All's Fair in Love and HoCo (ONC 2022)

Chapter Thirty-two: The Dance

"Forget to do the back of your hair?" Bri asked as she saw me raking through it with my fingers in the bathroom. She was in the black dress from the thrift store, sans the sweater. In all honestly, she looked great. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she had tendrils framing her face. She apparently had talked her mom into letting her wear some lipstick and mascara. But all the makeup in the world wouldn't cover her nastiness.

"Ten minutes in the back of a car with Riley will do that every time." I laughed. With a wink, I said, "And you can tell your mom I said that."

Her eyes bulged at the comment. "Did you and Riley have sex?"

Almost. But she didn't need to know any of the not-so-sordid details. "It was the ride of my life. Of course, Mom and Dad were in the front seat, but you know...they aren't very good parents."

"For a second, you had me going." She laughed. "Looks like I'll be the first of our group to gain that experience." She smirked. "Wish me luck tonight."

Ugh. I didn't want to talk to her ever again. I considered calling her mom to ensure it.

When I walked out of the bathroom, Tim was standing nearby, all spruced up and looking more handsome than ever. He raised a glass at me, and his smile widened as I walked over to him.

"You're the prettiest girl here," he whispered. "Are we still on for a dance?"

A promise was a promise. "You look great, too. And yes, I'll dance with you later, but I need to spend time with Riley first."

Riley was talking to a very flirty Chelsea when I found him. I didn't trust her as far as I could throw her. I watched as she turned around to glimpse us. Or maybe it was just to look at Riley. "Is she having problems with her boyfriend again?"

Riley laughed. "She's trying to make him jealous. From the look on his face, I think it's working."

"It's working on me, too." The words escaped before I could stop them.

"Don't be jealous of her. She really is like a sister to me." He pulled me into an embrace and pecked my forehead.

I sighed as I leaned my head against his chest. "But I'm not sure she thinks of you as a brother."

A slow song came on, and Riley pulled me to the dance floor. His arms went around my waist and reminded me of earlier. The nearness of his breath to my ear didn't help matters either. I stepped in close enough our bodies were pressed against one another. Chelsea could take that and do whatever she wanted with it.

We danced like that for two songs. Occasionally, I'd look up to find his mother staring but fortunately not glaring. Bri and Caleb were nowhere to be found. Well, I was sure they were probably in one of the gazebos on post. I wasn't going to take the time to look for them.

The faster songs started again, the beats pulsing throughout the gym. Soon, Shreya and Amaria pulled me away for pictures, and I snapped some with Tiffani and Kandi, too. All my friends were smoking hot in their Homecoming dresses and suits. Even Dalton had managed to clean up nicely. He wanted a picture with me, so I obliged.

When pictures were over, I couldn't find Riley, and of course, a slow song came on again. My feet already in pain from the high heels, I sat down at a table. Tim reached out a hand to me.

"May I have this dance?"

Of course, he'd ask while my feet still throbbed. "They're playing the slow songs in threes, right?" He nodded. "Let my feet recuperate for this song, and we'll dance the next one."

"Sounds like a deal." He plopped down beside me. "So, where's Riley?"

"I assume he's in the bathroom." I scanned the crowd for him again.

"Have you seen Chelsea?" Tim asked, a little too nonchalantly for my spidey senses.

He had my full attention. "Why do you ask?"

He gave that sheepish look that he always did whenever he didn't want to tell me something. "Dalton told me he saw them kissing at the party last night, and I've seen them sneaking around the school for a few weeks now."

The air gushed out of me. I found Dalton talking to a group of his friends and he confirmed what Tim had said.

I made my way back to Tim. "Will you come with me?" He had an inquisitive look on his face. "I'm afraid how I'll react if I catch them together." I laughed. "You just might keep me sane."

He stood up and followed me out to Mrs. Jones' SUV. Sure enough, the windows were foggy, and the parked car was definitely moving. I hoped it hadn't looked like that both times I'd been in it. Regardless, I didn't need any more confirmation than that, so I held my head up high and walked back to the school.

When we were inside, Tim leaned in close. "I'm so sorry. I wanted to tell you I thought they were together, but I didn't think you'd listen. You deserve better than him."

A slow song came on, my favorite, and I just wanted to cry. But I wouldn't let Riley ruin my night. I'd wanted to make memories this year to make up for not knowing anyone next year, and damn it, I was going to. Riley, shmiley. "I'll have that dance now."

Tim grabbed my hand and held me close. He smiled at me, gave every reassurance that he had my back, that above everything else, he was my friend. It was on the third song when Riley came up to us, sneering and with his chest puffed out. Beyond absurd, given the circumstances.

"I was looking for you." I shook my head at him. "I find it simply amazing that your mom's car is capable of that much motion while turned off."

His attention pingponged from me to Tim. "It wasn't what you think."

I rolled my eyes at him. "I'm not stupid. I saw how you acted around her at the bonfire. I also saw how she acted this evening. I had the feeling before I got confirmation from two different people and saw a parked car bouncing up and down. What do you think might cause a car to do that?" I regretted having a pretty good idea.

"It really wasn't what you think," he said, trying to use his puppy dog eyes against me.

"It doesn't matter what I think." I used my tough as nails, military kid eyes on him. "I don't trust you." And with that I walked away.

I didn't know if he left, went back outside with Chelsea, or if he simply avoided me, but I didn't see him again that night. Instead, I danced the rest of the night with Tim, the boy who should've been my date from the start. It just took some time to see it.

I didn't know where the relationship would go, but it really didn't matter. He would graduate at the end of the year and go to college, and I would move...somewhere. One thing was certain, we would have lots of fun between now and then, whether it was as friends or something more.

  The End