Archenemies (Improved)

Chapter 24: Prom (Princess' Side)

Enjoy! –Love, stupidcupid

P.S. FYI, I designed their gowns… hahaha. If I could post the designs I would.

And to froggy_stars and Tere, the thing you requested is still for the next chapter. ;)

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“I need every available girl up on stage!” Ms. Suzanne calls out.

I hurriedly run up while the other girls did so too.

“I need all of you to check out the rack on the right and pick a dress that fits you. We’d be having a dress rehearsal before a guest instructor teaches you the dance routine.” Ms. Suzanne says once we are all settled.

Many murmurs are heard afterwards.

“We have a guest instructor?” one voice asks.

“Yes, we are finally fitting the gowns!” says another.

“I want mine to be purple.” screams the next one.

I just slowly walk to the right and remain silent unlike the many others.

Don’t get me wrong though. I am excited for the prom… but I’m just not the type of girl who would go up front and fight for the dress that I wanted. I would let the others take their turn before I pick mine.

Jaime and I decide to scan the rack together.

She picks a pink balloon dress with puffed sleeves that had a lot of ribbons. There are three layers of the skirt and the one on top shined brightly. Together with the dress, she tries out a pair of pink closed shoes. There’s a matching pink headband that was decorated with flowers. I agreed to her choice because that gown makes her look younger and more adorable. She looks like a perfect flower girl to a fancy wedding.

Even if Jaime is already forcing me to wear my choice, I wait for the others to finish.

I see Juliana walk out in a black Greek-style dress with a gold belt. She looks like a goddess in it except for one little detail—she is wearing a pair of rubber shoes. It is evident that she isn’t completely comfortable with these types of clothes.

 Michelle comes out next in a green slim dress which showcases her curves. There are light diamond prints on the dress. With it, she wears a gold necklace and dark green killer heels. Though she came out sheepishly, Michelle still looks elegant.

Other ladies come out of the dressing rooms. In no time, I am the only one left.

I picked a simple white tube dress that had dark blue accents. There are sleeves made out of dark blue feathers. The skirt is cloud like and puffy. I also found a long bronze feather necklace to match my attire. Fortunately, there is a pair of dark blue heels to complete my outfit.

After getting all dressed up, Ms. Suzanne calls for all the girls once again. Most of us are hesitant in stepping on stage knowing that all the boys are waiting for us to come out.

Eventually, Ms. Suzanne is successful in persuading us. Stepping into the light, many magnificent ladies reveal themselves to the shocked audience.

Then the boys are also told to come up the stage and to form a single line. We would be partnered.

Please not Vince! Please not Vince!

I am thinking positively that I would be paired up with another guy because the script says that “Anthony” would be out of the scene by then.

Unfortunately, since this is just a practice, Ms. Suzanne insists that Vince would be my partner.

I sigh. I don’t want to be in this situation. It’s not that I don’t like what is happening. This situation just makes it easier for me to like him… which is what I hate.

But I don’t have that many options. I walk towards Vince. I better get this over with.

As I approach him, I notice his eyes widen a little bit and I know why. I have to admit that the Princess standing right in front of him looks a lot different. In this gown, all the toughness is scraped off of me. I don’t look like the strong Princess who always picked up a fight. I am –defenseless, if I might use the term. And this makes me unrecognizable.

Though it is very uncomfortable for me to feel his gaze, I tried to act normal. I don’t know if it is working. Judging by Vince’s concerned look it isn’t.

Ms. Suzanne then calls the attention of everyone. Beside her is an incredibly thin and tall man whom she addresses as Mr. Edward. He would be our choreographer for the prom scene.

We greet him warmly.

Afterwards, Ms. Suzanne asks us to change back into our uniforms so that we could begin the practice.

On the contrary, Mr. Edwards objects for he wants us to tryout the first set in such an attire.

“This would help me know how the dresses might affect the overall performance.” He reasons out.

With that, Mr. Edward teaches us the first routine that he prepared. It would be used for the first song entitled “Wanting Him Badly”. It would be dedicated to the scene where Elisa would be dancing with Mark.

Here are a few catchy lines of the song:

“Because you need him bad and you know it… You just don’t have the guts to admit it… that you’d spend the night in his arms if you just had the chance… yet here you are silent, staring up to the sky… on the arms of another guy.”

After showing us the first few steps, Mr. Edward instructs us to copy them.

I am reluctant in holding Vince’s hand because it is too awkward. It’s something that I liked and hated to do at the same time. Besides, even if I despise him, I still feel shy to let him hold my sweaty hands.

Still, I don’t want to seem weird to him. It was just a dance! I have no reason to feel this conscious.

“Give me your hand.” Vince whispers in his most serious tone. I do so while nodding a little.

We do the routine which started out with the basics until the steps became more and more complicated. I am not speaking to Vince during the whole time because the eeriness of his previous statement still has me in a state of shock. His voice is both smooth but mysterious.

As we are dancing, my eyes can’t help but scan his face. I don’t know. Something about it seems gentle but tense. My gaze wonders to his lips. He seems to be biting it.

After an hour and a half of dancing, all of us are sweating. We are finally allowed to change back, cooling us a little bit.

Ten minutes later, we resume our practice.

I try to follow each step intently without stepping onto Vince’s foot though the thought of it is very tempting.

I could extend my arms to its fullest, I could twirl three consecutive spins and I could sway my hips but there was one thing that I couldn’t do: not feel comfortable with Vince. It is so easy to adjust to how he moves. Whenever I can’t catch up with the music, he looks out for me. He is gentle but powerful. His grip is firm but not too dominating.

Oh. And there is one step that we couldn’t perfect. The girl would have to fall so low, relying only on her partner to catch her.

And I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t trust Vince.

He won’t catch me when I fall so I tend to support myself. I end up failing but at least not falling! I didn’t want to feel a bump on my head the next morning just because I believed in someone not worth believing.

We were about to polish the first routine when we hear the bells outside the auditorium ring. It is time to call it a day. I hurriedly leave the auditorium, silent as a thief.

As I head out of the door, I couldn’t help but smile to myself while I look at my sweaty hands.

He held these.