I'm sorry it's been so long since chapter 15. I've been having issues with how to write out this chapter; even though the battle's over, I still don't want to mess it up.

I also started school this week, so I haven't had a lot of time to write.

But anyway, here's how I finally decided to write chapter 16!

Enjoy!

Sam's POV

"And to think that last night at this time, we were on that little island fighting for our lives," Cathy said as she twisted another strand of my hair in the curling iron. It was Friday evening and the two of us were getting ready for the dance at her house.

Mr. Smith had been able to revive Penn; he'd known a way to get the poison out of him before it had officially killed him. The kid was still out in the clubhouse, recovering.

As for Chris, he was fine too. The cut left by the glass really wasn't as deep as we'd thought. He still needed thirteen stiches, but he was fine according to John.

"Yeah," I replied. "So, do you have a date for tonight?"

"Well, Max had asked me. But seeing as though he was an evil liar and is now on his way to intergalactic prison, we're not going together anymore," Cathy answered. "So I'm going in alone, hoping someone will ask me dance."

"I'm sure someone will ask you," I said in response. "You're a nice girl and there are plenty of nice boys in our class…"

"Are you going with anyone?" Cathy asked, interrupting me. I paused for a moment, a little startled by her sudden question.

"No, I'm not going with anyone," I answered.

"What? You're not going with Chris?" Cathy asked, sounding just as surprised as I was.

"No. Chris didn't ask me," I replied. "Besides, he might not even be going anymore anyways."

"Well why wouldn't he go?" Cathy asked like it was a silly thought.

"Well, let's see. He got stabbed yesterday and spent half the night in the hospital. Then he wasn't at school today because he didn't sleep at all last night and it generally hurts when you get stitches or when you get stabbed," I answered, trying to keep the edge of sarcasm to hide my inner disappointment.

Did I want Chris to be there tonight? Yes. Was I a little upset that he didn't ask me to go with him? Yes. But there was always the possibility that he'd just ask me to dance when we got there, having been to shy to ask me to go with him beforehand. But now, it appeared that my chances were extremely slim. And if I had to face that fact, so did Cathy.

"I would still go if that happened to me," Cathy remarked with a devious little grin.

"I'm sure you would," I said, rolling my eyes. Cathy gently smacked my shoulder then went to put the curling iron down.

"Okay. You're done. Dress time," she said, unable to mask her excitement. She grabbed her dress from the closet and ran to the bathroom in the hall to get changed.

Cathy loves getting all dressed up like this. I have to admit that I do too. Instead of looking all normal like you do everyday, you get to dress up and feel like some fairytale princess for a night. And no matter how old I get, I'll always get the same feeling from nights like these.

"What do you think?" Cathy asked, walking back into her room. She was wearing a shiny purple dress with tank top sleeves that went down right below her knees. It was the kind of dress that fits around you upper body, and then flows out from your waist. It was gorgeous.

"Oh my gosh, it's beautiful," I said, getting up off the bed to get a closer look. "What made you choose purple?"

Cathy shrugged. "It was more the dress than the color. I realized after the fact that it wasn't my usual pink. But it's close enough so I figured why not?" She seemed really happy. "Now you're turn!"

I grabbed my dress from where we'd hung it in her closet and went to the bathroom to put it on.

I had to admit that I'd also gone out of my usual colors; my dress was red. It was strapless with a sweetheart neck and it fit like Cathy's dress; tight on top and then flowery from the waist down. Mine went down to right on my knees, and it was sparkly. I loved it.

I walked back into Cathy's room. Cathy's mouth dropped open when she saw me.

"And?" I asked nervously.

"You better hope Chris is at that dance tonight, or some other boy will ask you and you're too nice to say no," Cathy answered, unable to hide her smile. I grabbed a pillow off her bed and threw it at her. Cathy giggled and hid from my attack. I started laughing too. Oh, these nights were fun.

"Any sign of Danny yet?" Cathy asked as the two of us walked through the gym together. We'd been here twenty minutes and still couldn't find a trace of The Danny. He had to be here somewhere. Danny wasn't one to be late to something like this. School? Sure. But a school dance? Never!

"Find Wendy and I'm sure you'll find him close by," I answered.

"No, he isn't with her. I saw her a few minutes ago," Cathy replied. "Her dress is pink." Surprise, surprise, I thought. It wasn't a secret to all of us that Wendy knew that Danny also kind of liked Cathy. So anything she could do to remain the center of Danny's attention was a must. And if that was wearing Cathy's signature color, so be it.

"Then I don't know what to tell you," I said with a shrug. Katy Perry's Firework started playing.

"I love this song!" Cathy exclaimed.

"Funny, I actually don't mind this song," a voice said from behind us. Soon enough, Danny had his arms around both Cathy's shoulders and mine. "You two look lovely tonight."

"You don't clean up half bad yourself," I replied, noting how Danny was actually wearing dress shoes with black dress pants and a red polo shirt. This was as dresses up as the boy would get. I was proud.

"Why thank you," Danny said. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to have a word with your blonde friend here." Danny let go of my shoulders and moved so that her was standing in front of Cathy with his hands on her shoulders.

"Miss Smith, would you give me the honor of the next dance?" he asked. Cathy giggled.

"Why yes I will, Mr. Jackson, if you promise to stop talking like we're in some old fashioned fairytale movie," she answered. Danny smiled.

"Yeah. Sorry about that. I was having fun," he explained.

"Danny having fun with words? No!" I commented sarcastically. Danny gave me a glare that said 'haha, very funny'.

"I guess I'll leave you two alone then," I said, walking away, my back turned to the them. I was on my own now.

I walked over by where the bleachers were rolled in and saw a piece of paper sticking out a few rows down. I walked down and pulled the paper out to find an envelope.

It's still not too late to read this, was written on it above where my name was written in black pen. THE LETTER!

I opened the envelope, wondering how it'd gotten there for a brief moment. But not too long, because then I actually got to read my letter. It read:

Dear Sam,

Right now, I'm supposed to be writing an essay for language arts. But essays don't take that long to write, and this is more important. As you know, there's a dance this Friday. And I'm hoping that this isn't coming too late; seeing as though you are a really nice, funny, pretty girl, I wouldn't be surprised if I've lost my chance. But I can still try. And with that, I have one question for you: Will you go to the dance with me?

Chris.

P.S. Danny wants you to know that he thinks I'm a hopeless romantic; real life isn't a book.

I read the letter over again, a tad confused and a lot excited. How had this letter gone here? And why didn't he just ask me in person? Oh, who am I kidding? I'm actually glad he wrote me this. Because now I can keep it as a reminder of what almost would've happened if aliens hadn't captured me. Or just read the letter the minute he handed it to me regardless of what he'd said.

On that thought, why hadn't I assumed that Chris had written that letter when he gave it to me? He'd told me the sender was a secret. But who would send a note to me through him except him? Anyone else would've given it to Cathy to give to me. Why had that thought not occurred to me five days ago?

But that wasn't all that important right now. All that mattered was that I'd read my letter and was buzzing from the excitement of reading it. Danny calls him a hopeless romantic. Well, he may be hopeless, but I guess that's my type.

I folded the letter back up and stuck it in the envelope. I carefully shoved it back into the bleachers, promising to return for it later. I turned to go back to Cathy and Danny, but someone gently grabbed my wrist before I could walk away. I panicked.

This was just like what happened with Nossida Monday night. I'd almost run into him, then he'd grabbed my wrist before I had the chance to run away. Except, this person's grip was much softer, not like they wanted to capture me and torture me with their crazy schemes.

I turned around fast, ready to attack if necessary, and found myself staring into the blue eyes I'd just been daydreaming about. I smiled.

"It isn't midnight yet, Cinderella," Chris said, smiling as well. He was dressed just like Danny except his shirt was blue. I personally think he looked even better than Danny. It was just something about how the lights were reflecting off his eyes, making them sparkle. Or maybe it was how cute and genuinely happy he looked smiling like that. But that's just me talking.

"Well, I'm sorry, but I wasn't aware that my prince was coming tonight," I replied just a creatively. I know that in all honesty, his first line was a little corny and mine just added to it, but I think it's sweet. "I thought you weren't coming."

"And miss my chance at seeing you look so pretty? Never," Chris replied, shaking his head.

"But last night…"

"Last night's in the past now. This is tonight," Chris interrupted me. "Whatever happened, happened. We're all okay now. That's all that matters." I smiled.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I replied with a shrug. Love Story started playing. "I read your letter."

"And?" Chris asked, seeming nervous.

I held my hand out to him. "Dance with me?" I said in the form of a question. Chris smiled again and took my hand.

"As you wish," he replied, leading me over to where the other kids were dancing. I put my hands on his shoulders, and he set his hands gently on my waist. And I've gotta admit that nothing I've done has ever felt so right than that moment did.

I also remembered where he'd quoted that last bit from; The Princess Bride. And in that movie, whenever Wesley said that to Buttercup, he'd really been saying I love you.

Cathy's POV

"I always knew they liked each other," I said to Danny as the two of us watched Chris and Sam from across the dance floor. Of course we'd known all along that Chris was going to surprise Sam here tonight.

"Cath, everyone knew that but the two of them," Danny said in reply. "That's how it always is with those story book couples."

"Story book couples?" I asked, wondering about the term.

"Two people who are supposed to be together and who both really like each other, but they can't see that," Danny explained. "Everyone else knows, except the two involved. Eventually, they end up together. How that happens always changes. And in this story, it involved a school dance, a letter, a surprise, and broken glass."

I thought about that for a minute. I'd been trying to think up a way to tell Danny that I kind of like him for a while now. And I'd decided that I wanted to do it tonight. I saw a chance arising.

"Say Sam and Mark started dating. What kind of couple would you classify them as?" I asked, playing it off like I was just generally curious.

"The polar opposite couple," Danny answered. "Two very different people, who fall in love and have a relationship that works because of their difference. Although I think Sam and Mark a little too different to ever really work.

"I see. What about me and Jeremy?" I asked, my strategy in full motion.

"You two would be a general cute couple, I guess," Danny answered, thinking a little harder on that one. "You're the nice girl who kinda likes the geeky kid, that's Jeremy, and then one day, you realize you really like him. Then you start dating and it's considered sweet, I guess."

"Ok. How about you and Wendy?" I questioned.

"We'd be your on again off again couple," Danny responded. "Deep down, we really like each other. But we fight a lot on the outside." I nodded.

" And me and you?" I finally asked, staring him straight in the eye. He stared right back as his mouth spread into a somewhat mischievous grin.

" I thought you'd never ask," he said, pulling me closer to him to where our lips were almost touching. "We, would be the kind of couple where no matter what happens, we'll stick it out together."

"And what's the name for that category?" I asked.

"I like to consider that the spontaneous couple," Danny answered, then kissed my softly on the lips. He pulled back. "Any arguments?"

"The jury's all in favor," I replied. He kissed me again and I have to admit that nothing I've ever done had felt so right as this moment.

~ After the Dance ~

Penn's POV

"Tonight was literally like a fairytale," Cathy said, still twirling around form glee.

"For you? Or everyone?" I asked. The two of us were hanging out in her living room while Mr. Smith talked to the Commander about what they were going to do with me. My mom's kind of in jail now, so it's not like I can live with her for the time being.

"Everyone," Cathy answered. "I'm so glad you hung onto that letter. It really made Sam's night to finally get that." I smiled, happy I'd nabbed it from Nossida earlier this week. It clearly belonged to Sam and I had meant to give it to her earlier, but my chances slipped away. At least she'd gotten it before it was too late.

"I'm glad it helped," I replied. "You two looked so pretty."

"Thank you," Cathy responded. "I'm so glad you're okay. If you hadn't, you know, made it, tonight would've been no fun at all!"

"I'm happy I made it too," I agreed. "You're grandpa is a really smart man. And he's really nice. And so are the plants."

"So you've met them?" Cathy asked.

"Of course," I replied. Cathy sighed and shook her head.

"Oh Grandpa and his plants," she muttered. Mr. Smith came into the living room at that moment.

"Okay, Penn, we've worked out where you're headed. You're going to stay with your aunt on Xeneolo until they can figure out what's going on with your mom. The Commander's going to beam you up there from the clubhouse."

"Alright," I said, standing up. I walked over to Mr. Smith. "I can't thank you enough for saving my life." He smiled.

"I'm glad to have done it," he replied. "Good luck out there, son." Then he gave me a hug and a smile. I smiled back and then turned to Cathy.

" I promise I'll keep in touch with you four," I said, giving her a hug also.

"You better, kid. We're gonna miss you," she said in reply. "Have fun with your aunt!"

"I'll try," I replied. "Thanks again. I literally owe my life to you guys."

"A life we're happy to still have," Mr. Smith said. I smiled at them one last time.

"Until we meet again," I said, then walked out to the clubhouse to go home.

Cathy's POV

I was sad to see Penn go. He's a really nice kid. I really hope we'll meet again.

"So, Cathy. How was the dance?" Grandpa asked, seeming slightly suspicious.

"It was wonderful," I answered, twirling around a little. I was still buzzing from that kiss.

"Did the others have a good time?" Grandpa asked.

"Oh yeah. We had a great time," I responded.

"What's got you all wired up?" he asked with a tad of suspicion that seemed faked. "You didn't kiss any boys did you?" I stopped at that. He was joking right?

"Uh… n-no. O-of course not! Wh-why would you say that?" I answered nervously, hoping I was being convincing. My face felt really hot. Hopefully, I wasn't blushing too much. Grandpa gave me a look.

"Just wondering," he said.

"Oh. Okay," I replied, glad to be done with that conversation. "Well, I'm gonna go dress down now. I'll be back in a minute!" I said, racing off upstairs.

Mr. Smith

I shook my head as Cathy bolted away upstairs. I laughed to myself.

"I love it when they're so obviously trying to hide something that you know they're lying," I thought aloud.

I walked over and sat down on the couch, waiting for Cathy to come back down.

"Especially when you heard them admit it to their best friend before they came inside the house."

Awww, is it over?

I don't know. Is it?

…. =l

At the current time, this is the end! I hope you all enjoyed the story!

But stay tuned! I may have an alternate ending coming. Maybe an epilogue or something like that. You never know…

Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Check out my other stories if you liked this one!

Thanks again!

~ BeachBabe123

Read on! =D