Grace.

Chapter 42.

We walked in and everyone and everything looked so beautiful! The vibes were immaculate! Everyone was just having the time of their lives.
"It looks like the booth is empty. Wanna go give it a try?" Ethan proposed.
"Yes!" I giggled in excitement.
We made our way through the dance floor holding each other's hands. The photo booth had been stationed in a rather secluded, cozy corner. I entered first and Ethan followed, bumping his head on the door frame. I laughed.
"What was in that drink you gave me?" He joked.
"I'm feeling light headed as well. It's a good thing we drank before coming here."
"Good thing?! Look at us! It's like we've lost our minds!" He laughed.
I joined in and we laughed our lungs out for a good few seconds. The camera was taking pictures of us as we talked and chuckled. We were too high and drunk to even notice.
"But I must admit, I'm having the time of my life with you, Buttercup. I feel so alive. You're good for me."
"We're good for each other, dork," I teased, playfully shoving him on his shoulder.
"You're the dork. Now, show me your best silly face," he grinned, tickling my stomach.
We goofed around in there for a bit. I threw my legs over his and we took more pictures. A couple who also wanted to take pictures interrupted us so we got up and left. Ethan and I never let go each other's hands that night. We got to the dance floor and started dancing silly. It wasn't exactly silly but...goofy. I enjoyed it. Ethan was so good at being an idiot.
Josh had opened a circle and he was dancing right in the middle of it. The whole school joined with each learner taking a turn in the middle, showcasing their moves. Some were so whack it was hilarious!
"Right! The next song is for our couples on the dance floor! Grab your date! Grab your special somebody because it's about to get steamy in here!" The DJ said.
I could see the teachers chaperoning looking at each other with uneasy looks on their faces. They were probably thinking it's going to be a sexual song since the DJ mentioned 'steamy'. The circle broke as everyone scrambled to find their dates before the song started.
Somehow, I had lost Ethan in the chaos. I stood there hopelessly in the middle of the dance floor trying to find him. But luckily, he found me first. I think the alcohol had kicked in. Before even saying anything to each other, we laughed.
"I've been looking everywhere for you." He managed to say, still laughing
"I've been standing right here!" I laughed.
"This is the funniest night of my life. Grace, my lady. Care to dance?"
"I'd love to," I giggled.
He took my hand and pulled me in closer to him, wrapping his arms around my waist. I put my arms around his shoulders and smiled. He smiled back.
"Is everyone watching?" He whispered to me.
I looked around and noticed a few eyes on us. I nodded with a giggle, "Yes."
Ethan's smile disappeared. "I'm sorry," he sighed. "It's all the —girls. You know? The girls who..." his face turned pink.
I placed my finger on his lip. "Don't worry about it, okay?" I said to him.
"I don't want you feeling weird and embarrassed because of it."
"I don't. Trust me. I actually feel quiet the opposite," I smiled.
"Really?"
"So, you've got a past. A bad reputation. But who doesn't? Come on, you're being too hard on yourself. I've spent some time with you and I beg to differ."
With a smile on his face, he buried his head into the nook of my neck and held me tighter into a hug. In each other's arms, we slowly  danced the night away, ignoring the eyes and blocking out all the whispers. With my chin resting on his shoulder, I took it all in. His embrace, his scent, him...us. Ethan made it all better. All of it. No, it wasn't the alcohol talking. I genuinely felt that way.
With him...it was easy. He was that one person I knew would stick around, no matter what. In the beginning I had my doubts about him, but, after all those weeks together, I was sure. I was sure that he wasn't playing with me. I felt it in my blood. I melted into his body, and everything inside me wanted for us to stay there, in each other's arms, in that moment, for the rest of the night.
But that wasn't the deal. The only reason Ethan and I hung out so much was to make Homecoming memorable. We didn't know each other that well so, it would've been weird going to the dance together knowing little to nothing about each other. The plan worked, but none of us thought about what would happen after that night. Would we still hang out? Did I want to?
"Get off of him, you psycho!"
We tore away from each other's bodies and saw Lucy on Luke's back. Luke on the other hand held Caleb in a tight grip and was punching him uncontrollably! Josh tried to push Luke who pushed him back sending him straight into the table of drinks! Before I knew it, Ethan flee to the fight. "Ethan!" I cried out, running after him. Teachers quickly ran to stop the whole thing.
After a struggle, Luke was pulled away from Caleb and was held on the side. Bebe rushed to Caleb whose nose was bleeding. I was helping Lucy up and Ethan was with Josh.
The teachers along with security kicked us out. Everyone watched as we made our way out of the hall. We'd been kicked out!
"Caleb! Are you okay, dude?" Ethan asked, a cut on his bottom lip.
"I'm going to kill that son of a bitch!" Caleb raged.
"Let's get out of here before Luke comes out," I  suggested.
"Let him! I hope he does! We'll wait here!" Caleb fought.
"Naomi? Where's Naomi?!" Bebe called out in fear.
Mimi was not involved in the fight but she got kicked out either way. I was with Ethan, checking if he was okay.
"Are you okay? Does it hurt?" I worried.
"I'm okay. It stings but I'm okay."
"Let me go quickly get you ice."
Before he could stop me, I ran back inside to steal a cloth and some ice. He was now seated on the front of some car. I wrapped some ice with the cloth I had.
"I'm going to put some ice on you, okay? It might hurt a little."
"Can I hold onto you? I'll just hug your waist and squeeze every now and then."
"Sure, you can," I chuckled.
I gently placed the ice on his busted lip and I could feel him squeeze me tightly but gently. He was probably trying to stay strong.
"Okay, that should do it."
"Wait, wait! Just one more time, here," he pointed a finger on his cheek
"Okay, just one more..." I went in with the ice but he stopped me.
"No. Kiss me over here," he purred.
My heart stopped. I was standing in between his legs as he sat on the car, holding me around my waist with both his arms. It was just a kiss — on his cheek. No biggie.
"Really? No." I chuckled.
"It will help with the pain," he reasoned.
"That's what the ice is for!"
"Just one, please? I won't bite, I promise."
After much hesitation, I leaned in and gave him a peck on his cheek.
"There," I blushed.
"One last one," he urged, pulling me even closer by my waist.
I chuckled softly and leaned in to give him another one. His hands were resting on the low of my back as he played with the fabric there. My heart raced. I must've lingered by his face for a few seconds before standing up straight.
"I feel so much better already," he cooed.
I rested my arms on his shoulders and gazed into his eyes. The inner corners of his eyebrows pulled up. He had stopped playing with the fabric of my dress. There was nothing I wanted more than to know what he was thinking in that moment.
"The night's still young. Let's head over to the lake!" We heard Donna suggest.
I removed myself from Ethan and tossed the cloth with ice aside.
"Would you like to join us?" I invited him.
"I'd love to," he smiled.
I took his hand which was resting on his thigh and pulled him up. He was kinda heavy, but I managed. Together, we walked to his car and he tossed over his keys to me.
"Are you sure?" I wondered.
"Yeah," he smiled.
I hopped into the drivers seat and wasted no time starting the car. I couldn't believe he let me drive his car!
We still had some alcohol. We gathered up some branches to make a fire for us to stay warm. "Where the hell is Steve?" Lucy remembered. Naomi shrugged. She looked unbothered but worried at the same time. Josh was holding a bottle which she took and downed with huge gulps.
"Donny, give me a pill," she swallowed.
Donna searched her purse for a while and after finding the bottle, gave Mimi a pill. Caleb's nose had stopped bleeding but he was still furious. "One day, I'll stab that dog!" He grunted.
We stood around the fire, passing the bottle around. The mood wasn't exactly as cheerful as it was earlier. We'd all just gone so quiet. I couldn't believe that Ethan chose us over his friend. Also, no one acted weird around him. They welcomed him and treated him good. Like he'd been our friend forever!
"Naomi, you should sit down. It looks like you're about to pass out," I said to her. She looked seriously out of it.
"I know exactly what she needs," Lucy intervened.
She kicked her shoes off and then asked Donna to help her with her dress. As soon as it fell to the ground she stepped out of it, hands covering her boobs, and then sauntered past us and towards the lake. Oh, she knows she's sexy, all right. "Coming, children?" She turned back to say.
"In there?" asked Bebe.
"Are we going to spend the rest of the night around a dying fire feeling sorry for ourselves?"
"Nope! We're going to have some fun and go skinny dipping!" Josh shouted, removing his clothes.
They all did except for me, obviously. Noticing this, Ethan turned to face me. "What's wrong?" He asked. I shook my head. He gave a soft chuckle, "Don't tell me you're scared. I'll be right next to you. I'll even hold your hand if it makes you feel better. Come on, let's have fun." He flashed me a smile which warmed the skin all over my body. After removing my shoes, I fought to remove my dress. "Let me," he offered, gently lifting up my dress. And to think I also wasn't wearing a bra!
The dress slipped off from my body revealing every single curve. I too, had both my hands covering my boobs. Ethan fought to keep his eyes fixed on my face but I noticed his struggle. "Not even I can keep my eyes off of me," I joked.
He chuckled softly and I led the way, walking away first. I could feel his eyes roaming all over my slim figure. Oh, he was staring. He trailed behind me and then caught up to me as I waited for him before entering. No one had gone in yet.
"It looks really cold," Caleb admitted.
"It was your idea, Lucy. After you," Donna pushed.
Lucy rolled her eyes at us and without a word, dove in.
"Holy cow!" Josh chuckled.
We watched as she disappeared into the dark water. It probably wasn't that cold. If it was, she wouldn't have been down there for so long. After a few seconds, her head popped up.
"Crap! Thought you'd drowned!" cried Caleb. "Come on, you sissies!" She teased, as she went back into the water.
"Just like at the river all over again!" Josh called out, jumping in.
Following behind him was Donna, then Caleb, then Bebe. Naomi contemplated it for a second and without thinking or realizing, she found herself in the water.
Ethan and I were still outside. He saw the fun the rest were having and decided he couldn't wait a minute longer, he was jumping in. Holding onto my hand, we jumped. He came up first and I followed, only showing my head and shoulders. It was cold, but not that cold.
"Crap!" I chortled.
"What?"
"I almost flashed my boobs!" I laughed.
I expected him to laugh as we'd been doing the whole night, but he didn't. Instead he looked at me, deep into my eyes.
"What's wrong? Are you okay?" I worried.
He swam closer to me and stopped only a few inches away.
"I had so much fun with you tonight. In fact, I've had so much fun with you all these weeks we've hung out together," he confessed.
"Me too, Ethan. Me too."
"I know I said I'd like to hang out with you to get to know you so that Homecoming won't be weird. Homecoming is gone now, it's over. Are we still — are we still going to hangout? I still wanna hangout with you. If — if you still want to hangout with me."
I knew I was gonna miss him. We'd grown so close over the weeks. And when he'd asked that we continue to hangout, my heart did a little dance.
"We can still hangout. I'd love that," I blushed.
There was a long pause between us and then I continued, "Do — do you want to be alone tonight?"
"No, I don't. Why?"
"I don't either," I hinted.
"Come spend the night with me. I promise I'm not inviting you over for sex. That's the last thing on my mind."
"What's the first?"
"Spending more time with you. I was gonna watch a movie before bed, we could watch it together. I've got snacks and you could meet my sister, Katie," he professed.
"I don't want this night to end. Okay, I'll come over. Plus, Katie sounds like she's sweet."
"You'll love her."
"Can I hold on to you? I'm getting tired of paddling."
He chuckled and swam closer to me, his arm hugging my waist. I turned him around so that he was facing forward and held on to him from behind with my arms locked around his neck.
We finally got out of the water to go circle around the fire one last time to dry up and keep warm. I hid myself using Ethan, hugging him from behind. Yes, my boobs were touching his back. Lucy handed me my dress and helped me cover up, her and Donna.
"You're so whipped," Lucy uttered.
"Shut up."
"They both are," Donna chuckled.
"Be careful, okay? Please. Not that I'm not rooting for you two. I just don't want him breaking your heart," Lucy revealed.
"I am being careful, Lucy. Thanks for caring, though."
I hugged them both and after Ethan had finished getting dressed, he signaled for us to leave.
"Ethan and I are leaving. It's been fun, kids," I announced, getting up to wear my shoes.
"True. I know we aren't friends and you guys don't really like me but, you're a pretty cool bunch," Ethan added.
"We know," Lucy sassed.
"Ey bro, clean game out there on the field. You did the most," Caleb acknowledged.
"Thanks, bro. I appreciate it."
I hugged them all and when I got to Naomi, I beamed. "Bye, babe. Are you busy tomorrow? We should hang out. We've got some stuff to talk about," I whispered.
She blinked several times before replying. "Sure. Tomorrow at eleven?"
I smiled in approval and gave her one last hug before walking away with Ethan.