Hello again lovely readers. Sorry for the cliche Chapter title, but it actually is the same title as Christopher Pike's "The Dance", an angsty and almost necessary teenage staple, but that is very much beside the point. Hope everyone enjoys the lengthy chapter, even if if it's a little too cliche for people's tastes. There's a lot of different viewpoints in it, so if one of your characters is POV'ed and it's not done perfectly, I am sorry!
As always, please review, comment, chat it up, criticize, help, or just anything, and continue sending me happiness in the form of reviews or PM's! Enjoy!
(Lizzy)
I coughed as I smoothed down my dress, waiting for James to come pick me up. The virus I had this past week seemed to have been an only couple days thing, but here I was on Friday, coughing still. Though I had never exactly been a sickly person, I usually did tend to get sick around times of great importance for me, such as middle school field trips, or other days of, importance. It was in these instances that I usually did get very frustrated with my body. I glanced to the clock, seeing that he still had some time before he said when he'd get to my house.
I sighed. I guess the nervousness of my first actual date was getting to me. Living in so many different towns, one would think I had tons of guy experience, but alas no. Guys had never really liked me or even gotten to know me in my history of living different places. Those Y-chromosome individuals actually never really talked to me before either, which was why all my guy experiences here in Waffle Town were such a new and different thing. Not shocking to say, I had never gone on any real dates before. And it was because of this that led to me being super excited and nervous and happy and any other emotion one could have when preparing for a date. I giggled a little, spinning in my dress in scatterbrained anticipation.
The past week I had really gotten to know James quite a lot. He had come by every day of the week after school to keep me company, which had led to us talking a lot. As we had sat on my couch (totally G of course), we had discussed different interests we had, such as books, movies, music, as well as gossip about the different people on the island. He seemed to enjoy Luke and Chase like I did, and thought the same teachers that I did were boring. We both felt Owen and Kathy would be good together, and in anticipation of the dance had discussed and finalized different plans. There was only one subject which I noticed he stayed very clear of.
Gill's behavior on Tuesday had been, unexpected. It was awfully nice of him to bring around the things he had (that cough medicine really had been very useful), as well as stay with me when I asked him to, especially since I had thought he wouldn't have. And then he was suddenly randomly telling me about his life? I wasn't complaining or anything, it was just all very, astounding. I felt that with the talking we did, he had let me farther into his emotions; farther than I think anyone had ever been. Though I usually wasn't very insightful, I even felt as if there had been more, but then he had left suddenly and I hadn't seen him since then. I knew I'd see him tonight though, with Luna. Ignoring the slight anger I felt when thinking her name, I glanced again at the clock. Two minutes had passed. I laughed a little at my impatience and looked at myself once again in the mirror.
We had opted with lavender as our flower, which James was surprisingly okay with. I already had a pretty purple dress I'd had for ages, but didn't know how he'd feel with wearing purple (which most guys had issues with). Luckily, though, he was very willing, a lot more willing than I thought he'd be. It was a somewhat odd sort of dress standard for the dance, but I just supposed small schools could do that sort of thing. However, the dress code didn't really concern me; as a typical high school girl, I was just way more excited to wear my purple dress again.
It was quite a pretty ensemble which I was somewhat very proud of. Growing up with my circumstances, I usually didn't have very attractive clothing since everything I got was usually hand me downs. I, though, had always wanted something pretty that normal girls my age would wear. So, the year I lived in New York, I saved up a lot of my money and bought what I was now wearing now. It was scoop-necked and had little bell sleeves instead of being strapless. The bottom of it flared with ruffles, giving it a very nice old timey feel. The fact that it really was a great dress to spin in was just an added plus. I had curled the bottom of my hair and pinned it to the side with a little wisps left out, to attempt and give me the classic beauty look. However, it would not be determined if the effect worked until a certain someone arrived.
I fixed my hair a little and reapplied my lip-gloss. Just, breath I thought to myself as I tried not to stare at the clock. I started to pace and had done so for a minute of two when there was a knock on the door. Grinning, I went and opened it partially.
I peered at James around the side of the door so he could only see my face. He looked very dashing in his purple button down and khakis, as well as the very necessary low-top black Converse. In that sense, we looked as if we ought to match, looking the perfect couple from a time such as the 1950's. His eyes twinkled behind polished glasses, and his hair was adorably smoothed down into a perfect coif. He grinned at me and held up two lavender flowers.
"Now see, if you are hiding, how am I supposed give you this?" he laughed, lifting up the flower with the wristband on it.
"Magic?" I suggested mischievously with a grin, still keeping myself hidden behind the door, though still somewhat a little shy at the same time. I was apprehensive of his reaction to me in a dress, and didn't want to look stupid in front of him.
As if reading my thoughts, he said, "I'm sure you look great Lizzy."
I sighed. "Okay, close your eyes until I come out."He rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he obliging put both hands over his eyes, allowing me to come out unseen. I bit my lip as I breathed deeply and opened the door all the way so I was standing in the middle of the doorway. "You can open them now."
He took his hands off his eyes, staring at me with eyes a little wider than normal. I spun a little, waiting for a reaction, but all he could do was start laughing as he shook his head. "I lied, you look better than great. You are hands down the most beautiful girl on this island."
I blushed as I walked forward to take the flower from him that I was supposed to pin on his lapel. "I think people usually have cameras to take pictures to remember these sorts of things, but I'm sadly not that fancy," I laughed as I fumbled with the pin, looking down so he couldn't see me blush incredibly.
He grabbed my hands, making me look up in confusion. He set them down at my sides and figured out what to do with the pin with ease then grabbed my wrist and slid my corsage-thing on. "I never much was into fancy happenings myself," he shrugged with a smile.
"Well that's, good, especially since you are with me so much," I said, realizing how he could kind of misinterpret that. He however, didn't seem to notice (men, honestly), and instead turned off my light, closing the door behind me.
"Shall we be off then?" he said, offering his arm like a good gentleman. I grinned and grabbed the arm wholeheartedly. We walked down the road for a little while, talking, when he suddenly stopped us.
"Are we already here?" I asked, a little confused by the lack of food-age, since we were going to our pre-dance dinner (a must on every cliché school dance date).
He pulled out a blindfold with an impish grin. "Not quite. It's going to be a surprise though, so it is very necessary for you to put this on."
I gave him a skeptical look, but still took the blindfold and put it on carefully to try and not mess up my hair. He took my hand and started leading me along as I held my other arm out; just to warn me in case I ran into a tree or some other hazardous thing. After what seemed like an incredibly long time, we finally stopped at the sound of rushing water. This was not new for me though since I lived by the river. I however was still very wary.
"Can I take this blasted thing off yet?" I laughed, wanting my sight back immediately.
"Yes," he laughed too as I reached up to untie the blindfold. "No, no I'll do it, its okay." He met my hands and untied it with ease, his fingers lingering a little on mine, making my skin tingle to the touch. It's going to be one of those nights I thought before I saw the scene in front of me which made me gasp.
We were at Caramel Falls area, at the actual waterfall (hence the rushing water), right when it was dusk, at the blue hour. There were a couple of dragonflies and butterflies flying around, as well as a few scattered lily pads in the water. It was visibly very beautiful. The thing that made me gasp however was a small table set for two with candlesticks in the middle, giving it a romantic glow. It was ornately laid, with a fancy purple tablecloth and expensive looking china dining ware. I sniffed the air, my senses getting met with the smell of something exceptionally delicious smelling.
James walked up and pulled out a chair. Blushing, I sat down as he pushed it in. He pulled a basket out from underneath the table and opened it, revealing a container of some pasta looking thing, a small bread basket, and what appeared to be Jell-O. I laughed a little as he poured me water from a pitcher and served me some tortellini.
"What?" he asked, concerned a little (no doubt) by my reaction. I shook my head with a smile.
"Did you know that you are just way too perfect?" I said, blushing as he sat down as I hadn't realized how personal the statement was when I said it, as usual. I bit into the pasta to ease my embarrassment and realized they were stuffed with tomatoes, the same exact dish I had had with Gill once.
"I'm not really," he shrugged, but I could tell he was still pleased. I smiled, though not all the way engrossed in what he was saying, my mind still preoccupied with thoughts about Gill, which was once again very weird. He must have noticed my expression as he gave me a strange look. "What's wrong?"
I shook my head both to clear my thoughts and symbolize it was not anything. "Nothing, nothing at all," I said with a smile, though not exactly sure how accurate my words were.
(Luke)
I had always hated school dances. I hated the crappy punch, the forced conformity of collared shirts, and the main fact that the dance dress code did not allow my bandana, as it was apparently not dressy enough. I didn't like the way my hair felt so exposed, and especially not the way everyone stayed at opposite ends of the room. I just didn't like them. Period.
I took a swig of the crappy punch, which had been made slight less crappy this year but still sucked pretty bad. Even though I disliked dances, this had been the first dance I had gone to without a date and I wasn't used to this feeling of being alone. It made me feel unloved, even to a point of me feeling like a loser. I wondered how geeks did it, how they handled being dateless. I didn't think about it too much though because right now, the topic of dates was a touchy subject for me.
See, I was originally going to have a date. I had thought it was my exact luck when the new girl moved in, but I hadn't expected to be that lucky. Lizzy was such a chill girl, I knew I could ask and take her and she wouldn't require high maintenance care all night, like some of the other girls did (I hated when guys were whipped by their girls, holding their purses, posing for pictures, and other such manly degrading things). Of course, it didn't hurt she was pretty hot and overall could be pretty funny as well. But then of course, Prince Charming had to walk in, steal her, and leave me, dateless. I probably could have still found a date, but after that it was just way too much effort, and I really just didn't want to think about it at all. I just couldn't tell who was madder about the whole thing, me or Gill.
Speaking of Gill, I thought, I wonder if he's here yet. I scanned the room but was unsuccessful in finding a head of annoying blonde hair. Bummer. I really had been looking forward to messing with him. Everyone always said I was way too mean to him, but I personally thought we gave each other an equal amount of hating, which leveled it all out. There may have even been a time in our childhood when Gill and I had been nice to each other. But, once middle school hit, something changed. I got cool while he got, nerdy.
I breathed deeply and ran a hand through my hair. Some days, when I looked back at how mean Owen and I had been to Gill over the years, I actually did feel really bad. Putting mud in his locker, hiding his clothes during PE, even flirting with Luna… They all had seemed such good ideas at the time, but now, in my older age, I wasn't real sure. It was here, as I stood reminiscing about the good old times, when I was suddenly met with the strong scent of lilies
"Having a fun night?" Selena asked as she batted her eyelids at me, pouring herself a glass of punch.
"Yeah, loads of fun," I grumbled, rolling my eyes as Sir Pompous himself strutted in through the door across the room with a surprisingly pretty Luna by his side.
"You don't sound as if you're enjoying yourself very much."
"You don't miss a thing, do you Selena?" Usually I did love flirting with her; just for some reason tonight, I wasn't in the best mood to flirt, which was extremely weird.
She put her hand on my arm like she usually did. "What's wrong Luke? You don't seem as hyper as usual. Was it that one farmer girl, Livie, Libby?"
"Lizzy," I corrected, "and no. I just, don't care right now. Does that even make sense?"
"It makes perfect sense," she smiled as I fully noticed her for the first time tonight. Instead of her traditional dance outfit she wore, she was in a pale yellow dress with her hair down. It looked, nice on her. I was staring at her when a slower song came on from the up tempoed one before it.
"Luke, dance with me," she said, giving me her hand which I took wholeheartedly. I led her to the dance floor right in the middle, as she threw her arms around my neck, making my ears grow hot, but I ignored them.
"I feel like this dance has suddenly turned around," I winked at her, my mood greatly improved since we had first started talking. Selena smiled at me as we swayed to the music.
"I suppose it has then," she said as we turned around and around, not paying attention to the world around us.
(Candace)
I gulped as I looked at the decorations that lined the walls and tables at the dance. Our group of Gill and Luna, Julius and Maya, and Chase and me had just had dinner at the Sundae Inn, which had of course been quite delicious since Chase had done all the cooking. Just thinking about Chase made my ears go red and butterflies fly in my stomach. I tried to make sure he didn't notice as he took my coat once we got to one of the tables on the side of the gym, but I couldn't for sure tell. Though it was spring, I still tended to get cold easily and had made sure that a small shrug could work into my outfit.
I wasn't vain and didn't often boast of my accomplishments, but if I could say so myself, I was quite pleased with how my outfit had turned out. I had thought red pansies would be pretty, as I did like the color red and pansies were somewhat my kind of favorite flower. Of course, I had started working on my dress a couple months before, as I knew Luna would need my help making hers at the last minute (as she usually did). Thus, much time was put into it, allowing it to be one of my finer creations.
It had wide red stripes on both sides attached to a ribbon of red that went around at the top. The dress itself was white, except for the bottom. At the bottom, red patterns swirled itself through the white, all done by hand. I had spent several days working on stitching the different patterns of the pansies throughout the bottom, which I thought gave a nice little effect. I had also put a red sash around the middle that tied in the back, giving it a slightly girly look. Luna had helped me curl my hair, which was held back by a headband of the same red as the sash. I had also stitched a red cardigan to go with it, but didn't have it on anymore due to Chase taking it off.
I blushed again at the little memory. I had liked Chase for two years now, and never once thought I'd attend any dance with him, especially since I would never pluck up enough courage to ask him myself. My whole thoughts of the matter changed though one day when I got home from school where in my room, multicolored yarns lay on my bed, spelling out 'Dance?' I had been super shocked, expecting it to be Julius or someone else that was trying to make fun of me by giving false affections, but it was instead Chase, my dream gentleman.
"Candace, do you want a drink?" I blinked and looked to Chase, who was smiling at me of all people. I kept wondering when I would blink and find myself out of this dream, but there he was, time and time again being just plainly wonderful.
"Well, um, su-sure. I'd lo-lo-love that," I choked out, expecting him to laugh or make a witty comment about my stutter, but he just continued smiling and went to the food table to retrieve beverages. I stood there, watching him, when I heard a cough from behind me. I spun around to see Julius there, surveying me with an eye.
"Well well, it looks as though someone has a bit of a crush blossoming," he snapped with a little more force than I thought would be necessary to state that. I blushed again.
"No, no. We-we're just fri-friends," I stumbled, looking down at the ground so as not to see his sneering face. I looked up just as he walked closer so that he was right next to me.
"When are you going to realize that you don't belong with him? At least, not the same way you do with me," he asked as he grabbed my hands and looked at me almost pleadingly. I gasped at the physical contact and the harshness of his words. I dropped his hands and started walking back.
"You, you don't re-realize what you're sa-saying," I managed out as I almost ran into Chase, who was graciously bringing back punch. I turned around again to look at him as he looked Julius up and down.
"What's going on?" he demanded, though not looking at me.
"Its, its no-nothing," I shook my head as he handed me one of the punch glasses. I took a sip as Julius and Chase glared at each other. We stood there for a couple of minutes as I noticed a slower song come on. I held onto my cup, not hoping to dream anything, when Chase finally stopped glaring at Julius and walked over to me.
"Candace, would you care to dance?" he asked, offering his hand like the true gentleman he was. I blushed and set my cup down, realizing Julius was also looking at us. Chase led us to the middle of the floor, where I noticed Luke and Selena looking happily at each other, making me smile a little as Chase spun me.
"You seem to be enjoying yourself," he smiled as he pulled me back in from the spin. I laughed a little and blushed again.
"It is a, a re-really lovely night," I nodded as his eyes twinkled. As we continued dancing, I saw Julius and Maya dancing right next to us, both glaring at us. I looked down in shame, feeling bad I had somehow made them both mad.
"What's wrong?" Chase asked, a little concerned it seemed. But of course, that couldn't be a possibility. He could never get truly concerned about me.
"I don't think Maya likes me very much," I whispered, afraid she'd hear me. He looked over to them and sighed.
"It's not you. Well, it is kind of you, but not in that way!" he corrected himself as I continued looking ashamed. "She's just jealous I'd rather pick you over her."
"But, but why?" I asked, looking up to his kind brown eyes. He smiled down at me, making my heart flutter a little in my chest.
"Because I like you Candace. I like you a, a lot. You're such a nice, talented, beautiful girl and," he stopped and looked down abashedly. I couldn't believe my ears. He liked me. Me. Shy, stumbling Candace over the sociable and loud-spoken Maya. I wanted to pinch myself, to make sure this was all real, but I felt he'd look at me very strangely if I did. He continued looking at me, and I realized he was waiting for me to say something.
"It's, um, alright if you don't feel the same though," he said, looking down again. I bit my lip, not sure how the perfect response would be. In movies, brave girls would do something physical, like a kiss, but I wasn't brave at all. Instead, I let go of his hands, got on my tiptoes, and hugged him. Luckily, this seemed to be an acceptable answer as I could feel him grin and he started spinning me around.
"I'm just so glad I finally told you," he laughed as he set me down. I nodded, smiling, as he took my hand to go sit down and talk. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Julius and Maya stop dancing to look at us (probably glaring again), but I didn't care. I had, Chase. He liked me. I liked him. And in my eyes, this could not get any better.
(Phoebe)
I poured some more punch for me as I looked around the room. Plenty of happy couple were meandering all over the place, but none held for me what I was looking for. Being a miner, I usually was very good at spotting things that I needed to, though I was slightly less good at spotting things currently without my usual glasses. They were tucked in my bag so that perhaps someone of importance would notice, but that was way beside the point. I cleared my throat and stood there watching everyone, silently thanking my lovely gift.
It was in fact, this skill that allowed me to see everyone and everything else that usually, I didn't really wish to see. As it was a slow song, I was fortunate enough to see all the happy couples make their way to the dance floor, while I got to stand on the side, very much by myself. That was, real fun. I sighed, smoothing down my dress as I stared at everyone.
Luke and Selena. They really seemed to be enjoying themselves, a usual activity for them. Chase and Candace. A very interesting pair, though I didn't judge. They looked very happy, though the same couldn't be said about Julius and Maya, who were both glaring at them so hard I could feel the force from the other side of the room. Obviously some tension there. I continued looking and spotted Kathy and Owen, who were both laughing incredibly, no doubt something witty either of them had said. I had, for some reason, tried joining them for dinner before the dance, and had felt so third-wheel-ish it wasn't even funny. They were happy though, so I guess as a friend, I couldn't ask more for either of them.
As I glanced around the room again, I saw Gill and Luna, which somewhat sparked my interest. At least, I was pretty sure it was Gill and Luna, as the whole lack of glasses thing impaired my perception greatly. I was surprised they had still come together, since I knew from what Lizzy had told me, he at least had an interest in her. Poor Luna seemed to be oblivious to that, or at least, she acted like she was oblivious to it. They looked, pleasant enough dancing, but I could tell no real spark existed between them, making me feel slightly bad for Luna. I, like many before me in time, knew exactly how it was to deal with unrequited love. I sighed, thinking of him, when I noticed a change in the couple I was observing. I turned my attentions to the door, and had to stop myself from laughing.
Lizzy had just walked in, laughing, with James, their arms linked together. I saw her gaze at the decorations, oblivious to the scene she was causing. Gill had almost broken away from Luna to probably say hi to Lizzy, not realizing the serious drama he was about to start. Luna of course, looked furious and seemed to be getting angry at him, which somewhat amused me.
"Having fun?" a familiar, deep manly voice asked. I turned to the sound of the voice and jumped.
"Oh my goodness, Calvin! I didn't even, um, notice you there," I said, trying my best to fix my hair, smooth my dress, anything to fix my appearance. He laughed deeply as I tried not blushing a lot in front of him.
"Sneaky does happen to be my best style," he smiled pleasantly as I nodded geekily, wishing I could be witty, charming, pretty, nice, polite, funny. Just, anything. Disappearing would even have worked.
"And that is why you're such a good miner," I smiled at him and almost froze, hoping he wouldn't think my comment was creepy, even if it was completely and utterly true.
I had met Calvin when he first moved to the island. I was in Ganache Mines, mining to try and look for some silver, when I tripped on something, spraining my ankle. I thought I was done for, when here came this super attractive male miner who stopped immediately when seeing me. He had asked me something I laughed at immediately, making me know I was gone. I suppose some call it love at first sight. I just knew right then and there that he was the only guy I could ever think of, and he was truly the only guy for me.
Of course, he was a year older than me. And was super popular and involved. Not to mention, he was awfully independent and would never need someone as weird as me. I sighed and stopped again, totally forgetting he was right there.
"You're having that bad of a time? You're date is doing a pretty sucky job," he laughed as I shook my head.
"Oh. I don't, um, have a date."
"I find that hard to believe." I looked up at his eyes, to see if he was joking, but he was looking at me very seriously.
"I'm pretty sure guys at this school have no idea I've gone to school with them for all their lives, much less would they think of me as a potential person to come with tonight, honestly," I said, trying very hard to not look at him.
He shrugged. "Obviously guys are stupid then. It's okay though, I don't have a date either."
I turned and gaped at him. "Now that I don't believe. You're way too cool to be, date-less."
He laughed with amusement. "Thanks for that. No, but cool factor or not, I don't have a date. I didn't think anyone would have wanted to come with me, so I just didn't ask."
I looked down as my mind screamed I'd have come with you! "I'm sure the right girl is out there for you, you just may not know it," I smiled at him, realizing how absolutely stupid I must sound.
"I'm sure she is," he said, looking broodingly off at the wall. He turned to me suddenly, a weird expression on his face. "I like the brooch you're wearing."
I blushed. "Oh, thanks. I made it with that silver you gave me and an old ruby I had lying around."
"I'm glad you liked the silver," Calvin grinned as he ran a hand through his hair, flexing his arms in the process. I tried not looking at them, but I was only human-not to mention a girl-, and just couldn't ignore the amazing wonders mining did to his perfectly shaped pectorals.
I cleared my throat to try and focus my mind back, though I was blushing as I smiled at him nervously. "Of course I did! I appreciate all the things you give me." I stopped again before he could realize how devoted and pathetic I was. I looked down and smoothed my dress out, trying to figure out a way in which I could appear less awkward.
"Where are your glasses?" he asked suddenly as I looked up, surprised he had even noticed they were gone.
"Oh, I just, didn't want to wear them in an attempt to look nice for tonight," I mumbled as I looked the other way, noticing a fuming Luna with Gill and Lizzy.
"Well, I like them. You always look nice in them," he said. I turned back to him, but he just stood there, smiling kindly at me. I blushed, and took them out of my purse I was holding. Whenever I wasn't wearing my glasses, I always made sure I had them, just in case I change my mind. Or, just in case (in this instance), an attractive male changed my mind for me. I slipped them on, enjoying the fact that everything was clear again. I turned to him.
"This better? I look more like regular everyday Phoebe now?" I laughed at him as he smiled at me.
"Perfect," he stated, making me blush and wonder what exactly was going on in his mind.
(Luna)
"Gill. Gill. Gill! Please, some focus this way," I snapped, a little more harshly than anticipated. He blinked a couple times as we spun around to the slow tune.
"Sorry. You were saying?" he asked a little dazed. I rolled my eyes at him.
"I wasn't saying anything. You just, aren't even paying attention to me. Like right now," I said as he stared blankly at me. "You know, she's not even here yet and you still could care less about me."
"That's nice," he said, continuing to not pay any notice to me at all. I bit my lip to stop from screaming at him when I observed a change in his posture. I tried turning us around so I could see what he was looking at, but he wouldn't let me. Luckily the song ended, allowing us to break apart and look at the couple that just walked in, even though I was pretty sure I already knew exactly who it was.
Lizzy's perfectly shaped arms were linked with James, both talking and laughing as they arrived. They looked, so happy I almost wanted to be sick. Her dress was awfully plain and I of course could never be caught dead in it. Her hair was also messily done which looked very tacky, even if the messy look somewhat worked for her. She may have even managed to look pretty in anyone else's mind, but I personally thought she looked dreadful. I turned to Gill to tell him some mean comment about her, but he instead was staring at her, dazed. I groaned.
Growing up, I knew that Gill always liked me. He consistently would pull up a chair next to him in class, call on me when I was sick, wait for me to walk home, sit with Candace and me at lunch, and just so many other things that I just knew he was attracted to me. Before though, I couldn't care less about him. I mean, yes he was cute and successful and all, but realistically he wasn't my dream guy.
Then of course, she showed up. At first, I knew Gill could care less about her. We even had lengthy chats all about Lizzy's plainness, her lack of fashion, lack of good standings in society, and just other unattractive qualities she seemed to possess. From the start, I could see through her fake happiness and nice act she gave everyone else. I mean, no one could be that perpetually happy. It was ridiculous. For a while, Gill had agreed with me wholeheartedly, and I had even grown to enjoy the chats we had mocking her. Once he had asked me to this dance though, I started seeing him differently. After all, he was going to be the future mayor. That had to stand for something.
The last couple weeks had been different though. He had stopped waiting for me and Candace after school. He stopped caring about my opinions. He even stopped wearing the same vest I had once complimented him on. He was different, and I knew it was all her fault.
"Oh hi Gill, hi Luna," Lizzy laughed as she came up to us both, James in tow. He smiled at us both, though I noticed his gaze linger on my poor Gill.
"Hello," Gill said, talking mainly to Lizzy, which I and James both noticed.
"Fun dance so far?" she asked as she took her arm out of James to push her bangs behind her ears.
"It's been a blast," I laughed as I put my hand on Gill's arm. He turned to look at me strangely, but luckily didn't say anything. Score one for me. I turned to look at Lizzy smugly.
"That's good to know, though a little sorry we got here so late," James said with a hearty laugh. Lizzy looked up to him and blushed, which instantly alerted my curiosity.
"I suppose you two had a good dinner then?" Gill asked suspiciously, which normally would infuriate me, but even I couldn't blame him. They had both seemed to enjoy dinner a little too much, which was something I was dying to know about personally.
"Oh it was just incredible!" Lizzy said as she described in more detail what James had done. He interjected in a couple parts, filling in the details she may have missed. They certainly did look and work well together, and the way she would look at James, you could tell she was head over heels for him. Why then did Gill want taken her instead of freely available me?
"That certainly is, romantic," Gill admitted begrudgingly as Lizzy suddenly gasped.
"Oh I forgot Gill, I still have to give you your movie back," she laughed as my eyes narrowed.
"Yes, we greatly enjoyed all the entertainment this week. I don't know what we would've done without your friendly generosity," James enunciated carefully, smiling at Gill with a considerable amount of force. Now I knew I was out of the loop about something, which I was not okay with.
"It was my pleasure," Gill bowed a little, his lips pressed tightly together. I was about to say something for someone to clue me in, when the music suddenly cut off.
"Okay everyone, this next song, everyone grab a different person than who you came with, and dance your hearts out with them," the DJ commanded via the influence of speakers.
I turned to Gill, who was staring earnestly at Lizzy. "Just, go," I said with frustration to him, who looked confused of all things. He looked back at me, but still went through with asking her to dance. I stood there, a little infuriated at him, but mostly annoyed with these new painful feelings for him.
(James)
I wanted to tell Lizzy very badly to not accept that boys hand, as we hadn't even danced yet, but I didn't. It was the same feeling that I got when I wanted to grab her hand but wouldn't, or when I wanted to kiss her earlier over dinner but just couldn't. Though I was usually a pretty verbose individual, whenever it came to Lizzy, my mind always blanked out completely and I ended up sounding stupid and insipid instead of my usual suave ways.
However bad I was feeling though, it was nothing to how Gill's date was acting. She had her arms crossed against her chest and was fuming as Gill and Lizzy talked and laughed on the dance floor already. I walked up to her, trying to remember her name.
"So, do you want to dance?" I asked, trying to be a little pleasant.
She looked at them again and sighed. "Whatever." She gave me her hand to put in my extended arm. I led her out to the floor as we started dancing as I suddenly remembered this was a girl Lizzy didn't like. I smiled at the irony as her eyes narrowed.
"What were you guys talking about, about the movie?" she demanded as I tried drowning out Lizzy's familiar laugh from behind me.
"Oh, um, Lizzy was sick this whole week so one day Gill brought a bunch of things over, such as movies. It was, nice," I admitted begrudgingly. "He didn't tell you?"
"No," she said, pressing her lips tightly together. We continued spinning awkwardly until she broke the silence.
"You like her."
"Yes," I said, not really caring about her opinion and not seeing the relevance of her statement.
"Have you kissed her yet?" she demanded.
"That, that is none of your business," I sputtered as I tried not looking at her squarely in the eye.
"So you haven't yet," she said smugly. I didn't answer her, even though it was true.
"You know, if it was me, I'd do it later tonight, outside by the flower arches. It'd be awfully romantic," she smiled sweetly as I mused out the idea in my mind, deciding it to be an actually good one.
"You know, you're quite a smart girl. No wonder Gill and you are so good together," I smiled as her lips tightened again.
"We're, we are not together," she corrected.
"My mistake." More silence.
"He likes her you know," she said softly. I looked down at her sad face and glanced up, as we happened to be in a position so I could see the other pair. Lizzy was talking to him as Gill stared at her, a love-struck smile plastered on his face.
"Yes. Yes, I know."
(Gill)
"Well this is a kind of weird thing. Does this usually happen during school dances?" Lizzy asked me with a laugh as I spun her around. I could see Luna getting asked by James as I looked back down to her.
"Yeah, no matter what DJ we have, they always request a 'different partner' dance. I think it 's to encourage dance diversity or something, I don't know," I shrugged. Or at least, I somewhat shrugged, as her arm was on my shoulder. Most girls just threw their arms around guys' necks for a slow dance, but Lizzy had immediately put her hands on my shoulder and in my other hand properly, which for some reason made me incomprehensively proud.
"Huh, that's interesting. Oh look, James and Luna are dancing," she motioned over to the pair of them. "They don't look very happy," she laughed, no doubt amused by both of their stiff expression.
"Well, I don't think they know each other very well. I probably wouldn't want to really dance with someone either if I didn't really know them that well. It'd just be, weird," I mused aloud as she pondered what I'd said.
"I suppose. It's an easy way to get to meet new people though, certainly."
"What would you even talk about?" I asked, confused on how dancing with a stranger could ever end up successfully.
"I don't know, normal things, like interests, movies, hobbies, books, music, what color their tooth brush is… Anything," she laughed.
I gave her a strange look. "I think asking the color of their tooth brush is kind of creepy."
"Well, you are a shady individual."
"I had forgotten completely about that," I laughed as she looked at me in amusement. "That was when we first met, those first couple days."
"You got so mad at me for the oddest of reasons," she laughed with me as I continued thinking about it. That was a time when I had thought she was such a peculiar person who I would never wish to affiliate with. And now, here I was, wishing to be with her more. But of course, in the friendly, non-romantic way, as I had already established before mentally, I didn't like her.
"I think I just didn't know how to act with you because no one on the island is like you." And no one ever will be…. Shut up I told my mind with annoyance.
"Or you're just a perpetual grumpy gills," she laughed again, her hair bouncing as she lightly tossed her head back. Though I usually didn't like the messy style girls did these days, for some odd reason, it worked incredibly for her. Not of course that I cared about these things.
"I'm not a fish," I frowned as she just smiled at me. "Anyways, are you going to the flower festival tomorrow?"
She shrugged. "Probably, unless James doesn't want to go."
I grew a little irritated. "You can go without him you know. He's not needed necessarily for you to go."
She looked at me strange. "What are you getting at Gill? I don't know what's suddenly gotten into you."
"Nothing, I don't either," I mumbled. The sudden outbreak was a little random, even for me, and I had no idea why I was so mad about something James related.
"You know, you can come with me, if you want to, or if James isn't fancying a day out," I suggested, trying not to look at her, but failing when I sneaked a sly look to the side.
"Like a date?" her eyes twinkled with amusement.
"No, just as friends," I stumbled out as she laughed.
"I know, I was just teasing you Gill. I know we're just friends," she smiled as I tried to smile back.
I was going to say something of substance, something of great wit, when the fan blew a strange way, giving me the nice scent of lavender. I breathed it in, overtaken by the lovely smell. I looked down at Lizzy, to wonder if she knew where the scent came from, when I just laughed.
"What's so funny?" she asked, confused.
"You, you're wearing lavender as your flower," I laughed a little bitterly at the irony. I had always loved lavender, and now, it on her, seemed to just be icing on the cake.
"Yeah, I love lavender and already had the purple dress," her voice trailed off as the song chose to end at a very inconvenient time. James came up, but I for some reason was unwilling to let her go.
"Lizzy, would you like some punch?" he asked her as I reluctantly let go of her hands. She turned to James with a smile.
"Sure, why not," she shrugged as he led her away, across the room. Her lavender scent seemed to linger on me, leaving me in a slight trance, which is why all I could do was stand there looking after her. I could tell more than one person was looking at me, but I didn't care. For once in my life, I was so confused about the emotions I was feeling. Such as staring after James and Lizzy. Who did he think he was, taking her away like he owned her or something, right after we had just, talked? It was amazing to me that we had spent an entire song just going on about random things, but was it wrong that it had felt so right? And if it was right, then James had no reason to take her away. This thought process led me to feeling a little angry and hurt and sad and just… everything all at once. Was this, could this be jealousy?
I couldn't be jealous, because jealousy insinuated feelings; otherwise there was no reason to be jealous. So if I was jealous then I must…
Like Lizzy.
Huh. I didn't see that one coming. It was if I had been stricken by a strong blow, except mentally and emotionally instead of physically. I turned to sit back down at a nearby table to try and clear my thoughts, taking a drink from the nearest cup I could find.
I liked her. I liked Lizzy. I had liked Lizzy for a while and had just not wanted to admit it. It made so much sense though. The worry about her opinion and well being, the anger I got when she was with James, why I no longer really cared about Luna, how my day brightened just by her smiling at me, and just everything. It was as if all memories associated with her collided together in my mind, leaving me happy but crestfallen at the same time. She probably knew and didn't reciprocate the feelings, for how could she. I sat there, wallowing in my thoughts when Luna sat next to me.
"You look ill, did something happen?" she asked with bitter amusement.
"No, nothing at all," I mumbled, not wanting to talk to her in the time of my deep revelation.
"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and stood. "Oh, but if you were wondering, Lizzy was looking for you. She said she wanted to talk to you about something. It sounded kind of important…" She trailed off and shrugged. "She's outside, over by the arches."
I stood at once and looked over to her. "I'll go see what she wants, it could end up being imperative," I said as she nodded off to me with surprising amusement, but I could care less. This could be it, a very important moment that could have the potential to alter something between me and Lizzy. Lizzy and I my mind corrected itself with surprisingly giddy joy. I walked slowly, working up to an energetic walk.
I made my way outside and walked straight against the cobblestone wall. Luna had said Lizzy was at the flower arches, which were around the corner. I stopped before it to take a few reassuring breaths, but grinned.
If this worked out right, if this was her telling me she liked me after all, I could maybe have my first girlfriend. I, she… I liked her. Thinking about it more could probably never desensitize me to the happiness the thoughts gave me. I was just so glad to finally realize what had happened, to finally get to be happy about life again. Or at least, to be happy for the first time in my life. Emotions overcame me so much I just wanted to go on the rooftop and scream my joy, which was, I supposed the high of young love. Huh, love. I bit my lip to try and hide my smile as I gathered myself as much as I could. I walked around the corner, though, and froze.
Lizzy was there all right. She just happened to be there with arms thrown around James, kissing him with so much passion my heart sunk. I gasped silently and retracted my steps so I wouldn't see them anymore. I leaned my back against the cobblestone wall, surprised, jealous, and most of all, heartbroken about the horrendous scene I had just witnessed.