Taken

Chapter 13

Songs to Listen to While Reading:

Miss Atomic Bomb By: The Killers

Time to Dance By: Panic! At the Disco

XO By: Fall Out Boy

Annabelle's POV:

I open the door for Travis and his parents.

"Come in!"

"Thank you."

They walk inside and Travis' tuxedo is a black, pressed one. He wears a white tie with black dress shoes. His hair is slicked up in the front and I admire just how broad his shoulders look in the attire.

"You look beautiful," Travis' father says to me.

"This is Carl, my step-dad" Travis points to the man introducing him.

His hand stretches outward to shake my manicured hand. My nails are white at the tips and were done last night. They shine in the light. His mother is in awe of my dress looking me up and down.

"Wow Travis you really do have some potential," his mom jokingly punches his arm as I did earlier in the week. The heat rises to my cheeks and I smile at my feet.

My mom rushes from the kitchen to greet the family. It is quite obvious that Travis got his bright blue eyes from his mom. Her black hair is pin-straight and shiny. It reaches to about her shoulders and looks freshly cut.

"Let me go get my camera I want to take some pictures."

My dad emerges from the basement with a puzzling look on his face.

"Jeanine," the woman says going to shake my father's hand.

"Joe," he replies with a smile. His eyes meet my dress and he remembers that tonight was Prom.

We take photos and Travis retrieves the corsage from his car. It wraps around my wrist and I take the pin from my handbag. It pins to his pocket perfectly. The white roses match wonderfully.

We get into his Challenger and I expect he rented it because it isn't the same car he drove me home in the other night. It is a black car and looks straight out of a James Bond movie. I play with the radio on the drive there. I eventually settle on an alternative station.

We pull up to the banquet hall just as the sun is setting below the horizon. The sky is a beautiful pink and purple color. We get out of the car and gaze up at it for a moment, taking in its beauty. We look at each other from across the car and laugh. We don't have anything to laugh at but that doesn't matter. Our laughs become in sync for a moment. He walks around the car to my side and takes my small hand in his large one.

Together, we walk up the spiral staircase to the hall where the music sounds. Stay the Night by Zedd plays and I take in the lights and tables. When we reach the landing I see that the hall is enormous and is full of teenagers. Some guys sit alone at tables as well as some girls. My heart aches for them and I see what Fran could have been.

My eye is caught on someone when I see it is David. I laugh seeing his dancing unfold in front of a group of people cheering him on. I'm so happy that people aren't as mean to him as they used to be.

Travis leads me to a table in the back of the room where he tells me to sit. He leaves momentarily but returns with drinks.

"I got us both lemon water because I wasn't sure what you wanted."

"Lemon water is perfectly fine," I say taking a sip out of the straw. We sit for a little bit watching the others dance.

After a little while David visits out table and we talk long enough for him to stop dancing. He soon returns to the dance floor with Christina at his feet.