A/N: A lot of info in this story (particularly the info about gemstones) was provided by the amazing Psychic Twins, Terry and Linda Jamison.

And, for those of you who don't know, they're the most documented psychics in history and were the ones who predicted the fall of the World Trade Center, aka the Twin Towers.

Look 'em up on YouTube. They're awesome.

Paulina exhaled, releasing a shaky breath.

She placed a hand over her the smooth fabric that wrapped around her slim figure. "Azúl."

The threads beneath her hand instantly morphed from black to blue. The color spread from the center of the dress to the rest of the outfit in a matter of milliseconds. She was grateful for the almost instantaneous effects. It saved her time.

She stepped back and shook her head. No on the blue. Now she had to decide between black and red.

A light tap on the door jerked her attention away from the dress. She snatched her hand away from the fabric, accidentally shifting it back to its original black color. "It's open," she huffed as she spun away from the mirror and turned to face her grandmother.

"Mi amor," Angie's face wrinkled up into a pleased smile. "Te ves muy guapa. Absolutely stunning."

Paulina tossed her hair over her shoulder. "I'm trying to pick an outfit. What do you want?" Normally, Paulina would be more reverent when her grandmother was in a friendly mood, but she was still irritated. Who wouldn't be when their grandmother had spent most of the afternoon bad-mouthing mortals in that smug, condescending tone?

Well, Paulina had had enough of the sanctimonious woman, and she was feeling guilty at having invited Danny.

No one—human or otherwise—deserved to be treated that way, and her grandmother would undoubtedly victimize the kind, overly good-natured boy.

She texted him, explaining her discomfort but he brushed it off, stating that he made a promise and, as such, was obligated to go through with their arrangement regardless of what happened. He also proceeded to remind her that he owed her.

Paulina couldn't help but wonder, would Danny be feigning his feelings or would they be real.

Granted, she would know with just one look into his eyes.

She sighed and tossed the touch screen phone on her bed, facing her grandmother.

"Well," the grandmother responded after a moment. "I just wanted to remind you that José-"

"Screw José, abuela."

"Well, I'll have you know, José offered to walk over here and escort you there. He's also-"

"Danny's picking me up. In the car he got for his birthday. I'm not walking all the way over there in this outfit. Much less with that asshole. Danny'll be here in a little while. Tu y papi1can go by yourselves. I'll meet up with you while I'm over there."

Her grandmother sighed. "Alright, whatever you want. I'll go tell your father."

And with that, Angie shuffled out the door.

Paulina modeled in front of the mirror. She had to admit, she looked good. Thanks to Valerie and Star who had chosen the tight dress.

She sighed and hooked on a pair of long silver earrings, placed on her favorite Lapis Lazuli2necklace, and squeezed into a pair of silver heels.

Satisfied, she spun in front of the mirror a few times until the sound of honking caused her to jump. Her phone vibrated. It was Danny informing her that he was waiting for her outside.

She grinned and her heart lurched to a sudden stop.

She glanced at herself in the mirror. Would Danny think she looked good? What color would he favor? Would he want her to look more conservative or would he want to see her show a little bit of skin.

In fact, was this dress too skimpy for him?

She groaned, suddenly self-conscious, upset that she didn't have time to change again.

She sighed and hopped downstairs, briefly stopping to bid her sister goodbye and reminding the 'sitter that her number was on the fridge.

She smoothed out her dress before stepping out into the setting sun.

Danny looked absolutely stunning. He had dressed as she had advised. Casual, but not too casual.

A blue, plad unbuttoned shirt was draped over his smooth chest, revealing a white undershirt. A pair of jeans hung from his hips and he wore pair of black shoes. His hair was as he normally had it—tousled.

Danny's eyes were trained to the phone, and he didn't look up until Paulina stood in front of him. With heels, she was almost his height.

Danny gaped. "Paulina, y-you look-" He blushed, searching for the right word. "Beautiful." He finally commented with a smile.

Paulina grinned in relief. "Thank you."

He jumped and stepped aside, holding the door open for her. Paulina blinked. None of her dates had ever been so courteous.

She smiled as he offered his hand, helping her into the black SUV.

"Well," Danny beamed. "Here we go."

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Danny whistled when he stepped into the party.

The exterior of the building was nothing extravagant to look at, but the interior was absolutely magnificent.

The theme was, as it read in the invitation, "Stars in the Night," and the decoration displayed it perfectly.

Each table had indigo vases that contained roses and silver star-shaped balloons. They also had dark blue drapes on the tables with glittering star-and-moon confetti laying on top of it. Several glow-in-the-dark stars of varying sizes were plastered on the wall.

The birthday girl wore a black ball gown that was embedded with diamond-looking rhinestones that glittered in the light.

Her curled, black hair was tied up into a half ponytail. Danny suspected she was sprayed with some sort of glittery liquid in her hair. A diamond necklace sat on her neck, which matched her simple diamond earrings.

She briefly rushed up to Danny and offered them a seat, uniting the duo with several other people who ate and chatted in Spanish. Nirmita kissed Paulina's cheek before rushing up into a room in the back.

She seemed to be in a hurry.

As it turned out, the interracial couple had arrived just in time to watch the baile de sorpresa, or as Paulina translated, the surprise dance, in which the birthday girl danced to some well-choreographed music with a group of friends.

Apparently, it was tradition for the quinceañeraperson to pull together I performance for their guests.

For the dance, Nirmita had changed from her conservative gown to a questionably short and annoyingly bright silver dress and had switched her simple star earrings for large hoops.

Afterwards, Paulina and Danny sat down for some chocolate cake at which point the birthday girl, Nirmita, arrived to greet them.

She was very eager to meet Danny and, when she received one of his small smiles, she squealed and nudged Paulina in approval. Nirmita then urged Paulina to introduce Danny to the rest of the family.

They complied with the birthday girl's wishes.

Paulina walked around introducing Danny to all her relatives.

He bit his lips. To say she had a huge family was a big understatement.

Danny counted eleven cousins, three second cousins, and six aunts and uncles. Imagine his surprise when the Latina apologized because several other family members were unable to attend the party because they were vacationing in Panama.

Paulina finally led them to her father and grandmother. The grandmother was kind enough to him, although the elder woman kept trying to get Paulina to meet up with someone named José. His father grudgingly greeted him, but glared daggers at the teenager.

Danny shifted under the man's glare and shuddered when the man pulled him aside.

"Don't you forget: I know where you live."

Paulina broke away from the grandmother and dragged the frightened Danny away, though the hybrid could still feel Mr. Sanchez's eyes on him.

He was immensely grateful when the building's fluorescent lights turned off and were replaced by colorful neon ights that one would normally find at the club.

The DJ announced something unintelligible into the microphone and turned up the music.

Danny smiled and offered his arm to Paulina, which she happily accepted. He led her towards her group of Latin friends.

They were gathered at the corner of the building, speaking rather loudly to one another. The guys were surprisingly at ease with him, and Danny found himself getting along easily with the foreigners.

Minutes after the lights went out, people began drifting onto the dance floor.

When Paulina momentarily turned to speak with an acquaintance, a cute Hispanic girl with a pixie hair cut came and started chatting with him. He leaned against the wall and responded to her, continuing their casual conversation.

The pixie girl fiddled with her necklace and flashed him a flirtatious smile.

When Paulina approached, she had a frown on her face.

Danny stopped the conversation mid-sentence and pulled his attention to Paulina. She was absolutely breathtaking.

It had happened much too quickly for his liking, but he had developed feelings for her. He couldn't quite peg when exactly this had begun happening. Perhaps it was when she cared for him while he was struck by the Ghost Flu. Maybe it had even started when she rescued him after their odd encounter in the park. And this wasn't like when he was a freshman. Now, he was seeing beyond her beauty.

His time spent with her revealed that Paulina was authoritative, demanding, and had fiery attitude. She was also quite scary when provoked.

But, along with her fiery demeanor, he found compassion hidden in her heart. He could see the love and concern in her gentle yet unnaturally mystifying eyes.

He also knew that there was so much about her that he didn't know about, and was very much aware that she was somehow involved in supernatural things. How exactly? He didn't know, but he didn't care. He was willing to work with it.

As she moved closer to them, Danny flashed her a brilliant smile. A smile, he had very recently discovered, that usually came out only when he wanted to see her smile.

His beam caught her off guard and she briefly stopped walking.

A hesitant smile appeared on her lips before growing into a full-blown beam as she recommenced walking.

It was one of those rare smiles of hers, though he had only seen it when she was around Stephanie or at school when she was with her two diverse friends.

The fact that she finally gave one to him made him feel like he was airborne, like he was soaring.

He had to double check to make sure he wasn't literally airborne and had his feet firmly pressed to the ground.

The girl he had been speaking with huffed in annoyance as she once again mentioned that he wasn't listening to her.

Danny politely brushed her off with a half-hearted apology.

He turned to Paulina and placed a hand on the small of her back. "Do you want to dance?" He managed to call out over the music.

Paulina opened her mouth to respond but was startled when four of her aunts came rushing up behind her. They squealed, begging Paulina for photos.

Paulina quickly muttered that she'd return soon then allowed her relatives to sweep her off into the opposite direction of the dance floor. Danny disappointedly slunk back into the crowd of teenagers that he had originally been hanging out with.

"Did the fam take your girl?" Tony, one of the only two teenagers Danny recognized, loudly inquired.

Danny nodded. "Yup."

"Dude, that sucks," a guy Danny recognized as Henry muttered. He shook his head, an empathetic look gleaming in his dark eyes. "That just ain't right."

One girl, who happened to be chatting with one of the guys in their group, turned her focus to Danny. "You know," she shouted, "you and Paulina make a really cute couple."

The four boys hanging around Danny gently shoved him and pat his back in approval. They murmured in agreement and pointed out that she was a great catch and he was "one lucky bastard".

The group continued talking and hanging out. Every once in a while, a few guys would rush off to dance with their female partners before waltzing back into the groups only to trade places with another pair.

Finally, Paulina returned and snatched up the opportunity to steal Danny away.

She had rushed up to him, aqua eyes glistening with happiness when he swept her into the dancing crowd.

They danced—mostly bachataand salsa—for about forty minutes before returning to their table.

Danny was congratulated by the group of teenagers, all of whom were impressed by Danny's ability to dance.

They sat down, chatted some more, and sipped some water until an unfamiliar type of music radiated from the loud speakers.

"Reggae!" Paulina squealed, clapping her hands in excitement as she watched an influx of teens rush into the dance floor.

"Reggae?" Danny repeated, a perplexed expression flickering across his eyes.

"Yeah, reggaetón," Paulina explained. "It's like the Latin version of Dirty Dancing." She flashed Danny an apologetic smile. "Nirmita loves parties, so she'll probably take me dancing-"

"Paulina!" Nirmita squealed, bouncing up to the Latina.

"Speak of the Devil." She smirked at her escort and spun around to face the Quinceañera Queen.

Paulina peered up at Danny, a questioning and hopeful gaze emanating from her eyes. "Do you mind if I…" She gestured towards the dance floor, ignoring the repeated tug on her arm.

"Go ahead," Danny beamed at Paulina. Her smile brightened. She turned and followed her younger cousin, both girls slipping into the crowded dance floor.

Paulina laughed and wrapped her arms around the cousin's neck. They swung their hips and moved their butts in perfect sync, dancing a little too close to each other.

In fact, as Danny noticed, most of the teens were dancing unusually close to each other, and one couple in particular seemed to be doing some sort of uncomfortably explicit dance moves.

No one else except Danny seemed to notice the abnormality of the dancing. If he could even call it dancing. It looked an awful lot like grinding.

The raven-haired teen cleared his throat and peeled his eyes away from the seductive Latinas who were 'dancing' with one another. He turned to peer at Tony and once again felt the urge to clear his throat. "Does, uh, this kind of dancing happen often?" He inquired to Tony who was lazily sitting beside Danny.

"Mmm? Oh, yeah." Tony admitted, hazel eyes zeroing in on the Caucasian teen. "It's really not that bad, though. It's not too much of a big deal in our community. People dance like that all the time, and it's really perfectly fine." He paused and glanced at the swaying crowd. "Well, except for them." He pointed towards the girl who was rubbing her bum on some dude's leg. "That girl's a slut and she usually gets over excited during these things. But…yeah, it's usually girls dancing with girls or, if we're lucky, the girls decide to dance with the guys."

He noticed Danny's inquisitive gaze and shrugged. "I dunno. Girls usually grind on their other girl friends or their girl relatives. I guess they don't see anything wrong with dancing with each other like that. It happens in all the parties. Girl on girl dancing." He paused and added, "In this town, unless you've got a girlfriend, you'd have to be one lucky bastard to actually get a girl to dance with you like that."

Teresa suddenly scurried by and grasped Tony's arm, pulling him towards the dance floor. "Speaking of lucky bastardos…" Tony muttered with a goofy grin as his girlfriend yanked his arm.

Tony grinned happily and allowed his girl to lead him to the dance floor.

Danny sighed and leaned against the wall, watching as bodies swayed to the contagious, rhythmic music of the Latinos.

He jumped at the feel of warm fingers curling around his arm.

"Dance with me?"

He blinked and peered up at Paulina who had a stunning smile planted on her face.

"Oh, um." Danny cleared his throat, suddenly bashful. "I'm…uh, I'm not sure if I know how to dance this."

Paulina shrugged. Danny noticed her smile falter slightly. "Well, it's not that different from the few American parties you've been to. You just gotta move with the music."

Danny chuckled. "Won't I embarrass you?"

"Doesn't matter if you do." Paulina's smile brightened again. Hope lit her aquamarine eyes.

Danny bit his lip. In truth, he was anxious and didn't want to make a fool of himself. He'd been to several parties and had frequently seen other teenagers dance this, but he'd never actually danced with anyone. At all.

He sighed but one look at a pleading Paulina caused all his hesitancy to vanish. "Okay."

No sooner had the words escaped his mouth, Paulina snatched him up and yanked him towards the large mass of mostly dark-haired people.

Paulina took the lead and swayed her hips, all the while keeping herself at a slight distance away from him. "Uh," Danny glanced around at the reeking mass of sweat and perfume. "I don't know how to dance this," he repeated sheepishly.

"It's not hard," Paulina stopped spinning and faced the teenager. She reached out and wrapped her slender arms around his neck. He was glad the room was dark, save for the colorful neon lights, because he felt his face flush an angry red color.

"Just loosen up. Like I said, Move with the music," she explained.

Using her free arm, Paulina took his arms and guiding his hands to her own swinging hips.

She began slowly, easing him into the rhythm until they were both in perfect harmony. Danny grinned stupidly, feeling a small sense of accomplishment as he moved with the beat of the music.

At some point, in the midst of all the dancing and excitement, Paulina hugged Danny closer to her body, pressing herself against him and pulling his hands to her slim waist. He'd unknowingly welcomed her.

They spun and she laughed happily, her hair twirling around them.

The couple lost track of time.

An infinite number of songs played, enabling the teenagers to lose themselves to each other. Paulina expertly moved with Danny and he found himself dazed by her sensuality. It was all surreal and seemed to stretch out for a long time. Like a dream that would never end.

After a long period of incessant dancing, the music changed to a style Danny recognized as Cumbia.

He stopped suddenly, a brilliant smile lighting his face. He panted, his forehead glistened with sweat; unbeknownst to her, she was equally as drenched with perspiration.

She didn't care.

Her fingers were tangled into his raven locks, his strong arms wrapped tight around her figure, and their bodies were crushed against each other. Not only that but, as Paulina noticed, his eyes emanated a strange, unrecognizable sensation. It resembled…adoration?

No. It was more than that. Something that was unrecognizable to Paulina.

It was strange because she had come across a variety of emotions, some of which she couldn't even have named.

Danny broke their gaze before she had a chance to further read his eyes.

"The, uh, song's over," Danny pointed out, glancing up at the departing crowd.

Noting that he wasn't moving to release her, Paulina stepped back. His hands fell to his side.

"I'm thirsty," Danny pointed out, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced at the buffet table. "You, uh, want some soda?"

"Yeah, Dr. Pepper." Paulina smiled softly.

Danny chuckled and his nose scrunched up in mock disgust. "Dr. Pepper? Well, alright. It's your drink."

Paulina giggled. "Oh, shut up," she replied, nudging his arm. "I'll be waiting at our table."

Danny smiled at her briefly before spinning on his heel and making a beeline towards the food.

Paulina paused, watching him depart. Her heart automatically fluttered and she blushed as she headed to their assigned table.

She plopped down in her seat, confusion emerging. She'd never felt her heart flutter like that, and she had certainly never asked a guy to dance with her.

She'd never let herself act so loose and carefree around a guy.

She'd never not cared about trying to look perfect 24/7 for a guy.

She'd never felt this nervousness and excitement with any other boy.

She had never felt these feelings before.

But, there was just one anomaly that topped them all.

When Danny had smiled at her, the feeling was...indescribable.

It was as if the whole world stopped spinning.

It was as if time had frozen in place, giving her all the time and yet no time to enjoy the radiance of the smile he had given her.

His smile caused a euphoric feeling to burst from her pounding chest.

Her stomach flipped; her heart sprinted.

She couldn't quite place it, but she suddenly craved his presence.

"So," a voice startled Paulina out of her contemplations, causing her to jump a little at the sight of her grandmother. The old woman sighed as she sat down in an empty chair beside Paulina. Her tone oozed disappointment. "You like this boy, don't you?"

Paulina blinked at her grandmother and turned to glance at Danny who had accidentally spilled some soda on the buffet table. The teen glanced around, blushed, and immediately began cleaning it off. The Latina studied him for a moment.

As she turned back to face her grandmother, she allowed her face to split into a wide smile. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Well, stop it," Angie hissed into her ear. "I don't like you hanging out with him. He's mortal and your relationship will go nowhere, de todos modos. Look at him! He's scrawny, white, and average. You can't develop feelings for such a mundane creature."

Paulina snapped her head to the wrinkled woman's face. She started slightly upon meeting Angie's frightening glower.

She recovered and mirrored the bitter grandmother's expression. "You can't tell me how I can and can't feel. And, yeah, maybe I am growing feelings for him, but that's none of your business. And you…you…" Paulina screeched and slammed her fist against the table. A glass vase farther down at the end of the table shattered. Neither of the bickering women noticed. "You are a racist, prejudiced old woman and you're just a stupid, old elitist-"

Paulina jumped when a hand touched her shoulder, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"What's going on here?" Danny questioned from behind. The Latina sucked in a breath and struggled to maintain her emotions in check. Somewhere a few tables down, the sound of another shattering glass filled the air. This was immediately followed by cries of surprise.

Paulina rose to her feet and flashed Angie the angriest glare she could muster. She then proceeded to slip around her tight-lipped grandmother who was openly glaring at the raven-haired Fenton.

Without waiting for either of them to respond, Paulina turned and met up with Nirmita. "I'm sorry," Paulina frowned, struggling to maintain her voice steady. "I'm gonna...I have to go."

Nirmita flashed Paulina a sympathetic look. "What did abuela do this time?" She murmured into her ear.

"Nothing," Paulina lied. She hugged her cousin and slipped past her, dashing out the door.

It was surprisingly cold outside. So cold, in fact, that she could see her own breath.

Paulina shivered and goosebumps crawled across her arm. She glanced up at the sky, finding herself peering up at a sheet of clouds covering the usually twinkling diamonds of the night.

"Hey," Paulina turned and glanced at Danny. He flashed her a small smile as he held his jacket out for her.

Paulina smiled slightly as she accepted, slipping her arms into the sweater. Warmth immediately enveloped her, along with Danny's wonderful scent. "Sorry. I couldn't find that pink coat of yours."

"It's fine." Paulina sighed and tilted her head up to meet Danny's gaze. "Aren't you cold?"

"Not really," he admitted honestly, "I kind of like the cold anyways." He paused and smiled politely.

"Let's go for a walk," he offered, extending his hand into the direction of the sidewalk.

Paulina peered at him questioningly. "You're really not cold?"

"Nope." Danny responded, popping the 'p.'

"Okay…" Paulina glanced at him suspiciously before nodding. "Alright, let's walk. But only for a little while. I don't want you getting hypothermia."

Danny chuckled lightly as she walk ahead. He followed.

"So," he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "What happened back there?" He prodded.

"Uh…" Paulina glanced up at Danny, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Maybe it was because of finally realizing her feelings for Danny or just her mortification of causing a scene that caused the red hue to spread across her tan skin. "She just doesn't want me dating…different people."

"Different how? Like…white?" Danny glanced down at his pale hands.

"No." Paulina chuckled before resuming solemnity. "Just…something similar to that. It's a family thing. You wouldn't understand."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Danny stopped and turned to face her, icy blue eyes radiating curiosity. "Is that all you guys argued about?"

"No." Paulina lowered her gaze to the floor. "I told her that I have feelings for you."

"Oh." She peered up and found Danny staring at his shoes. He chuckled, but there was no amusement in his voice. "She thought you were telling the truth."

"Well, I was," Paulina bit her lip, waiting for his reaction.

"I know…wait, what?" Danny flashed her a bewildered expression. "You…you were telling the truth?"

"Yes," Paulina took a step forward and peered up at him from beneath her long, dark lashes.

She gazed up into his eyes. She felt his breathing quicken. "I-I-um. Well…it's-I-"

Paulina dared herself to wrap her arms around his neck, a smile formed on her lips as she gazed into his eyes.

"I like you, too." He admitted, though she had already figured out the answer from gazing into his eyes. And, just like that, Danny smashed his lips against hers.

Paulina responded immediately, allowing herself to savor him. He grasped her slim waist, pulling her closer. A warm breeze suddenly swirled around them before flying upwards and to the sky.

Paulina smiled as she pulled back for air.

"Weird breeze, huh?" Danny muttered into her hair.

Paulina's smiled widened, as she knew she was the source of the breeze. "Yeah. Weird."

Danny placed a finger under her chin and tilted her head up. Her smile disappeared and she found herself distracted by his soft, slightly full lips.

A grin stretched across his face and he swooped in for another kiss, which Paulina happily accepted.

Author's Note:

In any case, I just wanted to let y'all know that your reviews make me smile.

Granted, there aren't very many reviews, but still.

Also, the poem below the footnotes is a poem I read in a class and it really struck me because I related to it so much.

Translations:

Tu y papi: You and dad

Lapis Lazuli: Apparently, according to the Psychic Twins, this stone helps enhance psychic abilities.

:~:~:~:~:~:~:

Poem:

LEGAL ALIEN by Pat Mora

Bi-lingual, Bi-cultural,

able to slip from "How's life?"

to "Me'stan volviendo loca,"

able to sit in a paneled office

drafting memos in smooth English,

able to order in fluent Spanish

at a Mexican restaurant,

American but hyphenated,

viewed by Anglos as perhaps exotic,

perhaps inferior, definitely different,

viewed by Mexicans as alien,

(their eyes say, "You may speak

Spanish but you're not like me")

an American to Mexicans

a Mexican to Americans

a handy token

sliding back and forth

between the fringes of both worlds

by smiling by masking the discomfort

of being pre-judged Bi-laterally