Hated, Dated, Fated

Chapter 27 - Dated

Caleb

We entered the ballroom and I glanced around, a swell of pride rising within me.

I can't believe we did it, I thought giddily, feeling a little like a kid hyper from too much candy while watching couples, groups, and solo acts walk in, all with similar expressions on their faces; awe.

"Alexa, Caleb, you've got to address everyone in a couple of minutes. The last ticket holders are here," Josh murmured to the both of us, before slinking off to make sure the food preparations were well underway.

"Amazing isn't it? Almost as if it's a dream and I'm gonna wake up to you staring at me creepily," I chuckled in her ear, causing her to turn an adorable shade of red.

"Shut up! You just looked so peaceful I didn't wanna disturb you," she huffed, pouting, but her sparkling eyes said otherwise.

"Stalker," I nipped her ear taking her small hand firmly in mine.

"I'm nervous. What if I say something wrong?" she fretted, tensing as we neared the stage, trying to delay having to address everyone.

"Alexa, to quote Riley, woman the fuck up. You can do this baby girl," I said, pulling her into a tight hug and kissing her forehead.

She sighed and leaned into me. "I guess you're right. That is a terrible impression by the way, ugh," she grumbled, resigned to her fate.

Stepping up on the stage with our hands firmly linked, we waited for the chatter to subside.

"Welcome, welcome, to the 150th Anniversary of Sierra Academy," I started in my best Effie Trinket voice, causing a ripple of laughter to go through the audience.

"I'm kidding guys, but in all seriousness, welcome to Sierra Academy's 150th Anniversary. I'm Caleb and this is Alexa. We're the organizers and overall in charge for the celebrations. Tonight, we pay tribute to the school's achievements, past, and present, to commemorate this momentous occasion. We hope you're as excited as we are for the night ahead. Before anything else however, may we invite our principal, Mr. Tyson, to give his welcoming speech. Mr. T, please," I announced, while Alexa just smiled and waved.

We stepped off the stage and Alexa turned to me with a big grin on her face.

"You were so good out there! You should totally do it alone and I can y'know... run the backstage stuff," she giggled, hoping I would agree.

I scoffed. Did my gorgeous girl really think I would allow that? I smirked at her and her face changed immediately, from glee to wariness.

"Not a chance in hell baby. You're doing the next segment. C'mon Lexa, where's the brave, gutsy, beautiful girl I know and love? This timid, shy thing doesn't do anything for me," I teased her and she glared at me.

"Shut up. I'm just afraid of going up on stage and potentially making a huge fool out of myself," she mumbled, her eyes downcast.

I cupped her face in my hands, turning it up so she would look at me. "Alexa where is this coming from? You know you can do it. I've seen you go through worse and come out of it perfectly fine. There's nothing wrong with messing up something. We're all only human," I said, hugging her tight while Mr. T continued on with his speech. "No one is gonna make fun of you even if you screw up. Not after what happened with Samantha," I said, pulling away to kiss her gently.

She shook her head and walked away from me, but I knew she was going to be okay. Tuning into the principal for a second I realized his speech was ending soon.

"I'd love to give you more time to prep yourself but Tyson is about 5 seconds from finishing his speech. C'mon. You got this," I took her shoulders firmly and kissed her forehead, before taking her hand and pulling the both of us out onto stage.