Tom Riddle - Downfall

Chapter 68: Yule Ball I

The evening of the Yule Ball. I'm already extremely excited, and so is Kim. Kim is wearing a beautiful red dress and I'm wearing a dark green dress decorated with lace. It's my favorite color, but I also know that Tom loves this color on me. I know I shouldn't really think about it, but I can't help it. Kim and I are sitting in our dormitory waiting for Enzo and Nicolas. "Are you excited, Kim?" Kim nods her head excitedly as she looks at me wearing the green dress, and she smiles warmly at me.
"Oh yes, I'm extremely excited! You look absolutely beautiful in your dress! Enzo and Tom are gonna go crazy when they see you!"
"I bet Valerie looks nicer. She has more money for a pretty dress," I say slightly sadly.
Kim's smile is a little bit forced when I mention Valerie's dress, and she looks almost sympathetic for a moment. She gives me a kind look of reassurance
"Oh...well, I can tell you right now that Enzo is not going to be paying any attention to Valerie at all, especially not when you're looking like that."
"Yes... but Tom..." I say, knowing full well that I should actually forget him.
Tom's name seems to spark another wave of pain within me, but Kim nods her head and nods in agreement
"Yeah, I know...Tom. But don't you dare let him get to you tonight. You're beautiful, and Enzo's going to want nothing but to be with you for the entire night. You're probably gonna forget all about Tom when Enzo takes you on that dance floor, so don't think about him for a second, okay?"
I nod, and there's a knock at the door.

I open my eyes and answer it. Enzo and Nicolas are standing in front of the door, beaming at us. "Wow, you look great."
Enzo stares at me with a wide grin on his face as he sees how beautiful I look in my green gown. He likes the dress a bit too much, and he's practically drooling over me.
"Oh..my...you look absolutely beautiful..."
He's intoxicated, so he's not exactly subtle with his reaction to my beauty. Nicolas notices this too and smirks.
"Thank you," I say sheepishly. "Shall we go?"
Enzo looks utterly enamored with me, and he takes my hand in his and kisses the back of it softly as he smiles at me. Then, he glances over at Nicolas, who just rolls his eyes and nods, encouraging Enzo to take me to the ball. Enzo smiles and nods, clearly in a daze by my beauty
"Yes...yes, let's go."

Nicolas takes Kim in his arms, and we go to the ball together. We enter the ballroom, and it is beautifully decorated. It's like a magical snowy land and everything glitters and is decorated with lovely details. For a moment, I can forget everything, and we walk hand in hand to the bar. We have a welcome drink there and treat ourselves to some privacy, so Kim and Nicolas go straight to the dance floor and Enzo and I stay at the bar for a moment "So, are you happy?" I ask him cautiously. Enzo nods his head enthusiastically as he stares at me, his slightly drunken state making him even more enamored with me than before. He can't remember the last time he was this obsessed with a girl.
"Yes... very happy. You are the most beautiful girl here tonight, I can't wait to take you on that dance floor and see everyone's eyes on you."
"You're too good to me," I say sheepishly. Enzo's slightly drunk state has him feeling very talkative, and he's very giddy as he smiles widely at me and stares adoringly at me. "That's what you get for being so goddamn beautiful. I can't wait to have you all to myself tonight. And I can't wait to kiss you a billion times and hold you in my arms all night long..."
"Listen, we should take things slowly, don't you think?" I say sheepishly, knowing full well that I'm not really interested in getting more intimate with him, and I'm also a bit shocked that he says it so directly. This does seem to catch him a little bit off guard. Enzo's drunken state had made him feel a little bit too affectionate, and he had gotten too carried away. When I mention taking things slowly, he sighs and nods his head. "I'm sorry... I'm just really excited. But I understand. I'll take things slow. I don't want to force you to do anything you're not comfortable with."
I nod, and we continue our less intimate conversation. When I see Tom enter the hall with Valerie at his side and damn, but she looks really good. Of course, she's wearing a probably outrageously expensive glittery dress, and Tom... he looks incredibly good. As always. My gaze wanders away from Enzo. But Tom immediately meets my gaze, too. Enzo notices the change in my mood immediately, and he notices Tom's presence as I look away, and I can almost feel him staring at me. My heart pounds for a moment before Enzo gently grabs my hand and leads us both to the dance floor.