Seven

 

 

e walked into the ballroom to garlands of blue, white and silver for the Winter Wonderland theme – way to be original, Kelly Preston!

We got our picture taken as we walked in, taking me entirely off guard and I knew I’d look like some yeti who’d been caught off-guard on Mount Everest stuffing his face with chocolate cake.

The place was packed – which wasn’t surprising given it was a dance for the whole senior school. I stood back as my friends passed Jaime and me. Rachel and Cassidy held tight to Mike and Declan, and I suspected they were already regretting their shoe choices. Beat walked next to Patrick – whatever was going on with Becca must have fizzled out and poor Patrick had been just as dateless half an hour ago. Considering Beat almost never wore heels, she was doing a much better job of it than the others were. I couldn’t have even stood up in anything similar.

Jaime gave my hand a squeeze and we followed them in. Rachel and Cassidy lead us all to the centre of the dance floor where a surprising number of people were already grooving along to the DJ.

Taylor Swift’s Love Story was playing as we all made some kind of strange conglomerate of bodies bouncing around.

I did always wonder about Love Story; I mean…she realises that the scarlet letter thing makes it sound like a twelve-year-old is a promiscuous harlot, right?

“Stop over-thinking!” I heard Beat laugh and I knew she’d read my mind – we’d talked about it before. Only, Beat thought it more meant Juliet was off-limits. I could sort of see the connection… But…I couldn’t say I agreed. “You’re doing it again. Just enjoy it.”

I smiled at her and did as I was told.

The music wasn’t really conducive to wrapping your arms around your partner, and the girls got distracted by each other anyway. So, we just kind of communally danced around for a while until I for one needed a drink to cool down. It might be a Winter Wonderland, but it was bloody hot in there. I could feel the sweat running down the exposed skin of my back.

By some consensus, we all decided to take a break. The girls found a table to sit down and the boys found us some drinks. I like to think of it a chivalry in practice, but honestly, it was totally just us girls using them to our advantage.

We plopped into chairs, laughing. There were bowls of chips and lollies on the tables, so I picked at those; no blue vines though…

“Oh, I need to take my shoes off,” Rachel sighed.

“Do it and you’ll never get them back on,” Beat warned.

I laughed, holding up my feet. “Lazy and comfortable win again!”

“Oh, shut up!” Cassidy laughed, throwing a paper snowflake from the table decorations at me. It wafted between us feebly and we laughed again.

“Hey, Hannibal. Beat.” K1 and K2 walked passed, waving. Beat had told the team about Cole’s nickname for me and it had stuck with a few of them.

“Hey, Kezlers.” I nodded, not keeping them.

I looked around at the room, begrudgingly admiring what Kelly Preston had set up – the girl knew style, there was no denying it. I realised, at that moment, that I hadn’t thought of Cole since Cassidy’s house, though I’d just ruined my track record by realising I hadn’t seen him or Kelly yet. At least I could tell myself that I’d only thought of him as Kelly’s date. And, I’d totally believe myself, see if I didn’t.

The boys returned. We drank our drinks, sat and chatted while we cooled down a little before heading back to the dance floor. There were a couple of songs which leant themselves to more slow-like dancing and it was almost funny how quickly the sea of dancers became distinct couples each time, then went back to a sea when it was over.

We repeated the process a few times over the night, with a few stops via the photographer. We took pictures as a group, in couples, just the girls, with the soccer team, with random fifteen-year-olds we photobombed. Time passed in a blur of laughter, fun, and dancing.

Later, I ran out of steam much earlier than the others did. Jaime walked me to get a drink and we stood talking for a while. I didn’t hate talking to Jaime, he was intelligent enough, but his passion was science, at which I was terrible. This led to a lot of me nodding and smiling while he explained how ridiculous the science was in some of my favourite shows – think Stargate, Dark Matter, The Flash. Woe to the man who tries to tell me the Flash isn’t real – Grant Gustin’s Barry Allen forever! At least, though, Jaime seemed to realise I wasn’t keeping up.

“How did English go this term?” he asked, leaning towards me to be heard over the tempo change.

I smiled. “Good, I think.”

“Did Matron Peters give you guys study buddies, too?”

I laughed. “She did. Though, it’s working terribly. Cass and Rach keep getting distracted by other pairs, and Beat… Well, let’s just say I hope it didn’t work out as badly as it seems.”

“How about you?”

I looked out at the crowd. “Cole is probably the least preferable study buddy I could have been landed with,” I replied.

As though saying his name had conjured him, I saw him across the room, leaning against the wall and looking more bored than he had the first day I saw him, if that was even possible. I didn’t see Kelly, but assumed her and her ladies – her phrase, not mine – were on the dance floor. It did confuse me that Kelly had asked Cole, or that he’d said yes… But, I guess that’s what happened when you couldn’t read other people’s minds.

“I can imagine. He doesn’t seem to apply himself to any class. It’s a wonder he even bothers showing up to school. He’s heading nowhere fast,” Jaime laughed.

I smiled at him, though I didn’t really feel it.

“Shall we head somewhere quieter?” he asked, taking my hand, and motioning for the balcony.

I nodded and let him lead me through the crowd.

As we drew closer, Cole and I exchanged glances. He wore a knowing smirk and his face told me exactly what he was thinking was going to result of this situation either right now or later tonight. I frowned at him. He didn’t know Jaime; he knew himself and assumed all guys his age were dicks.

Well, it’s just you buddy! I thought as I followed Jaime up the stairs.

Looking over the crowd of people was dizzying. From here, I could see Cassidy, Rachel, and Beat; considering he wasn’t at all her type, Beat was being a very good date to poor Patrick. But, then, that was Beat; loyal and caring, honest and forthright.

I got to thinking about what she’d said about Cole. Part of me knew it wasn’t really snobbery – she legitimately didn’t think he was right for me and, to her, it said nothing more about his character than we weren’t compatible – much like her and Kelly. She’d been my best friend for almost fifteen years, she knew me better than anyone, and she cared about me. Maybe she wasn’t wrong?

Did I think he was right for me? Truthfully, I wasn’t sure he was. Did I want to get caught up in an unreliable guy who smokes, drinks, stays out all night, does God knew what else? Problem was…it seemed I was already caught up in him…

“Oh God…”

“What?” Jaime asked, smiling.

I blinked, for a moment forgetting where I was.

Jaime put his hands on my waist, leant in, and kissed me. It wasn’t that he was a bad kisser, it was quite nice, there was just no…zing? Did people zing anymore? There were no great butterflies in my chest, no desire to wrap my arms around him and kiss him until my lips went numb. I enjoyed it, but my thoughts were on other things… People… Okay, person.

I pulled away from him, an apologetic smile already on my face.

“It’s not really working, is it?” Jaime asked.

“I’m sorry. You’re a great friend… Just…”

“Not meant to be more,” he finished for me.

I nodded. “I’m sorry, Jaime…”

He shrugged. “It’s okay. I think I’m realising it myself.”

“You’re not mad?”

“Mad?” he laughed. “Of course I’m not mad, Rory! I was just looking for something that wasn’t here. It’s no one’s fault. We’ll still be friends.”

I hugged him. “Thanks, Jaime. I hope this doesn’t ruin your night?”

“Are you kidding?” He smiled.

He held out his elbow and I took it as he led me back downstairs.

“I’m just going to head to the bathroom quickly,” I said.

“I’ll see you out there.” He cocked his head towards the dance floor.

I nodded and we separated.

When I came back out, I headed towards where I’d last seen the others. There was a great cheer when I found them, but I didn’t see Jaime anywhere. I shrugged; he owed me nothing. I joined them dancing, wondering how on Earth the girls were all still standing in their shoes.

“Oh shit,” Beat yelled, looking behind me.

“What?” I asked.

“What!” Cassidy said more incredulously, obviously seeing whatever Beat had.

“That arsehole!” Rachel added.

I turned, wondering what the hell they were talking about.

“Okay folks, we’ve got about half an hour left, here’s a slow one for all you young lovers out there.”

Just as the DJ made his announcement, I saw Jaime dancing with the damnable Kelly Preston. Well, dancing was a loose term. Perhaps dry humping would have served as a better description.

The more upbeat chords of the last song were fading into the slower ones of the next.

I turned to my friends, not wanting them to miss the last few songs. I caught the looks on their faces – ready to go all kinds of crazy on Jaime’s arse – and shook my head.

“No, it’s all good, dance and laugh. I’ll be fine ‘til later.” I gave them my best smile. I hadn’t been convinced it was enough to get them to stay on the dance floor, but they all nodded and turned to their partners.

I was feeling a bit miffed they didn’t argue, I won’t lie. But, I kept my smile in place and decided to find a quiet corner to stew. Jaime might not have owed me anything, but surely there was something in the ‘Decent Human Handbook’ that suggested against immediately shacking up with your previous not-quite-girlfriend’s arch nemesis?

I turned into Cole, whose hand was already in mine with his other around my waist before I knew what was going on. He smiled at me mischievously, his eyes shining. Damn, he looked hot.

“You only get one dance, mind,” he said, in that aggravatingly handsome way he had. “And only because I feel sorry for you.”

“Why, thank you. You spared me the concern which I might have felt in thanking you, had you behaved in a more gentlemanlike manner.” I smiled.

Cole grinned, picking up the bastardised reference easily. “He’s an arse. Don’t worry about him.”

“And, you’re not?”

“Oh, but you worry about me.” He smirked.

I shook my head and just enjoyed dancing with him. He was nothing like I expected; all awkward and looking to me to know what to do like most guys. Instead, he seemed to know exactly what he was doing and I had the feeling he was about to break out into some sweeping waltz or foxtrot.

It was then I noticed that his tuxedo was more than just your average rental, and it fit him perfectly. How many Year 12’s had need for a fancy tuxedo? I mean, some of the guys at our school came from some money; they had suits, but nothing like this – look at me, tuxedo expert now. Ha!

I said nothing, enjoying the feeling of his cheek against mine and deciding to solve the enigma at another time.

The song ended, melding into something a bit more up-tempo and Cole pulled away slightly, but he still held me.

“I’ll see you later, Hannibal.”

I frowned. “All right, then.”

He laughed, searching me for a moment. Then, he kissed me quickly on the lips.

I looked at my friends as he started to pull away. They were all in shock, and smiled in that way friends did when something exciting happened with a guy. I looked between them and Cole for a moment. Beat made a shooing motion and I held a hand up to them before hurrying after Cole.

I ignored Jaime and Kelly as I pushed past them and grabbed hold of Cole’s hand. He looked back at me in pleasant surprise and pulled me over to the side of the room.

“I did say only one dance.”

“No…that’s… What are you doing after this?”

“Hannibal, are you asking me out?” he teased.

“No.” I smiled. “I just wondered what you and Kelly Preston had planned.”

“Well, Kelly’s going to the after party at Declan’s, I believe. I never really had plans.”

I nodded, the others were all going to the after party as well, even Beat who had apparently been willing to spend the night with three other couples – had it worked out with jerk-face. She did have Patrick but, possibly unbeknownst to him, that wasn’t going anywhere.

“I think we can safely say that Kelly and Jaime are probably going to the after party together, and I should go for Beat… ut…”

“But, you wonder if you might see me there?” He smiled and I was torn between wanting to hit him and kiss him.

“It crossed my mind.”

“I’m not sure how I’ll get there. But, you might see me.” He pulled me closer, his smile widening.

“We might have a free seat in our limo…”

“So, you want to go with me?”

“We’d be going in the same transportation, that doesn’t mean we’d be going together.”

“Do you want to go with me?”

“Are you asking me out now?”

“What would you say if I was?”

“I don’t know. You’d have to ask and find out.” I flashed him a smile.

He leaned in closer, so our noses almost touched. “Maybe I will, but our first date is not going to be a school dance after party.” He smiled.

“I look forward to it. If you want a ride, meet us out front after the last song.” Not sure what had got into me, I kissed him quickly, squeezing his hand, and hurried off to the girls.

I saw Jaime’s look as I walked past but, honestly, didn’t care. If he cared what I did after we didn’t really break up, then perhaps he shouldn’t have been dry humping Kelly Preston at the same time.

Beat gave me a much more pleasant look when I found them, and Cassidy and Rachel smiled. I had more fun in those last four songs than I think I’d had almost all night.

After the last song, the lights came on, the DJ turned off his speakers, and people started filing out.

“That was well not cool, Rory, I’m sorry.” Declan came up to me and I knew he was talking about Jaime. Mike and even poor Patrick were nodding in agreement as we started heading out.

The girls crowded around me and seemed to all start talking at once.

“What a dickhead!”

“Did you see Kelly Preston all over his face?”

“Does he have no shame?”

“What did he think was going to happen?”

“The boys are totally behind you, Rory.”

I laughed and held up my hands. “Okay, whoa. I’m loving this sister-power thing we got going on, but it can be done in the car. Speaking of which… I might have suggested to Cole that we had a spare seat if he wanted to come to the after-party?” I looked at them in question.

“He’ll be much more welcome than that jackarse,” Cassidy said as though that was the end of the conversation, despite my look of surprise.

Beat linked her arm with mine as we followed them. “That was nice of him,” she said quietly.

“What was nice of who?”

“Cole. Nice of him to dance with you.”

I laughed. “I’m sure it was a pity dance.”

“I’m not. He was watching you all night. Plus, I don’t usually kiss the people I pity dance with.”

“You pity dance with many people?”

“Sometimes all night,” she sighed, but she smiled.

I squeezed her arm. “Sorry about Becca.”

“Thanks.” She shrugged. “I guess she just wasn’t ready for a public date.”

I put my arm around her. “Someone will be one day, and you won’t care about any of this.”

She nodded, and then we both shivered as we walked out the front doors and laughed. We found the others waiting for the car. I looked around but didn’t see Cole. I briefly panicked that he’d decided not to come, but let it go; if he came, great, if not, well I knew it wasn’t really his thing – his behaviour all night had displayed how very much not his thing school dances were.

The wind blew around us and I caught a whiff of cigarette smoke among it. Knowing I was being stupid, I looked around again and saw a slightly darker outline leaning against the side of the building. I smiled as he pushed himself from the wall and his face became clearer.

I walked over to him. He looked behind me dubiously.

“So, are you coming?” I asked.

“You want me to?”

“I’d like a chance to hang out with you and I really should go. But, I get it if you don’t want to.”

He looked at me as though he wanted to but didn’t think it was a good idea, like he was warring with something internally. He opened his mouth to answer but Cassidy interrupted.

“Cole, can you hurry up? I’m freezing my arse off and we’re going to leave whether you and Rory are in the car or not!”

I smiled at him in apology but he laughed, “keep your knickers on, we’re coming!”

“That implies I’m wearing them to begin with,” Cassidy called back to him as she got into the limo.

Cole shared a look with me and I just shook my head, not quite knowing what to say to him. Letting him know that was her way of accepting him seemed a little too much when I still didn’t know if whatever this was would amount to anything later. He took my hand, spun me, and caught me with his arm around me.

“Let’s go then.”

We climbed into the car to a surprisingly polite reception. Declan, Mike and Patrick shook Cole’s hand and smiled nicely. The girls all did a terrible job at hiding their grins as they looked between us and Beat nudged me in the side.

Talk was pleasant and the focus not entirely on Cole as we drove to Declan’s. Cole even seemed to relax somewhat and I heard him laugh once or twice as the boys told stories. Declan and Cole had music in common; turned out Declan also played guitar, although he said he had more passion than he did talent so he didn’t talk about it much. I might have heard wrong, but I was pretty sure there was talk about playing together.

And, sure enough, when we reached Declan’s place with a little while before everyone else was expected to arrive, he and Cole headed up to his room to look at his guitar. I ate a few of the nibbles, feeling starved and trying not to get crumbs on my dress. After a while, I exchanged a smile with Cassidy and wandered to Declan’s room. When I got there, Cole was strumming on a guitar.

“Not that I have any real authority, but you can play. Especially for self-taught. That I know a bit about.” Cole put the guitar down and looked up, seeing me leaning in the doorway.

“People here?” Declan asked.

“Not yet, but-” The doorbell sounded and I smiled. “Make that a yes.”

“I’d best go and meet the masses,” Declan said as he left.

Cole walked over to me slowly, looking me up and down. I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow in question.

“You look really lovely,” he said slowly.

“Better with or without mud do you think?”

He laughed, “I’m sure you’d look great either way. Although, Grandma would prefer without the mud.”

“You’re thinking about Phyllis seeing me?” I asked as he stopped in front of me.

“Phyllis?”

“Your grandma told me to call her that…”

Cole frowned slightly, but as though he was amused by something as well. “You’ve met my grandmother?”

“Posh English lady?” I clarified and he nodded. “I’ve met her.”

“And, she told you to call her Phyllis?”

“She did, is that weird?”

“Very.”

“Bad weird?”

He laughed and shook his head. “I don’t think so. It just means she likes you.”

“And, what about her grandson?”

“What about her grandson?”

“Does he like me?” I wondered where this confidant, flirty girl had come from. But, as far as I was concerned, she could stay.

“Oh, yes, Matty’s very keen on you.” He tried to stay serious but my laugh ruined it and he smiled. “I’m also very keen on you, Aura.”

He took my face in his hands and kissed me properly. No little peck, like before, a full on kiss. This time there were butterflies everywhere. This time there was me wrapping my arms around him like I couldn’t help myself. It turns out, people totally still zing. Well, I zing, anyway.

The music started blaring downstairs and we pulled apart. He was smiling, which I deemed a good thing under the circumstances. We stared at each other for a little while, just seeming content to drink each other in. After a while though, he looked like he’d remembered something and cleared his throat.

“Right… So, um, there’s this thing my grandma has on in the last week of the holidays. A party of sorts. Matty and I don’t go to her things very often, but it’s…her birthday actually. Would you like to go with me?” He laughed self-consciously. “I had planned that to be much more suave.”

I smiled. “You can try again?”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome, I’ll wait.”

He shook his head. “All right, then. Hey, Hannibal, my grandma’s birthday party is coming up and I was wondering if you’d like to be my date?”

I tried not to laugh. “You say date like it’s a massive affair.”

He nodded sombrely. “It kind of is. Think tonight but just so much worse.”

“Really?”

He nodded again.

“So, totally not your thing?”

He shrugged.

“And, you want a date?”

“I believe Grandma’s words were ‘bring someone. And she’d better be nice’.”

I could think of a decent reason why Cole had thought of me: “And you wanted someone who wouldn’t think of you differently just because your family is having a lavish party.” It wasn’t a question.

“See, you get it. Kids at school see me a certain way and I’m fine with being the slacker with no future. I just don’t need them to decide that’s okay because my family has money. I’m not my grandmother’s money.”

Torn in what I wanted to address first, the first thing that came out of my mouth was not what I expected. “So, asking me has nothing to do with wanting to spend time with me, but rather that I’ll still see the slacker nobody inside the fancy tuxedo?”

He started to nod, but then obviously realised what I was implying. “No, not at all. I do want to spend time with you; why else would I be here? I just knew that you wouldn’t see me differently because of it.”

“Uh-huh, and what would you have done if whatever happened tonight hadn’t happened? What if I’d zinged with Jaime instead and was dating him? Would you have taken someone else?”

He looked at me strangely for a moment, and then shook his head. “Zinged? No, I would have displeased my grandmother greatly and not bothered going at all.”

I thought of that stern but obviously loving woman and frowned. “Way to make me feel obliged to go; I’m not about to let Phyllis down.”

“That’s not what I meant. Look, when she first told me to bring someone, I immediately thought of you, but you were busy with Jaime at the time, so I said nothing and I would have gone on saying nothing if things hadn’t…changed. When I said earlier our first date wouldn’t be this party, I had something nicer in mind. But, if you don’t want to go, that’s fine.” He took my hands. “I’m sorry; I’m not good at this stuff.”

“Would Phyllis approve of your choice of date?” I asked.

He beamed. “Definitely.”

“Would I need a new dress?”

“The one you have on would be fine.” Then he smirked. “Although, I’m not sure about the footwear. I think they’re great, but…I’m not a girl.”

“You saw them, then?”

“Yep, and they’re very practical.”

“Would I need new shoes?”

He seemed to think about it for a moment. “Just don’t go flashing your feet around and I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

I sighed dramatically. “Okay, fine. I’ll go. But, let the record state that I’m not sure about waiting two weeks for our first date.”

He gave me a lop-sided smirk. “Just because it will be our official first date, doesn’t mean we can’t hang out together before then.”