Grace; misanthrope // Jai Brooks

Chapter 11

I wore my long curls down, with the top layers pulled back. I left out a few strands from the front to frame my face. I heard the sound of Bella's driver pulling up and rushed out the door. I slid into the back seat where Bella and Chloe were waiting for me. They cooed over the sight of me.

When we arrived at the school, we pranced into the gym where the dance was taking place. As soon as we entered, I scoped out the place, eyeing the stage. I assumed the buckets were secured up near the ceiling, but they were impossible to spot with the lights aimed down on us. Jai was right, nobody would notice.

"You okay?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah," I tried to smile.

"You seem tense. Let's go get some punch,"

While sipping my punch I felt a hand on the small of my back. I turned around to see Jai standing there in a suit jacket and pants, a classic penguin colored outfit. His face was babylike, clean-shaven. He wore gorgeous diamond studs on each of his ears.

"Hey," he said with a grin.

"Hi," I said, hugging him without thinking.

The scent of his cologne enveloped me. Damnit, why did I do that? He seemed pleasantly surprised. I instantly moved passed that.

"The buckets..." I said. "Can you see them?"

Suddenly, Luke appeared, also looking really dapper.

"They're there," he sipped his punch. "You'd never know it."

"All we have to do is wait for Luke to announce king and queen," Jai said.

"When you see me get on stage, that's your queue." Luke added.

I nodded, letting them know I understood. My friends lingered nearby.

"I didn't realize yous were friends," Chloe said, eyes locked on me.

Jai and I eyed each other.

"I help Jai with homework, sometimes," I once again lied to my best friends.

She nodded. I was unsure if she bought the lie or not.

"See ya," I said to Jai, and he waved, walking away with Luke.

I danced with Bella and Chloe for a while. They mingled with a lot of their other friends, which sort of left me in the dust here and there. I thought a lot about what would happen if our prank backfired. I figured I'd just admit to what I did. I didn't see sense in lying my way out of it, I had already lied enough today. I've always prided myself on being an honest person, so my conscience was heavy with guilt tonight. I tried to relax and listen to the music, but it was difficult to stay calm.

A bit later, Jai found me again. He was alone this time.

"You look super stunning, by the way," He said. "Even with that bruise on your cheek."

The room was dim but I swore I saw his cheeks redden.

"Wow, thank you." I chuckled and rolled my eyes. "Jai Brooks paying me a compliment? Unheard of," I said lightheartedly.

"I know, I know," he joked as well. "I can be nice sometimes."

I smiled, "You don't look so bad yourself. You look really nice."

He grinned and looked down at the ground for a moment. I watched him in awe, admiring him. Then he looked at me with a more serious look.

"Look, I want you to know I'm sorry... For all the times I was mean to you and stuff,"

I was taken aback. I knew that we had moved passed the bullying stuff but it was kind of an unspoken agreement. We'd never really talked about it.

"Oh," I said with surprise. "It's in the past. We're cool, now,"

"Yeah," he said. "But I feel bad. I just want you to know that,"

I could see he was feeling sympathetic and was being vulnerable with me. I decided to take a chance and ask him if he'd like to dance.

"I actually would love that." He said.

I set my drink down, slipped off my high heels, and headed to the dance floor, Jai following closely behind me. Once we found a spot I gently put my arms around his neck and his hands found my waist. I felt nervous being so close to Jai, but I also found myself trusting him. The music was slow so I just tried to breath.

"Do you usually go to the dances?" I asked.

He shook his head and that made me feel a little better.

"This is my first dance," I said.

"This is your first one?!" He laughed, voice filled with disbelief.

"Yes," I groaned. "What's so funny about that?"

"No, nothing," he calmed me. "So I get to share your first dance with you then, yeah?"

I nodded.

"That's really nice," he said softly.

My heart was beating out of my chest. I felt my ears grow hot and I knew my face must be tomato red. I avoided Jai's eyes and instead looked down at our feet. He gently pulled me closer and rested his chin on my shoulder, hugging me as we danced.

"Hey," he said softly. "I want to tell you something else,"

"Yeah?" I looked at him.

"That night at Amelia's party... it wasn't an accident. The kiss..." He pursed his lips, nervously.

I only looked at him, unsure what to say. I searched his eyes before they fell to the ground.

"I shouldn't have embarrassed you in front of everyone like that. I'm sorry. But I wanted you to know I kissed you because I wanted to."

We stopped dancing for a moment and were still, holding each other by the arms.

"Why are you sorry?"

He shrugged. "You seemed so upset. You left the party,"

"I was really confused. I didn't know what to think. I mean you had always teased me. I was embarrassed..."

"I teased you because I liked you. Like you..." he trailed off.

I bit my lip, once again unsure what to say or think. I used to despise Jai Brooks once upon a time... And here we were, dancing together, having a nice time.