Chapter 9
She took my hand and laced our fingers together. I looked down at her and she smiled sweetly at me. I smiled in response, glad that I was able to find my cure to the pain that I've felt for so long. She led us down to the venue where the dance was being held and people were getting back in the swing of things. Everyone was buzzing and dancing and Phoenix and I were swept into our crowd of friends.
"Congrats on your getting together with Phoenix. I knew you had it in you." Snow said winking at me. I merely gave a slight awkward chuckle and thanked him. The girls were going crazy over our first kiss earlier and I knew at this point that I wouldn't have Phoenix for at least another 15 minutes.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Wolfe behind me.
"Congratulations. You two were destined to be with each other. Good luck in your relationship." He said in a deadpanned tone. I also thanked him and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly.
"So...did you pop the cherry?" Snow asked suggestively and wiggled his eyebrows. My eyes widened at his bluntness and I shoved him lightly in the arm.
"Of course not!" I said defensively.
"You sure about that? You both were gone for a while." He said raising an eyebrow.
"I'm absolutely positive." I said giving him a glance of annoyance.
"If you say so..." He smirked. "I think a certain redhead wishes to speak with you."
I turned around and Phoenix was walking up to me. I'm just hoping that she didn't hear a single word escape from Snow's unfiltered mouth.
"Hey…" She said.
"Hey." I responded.
"So the girls want to dance and were wondering if you guys would ever join them." Phoenix said. All three of us simultaneously shrugged and she rolled her eyes.
"If I were you guys, I'd make a decision really quickly because a certain pair of gems want to show off their dance skills and are in need of a partner." Phoenix said.
"Well men, It's time that I take my leave." Snow said adjusting his waistcoat. "I shall be off. A rare stone is in need of being discovered and polished." He said winking at me.
"Jet...I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Sapphire specifically requested that you be her dance partner for this twin showdown." Phoenix said.
"How could this happen to me? You know I'm not a huge fan of dancing." I said.
"But you're really good at it. What do you possibly have to worry about?" Phoenix said.
"I never said I thought I was bad at it. I'm just not very comfortable with dancing around people I don't know and I know that Sapphire is more of a fan of hip hop and those types of dance styles I'm not particularly fond of." I responded.
"Fine. If you do it, I have a surprise for you. But you won't know what it is unless you dance with Sapphire AND win." Phoenix said nudging me slightly. Now this is interesting. I wonder what she has in store for me...
"Fine, I'll do it." I said. "It's not like I have much of a choice now huh?"
"Thank you. Trust me, you won't be disappointed." She said sweetly.
I walked over to Sapphire and tapped her shoulder. She turned around from talking to Robyn, who was currently giving Sapph a pep talk, and smiled brightly.
"So did you agree?" She asked eagerly.
"I guess. It's not like I have much of a choice." I said. I swear though, I could've sworn that I saw Robyn give my a quick glare of jealously. But maybe it was just in my mind.
"Alright, so we requested our song and hopefully you can just go with it." She said as the dance floor cleared up to make a circle. I started to feel slightly anxious at the thought of having so many people watch me, but I mostly wanted to get over this if anything.
"You ready to get wrecked?" Snow called from across the space.
"Not unless I roast you first." I said smugly. He looked so offended. God, teasing Snow was the best and the easiest thing in the world.
"ALRIGHT! Who's ready for the DANCE BATTLE?!" Yang shouted through the microphone. People cheered in excitement and I gulped in nervousness. "In this heated battle between twins and their dance partners, there will be TWO rounds where each team will dance to two songs. In this side, we have SAPPHIRE STONE AND JET SCHWARZ! And on this side we have DIAMOND STONE AND SNOW KALT! FIRST TEAM TO BATTLE IS DIAMOND'S. NOW, LET'S GET READY TO BATTLE IN...3!"
"Hope you're ready to get shamed!" Sapphire shouted at Diamond.
"2!"
"Not unless you do first!" Diamond retorted.
"1! BEGIN!" Yang shouted and the song instantly began.
"Well shit." I muttered. The song was "Sexyback" by Justin Timberlake and while Diamond and Snow may be more in touch and open with their sexuality, I was not about to body roll and sway my hips in front of a large crowd. Diamond and Snow were dancing quite provocatively and if this weren't a school dance, I most certainly would've thought that this was an introduction to a porno. Seriously, the way they were dancing would've convinced anyone of such. They were grinding on each other and occasionally added in several flips and slides. Sapphire was obviously in shock seeing her identical twin all over her teammate. They stopped and Snow taunted us.
"Top that guys!" He said.
I'm bringing sexy back
Sapphire and I started to dance in the style of hip hop and unlike the slutatious pair before us. I tried my best to ignore everyone watching and dance like if I were alone in my room. Sapph and I were in perfect sync as we hit our moves on time and at one point when I body rolled, the crowd began to cheer.
Them other fuckers don't know how to act
Snow and Diamond were in shock that we could actually dance and not look like we were porn stars. As we approached the end of the song, our moves were more tricks than anything and we got more cheers from the crowd.
Get your sexy on
I struck my ending pose by running a hand through my perfectly styled hair and smirked at the dynamic duo in front of us. Everyone in the crowd was cheering but one person's voice was clear to me despite the large crowd of people. Sure enough, across the crowd was Phoenix who was cheering me on. I smiled at her as Yang got in the middle of the circle.
"Well that was quite impressive. Both duos put on amazing performances, but in the end the winners of the first round are...JET AND SAPPHIRE!" She announced. Phoenix cheered even louder than before and I gave her a thumbs up.
"Alright, now that we've entered Round 2, Any of the teams can choose to switch a member if they desire. But heed my warning: This new person better kick ass." Yang said.
"Should we switch?" I asked Sapphire. I honestly just wanted to get out of the situation and go to the punch bowl that harbored the socially awkward.
"Yeah...and I know exactly who to switch with...YANG! We decided to switch partners." Sapphire said.
"Who's replacing who?" Yang responded.
"BLUE! Get over here!" Sapphire called Robyn over.
"Yeah what's up?" Robyn said after rushing to Sapphire's side.
"You're going to be replacing Jet for the 2nd round." She smirked.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"I need to win this…" She said menacingly.
"Alright, so...ROBYN BLUE WILL BE REPLACING JET SCHWARZ IN THE SECOND ROUND!" Yang announced. "DOES THE OPPOSING TEAM WISH TO SWITCH?!"
Snow and Diamond shook their heads and crossed their arms, waiting for the match to begin.
"Break a leg Rob." I said patting her shoulder padded suit. She nodded and faced her opponents with determination in her eyes.
"NOW, THE SECOND ROUND WILL BEGIN IN 3...2...1!" Yang announced.
The song began and I was overwhelmed with the song choice. Thankfully I switched out on this round. If "Sexyback" took away my dignity, then this would take away my self worth. It was "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent. Out of all of the songs in the world, out of every song she listens to each day, Sapphire had to choose "Candy Shop"?! I watched anxiously to see what Robyn and Sapphire would do. It surprised me when I saw a smirk on Robyn's face.
I'll take you to the candy shop
I'll let you lick the lollipop
Go ahead, girl, don't you stop
Keep goin' 'til you hit the spot (woah)
Robyn basically began a strip tease by suggestively pulling apart each button on her suit and ripping the jacket off as if it were useless. Sapphire joined in by swaying and moving her hips and body. I never thought that those two had an entire routine already planned out to THIS song of all things. I guess I never really knew that much about my roommates music preferences. Needless to say, their "show" put a lot of people to shock and brought in a lot of whistling and cheers from people in the crowd. When it was Snow and Diamond's turn, they were less impressive as Robyn and Sapphire and you could tell that the crowd was losing interest in their battle. When the song ended, Yang returned to the center of the circle to announce the winner.
"I think it goes without saying that the winners are...SAPPHIRE AND ROBYN!" She said cheerfully.
Sapphire squealed in excitement and hugged Robyn. Robyn blushed madly in response but was smiling as she hugged back. So Robyn likes Sapphire huh? I think now I understand why she was always less violent with her whenever she woke her up. I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see Phoenix smiling at me. She hugged me and kissed my cheek. I felt a slight blush rise on my cheeks and scratched the back of my neck.
"Congratulations Jet, you won." She said.
"Thanks heh heh." I said chuckling nervously.
"Attention everyone! The last song is about to play, so thank you everyone for coming out and spending your Sunday with us! Remember that we have our missions tomorrow, so get some rest! Thank you once again!" Weiss said on the microphone.
A slow song came on and all the couples went to the dance floor. Phoenix looked right at me in anticipation. Though I was tired at the time, from dancing with Sapphire, I just sat at a nearby table with Phoenix. She didn't mind, and really just wanted to be near me.
"So exactly what was this "surprise" you mentioned earlier?" I asked Phoenix wondering what she had planned for me.
"I figured it'd be a waste to have too many good things happen altogether, so I decided that your surprise will occur at a later time." She said smiling. Looks like she's the one who's teasing me.
"And why is that? It must've been something unimportant to be pushed back right?" I asked her knowing that I might get more out of her this way, than by waiting for the actual day to come.
"I can't reveal too much to you about the surprise, but I will say this. It's something I'd rather be doing right now." She said, slightly biting her lips, as she looked at me. I think I've got an idea of what she means, but I've got no means of understanding at the moment. Maybe I should play it off that I know what she's trying to tell me.
"Then let's do it." I said hoping to catch her off guard, to reveal the surprise. I'm not too fond of surprises myself, so I want to figure out what she's trying to get me to do.
"W-what?" She said, taken by surprise by what I said.
"You heard me. If you want to do this, then let's do it." I said attempting to tease the answer right out of her.
"I-I uh, well.. it's just that..." She said, moving in her seat rather uncomfortably, and was blushing crazily.
"Hey guys!" Robyn said interrupting us before Phoenix had a chance to even say anything. "Let's go back to the dorm cause the dance is over. Plus I need to be able to wake up for our mission tomorrow."
"Yeah, you're right. We need to wake you up earlier for these kinds of things." I said running a hand through my hair again. I stood up and helped Phoenix onto her feet. Our team walked out after thanking Yang and Weiss for organizing the event and everyone took turns taking showers and getting ready for bed.
Robyn plopped on her bed and fell asleep instantaneously and Sapphire wished us good night before she too fell asleep. Phoenix was about to get into bed before I stopped her.
"Phoenix?" I called out quietly, not wanting to wake up our teammates.
"Yes?" She responded.
"Can...can you sleep with me?" I asked.
"W-what?" She said blushing madly.
"Not in that way. I meant sleep in my bed...lately, I've been able to get a better night's rest whenever you're next to me and in my arms. So please Phoenix? Can you sleep with me?" I said slightly begging her.
"Of course I will Jet." She said sauntering towards my side.
She slid into the bed and I pulled the covers over us. Her arms snaked their way around my back and I wrapped my arms around her as well. I looked down at her and noticed that she wasn't looking at my face, but at my arms. She brought a hand from my back and took my hand in hers. I wasn't wearing my gloves or gauntlets, so my cuts and scars were exposed. She ran a hand along each of the scars that wrapped around my forearm. Some were shallow cuts that were almost healed, others were deep cuts that would definitely leave scars that would stay on my skin forever as a reminder of what I promised I would never do again. Tears formed in her eyes, risking to fall down her cheeks. She brought my forearm to her lips and kissed my scars.
"Please Jet. Don't do this again." She begged me quietly.
"As long as I have you by my side. I'll make sure that this never happens again." I said bringing my lips to hers and kissing her. She kissed back softly and hugged me tightly.
"I love you Jet."
"I love you too Phoenix. Let's go to sleep." I said.
"Ok. Goodnight." She whispered, closing her eyes.