The Burden of Proof

chapter 16

I wobbled my way out of the dim dining room, and towards where I had so frantically rushed my way out of, a couple of hours before. I squinted my eyes at the bright lights, and grimaced. I had never quite understood why dining establushments had to be so dark, because in my opinion, there's nothing less relaxing or calming, than having to squint across the table to cast a loving glance to your partner. Who, I might say, could be anyone in that light.

After eating barely anything due to my unnaturally tormented stomach, I had excused myself hurriedly to get to where I knew the lighting would awful ON PURPOSE. *cough cough*

I wondered briefly what Dan might think of this dress , but also wondered why I would care , in any case. I imagined Sophia's mocking glance of cheekiness at my thought, and that was quite enough to get rid of it. At least for the time being.

Oh god, these shoes are killing me. I pulled a face that must have been amusing at least, because as the twins saw it, it envoked much chuckling.

I strode over, arms flung out with a look of superiority as they let out a low whistle. A smile fluttered and I laughed at my own silliness.

"DAmn, and who are you all dressed up for ?!" they asked with high eyebrows and low smirks.

"No one for me, just sometimes its nice to look nice, ya know ?" I dismissed them casually with a wave of my arm. They shot each other an all knowing glance which did not reassure my self confidence at all.

"Did your mom make you ?"

"Okay yeah kind of ..."

Triumpantly, they linked arms and called over their shoulders at me as I rolled my eyes and wandered off.

Besides for that twin-tastic encounter, I could see no sign of anybody else. Or even hear them, and that was worrying. Frowning, I spun in a tight circle in case I had missed anyone. AHA, and I caught sight of a different tight circle of misfits, gathering near the gaming room. Trying my best to be inconspicious, which was hard when you were wearing heels making me:

A) tall

B) loud as fuck

Needless to say, I did not draw any unnesecary attention until I was almost within the same proximity to catch smallpox. Lovely.

I caught Dans look and then look again, as his eyes widened as he recognized me. I know they say jaw-dropping as in the physical action , which I had always found a bizarre expression until I actually saw his jaw lower, and I began to rethink its credibility, and my dress choice. I shot him a small wave with a smile within that ratio, and he seemed to recover and sent me a smile of appreciation.

"Hi ! I see you're all dressed up?". He was wearing a band shirt paired with sneakers and dark jeans , which at least were a little bit less ripped than normal so I suppose ...

"What can I say, its hard to make classy look this unclassy", and he smirked nonchantly, and no other words followed. My heart fell, but not fast enough for me to drop it.

"I expected nothing less"

Which I realised, was a total and utter lie.