Chapter 1

Sitting alone on the rickety gym bleachers at prom wouldn't be so bad if people would just stop staring, some whispering discretely, some gossiping loudly. The worst part was there was nothing I could really do except sigh, wrap my arms around myself, and slump down against the icy cement wall. I didn't belong here, not even close. I'm just a sophomore and this was the senior prom. My boyfriend, Ryan, was the only senior who had gotten permission to bring a younger date, compliments of being the football team's star quarterback no doubt.

I was about to pull myself up off the 40 year old wood and skulk home to continue being miserable when I lifted my head and saw Ryan in the center of a grind line with a dark purple silk dress in front of him with her mouth cemented to his harsh lips. I guess that made it official. We were over.

My legs became solid, like a slab of marble. I couldn't breathe, my lungs were hiding in my intestines. I slid my eyelids shut and started lightly tapping the back of my numbed brain against the stony wall of this institution. Stupid, stupid… flowed through my mind, rhythmically with the steady thumping of my head against the wall, to replace the images dieing to taunt my thoughts. Not ten feet away people danced and laughed as the music droned on without any meaning while I sat her bleeding from the inside out. I felt a solitary, bitter tear tumble down my cheek.

I stayed like this for how long 30, 40 minutes? It didn't matter, I wasn't sure what to feel anymore. I was about to slip back into my internal revolving door of stupid, stupid…when there was a voice,

"Hello?" It was a very pleasant voice, which truly sent me for a loop, if I had anticipated anyone saying anything to me I would have expected a snide remark about the break-up, or a "you should leave, you don't belong here", as if I didn't know that already. However, when my curtain of eyelashes, heavy with mascara, parted, there was an extremely attractive boy looking down over me, it was half painful to look at him. I must have looked like an utter fool gaping up at him, my eyes wide in shock, and my mouth was probably dangling open. Regardless of my vegetable like stupor, he smiled at me politely, offered me his hand, and asked, "May I have this dance?" My heart nearly stopped, and when it lurched backed to life I could feel every drop of blood in my body flood my cheeks. The fact that I was already wearing blush probably didn't help with the color. The music slowly slipped past my mental block, it was slow and sweet. On My Own, The Used.

I was beyond words, I couldn't find the right words to such a formal invitation, the sound just refused to come out, so I just nodded.

Sliding my hand into his I noticed that they were ice cold, but tender. He led me out onto the dance floor where he spun me around and gently placed his other hand on the small of my back and pulled me close to him. My breathe caught, I hadn't been expecting that. I looked up at my dance partner, he was certainly a very peculiar boy, try as I might, I couldn't begin to imagine what would make someone this gorgeous want to dance with me. Not when he easily could have picked up any one of the more beautiful girls here. I mean, I know I looked better than my usual long sleeve over cami with jeans ensembles, but there was no way I could possibly look this good. This boy was beyond supermodel perfect, he'd have any billion dollar, front page superstar foaming at the mouth in fits of jealousy, easily. Any one of his dazzling features could, single handedly, land him front and center on the cover of every magazine known to man. My eyes eventually wandered into his. Each one a vast pool of inviting, warm amber with a hint of brilliant emerald around the outer edges, they were so beautiful. As I stared I could feel myself melting into putty in his hands, in an attempt to distract myself I started looking around at the rest of the prom's twirling population. We were the only ones really dancing, all of the other couples only had their arms wrapped around each other while they shuffled their feet or rocked their weight back and forth between their hips.

Everyone's head was turned towards me and the mysterious boy I was dancing with. While I was dating Ryan I grew used to people always staring, and gossiping as if I weren't there, but this was different. Everyone was glaring at us, each spinning head colored with disapproval, and disgust. God forbid they should look at Ryan like that, both of his hands down the skirt of a bright orange backless dress. Across the gym I spotted the dark purple silk who was sucking on his Adam's apple earlier. She was the only one glowering at someone other than me, but Ryan wasn't the one she was focused on. Purple silk was staring down orange backless with all the hate that she should be feeling towards Ryan. Why do people have to be so stupid!?

"I agree." His voice plucked me out of my dark reverie. What was he agreeing with? I hadn't said anything.

"Excuse me?" I asked him politely. He smiled at me, but his eyes darted around the gym, lost, until they fell onto Ryan on the other side of the gym and said, "He is hot, and popular, if I were you I'd much rather be dancing with him too." With this his arms loosened and I began to slip farther and farther away from him.

"No!" I nearly shouted, my voice rising several octaves, and pulling myself back into his arms, "He's a total jerk!"

He looked at me incredulously, like he couldn't believe the words that had just come from my mouth. Within moments, though, his features had rearranged themselves into amusement. He cocked his head to one side and asked "Really?" In a tone that easily could have been mistaken for mild sarcasm.

"We kinda broke-up just before you had come and asked me to dance, actually." I admitted, sheepishly. For a moment he almost looked surprised, and then sympathetic, "That was you?", the look on my face must have answered his question because then he added, "No wonder you were crying." My left hand flew from his shoulder to my face, it was damp, I hadn't realized I was crying that hard. He cupped my face in his hand, and wiped aside the blotchy wet spot on my cheek. After drying his hand on his pants leg he snatched my hand from my face and placed it back on his shoulder where he gingerly laced his fingers into mine. I stared at him in total awe, no one's ever been so nice to me before. I thought to myself. This song seemed to be lasting forever, but I didn't care. I knew it would be over all too soon. Why was forever never long enough.

"What's your name?" I asked him. He obviously hadn't expected me to ask him that because he hesitated before opening his mouth to answer me. In that short moment of hesitation the song ended. He dropped his arms immediately, as if he were just going to walk away and disappear. My shoulders sagged a little, I began forcing my brain to etch his face into memory, knowing this would be the last chance I would have to do so.

"Did you come from another school to crash the prom or something?" I asked. He looked confused, "What. Why do you ask that?"

"It's just that I've never seen you at school before now, and I'm sure that I would have remembered seeing you if I ever had." He smiled at me, cautiously, as if he were unsure of something and was trying to hide it.

"Would you accompany me for a walk, please?" he asked me, motioning towards the gym doors with his hand.

"Sure" I replied. He took my hand and led me through the crowd towards the back doors. On our way out I noticed purple silk making a b-line towards orange backless who was out on the dance floor with Ryan putting on a display that would have made any mother's teeth curl. I just rolled my eyes and kept walking, he followed my gaze and chuckled.