CHAPTER NINE:
A/N: Geeze, I just totally spilt syrup and icing sugar from my French toast alllllll over me haha im SUCH a klutz, anyways, thanks for the reviews and here's the DANCE!
"Dinner was great!" Calleigh exclaimed happily as she and Eric left the dining area.
"It was." Eric agreed. "Lena and Eli seem nice, I hope we meet them again tonight."
"Yeah, me too." Calleigh smiled. "I remember the first time I went out with a boy, my dad was livid."
"I can imagine, I watched it happen three times. It's funny though, how my dad hated my sisters' boyfriends, but neither of my parents ever minded my girlfriends." Eric remembered.
"Yeah." Calleigh nodded, "I guess it's just the way parents think about it, although it isn't necessarily true, they think the boys hurt the girls so the girls need the protecting and the boys can do whatever they want."
"Stress the not necessarily true part; I cannot count how many times I got hurt by a girl." Eric remembered.
"Wasn't true for my case either, I never got hurt by a boy when I was growing up. You know me; I was out of there before I could get hurt, although I never got the chance to be happy either while using that philosophy." Calleigh shrugged.
"Yeah." Eric nodded. He knew little bits and pieces about Calleigh's life growing up, but he didn't know much. That was the way Calleigh liked it, so that's the way it'd stay until he could find a way to get her to let him in.
"Yep." Calleigh nodded, trying not to smile at their lack of important things to say as they reached their door. Eric shook his head and smiled as he slipped the key into the door and it swung open.
"Dance doesn't start for an hour, what should we do?" Eric wondered aloud.
"Hmm, well it depends, what kind of dance is this anyways?" Calleigh asked.
"Um, a dancing kind?" Eric smirked. Calleigh gave him a playful glare. "I have no idea."
"Let's see if there's any information on it in here…" Calleigh suggested pulling out a book that resembled a menu and listed everything that went on while they were there. "It says it's a dance and there will be alcohol there, but if you're over the age of sixteen you can come with a parent if you wish."
"Guess that means that Teah's coming." Eric laughed. "Poor Eli."
"Yeah." Calleigh agreed, "So really, it looks like it's a dance where you go, sit and drink 'till you get wasted enough to dance, then leave before you pass out or do anything too incredibly stupid."
"Sounds like high school." Eric smirked.
"Maybe yours." Calleigh rolled her eyes.
"You mean to tell me you never once got drunk for a school dance in high school?" He asked incredulously.
"Nope." Calleigh shook her head, not wanting to pursue this conversation right at that time, but at the same time wanting to a lot.
"Why not?" Eric continued, "It made the dances so much more fun…" Then he remembered the little bits and pieces of information he knew about Calleigh's family, matched it with the look on her face and felt horrible. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "I didn't even think of it…"
"It's fine Eric." Calleigh tried to reassure him.
"No it's not, I was being stupid." He told her.
"You were right though." Calleigh shrugged, "Well if I'm guessing what you're thinking correctly you're right."
"Your Dad?" He looked for confirmation, and found it when she nodded.
"I couldn't drink, not after seeing what it did to him. How he didn't remember what he'd done the next day, how he couldn't control himself at all. I didn't want to be like that." Calleigh whispered. She'd never really talked about how she felt growing up with an alcoholic father before, but it had a great impact on her years growing up, obviously.
"I understand." Eric sympathized.
"Do you Eric?" Calleigh challenged. "Your family is perfect, how could you understand?"
"Cal, my family is not perfect. We're different; we went through a lot together, starting a new life in this country. My parents had friends in Cuba, they had a life, and they left it all behind without a second thought to give my sisters and I an even better, easier life. They sacrificed everything, even their lives, for us. It was a completely different situation to begin with." Eric tried to explain.
"Yeah, you guys loved each other." Calleigh pointed out.
"Calleigh, I've only met your Dad once or twice, but he loves you- I can tell." Eric told her.
"He loves me when he's sober at least." Calleigh shrugged.
"I'm sure he loves you always, no matter what." Eric reassured her.
"Eric you really don't know what your talking about." Calleigh told him.
"Okay, okay." Eric gave up on the discussion, "But seriously Cal, I'm here for you if you ever need to talk about anything, anytime."
"Thanks." Calleigh smiled. "I'm going to go get ready for the dance, alright?" She originally wasn't going to change before the dance but decided that she was going to. Besides, almost everyone there was going to be drunk anyways, it's not like what she wore would matter. Also, she was really upset over the conversation she and Eric had just had, but it did make her feel unsettled as talking about her past always did, and she knew one way to make that unsettled feeling go away, and that was attention- lots of it. And when it came to getting attention, she was a pro when she wanted to be.
"Sure." Eric nodded, flopping down on the bed in a way that was getting familiar to him as he flipped on the TV while Calleigh headed into the bathroom to get ready for the dance. He hoped she wasn't too upset over their conversation, he couldn't say he wasn't. He hated seeing Calleigh unhappy- and during that conversation, well, she certainly wasn't enjoying it. He'd make it up to her at the dance, he was sure of that. If there was one thing he was good at other than investigating crimes, it was dancing. "Let the fun begin." He muttered under his breath, before frowning as he realized he was talking to himself and focusing his attention on the TV.
A/N: Okay, so I didn't even get to the dance yet, and it wasn't very long, but I wanted to post SOMETHING. Alright, reviews muchly appreciated! Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing thus far!