Falling For Sadie

Chapter Seventeen

*Unedited*

"Are you okay?" Logan asked her for the thousandth time that night.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." She sighed flicking the napkin underneath her water. She flicked the napkin again, missed and knocked the cup of water over. Logan jumped up and grabbed for some more napkins while Sadie just stared blankly at the turned over cup, not even making a move to stand it back up. He sighed, something was definitely wrong with her. Something had been off all night. In one fluid motion, he mopped up the spilled mess, throwing away the drenched napkins and arriving back at her side in a matter of seconds. Maybe she's just not having a good time, or maybe she just doesn't like me as much as I thought she did...

"Do you just wanna go?" He asked, quietly, settling back into the seat next to hers. She didn't respond and it wasn't until he actually looked that he noticed the wet trails snaking down her cheeks. He raised his hand, wanting to comfort her but not wanting to touch her at the same time. He let his palm drop gently back to the plastic tabletop. Lights swirled around everything and where there wasn't light, it was dim. He would've only noticed the trails on her cheeks when the light hit it right. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." She whispered after some time, reaching up to run her hand across her cheeks, erasing the evidence of tears.

Logan frowned, understanding that sometimes girls just needed to cry. But they were at a formal dance, and usually girls don't cry at a formal dance. Thinking hard, he tried coming up with a reason. "Was it something I said?"

"No, it's nothing." She spoke more forcefully. She sat back in the chair, her eyes gazing over at the dance floor. Maybe dancing will take her mind off things, Logan thought.

"Do you wanna dance, then?" Her head flicked to face him in a flash, confusion clouding her eyes. She nodded numbly, standing. Logan stood up with her and followed her to the dance floor. Immediately Sage and her posse surrounded Sadie and Logan danced on the outskirts of the group, eyes never leaving Sadie as her tears dried and her smile brightened and became truer and realer as the night extended.

***

The swirling cloth of Sadie's dress brushed against her bare legs. She laughed heartily at the embarrassing stories being passed around the table. The formal had ended hours before and they'd been smashed, along with a vast majority of the upperclassmen, into the confined space of Melonie's home. The dance had been enough to take Sadie's mind off of Kyla, but as the night was winding down she found herself thinking of her upset best friend more. She sighed, chuckling softly to the story whilst everyone else guffawed brilliantly. She hoped Kyla was okay, that she had been smart enough to pull over and let her emotional roller coaster die down, but Sadie knew her best friend. She knew that it was days before Kyla was the same again. She bounced back relatively fast compared to other girls, but her roller coasters were more violent and earth-shattering than other girls' as well. Kyla put herself through the same amount of turmoil that other girls put themselves through in a month, but in a matter of less than a week. It was destructive and devastating. It hurt both Kyla and Sadie, and it was the only huge character flaw that Sadie had ever found Kyla to have. She sighed again, rolling her cell phone against her hand. No calls. No texts. Only silence.

"So, Sadie. Any embarrassing moments from you?" Hunter, Melonie's date, questioned, his voice shattering her thoughts.

She clicked her tongue, contemplating. "Well, one time –", Her voice stopped at the gentle vibrations emanating from the small electronic in her palm. She cradled it in her hand just long enough to see the caller ID. "Sorry, guys! I have to take this." She jumped from their large, drunken circle and jogged, in her heels, to the back porch. A couple on one side of the porch was fervently making out and on the steps was a small ring of stoners passing a joint. Sadie sighed and leaned against the railing opposite the hormonal couple.