Him & Her

Ch.10

Ch10
Zack Summer's house was decorated with every Christmas decoration Elizabeth could think of. There was a Santa clause and his reindeer in the roof of the house, elves on the front lawn, a fake snowman next to the front door, Christmas lights were hung on the house, there was a huge Christmas tree on the lawn with presents under it, and there was a big banner on the front door that read: Merry Christmas!
"Well, it's technically still Christmas eve." Henry said as the three friends walked to the front door.
"Well, it's just a party." Brandon replied as he rang the doorbell. Elizabeth could hear music and laughter from inside. It was cold out and her legs and hands were freezing.
"Not a very logical one." Henry muttered as the door swung wide open and Zack Summer smiled at them.
He said, "Welcome to the Christmas party! Come on in! Grab a drink! Eat cookies!" and then he ran inside yelling over his back, "Close the door behind you!"
"Um, ok." Henry said.
Elizabeth sighed in relief when she saw what everyone was wearing. Some girls wore Santa clause dresses or elf dresses, and most boys were wearing reindeer horns and big red noses; so she wasn't the only one who looked crazy.
The song playing was a Demi Lovato one, it was upbeat and it made her want to dance; especially with the red and green lights that were crossing over the dance floor.
"Wanna dance?" Brandon yelled over the music.
Elizabeth smiled and decided tonight was going to be one she was going to remember.
"Heck, ya." she said.
He smiled and led her to the dance floor. They began to dance a few feet apart from each other.
Many songs passed and Elizabeth found herself lost in the music, singing along to Coconut Tree and not being able to stop herself from laughing out loud as Brandon joined in. She felt so happy, as if it was all a dream and she was going to wake up soon. She had lost track of where Henry was and she hoped he was having as much fun as she was.
Then the D.J put on a slow song. Elizabeth squirmed inwardly when Brandon offered her his hand. She had to act fast, but she didn't know what to do. She had to admit he looked pretty handsome in the dim lights and she really wanted to take his hand, but she had a weird feeling in her stomach at the thought of being too close to him. She went over that in a matter of seconds and finally thought of a perfect excuse to not dance with him.
"Where's Henry? He's probably alone, we should find him." she said.
Brandon pulled his hand back, "Right." he said, smile fading.
Elizabeth hated making him upset, but she just couldn't dance with him.
Elizabeth looked over all the dancing couples, scanning the crowd.
"Over there." Brandon pointed to the food table.
Elizabeth turned and saw Henry leaning on the table, a cup of Gatorade in his hand. His eyes were closed and he had a slight smile on his face as he swayed to and fro with the rhythm of the music.
Elizabeth and Brandon walked over to him. At first he didn't notice them and Brandon had to yell his name for him to open his eyes.
"Oh, hey guys." Henry smiled, "Awesome party, right? I was dancing with this girl I talked to once in math class and it was awesome, but then her boyfriend came and she's dancing with him now." he laughed, "It was cool while it lasted." he looked at Elizabeth then at Brandon, "Why aren't you guys dancing?"
Brandon looked at Elizabeth who looked at Henry who stared at Brandon.
"Oh, ok." Henry said.
They stood awkwardly. Elizabeth looked at Brandon and she felt horrible, they were just having fun, just dancing as friends. What's so wrong dancing to a slow song with him?
"You want to da-" Elizabeth was cut off when someone bumped into Henry and he stumbled forward, spilling his drink all over Elizabeth's dress.
"Sorry." Henry winced.
"Hey!" Brandon yelled at the boy who had pushed Henry. The boy turned towards them and Elizabeth recognized Dixon's ugly smirk.
"Oops." Dixon said and walked away.
"The nerve of that guy." Henry said.
"I hate him." Brandon said.
"Tell me about it." Elizabeth agreed.
She walked over to the table, but there were no napkins.
"Where are all the tissues?" she asked no one in particular.
"Oh, they're downstairs in the basement." a girl standing across from Elizabeth said.
"Why?" Elizabeth asked.
The girl shrugged and she was pulled away by a boy as the music turned upbeat again.
"You want me to come with you?" both Brandon and Henry asked from behind her in unison.
She turned to face them, "No thanks, I'll go alone."
"You sure?" Brandon asked.
She nodded, "Sorry about the slow dance." she told him.
He shook his head, "I should have listened to you, you never wanted to dance."
She smiled and walked past the two boys and towards the stairs leading to the basement. She walked down them and noticed the lights were already on. The stairs led to a large room with a table in the middle piled sky high with presents. Elizabeth didn't know she had to get a gift. No one was insight, but there was a door at the far side of the room which probably led to a supply closet with a light on.
"Hello?" Elizabeth called as she walked to the door.
An annoyed, "Hmmm?" sounded from the room.
Elizabeth reached the door and she crossed her arms over her chest as she stared inside the room with a scowl.
The room was pretty small, about an arms length wide and a few feet long. There were shelves on the right wall full of garden supplies, soap, broken plates, flashlights, and on the top shelf, lots and lots of tissues. One lightbulb hung from the ceiling, casting long shadows. And Cole Kent had one foot on the bottom shelf and the other on the second one as he reached for the tissues on the top one.
Elizabeth watched as his fingers closed around a bag of tissues and he dropped back onto the floor smiling as he said, "Got it!"
He wore black pants and a red shirt with reindeer antlers on his head. He looked up and when he saw Elizabeth his smile faded. She saw that a drink was also spilled onto his shirt.
"What do you want?" he asked.
Elizabeth pointed at her stained dress and Cole looked at her from her head to her toes.
"Get your own tissues." he said and he pulled one out and dabbed at his shirt with the Kleenex.
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and walked into the room. She glared at him with a state that could kill, but all he did was smile. She turned back to the shelves and put one of her Ed high heels on the bottom shelf and pulled herself up. She reached with her hand, but she couldn't reach the tissues. All the while, she felt Cole's eyes on her.
She placed her other shoe on the second shelf and pushed up. Suddenly her shoe slipped and she fell back, screaming.
Cole instinctively dropped the bag of tissues and caught her when she fell. One of his arms wrapped around her waist and his other hand protected her head from hitting the opposite wall. Elizabeth had closed her eyes when she fell and she heard a bang as what would've been her head if Cole hadn't put his hand, hit the wall.
She opened her eyes and found herself staring into Cole's blue ones.
"Ow."he said and pulled away from her.
She sat up, stunned.
"Just take one of these." Cole threw his tissue package at her, "You're so clumsy. I mean, who climbs shelves while wearing high heels?"
Elizabeth stood up and put the tissue bag back on the shelf closest to her.
"What, now you don't want any?" Cole asked.
Elizabeth fiddled with her fingers, she couldn't take it anymore. She blurted, "Cole, I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" Cole asked, he looked at her in disbelief.
"I was a bit harsh on you."
Cole stared at her, mouth slightly open, eyebrows raised. "Harsh?"
"What, Cole? What do you want me to say? What can I do for you to leave. Me. Alone!" Elizabeth yelled at him.
Cole laughed, "I can't believe YOU are apologizing to me. You think YOU were harsh?"
"Oh, so you noticed you were horrible to me?"
"Noticed? I was trying my hardest." he spoke as if nothing had happened.
"Why?!" Elizabeth screamed.
"Calm down." Cole said.
"No!" Elizabeth stepped closer to him, "Why me? Tell me right now or so help me I'll...I'll..."
"Stop it would you, why won't you just leave me alone?" Cole turned away from her.
"Me? Me, leave YOU alone?" Elizabeth closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Cole. Tell me everything right now."
"I can't." Cole said and he moved to the side, trying to get past her.
Elizabeth pushed him back, "Why not?"
"Because I'm afraid you're going to change me!" Cole yelled, "I want to stay as far away as possible from you because I-"
"Elizabeth." Brandon walked into the room and grabbed her hand, "Are you ok?"
"No." Elizabeth gripped Brandon's hand tight.
Cole suddenly ripped her hand out of Brandon's and said to her, "Come with me. Come and I'll explain everything."
Brandon pushed Cole away and told Elizabeth, "Let's go."
He started to walk away and Cole said, "Liz."
Elizabeth stood between Brandon and Cole, she seemed petrified. Cole called her Liz and she didn't care because it was a nickname only he called her. It was special, just for him. She couldn't help but try to see something good in him, she should hate his guts but she couldn't seem to make herself hate him. She had to make a decision.
She wanted to go with Brandon, knew it was the right choice, but Elizabeth said, "Cole, tell me."
Cole grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the room without a second's hesitation, past Brandon who stood frozen. Elizabeth thought she could see Brandon's trust and friendship slowly fade away the farther she went with Cole.