Last Man Standing

Chapter 8: Formal Wear

'Can't believe I actually came to this thing' I thought to myself as I walked into the school gymnasium. Then again, I knew why I came, for Josh. It was his first night officially introducing his girlfriend to us and I knew he really wanted me to be a part of his special night with her; and swallowing my pride I had gotten ready for a formal where the girl of my dreams would be dancing with someone else, all for the sake of my best friend's happiness. The sacrifices one makes for people they care about.
"Levi!" I turned my head to see Josh coming forward, a petite girl with blonde hair in tow behind him. I smiled at him and we embraced each other in a one arm hug. "Levi, this is Emilie." I looked to the girl and smiled, she smiled back. We shook hands and she did her best to make her English as understandable as possible, but the thickness of her French accent was fairly strong. "It eez a pleazure to meet you." "Likewise Emilie, you look lovely." And I was feeling very sincere. Her hair curled around her face, and the green Color of her dress brought out the ivory tone of her skin. Her brown eyes glinted with my compliment.
"Any idea where the others are?" Josh had to yell over the music which was booming around the gym. I could almost feel the vibrations running through my chest. Yet all I could do was shrug at his question. "I know for a fact you won't find Toby here. Damien will be with Marcus, and Marcus could be anywhere"
"True point. Well I'll go see if I can find them to introduce them to Emilie, wanna come?" I shook my head, "Think I'll hang around and see if there are any lonely girls looking for a dance." Josh gave me a face, he knew as much as I did my real intentions were to try and find Maybelline, but thankfully he didn't speak anything of it. As he walked away Emilie threw me a wave and said "Au revoir!"

I ended up plastering myself against the wall. It seemed the universe was determined to not let me find Maybelline, but maybe it was for the best, I mean after all she wasn't my date. No sooner had the thought come to mind when I saw her leaning against the wall a few metres from me. She looked beautiful in her blue gown, I even noticed a silver embroidered design travelling down the skirt of the dress. She was alone, which surprised me because I knew she had a date, Gerome. I looked around through the crowd but couldn't find him anywhere, or even anyone from Maybelline's usual group of friends. I also noticed she was wiping at her face often, I believe I even saw some tears falling.
      "Are you okay?" I asked her as I walked up to her. The sight of her in tears was something I couldn't bear to see, and I wanted to make every tear go away until she was smiling again. I don't think she knew I was around because she wiped her face frantically and turned away rather quickly. "I'm fine." She mumbled, her voice sounded thick from her crying. I glanced around again, still no Gerome. "Where's your date?" I asked her. "Like hell if I know. He took one look at Amy and then they all just left me here in the middle of the formal by myself." I placed a hand of comfort on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, it kind of hurt that she didn't want to accept my attempts to make her feel better but I guess she was just too upset to want physical touch. "I'm pretty sure they all left for some university party instead." I excused myself from the scene and went into the bathroom, I grabbed one of the spare tissue rolls from the stall and brought it out to her. This time she accepted my help, even laughed a bit as she thanked me and started tearing off pieces of tissue to dry her face. "I'm sure I look like a walking tragedy now." She mumbled, sniffling away her final tears.
      'This is the moment. This is it!' My mind told me, and I followed through. I reached out and placed my hand on her cheek, my thumb lightly grazing her cheekbone. This seemed to surprise her a little as her eyes had widened slightly, but she let me touch her all the same. "I think you look beautiful when you cry." I added my words to the gesture, and saw tears fall again, but different tears this time. She wasn't sad, I think she was just shocked. I didn't stop with just my hand though.
      The song changed, the soft melody blaring from the speakers instead of a loud bass. I took my hand and placed it against her palm, my other hand moving across her waist. I pulled her away from the wall and she followed, and soon Maybelline and I were dancing across the floor. In no other moment had I felt happier, it was like a scene from a movie. The beautiful girl, dancing with a boy so sick with love he could hardly breathe in such close proximity to her. Yet here I was, smiling and laughing along with her, smiling and laughing alongside her.
      I took a gulp, an idea in my head that was scary to even think of. I cast my eyes from her eyes to her lips then back again. She seemed to match my gaze, holding it within her own gaze. I cupped her chin lightly with my fingertips and pulled her towards me, her head willingly following the guidance of my hand. Until our lips met, and we sealed that night with a kiss.