Time Limit

Brooke

THE DAY I DECIDED TO LET IT GO

I stood there stunned, in the middle of the dance floor. Then, the realisation that I was on my own.

Immediately, annoyingly, I started sweating and trembling, as I always did in these kind of situations.

No, no, no, not now. Not in the middle of the ballroom.

What to do, what to do...

I squeezed my eyes shut as I tried to think.

Breathe in, breathe out. Nope, no good.

See? You're fine, Brooke. I tried to convince myself, but the feeling wouldn't stop, and my heart started going overtime as my mind went stubbornly blank.

"Hey, you okay there?" I swung around, my muscles tensing up instinctively. However, I instantly started to relax as I saw who it was.

"Yeah, yeah...I, I guess I'm fine?" I said, the statement turning more into a question.

Lucas wasn't convinced. "You sure? You want to go somewhere else?" His voice was strong and steady, thankfully giving me a distraction from the array of strangers surrounding me.

I nodded. "Yes, please," My voice cracked. "Anywhere but here."

He looked worried, and I immediately felt guilty--I had probably just ruined a night he was going to spend Camille.

Then, out of sheer desperation, I grabbed Lucas' hand.

Immediately, I felt his entire body tense up, and I let go.

Crap, crap, crap, crap. Now you've done it. Gone and lost the only friend you have left.

He stared at me for a moment, then, to my utter surprise and relief, he cracked a smile. "Hey, it's okay," It was? He nodded, as if though he was reading my thoughts. "Sure, now...you wanna go?"

I nodded uncertainly, and suddenly, my clammy hand was in his warm ones, and we were out of the dance floor and into the cool evening air.

"You okay?" Lucas stared at me, his startling blue eyes boring into mine. "I'm sorry, I don't have a sweater or anything for you."

Wow. He actually considered giving me something to wear. I knew this was supposed to be a "cute" scene in movies, but I never really thought those scenes were realistic. Besides. Lucas wasn't my boyfriend.

And I didn't care if he wasn't.

Did I?

However, for once, my brain decided to procrastinate, and I found myself pushing that thought to the back of my mind, and I forced myself to think, friend, just a friend, over and over again, just in case.

"Brooke?" Aruptly, I realised I was daydreaming again.

"No, no, it's fine." I looked around, and considered the situation. Me and Brittany had planned to hitch a ride from an older Potterhead, since it was far too cold to walk back to the dorms, but now, with everyone still inside and dancing, that was out of question. "Umm, how do we get back?"

He glanced back in surprise. "Get back, get back where?"

I blinked. "Wait. We're not going back to the dorms?"

I swear, he just about deflated. "Oh! Umm, we could, but, uh, I was planning to, but, it's okay, if you want to, we, uh, could, go, umm, back?" I had never seen a boy so agitated before. He was scratching the back of his neck, fingers twitching nervously, but he never once looked away from me.