Hide & Seek

Cathryn

Luke and I hung around the edge of the dance floor, chatting. His eyes radiated happiness, so different to when I first saw him.
"Hey, Cathryn, remember our first argument? In English?"
"Oh my God, don't remind me. That was so embarrassing!"
He chuckled. "No, it was cute. I could practically see the passion burning in your eyes as you argued about your ultimate favourite book."
"Romeo and Juliet is not my favourite book," I retorted.
"So you say. Yet you seemed so into it."
"Yeah, no. That was me passionately talking about love, not the book."
"Of course," Luke said with a roll of his eyes. Then he turned serious.
"So what do you really think about love?"
Suddenly, a slow song rolled over the speakers and the dancers started pairing up. I looked down and gazed at my feet. No way would he ask me to dance. We were just friends, right? Then his outstretched hand came into my view.
"Wanna join me?"

Dancing with Luke was better than I'd imagined. He held me tightly around the waist, almost afraid to let go. With my head resting on his chest, we swayed to the music. I could hear his heart beating softly in sync with mine, and I sighed. Having Luke completed my life. It felt like he was what I was waiting for.
"Cathryn," he whispered softly into my ear. I lifted my head and looked at him. His gaze drifted down to my lips and he leaned in.
He's gonna kiss me! What do I do???? Am I ready for this? How do I -
He abruptly pulled back suddenly.
Did I do something wrong?
I tried to hide the hurt in my expression, when I realised that the slow song had been replaced by a fast song. I looked at Luke. He seemed pretty annoyed at the DJ. I smiled.
"What?" He noticed my smile.
I shook my head. "Nothing. Just.... I need to go to the bathroom."

Looking into the bathroom mirror, I smiled again. Luke likes me. He was gonna kiss me. He actually likes me. With my head held high, I strolled out of the bathroom and approached the dance floor. Spotting Reagan, I grabbed her arm.
"Have you seen Luke?" I yelled over the music. She shook her head and continued dancing. I wandered around some more. Where on earth would he be?
Some guy stepped in front of me and asked me to dance. God, as if! He smelled like alcohol and smoke, so I quickly refused and turned away. Eventually, I stepped into an empty hallway and caught sight of him leaning against the wall. I smiled and made my way towards him, but froze. The smile vanished. He had his hands on Kimberly's waist and she had her arms wrapped around his neck.  And they were kissing.