Poisoned Love

03. Dancing The Night Away

Welcome to the third chapter of many!
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We spent the rest of our time talking and reminiscing on some memories we had when we first met in freshman year. I recall the time I first met Tori. She had already befriended Alex and Ryder. We became friends because we shared almost all of our classes together during that year. I remember being happy about her introducing me to Alex and Ryder.

It wasn't a weird friendship considering the fact that they're guys and we're girls. In fact, Alex would always protect me like a sister and we'd joke around sometimes, Ryder too. But lately, I felt an odd connection to Ryder. I don't like him in that way but whatever I feel towards Alex, it's not the same with Ryder. It's like I'm closer to Ryder.

"Would you guys like any dessert?" The waitress says as she approached us with gleaming eyes. Alex instantly straightened himself on his seat while Ryder seemed calm and collected by her presence. He didn't even look in her direction. She had the figure of an hourglass and her outfit reached just above her knees. Her chestnut brown hair cascaded down her back and she wore a glimmering ruby lipstick. Tori was just as annoyed by her presence as I was.

"I'd like a molten cake with dark chocolate filling." Alex demands as he leaned closer across the table and the waitress nods, shifting her gaze away from him shyly.

"Same for me." I say, raising my hand.

"Make them three." Tori says, not looking at the waitress. She picked the skin around her nails.

"Four." Ryder said. The waitress nodded and scribbled down on her notebook before she briefly brought her eyes back to Alex and immediately looked away. She finally drifted off. Alex watched her every move.

"You're so, so..." I was lost for words. "I cannot even think of something that describes you, Alex."

"Just ask her out already." Ryder says and I shot him a deadly glare. He looked at me questionably. "What? Didn't you see how they looked at each other?"

"What should I say to her, though? Tori, a little help here?" Alex asks with puppy eyes. Tori licked her lips.

"I'm not helping you in this." She said.

"Ryder?" Alex says, testing his final option. Tori looks at Alex with challenging eyes.

"Well..." he said. "say something like, hey, I know we've just met but are you down for a dinner date or movie night maybe?"

"That sounds cliché." I chuckled humorlessly.

"That sounds perfect actually!" Alex chirped. "Thanks, man." He said and got up, readjusting the collar of his leather jacket. He let out a shaky breath. I watched as he approached the waitress and leaned across the counter. His lips curled into a flirtatious smirk and the waitress was flushed.

"Looks like it's working." Tori said with a bored expression plastered on her face. "Yay."

"Am I smelling jealousy?" I tease and lean closer.

"Um, yes. Because I'm the only one in the group that hadn't found her somebody yet." She says, pouting in a childish manner.

"Uh-" Ryder chuckles nervously and I did the same, tucking a hair strand behind my ear. "Lydia and I are not dating, we-we're not dating each other. I mean...both of us are single." I can hear the hint of nervousness in Ryder's voice. He tried his best to conceal it too but he can't fool me. I knew that this was as confusing and uncomfortable to him as it was to me. A few moments later, Alex came back and hopped on next to me. I was glad when he did because we were all sitting in awkward silence. The waitress followed him and placed our desserts down on the table.

"So 7 it is?" He asks, lifting an eyebrow at her and she nodded, stabbing her hands inside the pockets of her apron. She left and I turned my whole body around to look at Alex. My lips curled into a devilish smirk.

"How was it?" I asked and shook his shoulders excitedly. I couldn't help but chuckle.

"We agreed on a date here for next week." He informs us with a toothy smile.

"That's...nice. Have fun, I guess." Tori speaks up. Alex nodded in response meanwhile Ryder was munching down on his cake.

"The cake will go cold, guys." Ryder says and we all burst in laughs as we witnessed him devour his cake hungrily. We gladly emptied our plates and next thing I know, Ryder was already out of his seat and extending his hand for me to grab. I hesitated but I eventually grabbed his hand as we got up. I looked over my shoulder to find Alex and Tori speaking. They didn't notice us getting up. He dragged me out of the restaurant and we went all the way around to a dimly spot. There was a staircase standing in front of us and I bursted into giggles as he eagerly pulled me forward.

"Is this the part where you kill me?" I ask, stopping in my tracks and forcing him to stop with me. He sighed in disappointment.

"Just be a great friend for once and don't question my actions." He lectures me.

"Okay, grandma." I huffed as he continued guiding us up the stairs. We reached the top of the restaurant and there was dim light surrounding us and complete and utter silence. The faint sound of the music from the restaurant was the only thing that could be heard. I glanced at the breathtaking panorama of New York from up here. Ryder smiled at the beautiful scenery too, nodding as he tried to comprehend it.

"I'm cold, give me your jacket." I nag, pulling onto his jacket. A subtle giggle escaped his lips.

"Perfect way to ruin the moment, Lyd." He sighed as he stripped out of his jacket and handed it over to me.

"I will never understand why you boys like leather jackets so much." I confess as I placed the jacket over my shoulder. I didn't bother to fit my arms in.

"What? They look hot on me." He said and I scoffed.

"You're so self-centered." I point out the obvious. He pulled my wrist and grabbed me in front of him. His tall body hovered over mine.

"Lydia?" He says in a low voice. I nodded in response. "Since we're you know...alone right now and nobody can judge us, will you dance with me so I don't look absolutely ridiculous dancing alone?" He asks and a nervous chuckle escaped my lips. I wiggled my hand out of his grip.

"On one condition." I say, my hands were now placed on my hips.

"What's that?" He asks, getting a gentle hold of my wrist again. He placed my hand on his shoulder and his hand was placed on my waist and the other on the small of my back. I snaked my hands around his neck.

"I don't know." I say disappointedly, shrugging. "I just didn't want to give you an easy ticket to dance with me."

"Oh no, Lydia. Please dance with me. I'll be heartbroken if you don't." He says sarcastically and I nudged his shoulder playfully, laughing at him mimicking my voice.

"Let's just get it over with." I say and I struggled to hide my smile.

We twirled and moved to the rhythm of the music beneath us. He swung me around and I found myself leaning into his shoulder and nuzzling my head into his neck. His vanilla scent filled my nostrils and I struggled not to intake a deep breath of it. It smelt so good. I exhaled deeply and shut my eyes, wanting to live in this moment forever. Mixed emotions rushed up in my body and one of them was exhilaration. Sadly, we cannot stay like this forever.

A few minutes passed by, we didn't say a word to each other. We just figured that it was finally time to head back down. I handed Ryder his jacket back. To my surprise, Alex and Tori didn't suspect anything but it's not like something happened anyway. Alex and Ryder paid for us. We were finally out of the restaurant and heading to Alex's car. I felt sudden warmth rush upon me and relieve my goosebumps as we entered.

The ride back home was nothing special. I glanced outside the window and I mentally pouted after I realized that the night was over. Tomorrow's a Saturday so hopefully I can see them again tomorrow...or not. My expressions hardened. Ace is coming up tomorrow.