Chapter Fifteen- The Dance

The gym was decorated beautifully. I underestimated how well a high school gym could look given the right people to transform it. There were colourful glittery cut outs of stars and hearts everywhere. Name the colour, it was probably there. The walls were pretty well covered inch to inch in fairy tale quotes, some in paper, some on cardboard and the floor was hidden by a never ending red carpet. People were crowded everywhere in creative outfits and just seemed to be having the time of their lives. The music was blaring out of an old stereo by the stage, which was covered in black styrofoam and had fake trees all over it, but it was decent music that you couldn't help but move along to. Topanga, Cory and Tasha were by a long table that ran along the farthest part of the gym, sipping what looked like fruit punch from clear cups. We made our way over but not before Shawn poured us a drink each. I took it with a smile but didn't drink it.

"So what now?" I asked.

Tasha rolled her eyes. "You really are new at this, aren't ya?" She asked as if I was a child with hearing problems. I scowled at her. "Go find your match."

"What about you?"

"I'm gonna chill here by the punch and let him find me. That's what good princesses do after all."

"Are you implying I'm not a good princess?" I asked pretending to be appalled, the dramatic hand to my forehead and all.

"I'm implying you're a rebel," She then put a playful hand on Shawn's shoulder. "Mr. Woodsman here can confirm that I'm sure."

I felt myself blush a bit at the cheeky grin he gave due to her comment. "You're hilarious. I'll see you guys in a bit."

Topanga gave me a warm smile. "Don't get into too much trouble."

"No promises," I teased.

I dodged a few people and made my way into the crowd of dancing kids, careful not to get stepped on, or danced on rather. I had slipped my shoes back on once we had entered the building and had regretted it almost right away. They were so uncomfortable. And the ironic thing was, it wasn't even because they were glass. I was positive they were a size too small. But they matched and I also didn't want to be rude, so, hey, what the heck? I glided along to the music, not caring if I was alone or not. That was the great thing about music. You didn't need a boyfriend to love it or fit in with it. Music had always been there when no one else seemed to be. It was the one and only thing that soothed my soul and I didn't care how geeky that made me sound.

"Hey, it's Sarah, right?" A voice called over the tune.

I turned and came almost face to face with a tall boy with bleach blonde hair. He was the boy in my history class who sat near the back and used big books to hide his naps. Jackson or John or something. He was all around a nice guy to my knowledge though.

"Hey! Yep. That'd be it." I smiled at him.

He was dressed as Jack from Jack and the Bean Stalk. He reminded me of Peter Pan slightly because of his green tights and small hat.

"Joshua," he said extending his hand out to me. I hadn't stopped moving along to the beat and I had no intention of doing so. I shook his hand quickly.

"I know. We have history class together." I said in a friendly tone. "You're dressed as Jack, right?"

He nodded and started to groove along as well. "Sure am."

"Let me ask you something, who is your match supposed to be?"

Joshua grinned. "That was the point. I have a girlfriend but she moved out to New York with her folks a few months back. She couldn't make it so I made sure no one could've taken her place. Once I'm finished school, I plan on following her." He explained to me as if I was an old friend. I listened as best as I could.

"That's so sweet. What's her name?" I wondered. The beat picked up and we danced in sync. His hands in the air, mine in front of me.

"Her name is Kimberly."

"I've always loved that name." I told him honestly. He nodded with another grin.

"So tell me Cinderella, where is your date?"

"I'm not sure. Haven't really been looking." I said with a small laugh.

We danced for a few more minutes and then the song switched to a slow dance. I stopped and looked around awkwardly. Everyone that had been dancing happily along beside me had grabbed their dates and were dancing cutely together. Just as Joshua went to speak again, Jason came up to us, not caring at all about intruding a good conversation and pushed himself in between with a smirk.

"May I steal this dance?"

I looked him over and sure enough, he was my match. His dark hair was slicked back and his suit was practically identical to the Prince's. It was a light blue and had gold trim and everything. I glared at him. I swore he matched me on purpose just to spite me. "No." I grumbled out.

Joshua playfully bowed. "Why of course." He then shot me a smile. "See you later."

Jason rolled his eyes at him, watched as he trotted away and then turned to me. "What a dork. You're good at picking them."

"Shut up." I went to walk away but he quickly stopped me.

"Hey, hey," He looked sincere. "You're my princess. You owe me one dance at least." He pointed to the walls. "Rules are rules, right?"

I let out a sigh. "Fine. One dance. But after that you leave me alone and go and be a scumbag somewhere else, got it?"

Jason bit his lip and without warning, pulled me in close to him and synced us slowly along to the music. "That's one of the things I've always liked about you." He said. "Your feisty attitude."

"Are you quoting Keiner now?"

"Why would I quote that bozo?"

"Better hope he doesn't hear you say that."

"Pft, I laugh in the face of danger."

I rolled my eyes at him and things between us became silent. I didn't know what it was, but something about slow music seemed to make most people be quiet and just enjoy the company of each other. The room echoed with some conversations but mostly loud yet soothing music. Jason smelled intoxicating but I'd be caught dead before telling him that. He even looked really good. I dangled my hands over his shoulders and he enjoyed the squeeze he had on my hips.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked finally breaking the awkward tension.

Jason looked at me quizzically. "That's depends. I can't promise if I have an answer or not." He joked.

"Do you honestly think anything happened between Shawn and I?"

Jason's cocky grin faded and he looked away after clearing his throat. "You tell me. I may not be a brainiac but I'm not dumb either." What an oxymoron.

"Shawn was in a bad rut, okay? And being the FRIEND that I am, I helped him out."

Jason scoffed. "That's why your hands were all over him, right?"

"Last time I checked there is nothing wrong with hugging someone." I retorted.

Jason looked toward the ground. "There is when you're with another guy." he grumbled.

"Yeah? How so? It was a friendly hug. Nothing more."

"There's no such thing as a friendly hug." He grumbled again.

Oh how I loved to prove people wrong. I gave him a challenging look, gave him a nod and pulled away from his grasp. I lifted my dress up so that I wouldn't step on it and looked around. Jason raised his eyebrow at me.

"What are you doing?"

I spotted Eric by the table with food and marched over to him, making sure the tapping of my shoes could be heard. When he looked at me as I got closer, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. Jason wasn't far behind. Once I let go, Eric gave me a strange look and I was on my way once more. I spotted a random boy with thick glasses and a book at hand not to far away and marched over and hugged him as well, also leaving a strange look on his face. I looked around again and marched my way over to Stuart Minkus, who was dressed as Prince Phillip (ironically enough) and looking rather lonely, and hugged him happily. Besides his squeaky prepubescent voice, he was always really sweet and too smart for his own good, and not to mention, always lent me things when needed, so hugging him was more then just to prove my point to the big butthead who was hot on my tail.

"Well, thanks Sarah. What was that for?"

I glanced at Jason for a minute who was frowning, obviously being sour about being proved wrong. "Just a friendly hug to remind you that you're a good person." I smiled. "Oh, and my friend Tasha is your Fairytale match. So be sure to find her." I smiled.

I walked away and headed on my way to find another person to hug and Jason stopped me. "Okay, okay! I get it. Just please, stop."

"So do you think I have anything going on with your best friend, a boy I don't even know and the boy genius who puts adults to shame?" I asked him with a glare as I crossed my arms.

"Well, no, but I-"

"But what?" I cut him off. "It's the same thing and I am beyond offended that you thought for even a second that I was that kind of girl. Maybe if you knew me like I thought you did, you'd have realized that already." And at that, I lifted my dress a little higher and stormed off towards the door. I saw Topanga off in the distance break away from Cory and attempt to dash after me but he stopped her. I couldn't hear what he said to her but whatever it was, worked. Which was good because I really wasn't feeling up to repeating any of that nights events. It was fun, until Jason found a way and I was sure on purpose, to ruin it. I knew I should have stayed at home. Things always found a way to crumble into crap.

I got outside and down a few steps before he caught up to me. The music was still very loud despite being inside and there was a slight chill to the air. Multiple stars blanketed the dark sky and the moon seemed to be bigger than normal. Or what I was used to at least. I just wanted to go home. I let out a frustrated sigh and turned around slowly when he grabbed my arm lightly.

"Sarah, wait, please."

"Why? Why should I?"

"So you can hear my pitiful apology?" His eyes had a slight twinkle to them. Cheesy, yeah, but it's the best way I knew how to describe it. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"No you aren't."

"Would I be standing here right now if I wasn't?" He took a deep breath. "Look, I saw you with him and I got jealous. I really like you and the thought of another guy even touching you drives me nuts. I didn't mean to be a jerk. I'm sorry."

My glare faded a bit but it didn't change the hurt that I felt twisted inside of my stomach. "You really hurt me, Jason. You all of the sudden took out another girl without hearing my side of it, treated me like dirt and just assumed I was some kind of floozy. And I'm supposed to be okay with that?"

"Well, in my defence, if I didn't get Molly home on time, my aunt would have ripped my head off." He said with a small smirk.

"What does your aunt have to do with any of this?"

"Molly is my cousin. We were born three months apart."

I felt stupid, relieved but angry all at the same time. Stupid boys. "Oh.. Well that doesn't excuse the rest! Just forget it okay? It's done and over with now. It doesn't matter anymore."

I attempted to turn around to walk off for the final time but he quickly stopped me again, grabbing my wrist gently and pulling me against his chest.

"It matters to me, Sarah. Seeing you tonight really opened my eyes, I was stupid and I really am sorry. Please forgive me."

I hesitated for a second but then wrapped my arms around his back and lightly squeezed him. We stayed like this for a moment before I found the words to speak with. "Does this mean you're going to be my prince again?"

"Only if you save me this time."

"Oh yeah, save you from what?"

"Myself."

"Deal."

Jason leaned down and I looked up at him, my cheeks bruising with colour and my tummy fluttering with what felt like mutated butterflies. His lips brushed against mine and within a few seconds, they connected and we shared our first kiss. It was better then any romance movie I had ever seen. I wasn't sure if it was because it was my first kiss, or if it was the setting or if it was because it was with Jason after everything that had happened. But I can honestly say, to this day, it was the most flawless kiss of my life. It was perfect.