Make My Way

Chapter Fifteen

Stella's POV

With Aurora's help, I hauled my ginormous collection of makeup products into the living room where each of my friends had set up their own little hair and makeup station. Aurora and I went to the bathroom to wash off our cheer makeup, which mostly consisted of sparkles and eyeliner. When it was all off I went back to my station and applied everything normally except my eyeshadow. For my eyes I did a smoky eye with blues instead of blacks.

I had gotten done first because I wore makeup every day and I could apply it pretty quickly. I helped Aurora with her makeup since all she wore was mascara. Once everyone was done we help each other put on out dresses and we all piled into my bug. I dropped Aria off at Blake's house and Vivian off at Merrick's house which left only Willow, Aura and I "So do you want to come with us or should we drop you off somewhere?" I asked Willow. It was 8:30 and the dance started at 9:00 so it was a little before the dance started. Cheerleaders had to be there earlier because we ran the dance.

"I'll just stay with you guys. I have now where else to go anyway."

"Sounds good to me." Aura said happily.

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Even though we were all wearing our dresses and things for the dance, I carried my shoes as we went inside, knowing that my feet would kill me by the end of the night. Inside, most of the decorations were already up so we just set up the admission table and sat down. As people started flowing in, we took their money and directed them to gym.

At about 9:15, they let us join the rest of the people in the dance. Inside, there were people in fancy dresses and ties. It had only been fifteen minutes, but there were already a few couples making out in the dark corners. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Typical homecoming. I found Vivian and Merrick standing off to the side talking. Neither of them were big dancers. Blake and Aria on the other hand, I had a feeling would be out dancing for the majority of the night.

Back in eighth grade, at the first junior high dance of the year, a couple of older students who were chaperoning had went around asking who could two step. I had a general idea but wasn't sure and being the shy person I was at the time, I told them no. Aria, who, even then, was pretty outgoing, went for it unsuspectingly. The seniors then pushed her to Blake who had also said he could two-step. That was the first time they ever danced together. I smiled at the memory. Since then, Aria had made it her mission to learn how to swing dance by watching YouTube videos. Scanning the floor again, I made our the silhouettes of Aria and Blake dancing next to each other in the strobe lights.

I walked over to Vivian and Merrick and tried to jump into their conversation. I heard one word, turned around, and walked away. They were talking about hunting. Not my thing. I scanned one more time and this time, I actually saw someone I cared about. Neil. He was across the floor, standing with Julian. It looked like they were some of the only other guys from my class there. I considered walking over and talking to him but decided against it. He was with Julian and I didn't want it to be weird. Instead, I found Aura and talked for a while. Then, I got an idea. "Aura, go talk to Vivian and Merrick." To my pleasure, she didn't argue.

I searched out Willow. I found her in the hallway on her phone. "Whatcha doing?" I asked.

"The lights were messing with my head." I knodded, understanding.

"I need you."

"Huh?"

"I need you. Do you trust me? I have an idea." She hesitated before agreeing. I led her back into the gym where she gave me a confused look. I took a deep breath and walked right up to Neil and Julian. As soon as Willow realized what I was planning, she tried to pull away. I didn't let her.

Right as I was about to say hi, the DJ announced that we were going to do a game. He told all of the girls to take off one shoe and throw it into the center. Then, each of the guys picked up a random shoe and went to find its owner. Naturally, I watched my shoe like a hawk until I saw a hand grab it. I followed the arm up until I saw a face. No. No. Not him. Not now. He walked over to me and handed me my shoe. "Hey, Stella," Luca said.

He gave me my shoe and I buckled it back on. A slow song started playing. He put his hands on my waist and I put mine on his shoulders, middle school style. I thought about how Aria and Blake were dancing to the slow song earlier. Her arms were looped around his neck and he was holding her close, yet they were talking so casually. So comfortably. So naturally. And then there was me. Trying to keep as much distance between Luca and I as possible.

I laugh when I see Aura dancing with Daniel. He had asked her to homecoming through a note he put in her locker. Not interested, she turned him down politely by putting a note back in his locker that said she was just going with her friends. When the song was over, everyone broke apart from their forced partner. Aria came and found me.

"Oh my gosh. Stella. Stella. I had to dance with Easton. Lord help me. He can't dance. He stepped on my feet more than once and we were just stepping back and forth!" she exclaimed.

A faster, more upbeat song started playing and Blake and Aria went back out onto the dance floor. I could see by the looks on their faces that they were about to step it up a notch. They moved together like I'd never seen before. They'd do lifts and he'd slide her under his legs. Definitely the best swing dancing I'd ever seen high schoolers do. A small crown formed around them, cheering them on. As the song ended, they did a big finally where Blake lifted her onto his shoulder and spun. Everyone clapped and the crowd dispersed.

After a few more modern, popular songs, there was another slow song. Willow and I stood off to the side awkwardly. Even Vivian and Merrick were dancing. Across the floor, I saw Neil and Julian moving towards us.

Maybe, just maybe, I'd get to dance with him after all....