He wasn't sure when he'd started staring at her or how in particular she'd caught his eye. All he knew was that he'd never seen anyone so... odd.
Her hair was messy, which was odd because most of the other girls had taken pains to style their hair. Not that she hadn't tried, it was obvious she had made an attempt and then given up after it had gone to pieces for what was probably more than the third time.
It was also obvious that she didn't want to be here, not from the way she tugged at her collar and looked around nervously, or from the constant patting down of her dress or the occasional scribbling onto her arm with a pen she had probably carried into the party with her.
No, it was from the unobtrusive way she stood at the food table and filled her mouth with food, turning away simultaneously as anybody showed even a sign of approach.
His mouth twisted. Why pay if you don't want to come?
"You know, staring like you have X-ray vision isn't going to start a conversation, right?" The voice made him turn back and unsurprisingly, there stood the idiot himself a.k.a his younger brother a.k.a Roy a.k.a the whole reason he was in this dumb party; smiling like an idiot as he hugged 2 women to his sides by their waists.
Alaric made a face.
He pitied whoever was going to marry this.
"Oh, don't give me that face. Go on there. Talk to her." Roy said, smiling in that dumb way of his that he thought was hot. And apparently, the ladies must have had a really bad sense of judgement because they obviously thought so too and giggled.
Alaric shook his head.
He might as well try to talk to her or Roy would pester him for the rest of the party. And no, he wasn't using him as an excuse.
And so, he walked forward, all the way to the food table.
He saw her try the tactic again but he didn't move away instead he stood beside her, silently reaching for a hors d'oeuvre , waiting patiently as she chewed as slowly as she possibly could and inevitably swallowed.
"You don't want to be here, do you?" He asked bluntly. In reply, she choked on the remnants of the french food. He winced as he handed her a glass of wine he hastily took from a passing waiter. Roy had always told him he was tactless when it didn't involve work.
He'd just never believed till now.
When she'd calmed down, she gave him a weak smile, her eyes flicking as she searched for an appropriate answer. "It's not that I don't want to be. I'm just not used to this kind of thing."
He rose an eyebrow. "Then why pay?"
She shook her head. "Oh, I didn't pay."
He blinked and her eyes widened. "I mean - I didn't sneak in or anything. My friend was the one who paid and she wasn't able to go anymore so she gave it to me. Here's my ticket. See." She said, fumbling nervously into the bag she was carrying.
"Relax. I'm not going to tell, even if you didn't." He replied, giving a small smile to reassure her.
She coloured, dropping her bag to let it hang at her side once more.
Time to rephrase that question.
"What's the point of coming to a party if you're not going to interact?" He leaned on the table.
She shrugged. "Food?"
"As you have obviously proven."
She exhaled. "Look, I'll be away from here soon. Give me 10 minutes."
He rose an eyebrow. "The party will be over in 10 minutes."
She smiled. "I know."
Okay, this isn't working.
He tried another tactic. "Do you really want to be known as the girl who came to the party just for food?" He asked, deadpanning.
"Better than as the girl who came to embarrass herself." She replied in the same fashion.
He sighed, giving up. His eyes drifted around the room silently and then landed on the waltzing couples at the other end of the room. Another idea.
He turned back to her as she was about to pick up yet another pastry.
"How would you like to dance?" He asked. He didn't want to but to get her to talk would be worth it.
She shrugged. "I don't know how to."
"I'll teach you." He offered quickly, not wanting to waste the headway.
She sighed and pick down the pastry reluctantly. "Fine, but I hope you brought another pair of legs because yours will be useless by the time we're done."
She was wrong. They weren't useless, just... abused.
"That went better than expected. You underestimate yourself too much. You're a quick learner." He said as he dropped into a seat in the balcony.
"Sorry to burst your bubble but I'll probably forget it all by Monday." She replied matter-of-factly.
He shrugged. "It stays for 2 days then."
She plopped into the seat beside him. "God, these shoes are killing me. I wouldn't be wearing them if not for that friend of mine. I wouldn't even be here."
"Why not come with something else?" He asked curiously.
"Apparently and I quote, 'Heels are the only shoes appropriate for this type of party. It's a fancy one, you see.'." She rolled her eyes. He cracked a smile.
His eyes caught on the scribblings on her palm. They looked like lines from a book. He'd seen them earlier before, while they were dancing.
"Are you a writer?" He asked.
She coloured, rubbing the back of her now-red-from-embarrassment neck as her scribbled on palm fisted her dress. "Well, not really. I'm aspiring to be."
"Relax, I'm not going to say anything against you. My little brother wanted to be a writer too and I never laughed at him." Not outwardly anyway. He also wanted to be a pilot, and an art model, and a sailor, and basically everything else. Each phase lasted 2 days.
She smiled at him though.
They started to talk more and he found that she wasn't really a quiet person, just extremely... awkward.
He liked her.
Later, as they sadly acknowledged that it was late and had to part, he hesitated. "What's your number?"
She looked away awkwardly. "I can't remember it, or don't know it, since I never learnt it. And my phone's kind of -" She showed him the blank screen. "-dead. I didn't bring a charger."
He smiled. He'd have thought she was lying if he hadn't spent the last few minutes talking to her. "Then I'll give you mine."
He proceeded to scribble it down at the back of her ticket.
"Please don't forget me and accidentally throw it away or something." He added as she put it in her bag. One of the things he'd learnt was that she was extremely forgetful.
She smiled. "I won't."
But she didn't call, not for a week or two.
And later as he scowled at yet another business proposal, it was no surprise that he was extremely irritated as he picked up the shrilly ringing phone.
"What?" He snapped into the call.
There was a pause at the other end. "Um, is this a bad time?"
And suddenly, he wasn't so irritated anymore. "Oh, hey. Luce."
Extra:
Luce 4 days before phone call:
*searches through trashcan.*
"I'm an idiot. I'm a fool. I'm a disgrace. Oh bloody- WHERE IS IT?!"
2 days:
"I wonder if he even wants to talk. What if he doesn't?
Would that mean I dug through that nasty mess for NOTHING?!!"
10 seconds:
"You can do this. You're brave and beautiful and... Something.
