Flipped 2

Juli-Chapter 51

I walked over to the corner where they set up a couple of tables and sat down.
I fiddled with my fingers trying to think a good enough excuse to give to Darla as to why I should leave early.
" Why so dull,hon?" Someone asked in a terrible Southern accent.
I turned back to find Ryan in a crimson coloured suit. He was sporting black oxfords and even a crimson tie. And he topped it all off with a black fedora hat.

I started to chuckle and then started to laugh so hard that I almost fell off my chair.
" What..are..you..wearing?" I tried to say in between the laughs.
Oh my god, I hadn't laughed like that in a while.

" What? You don't like it? I thought it would go well with the suit!" Ryan said defensively as he clutched his chest.
Ryan's mood always ranged from angry to irritated and then to sarcastic.
Seeing him in a hat made me see him in a whole new light and also made me realize that I didn't know him as much as I thought I did.

" Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on me?" He checked himself.

" No.No. I didn't think parties were your scene," I said, hoping that I didn't offend him.

" They aren't," He admitted," But my sister gave me an ultimatum and said that if I didn't go tonight, she would come into my room and shave my head."

" Yikes."
I wasn't particularly surprised though. My brothers always pulled stupid stunts like that to make me do stuff for them.

" She said she was doing me a favour so.." He shrugged.
We talked for some time when Ryan suggested that he would go and get drinks. I told him that I would go so that Darla would stop glaring at me from across the room for sitting idle the entire time.
I strode over to the table and was pouring two glasses of punch when I overheard(accidentally of course) a guy and a girl talking.

" All the couples already took pictures together! How do you think that makes us look?" He pantomimed his frustration by waving his hands in the air.

" I'm sorry. My brother said I could take his car only if I drop him off at the cafe. And his shift was late. If only that Loski kid hadn't come last minute to cover his shift," She complained.
That last sentence swiftly caught my attention. Before I knew it, I was walking towards them.
" Did you just say Loski. As in Bryce Loski?"
The girl looked puzzled at my presence and the guy looked downright annoyed for interfering in their conversation.

" Please. I need to know. Did you see Bryce Loski at the cafe?" I pleaded urgently.

" Yes. His blonde hair can be seen like a mile away," She snorted.
But I was long gone, tapping away on my phone to call Bryce.
He didn't pick up.
I kept pressing the call button over and over as my anger kept elevating.
I stopped when I had come to the realization that he always switched his phone off during work.

I closed my eyes to control my irritation before going back to the table.
" You do realize that you went to get the punch right?" Ryan joked.
Oh shoot.

" Uh, I uh left them on the table. I can go..," My voice was wavering uncontrollably.

" Is something wrong?" Ryan asked, the concern is his voice made me want to scream inside.

" Bryce is at the cafe. He didn't come to the dance because he was doing a shift," I said miserably, hating every word of what I had said.
I didn't tell Bryce about the dance this week because I didn't want to push him into annoyance. I probably shouldn't have listened to myself and just reminded him.

" Oh," Ryan replied.
That was all he said.

Then a couple minutes later, one of my favourite songs started to play. I hummed along to the tunes and began to tap my fingers against my thigh.
" Come on,let's dance," Ryan nodded his head towards the dance floor, his hands outstretched for mine.

I shook my head.
" Come on. I don't dance. Ever. Do you seriously want to pass upon such a rare opportunity?"
A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

We danced all night.
Correction.
We attempted to dance all night.
Two minutes into the dance and we both realized that neither of us knew how to dance. At all. But we danced anyway. Because the point here wasn't us being embarrassed but having fun.
And that's what we did.
We had fun.

By the time the event ended, we were both out of breath with the ridiculous robot moves we made up.
Darla was long gone, Georgia joined us on the dance floor but left pretty quickly.
It was when I stepped out of school when I realised that Bryce was a no-show.
That removed the smile off my face immediately.
Ryan was walking beside me,holding his coat over his shoulder.
" Thank you. For tonight," I said softly.
And I genuinely meant it.

" I didn't do anything," He denied.

" If it weren't for you, I probably would have gone home and cried myself to sleep,"I confessed.
Just then, a small breeze passed by which made me shiver.

" Are you cold?"

" No,I.." Before I could say anything, Ryan wrapped his coat around my shoulders.

" My,my. How kind of you,my good man!" I exclaimed in a Southern accent.
Ok, well I tried to do one.
While we were laughing, I spotted Bryce coming towards us from across the road. I suddenly stopped laughing and gave him a grim look.