"Oh boy I just can wait for history class. It's my favorite hour of the day. Up on the chalkboard I just love your ass. When you write notes, it shake, shake, shakes…" Sydney was singing in the bathroom, damning Arlen internally for playing that Kesha song a few days ago to taunt her. She was getting ready for the dance, feeling every bit a high school student. "So when you get back my pop quiz, what will you think when you read this?" She smiled, unable to help herself and changed the name of the teacher in question. "Mr. Garnder I want to get with you. I won't tell a soul what we're gonna do. Want to get my hands in your khaki pants…"

"Honey, are you almost done in there?" Arlen's voice came from the other side of the door and Sydney was grateful that she was singing softly to herself.

Sydney opened the door. "We can share, Arlen."

Arlen raised an eyebrow. "Look at you getting all dolled up for a high school dance." There was a tell in his voice.

"Arlen, high school students are cruel. I don't need to give them any ammunition by looking bedraggled."

"Bedraggled, huh? Oh you little English teacher, you… You looked just fine when you got home today." He turned on the shower. "Jess has got a date, you've got a date…"

"I'm chaperoning, Arlen. What's wrong with your shower?"

"Uh huh. Is Nathan? Water pressure's better in here."

"Ooh, is Nathan what?" Jess was in the bathroom now.

"Hey, privacy please?"

"What? Arlen's in here," Jess whined.

Sydney sighed. "Arlen doesn't count."

Arlen protested, "Hey!"

"Oh, you know what I mean." She looked at Jess. "You, out…" Then Arlen. "…you, please get that last bit of hair I couldn't reach with the curling iron."

Arlen smiled, thinking he had to be right. "Sure thing, hun."

An hour later, Sydney walked in the gym feeling a little nervous, but not for the same reasons she had in the past. A few more decorations had been put up since school ended and the students managed to pull off something almost magical with their small budget. Since they wanted it to be a winter theme, they opted for hues of blue with white and silver accents; simple and pretty.

The students were just beginning to arrive and a few other teachers and parent volunteers were scattered about the gym and hallway. She began to feel foolish when she thought about the time she put into getting ready – she may as well have been one of the sixteen year olds she taught. Arlen finished her hair, the soft curls cascading down her back. Even while the bathroom was invaded, she took fifteen minutes with her makeup to try and achieve the "I hardly put any time into this" look. She then slipped into a very casual black dress with an a-line hem that fell just below her knees and topped it off with a gold knit cardigan – mixing just enough "teacher" with…well, she didn't know what, exactly. She had actually begun to laugh at herself when one of her students approached her.

"Do you like how it turned out?"

"It's really amazing, Andrea," she responded, smiling. "I told you you'd pull it together."

The girl smiled back at her. "Thanks. Maybe I can head up the prom committee in a couple months."

"Well, if you do you know I'd be more than happy to help. Have a good time tonight."

"You too." Andrea made her way to a group of girls on the far side of the gym, seeming more than happy with all she'd done.

"Well, someone got prettied up, hm?" Sydney turned and saw Madelyn, the algebra teacher, looking at her rather questionably.

"Just…took a shower and changed my clothes," she replied blushing a little.

"Uh huh. Did you call your best friend and gush about that boy across the hall that you hope asks you to dance tonight?" She meant the comment in jest, but it wound up being the truth to Sydney.

"Oh, sure, and I cracked my gum the whole time too." She laughed, playing it off, but felt her stomach drop. Surely she was setting herself up just as she had in high school…longing for the cute upperclassman to magically walk away from the popular girl he liked and ask her to dance…only to go home broken hearted. I really thought you left all of this behind once you got that diploma…Why did he have to do that this afternoon? No sooner had she realized her immaturity than Nathan walked into the gym. She heard herself exhale a nervous sigh as she spotted him…Madelyn noticed the sigh, but not the reason.

"Hey, I'm just kidding, you know," she said, thinking her joking had upset her. "We have to keep up good appearances in front of these kids or we don't hear the end of it."

"Yeah…they're tough to please."

"Good evening, ladies," Nathan said, the endearing half smirk on his face that he seemed to wear so often. "Welcome to four hours of our lives that we'll never get back."

"Four hours?" Madelyn asked.

"Seven to eleven, Maddie, let's do some math, hm?"

"Crap…I have to call my babysitter." She ran off, trying to find her cell phone in the depths of her purse.

Nathan looked at Sydney and smiled fully. "Well, that explains a few of the test scores in her room." He was kidding, of course. His eyes softened a little and his smile changed. "You look…like you belong somewhere other than a high school gym."

Sydney blushed. "Thank you, I think."

He nodded. "A flubbed compliment, but a compliment nonetheless. You look lovely."

She looked at Nathan, noticing that he had shaved and changed into a suit that actually fit him the correct way. "You too…well, not lovely, but, good, er nice…" She laughed at herself. "Well, I can't wait to check English tests on Monday."

"You trying to pick up one of the seniors?" he asked, winking. He hadn't made any sort of reference to earlier and Sydney decided that it was just a friendly gesture, albeit a confusing one.

"I sort of value this job, so…no." More students began to file in, the lights dimmed, and the DJ started to fill the gym with music. "Well, here we go, hm?"

"Yup." Nathan excused himself and paced the gym a little.

Sydney stayed where she was, watching the students flock into the middle of the gym and dance. She was glad to see so big of a turn out. She swayed just a little, trying her best not to draw any attention to herself. After ten minutes or so, she felt a hand on her arm.

"Hey!"

Startled, she turned to see Susan Gardner. "Hi, Susan. Everything all right?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to thank you for helping Andrea out. We've had more of a rave type vibe here recently and it's nice to change things up a bit. Mrs. Levings never would have stepped foot in here to help."

"I was happy to do it."

"Well, it was really cool of you." She saw her father approaching. "Hey, Dad."

Nathan answered her, his tone playful. "Hey, honey. Not embarrassing you by being here am I?"

"Nope. You're a history teacher again. I am no longer in danger of being an outcast at any moment." She winked at him in jest, then saw Charlie waiting for her on the dance floor. "See ya."

Sydney watched the young couple embrace as the music slowed. "They're cute."

"Yeah…he's actually a pretty good kid."

"You sound surprised."

"It's a story for later…you know some of it." He wrung his hands together. "So, having fun?"

Fun? I'm a nervous wreck thanks to this afternoon! "Well…it's not as bad as when I used to go to these things as, you know, one of them." She motioned to the kids.

"That bad?" he asked.

"Well, not that good," she said, forcing a smile.

"High school was designed to torture. Something in the atmosphere makes you think it's the most important part of your life, but we both know that's far from the reality of things." He cleared his throat. "So, at the risk of sounding incredibly similar to one of them, do you wanna, I don't know, dance with me?"

"Uh…are we supposed to do that?"

"Well, Principal Hawkins is dancing with his wife…Maddie and Travis over there…Yeah, it looks safe for the chaperones to dance." He extended his hand.

Her heart raced a little. "Uh, sure." She took his hand and he led her to the edge of the student body. He put one hand lightly on her waist, while the other kept hold on hers, their fingers slowly interlacing. "Are we going to sway in a circle?"

Nathan chuckled. "We could waltz if you'd rather, but I'm a little rusty…though I know from experience that you like to…"

"That was never to be brought up ever again."

He smiled at her. "Can't erase what I saw, sorry." He held her a little too close, and they moved in time with the music. After a few silent moments, he spoke. "I have no intention of doing that thing guys do when they apologize for kissing someone," he said, his voice much lower than it had been all night. "I'm not sorry I did it…I'm just sorry it happened the way it did. Not exactly a shining moment for me, but I'm out of practice." He took a breath. "That being said, I know that you probably have some trust issues kicking right now and…"

"I'm not sorry you did it either," Sydney interrupted, blushing deeply.

"No?"

She shook her head. "I just wouldn't recommend running off afterwards, it's a little confusing."

His arm tightened around her bringing her closer. "I know you've been through…emotional hell and I don't know if you'd even consider actually dating right now, but despite my better judgment and all that I said to you before about…well, you were there, I'm sure you remember…" He cleared this throat. "I'm going to ask you to go to dinner with me tomorrow night in about a minute or so, as an actual 'date.' I'm talking, I don't know, steak and lobster, but less cliché, as opposed to the burger and fries thing we've done as colleagues or friends or…" His nerves were getting the best of him and Sydney found it to be utterly charming. "I don't know if it's the brightest idea I've ever had, and if you're not ready, please tell me, but I'm doing it anyway. That being said…Would you go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" He laughed. "I know that it's kind of sudden…"

Sydney smiled and didn't hesitate. "Yes. I'd love to."

"Wait, really?"

She tilted her head. "After all of that did you think I was going to say no?"

"Honestly, I didn't know. You've said that you…" Nathan stopped. He didn't mean to, but he pressed himself even closer to Sydney and didn't say anything else. Sydney inhaled his cologne, trying not to smile too wide. He wanted to ask her where she wanted to go, or what time, but he found himself too content in the moment to do so.

Sydney longed to rest her head on his shoulder…to be closer to him than she already was. For the first time in months she didn't have that little hollow feeling she'd been carrying around. She soon realized that she was looking at his chest, avoiding his face for some reason; when she directed her eyes back to his, she understood what that reason was. Their faces moved closer together, their noses almost touching…

"We're adults at a high school dance," Nathan said, as though he just remembered that fact. He pulled back and Sydney mirrored his action. They looked around, both nervous, but it appeared that nobody had been paying any attention to them. The song ended and they broke apart. "I'll call you tomorrow?"

Had they been students, the kiss that Sydney had been aching for so badly would have been the furthest thing from taboo, unfortunately with the positions they were in, that action would have had consequences. She nodded her head. "Sure." She hoped he really meant it.

***Mr. Watson – Ke$ha***