Northern Lights

Chapter 3

"Choir has a performance before winter break. Would you be so kind to buy tickets from me?" She batted her eyes prettily at them, adding a pleading look in there.

"Sure." Maverick pulled out his lunch and began eating and talking with his mouth full. She dropped her pleading face and grimaced. Jace covered his twin's mouth and turned to her to distract her from his twin's appalling manners.  

"Yeah, I remember you singing in a solo in that winter singing thing we had in sixth grade. Ms. Blake was in love you and she kept saying how adorable you were." 

She wrinkled her nose at that. "Adorable?"

"Adorable as a kitty."  

She hissed at him, clawing the air. Maverick choked on his food. Jace threw his head back and laughed.  

"Yeah, like that!" 

Jace was adorable as a kitten too, especially when he smiled like that.  

She didn't know why she looked up at that exact moment because when she did, she met her broody boy's stare and the world stopped in its spinning, her heart forgot to beat its rhythmic beat, and she was falling, falling off a cliff.  

He had the lightest brown eyes she had ever seen—almost like hazel, in the sun.  

"That's Darrel." She jolted out of her reverie. "The coaches are fawning over him. They want him to join varsity football already."

"Wow." She murmured, her eyes going wide, for more reasons than his impressive skill. She could not tear her eyes away from him and he couldn't seem to either. She heard failed-hushed voices of Maverick and Jace as they probably made fun of her moment with Darrel.  

She had to look away from him when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Skye with his eyebrow raised.  

"Can I help you with something?" She couldn't help but growl at him. 

He smirked. The little bastard probably saw what she was doing again. "It would be nice to inform people who are waiting for you that you're not even coming after all. Manners and all." 

"Whatever." She widened her eyes mockingly at him.  He took her sandwich and chomped a big bite in retaliation.

Thinking back to the first few months after seeing the broody boy, and knowing his name, Darrel Mason was the most painful months she had ever experienced.

The pain never ceased though. It just got easier to deal with, the constant ache in her heart, whenever she thought of him, whenever she sees him. It had been a permanent little thing she carried with her and he went on with his life like she didn't exist.

She wandered in next door after school, curious of the street dancing club that was different and more dangerous than your normal newbie dancing. She was mightily impressed on all the spinning and breakneck routines that they did. But they weren't doing routines, and instead went along with what they feel like to the beat of the song—street dance.  

She was one of the few girls in the room and all of them seem to be girlfriends or groupies.  A grinning out of breath dancer came up to her, not a strand out of his spiky hair was out of place and a metal stud on that glinted in the fluorescent lighting on the corner of his mouth. "You're in the dance team, right? Show us a couple of moves." She wondered how he knew she was in the dance team since she was still a freshman.

Aurora shook her head vigorously, eyes wide and a little terrified at the notion. She wasn't afraid of performing but that would be when she had days and weeks of practice. She just couldn't start dancing from her heart since she didn't even know what she would be dancing.  

"Oh come on. Let's see the might of Moore High's dance team." His tone was a little mocking. She couldn't help but narrow her eyes at him.  

She looked away from him and studied the dance floor with new eyes. This should be easy, right? Some gymnastics and dancing mix together. Right?

Right.  

"Alright! That was something." She raised an eyebrow at the boy who taunted her but he continued on, ignoring her irate visage and slightly panting and red face. "You were amazing. I didn't even expect you to copy what we do here. We've been dancing here for years and you look like a freshman. You are a freshman, right?" 

She nodded.  

"Oh come on. You're not mad just 'cause I made you dance and show off?" 

"I don't like your tone." She huffed.  

He just grinned. "You're adorable when you're angry. I'm Jasper. Junior."  

She twitched at the word adorable and Jasper saw. He laughed, attracting a lot of attention.  "Your name?"

Jasper seemed like a laid back guy who would tease her. Someone like Maverick and Jace. She had a feeling she would be coming here more often.  

She smiled despite herself. "My name is Aurora and only special people call me Rose. Freshman."  

Jasper slowly smiled, a hint of his canine tooth poking out between lips. "Rose it is."