Make My Way

Chapter Fifty-Six

Aria's POV

We all had to ride in the two busses on the way from the school to the dance and back again. That way, all the chaperones knew where everyone was at all times, and we couldn't leave. There weren't many people actually dancing at the dance. Most people were just sitting around and talking. A few couples had snuck off to some unsupervised areas to make out and stuff, but I had already decided that wasn't going to be me tonight. I had come to the mental conclusion that Xavier and I were here as friends, nothing more. When it came to those times we kissed on the Deadwood trip, I decided that one was mandatory and the others had just been because we had been "in the mood." We were just friends.

Of course, Blake and Aurora were on the dance floor all night. Aurora had just recently FINALLY admitted she liked him after two years of obsessing over Xavier, and before that, Caden. Blake still wouldn't admit anything to anyone. He wouldn't even tell Easton who he likes right now. He was making things more complicated than they needed to be. Stella and Adrian were standing across the room talking to Easton and Everly. Willow and Alonzo had disappeared less than half an hour after the dance started. It had been an hour since then and they were still nowhere to be seen. Vivian and Merrick were standing off to the side talking to each other and dancing whenever there was a slow song. Xavier and I had been dancing for the first half an hour. Apparently, he knew how to salsa very well. At the start I only had a vague idea how, but luckily, he was a pretty good teacher. After that, however, we had gone over to the last empty couch by the door and Xavier collapsed onto the cushions, followed by me, with my body the long way and head in his lap.

I felt him start to play with my hair and slapped his arm away. "Hey, my hair doesn't hold curl in the first place and you playing with it won't help," I told him, clearly annoyed. He stuck his tongue out at me and pretended to pout. "Fine. If you get to play with my hair I get to play with yours." I reached my hand up and touched the front of his hair.

"Okay, okay! Fine I won't touch your hair," he gave in. I had known he would do that. He put ALOT of effort into his hair and there was no way he was going I let me mess up his perfectly hair sprayed quiff in the front. At least not this early in the night.

Xavier and I stayed on the couch for a while longer talking until our conversation turned into a friendly argument and he pushed me off of the couch. The dance was over soon enough though and the after party began. There was a lot going on including bingo, Mario Cart, Just Dance, Rock Band, and laser tag. Most of us changed out of our prom dresses because laser tag in prom dresses would be ridiculously hard.

Laser tag consisted of a few blow up walls on each side of the gym. Each team had different colored vests, Xavier and I had blue and Stella and Adrian had red. Adrian was out within the first few minutes. He might be able to aim but apparently he couldn't dodge the shot. Stella was out next but that had just been because Xavier had been targeting her since the beginning of the game. The game ended when the opposing team had no one left. I had only stayed in because I was pretty good at dodging. My aim wasn't great but at least I had that.

After laser tag, most of our friends spent their time at the Rock Band game. We soon figured out that Blake and Aurora were both pretty good at the guitar. Blake played bass guitar so that made sense but Aurora played clarinet so I'm not sure where that came from. Of course the three percussionists, Xavier, Merrick, and Stella, we're best at the drum set but Xavier was the best because he had played trap set for a few years now and he picked up quickly. Surprisingly enough, Adrian was actually really good at singing and Blake wasn't far behind. I watched for most of the games but it was still fun.

Willow and Alonzo were still nowhere to be seen and I started wondering what had happened to them. The after party was almost over so I pulled out my phone and texted her. Hey, where r u? We're leaving to go to Stella's soon.

A few minutes later I got a quick response. I'll meet you guys there later.

I replayed the message and everyone kinda raised their eyebrows. Alonzo had a.... um.... reputation. We could all kinda guess what they were up to. Where? That's what we didn't know. He must have gotten a car from somewhere even thought he rode in the limo with us to the school and there was no way they were in the school still, there were security cameras all over. I brushed it off and got into the limousine with my friends.

Back at Stella's house most of us wanted to shower and get the hairspray and, for the guys, the gel out of our hair. Plus, we were sweaty from laser tag. We all split off to use the four bathrooms in her house. There was ten of us so there were two or three people at each bathroom, either showering or waiting.

I stayed on the main level with Blake and Aurora. We let Blake shower first because he'd probably be the fastest. When he came out he just had a towel on and the water was still rolling off of his thin body. "I forgot my clothes out here," he explained. I didn't want to let Aurora shower next so I ran inside, making sure to bring my clothes with. I was about to turn on the water when I heard a sharp, surprised squeal that could only have come from Aurora, followed by Blake yelling, "Shit!" So loudly I think Stella's neighbors could hear, and she lived in the country. I would definitely be asking them about that.