Warming a Frozen Heart

Fortification

CHAPTER 20

Fortification

-JC-

"Wow, JC. You look even better," Luke remarked, eyeing me up and down. I was wearing the beige dress Erin got for me. She also made me carry a beige purse, wear a gold necklace with an amber stone as a pendant and metallic gold heels. Heels. Speak of the demons. They hurt my feet so much, but they're necessary if I want to relieve myself of my vertical challenges. My hair was brought up into a loose bun, letting a few fringes fall down on my forehead and some loose strands scattered near my ears. It was messy, but it looked great.

"Is this my sister? I feel like I want to support incest right here and now." He then turned towards Kyousuke, who was handsomely dressed in a suit, and yanked his tie, causing the guy to cough violently at the loss of air. "I told you, prom night is designed for us guys so we can see the girls look their best."

Kyousuke took his tie away from Luke, straightened up, and looked at me carefully. For the first time, I felt a little shy around him. Shrinking away, I told Luke, "You just want your beloved Erin look her best. I'm still not supporting incest, especially when it's you I'm getting into."

It was his turn to cough. Clearing his throat, he scooted over to me carefully. "W-where the heck did you discover that?"

"Your girlfriend's tongue slipped at the wrong time, mister."

Kyousuke eyed him curiously. "You and Erin are together? That's pretty... new. But I saw it coming, though."

He sighed. "Seems like the cat is out of the bag." He suddenly switched his mood back to the one who sings about prom like a diva. "And it's prom night! Mom says we're gonna do it on a cruise ship. We're gonna cruise around the city's bay on this lovely night!"

"Mama's boy has quite the gossip," Erin commented. She came out of the room dressed in a pink strapless dress. She looked pretty elegant despite her simplicity. "I heard it. JC, you promised not to tell Kyousuke."

"I didn't tell him. I told Luke and he heard it."

"That's still the same!" she whined, fake tears coming to her eyes in an attempt to make me feel guilty. I simply shoved a handkerchief in her hands before I crossed my arms. "No, it's not."

We all went to the meeting place: the city's largest bay. A cruise ship was waiting on the dock, and several students were already flocking to it. I left my little group and looked for Ian Williams, my supposed date. Unfortunately, I don't even know what he looks like. Erin gave me a few helpful descriptions like his hair being wavy and his eyes being shaped like almonds. Crap, aren't they useful. She should've just said the color, not the appearance! Damn, is she trying to play this out like blind dating?!

I excused my way through the crowd, asking once or twice about him. After a few minutes of asking around like I was lost, I came to know that he had brown, wavy hair and dark eyes. He had the same height as Luke, too. Come to think of it, Kyousuke has the same height as Luke.

I finally found him by the food station, chatting with a basketball player in our school's team. "Are you Ian?"

He dismissed his friend and looked at me. "Oh hey Gr-- JC." What was that? I'm sure I heard a 'gr-' sound before he called my name. Nevermind. People make mistakes. He was probably expecting a person with a name that starts with those two letters. "Want some food?"

I nodded. Somehow his voice was a little familiar, but it was new in a way, too. "Sure."

He took two brownies and handed one to me. Wait, how does he know that I like brownies? No one in this school except for Kyousuke, Luke, Erin and Nina knows I like sweets! "Um, excuse me, Ian. Do I know you?"