The Oracle

Chapter 16

Cassie stared at herself in the mirror, admiring her appearance. Her usual hair was sleek and shiny, and twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes that were made of a periwinkle material, which looked absolutely stunning.

The bathroom was empty as she walked down the steps that lead to the school hall. Everyone was already at the Winter Formal - including Justin. He had insisted that they arrived together, but Cassie eventually persuaded him that they should meet up there.

Cassie walked down the dark corridor that lead to the hall alone. The only sound was the soft echos of the many voices from the hall, and the sound of her shoes against the stone ground with every step she took. Cassie swallowed nervously, many horrible thoughts running through her mind.

Though she knew that none of her fears would come true, she couldn't get the thoughts out of her mind.

Her mind was completely cleared as she approached the hall. Students flooded in and out of the hall, though only one caught her eye. Justin was waiting for her down at the bottom of the stairs, and he looked absolutely stunning. He was dressed in thick, black dress robes and his long hair was combed back neatly. He turned to look at her; his grey eyes widening.

Cassie didn't know whether she should have held eye contact with him as she walked down the stairs, but she did anyway.

"You- You look beautiful," Justin said once she reached him. He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips, planting a soft kiss on it. Cassie blushed and looked away.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she said quietly. She forced herself to look at him once more, a small smile only just visible on the corners of her mouth. Justin linked his arms with hers, and together they followed the other year eleven's into the hall. The walls of the hall had been covered in a snowy, silver frost, with thousands of garlands of mistletoe crossing the ceiling. There were a hundred small, candle lit tables that could each seat about ten people.

Justin and Cassie nervously followed the other year eleven's as they stepped onto the dance floor.

Dancing wasn't nearly as bad as Cassie expected. Yeah, they both sucked. Cassie payed no attention to the hundreds of watching eyes. She was thankful when many of them had come to the dance floor, so the few year eleven's were no longer the center of attention.

Her and Justin sat at one of the many circular tables, watching the dance floor swarm with couples dancing.

Cassie saw that Justin's eyes were on Courtney Chal. A rumor had recently spread that she had a crush on Justin, and Cassie saw her flirting with Justin on numerous occasions. Cassie couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy. Justin must've noticed (she had no idea how), because he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.

"She's nothing compared to you," he said quietly and kissed her forehead. Cassie gave a small smile, her doubt slowly fading away.

Cassie's heart dropped to her feet as she saw Thomas approach them. She hadn't told him that she was going with Justin. She felt no need to. Thomas had been with Cassie during the previous year, and always had the ability to make her feel awkward. To see Justin and Cassie, must have been a complete shock for Thomas.

"Good to know you're having a nice time," the young man with jet black hair said as he sat down. "Nice of you to tell me."

Patricia Pef - who was his date to the dance - sat down next to him. Cassie couldn't help but feel bad for Thomas, because she looked completely bored out of her mind.

Justin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, as he slowly pulled away from Cassie. "Do you want a drink?" he asked.

Cassie nodded and went to stand up, "I'll go with you-"