Part of You

Chapter Five

"Get your sleazy hand off of me," I warned as Jay threw his arm around my shoulder. We had just entered the gym, which was absolutely beautiful. White drapes hung from the ceiling while beautiful landscape paintings held their places on the walls. The music was just as beautiful as the captivating scenery!

"Wanna dance?" Jay asked as Taylor Swift's "Last Kiss" started to play.

"I ... Uh .... I don't know." I looked around the gym at the swarm of students on the dance floor.

"Don't be nervous." The chill of Jay's voice sent shivers through my body. Somehow, that calmed me, and I allowed myself to be whisked away to the dance floor. I put my arms around Jay's neck as we danced. I wished that Ken was there - I had imagined this night with Ken, not Jay.

"What's wrong?" The sudden sound of Jay's voice snapped me out of my train of thoughts.

"Nothing..."

"Are you sure? Because if something's wrong, then - "

"I'm fine...Trust me," I lied. Yeah, like that's going to convince him.

"OK..." I rested my head on Jay's shoulder as we danced. I felt relaxed for the first time in a while. These days, Ken's a wild card, dad had upset me by going and asking some lady I didn't even know to marry him, and mom just didn't understand me. To top it off, instead of having a wise older sister I could seek for help, I had Max. Truth be told, Jay made me feel like my problems had disappeared.

"Hey I'm going to go get us some punch, OK?" Jay said as the music changed.

"OK." Inside I was upset because I was enjoying the dance - just gliding with the music and thinking. I wanted to keep dancing but I would never admit that to Jay. As Jay walked off towards the snack table, I sat at a nearby table and rested my forehead in my hand.

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice greeted me. I quickly looked up and saw Ethan Greene sitting across from me.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I apologized as I attempted to stand up.

"No!" he yelled as he reached over the table and grabbed my hand. I slowly sat down. "I'm here alone," he said quietly as he blushed.

"Seriously?" This was Ethan Greene I was talking about. He was one of the more 'unknown' players on the football team, but he was a great player. He had casually messy brown hair and brown eyes to match.

"Pathetic, right?" he sighed. Before I could respond, Jay returned.

"Hey Nikki," he said as he placed the drinks on the table. He shot me a confused look when he noticed Ethan. "Uh dude, what are you doing sitting with my date?" he asked a little too defensively as he took a step towards Ethan.

"Take a chill pill OK? Nikki came over here and I told her to stay. Got a problem?" As Ethan said this, he stood up.

"No but I have a problem with you being all up in my face."

"Oh yeah?" Ethan said stepping even closer to Jay. Just a few kids were watching and I decided to stop this before it got out of hand.

"Stop!" I yelled. "This is stupid, just stop." Jay nodded his head yes as Ethan shook his head and joined the swarm of kids on the dance floor. I gave Jay a look as if to say 'really?'

"Sorry," he shrugged. "Having fun?"

"Sure...but it's not as fun as I thought it would be," I sighed.

"Oh...Well would you wanna go somewhere else?" Jay asked with a certain look in his eyes. I don't know why, but something prompted me to say yes.

"Sure."