden? I don't know if I should believe you or not." I found myself bluffing and trying to avoid eye contact. "I mean, even you said that everyone wanted to dance with Heather Hills, and there are other pretty girls there like that Sheila."
Instead of answering, he made a sound, like he was about to laugh. When I looked at him, my heart skipped a beat. The edge of his lip was curled into a smile, showing some of his teeth. His eyes were still on me, giving me the kind of stare that would make me melt. It was that look. I think I've seen that a couple of times before, when we spent some time together.
I was at loss for words.
He sighed, and looked away for a moment. Now I was the one who couldn't take my eyes off of him. "They say… last dances are the most special ones." Then he looked at me again and our eyes met. At that moment, it felt like time had frozen and we were the only people in the room. "I was saving the best for last, you know."
I just stared at him, completely speechless. My heart was beating too fast it wanted to burst out of my chest. Suddenly, it seemed like the temperature went up a few degrees. Did Rodrick really just say those words to me? Why is he saying such things to me? Is it really Rodrick I'm dancing with right now? I thought this only happened in movies. I couldn't immediately grasp the fact that Rodrick Heffley just said that to me.
I had already felt something similar to this before, still with Rodrick in the picture. It felt like this when we ended up so close to each other's faces after we had a stupid pillow fight. It felt like this during those silent moments in his van just before I was about to leave and go home. It felt like this when I realized that his hand was holding mine when we rode the ferris wheel. It felt like this when I woke up in the middle of the night after studying and watching a movie, and he was right there, sleeping; I was hugging his arm and he didn't leave me. It felt like this when he suddenly ran towards me just that morning before the dance. He hugged me tight and spun me around with the biggest smile on his face because he passed his exams.
I was reminded of those moments. The only thing that made this one different was that… it was more—like double, triple, quadruple of what I've felt before.
He was still gazing at me. I met those hazel brown eyes again. What is this? What is this I'm feeling?
He moved closer, but kept the shortest distance between our foreheads. He gave that look again. It was quite an endearing gaze, which only made my heart beat faster. Oh my God, what is this? He smiled softly. I did too.
The timing felt right. The moment felt right.
Slowly, he started leaning in.
My heart raced. Is he going to do what I think he's going to do?
Closer.
Almost feeling his breath against my skin, against my lips, I closed my eyes shut.
I waited.
When nothing happened for a second, I peeked. His face was at the closest it's ever been to mine. A slight smirk formed on his face as he watched me. It looked like he was about to laugh any time. I probably looked stupid. What were you thinking, April?
And just like that, the moment was gone.
I opened my eyes fully and slapped his arm lightly. He pulled back, a bit startled, but then he started snickering.
"What the heck was that?" I said, trying to mask what I was really feeling. I was confused and annoyed to the point that I wanted to leave him right there. But I couldn't. With my heart still beating loud and fast, my face flushed, and my breathing irregular, those were the only words I could say.
He forced himself to stop snickering. "Your face was so cute," he mumbled as if he didn't mean to say it in front of me.
I slapped his arm again.
"Ow!"
"Quit messing with me. This isn't funny." I pointed a finger directly to his face, then I placed it on his shoulder again like earlier. "I knew this was all a big joke," I muttered.
All of a sudden, he pulled me closer, his arm embracing me. The space between us was all gone. He held me, and all I could do was stare at his eyes. "I'm sorry, okay?" he whispered. "I'm not joking." It then felt like a long, sweet hug that swayed along to the rhythm of the music. He allowed me to lean onto his chest as we kept dancing. Soon, he gently, he leaned his head against mine. I closed my eyes, and smiled.
Now that was real. I'm pretty sure it was.
It was just like that for a few minutes. I couldn't admit it to myself earlier, but I realized that the night wouldn't have been complete without this very moment. It was perfect.
Then out of the blue, we heard people cheering and clapping their hands. "Yeaaahh! WOOO!"
Startled, we instinctively pulled away from each other, looking to where the sound came from. I almost forgot that we weren't alone. We were back to the huge room of people.
"I can't hear you! Did everyone have a fun night?!" the host exclaimed from the front.
"YEAAH! WOOO!" everyone cheered louder.
Rodrick and I looked at each other. Our hands were still where they were. Realizing that, we both let go, pretending to mind other things.
"That's all for tonight! Happy Holidays, everyone! Thank you for coming and have a great vacation!" the host announced, marking the end of the Winter Dance.
Rodrick turned to me again, his hands now in his pockets. "Y-You're not... so bad at dancing after all," he said, partly stuttering.
"Y-You too." I smiled.
He gulped. I looked around, and noticed that the crowd had already began to disperse. But some people stayed and took the opportunity for one last fun dance.
From the bird's eye view, the dance floor was more spacious. A number of people were dancing to the fun music. And then there were two awkward fellows somewhere in the middle who just stood there, as if waiting for something.
Those two awkward fellows were us.
I glanced at him again. "M-My friends might be, uh, l-looking for me, so…" We weren't doing anything so I might as well just go.
He just nodded, and forced a smile.
I raised my hand and was about to wave goodbye, but it resulted to nothing. So I just put it back down started walking towards the direction of our table. I glanced behind me a few times. Rodrick remained standing there, watching me go with a longing gaze. I gave another smile and turned away completely.
When I got to our table, none of my friends were there yet, which meant that they were still enjoying on the dance floor. I just stared at my bag, not really sure if I should sit and wait or go outside.
That's when I felt a hand on my wrist. I turned around and Rodrick was standing there in front of me.
He let go of my hand. "One last time," he said. "I know you love this song." He reached out for my hand again.
I was probably too busy trying to stop my brain from replaying what happened earlier with him that I didn't realize they were playing Firework. How did he even know I loved dancing to that song?
I took his hand and he pulled me back to the dance floor. He was already bopping his his head to the music, with his lips pressed together. His shoulders started moving up and down. It looked so funny. I was smiling the entire time.
We just danced to the beat like whatever, like we didn't care at all, like we were actually having fun and celebrating something. At some point he twirled me around, and we both laughed because it was an epic fail. I almost stepped on his foot.
"I think I'm taking back what I said about you being a good dancer," he joked.
I rolled my eyes. "Fine I admit it. I suck at dancing, just like you." He just laughed when I said that.
We danced and danced until the song ended. This school dance didn't suck after all, I thought.
And in those moments the tiniest details became more conspicuous than ever. I still couldn't help but take glimpses of his eyes which always looked amazing, his hair which was always messy but looked great on him, his smile which always had its own charm, and his face which always looked so handsome.
The scene of us slow-dancing and Rodrick leaning in so close as if he was going to… kiss me, hadn't stopped replaying in my mind. The way he looked at me all throughout, even while we were dancing to a fast-beat song, still made my heart flutter.
I didn't want that night to end.
That's when I realized...
I think I'm falling.