The Elijah Walker Fanclub

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Six

The school hall was set up like a photograph of an evening stroll in Paris. There were blown up shots of Paris all around the room, and various sections styled around the Eiffel Tower, The Moulin Rouge and Notre Dame, and the hall itself was lit with a soft silver and blue lighting. All of which made for excellent staging for selfies and group shots. Everything but the music screamed artistic vision and as much as I would have liked to have been the creative thinker of such a design, it all came down to Elijah Walker.

The photographs were found by Elijah and he'd built the idea of the Winter Formal from them. I shouldn't have been surprised; I mean I'd seen his Instagram. But he'd said he wanted me to join the council for my creativeness and he clearly didn't need any help with that.

We made it through a whole meal of vaguely French dishes—Danicka had been in charge of food so it was mostly just fries and garlic bread, clearly not much research had been involved—before I bumped into my ex-boyfriend. Literally.

Cody was swinging me around on the dance floor as we giggled breathlessly. His perfectly fantastic, but absolutely not sanctioned skirt billowed out around him, when our spinning collided with a boringly static pair of dancers.

"Woops sorry," laughed Cody as he cast his eyes over to Alex and Carly. He arched a brow when he realised who it was that we'd collided with. "Actually, I take that back, you were clearly in our way."

"Excuse us," said Carly, looking not at all apologetic. "We were so lost in each other's company that we weren't paying attention to anybody else here. That kind of thing just happens when you're in love."

I almost vomited in my mouth. Love? Really? They were in love now? Clearly that word was just being thrown around like it meant nothing nowadays.

"It's such a shame that nobody asked you here tonight," said Alex with a sly falsity to his tone. "As least Cody was dateless too so you could come together. Shame you aren't his type, you'd make a slightly sad matching pair but at least you wouldn't be alone."

I opened my mouth to speak, but I was so shocked nothing came out. Luckily, Cody was there to speak for me.

"You don't know what you're talking about, Mae turned down plenty of dates, she just has high standards after realising how much she had settled before," said Cody with a snap of his fingers. "Later losers."

Cody grabbed my hands and swung me away from them. Something in his expression said he was up to something.

I gave him a confused half-smile. "What are you—"

"Are they still watching us?" He asked, spinning me past a five-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower.

I glanced back toward them, they hadn't started dancing again, instead they seemed to be in a heated discussion as their eyes glared in our direction. "Yep, they're still looking," I said, turning my attention back to Cody.

"And three, two, one..." he twirled me out to the side with such force that I couldn't stop myself falling into the arms of the person behind me. Cody grinned and smoothed down his hair, which was loose to his shoulders.

"I am so sorry," I said, looking up to see Elijah Walker holding onto me. I immediately felt myself blush. Thank goodness it was too dark for him to be able to see it.

"It's fine," he said smiling as he released me. "I'm just glad I was here to catch you."

I smiled back at him, uncertain of what to say.

"Actually, do you mind taking over for me, I promised Rosa a dance," said Cody innocently. "I'd hate to just abandon Mae without a partner."

"I was actually about to go check on something with the DJ..." He glanced away and then back at me standing awkwardly in front of him. "It can wait a few minutes though," said Elijah, offering me his hand. "Sorry I'm not a great dancer though."

It was like that moment in Cinderella, where Prince Charming chooses her to dance with, except with strobe lights and Adelle. This was my moment and Cody knew all too well whose wicked gaze was currently on us. He'd orchestrated the moment perfectly, and the look on Alex and Carly's faces were priceless.

I took Elijah's hand and hesitantly placed my other on his shoulder, as he placed his at my waist. A shiver ran up my spine as we began to slow dance.

"You erm... you look really nice," said Elijah over the sound of the music. "I like the green it looks good on you."

"Thank you," I said, feeling the blush returning to my cheeks. I looked up into his eyes and then quickly away again, noting the sheer amount of jealous eyes on us. Even the girls already partnered up with other guys were staring. "I like your suit too," I murmured just loud enough for him to hear. He'd gone full three-piece in a kind of classical style and looked so handsome it didn't seem fair to the other guys here, they just couldn't compete with him.

"Yeah?" He looked down at it uncertainly. "It was my grandads, my mum found it in the loft. I thought it might be cool to wear it tonight."

I nodded as if he'd just given me the final piece of a puzzle. "I was thinking it was Cary Grant chic, so that totally makes sense."

He gave me a funny look. "That's good right?"

"Absolutely," I said smiling. "He was old movie handsome, so it definitely works on you."

He chuckled quietly and moved me gently backwards to avoid a couple coming toward us. I bumped against his chest and felt myself go suddenly rigid. We were so very close, kissing distance in fact. I tried to create some distance between us and in my clumsiness stepped on his foot with my heel.

"Oh gosh sorry, sorry," I squealed, horrified as he jumped back to avoid getting stamped on again.

He lifted his foot, shaking it as he chuckled again. "Honestly, it's fine don't worry."

I bit my lip and covered my face with my hands. This was the most embarrassing moment of my life. "I am such a klutz. Does it hurt?"

"Nah, it's fine, see," he said, setting his foot back on the ground. He raised his brows at me. "Should we finish the dance?"

I was too embarrassed to look at him, let alone dance with him. Luckily, the song came to a natural end and in the quiet silence between tracks, our attention was drawn to an argument mounting between Cody and the Headmaster just a few feet away.

**Author's Note**

Not much moving forward with the story here, but I thought it was a cute scene before the drama. Hope you enjoyed it!