Belle of the Ball

Chapter Nine - The start of something good...

"Thank you!" I said, while bending down and peeking into the rolled down passenger window.

The driver honked his response, then pulled away, effortlessly merging in with the traffic of the streets.

Meanwhile, the wind continued trying to get past the barrier of the jacket that was wrapped around my arms—but the jacket was surprisingly doing its job and keeping me warm.

My mind wandered to thoughts of Ryder, as I continued to think about his jacket.

I hoped he was warm, and not freezing cold, then I'd feel bad, and feel like a...goof for forgetting my wrap.

I glanced down at my phone, as I made my way up the steps that lead to my apartment building. It was almost dead, but it had enough battery power that I could see the time.

2:37 am

I carried my purse, trophy and phone while I opened the massive doors to the apartment building. Once I was finally in, I was greeted by the warm air once again, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The heat seemed to travel all around my body, as I continued my trek to the elevator.

Once I got there, I realized it was out of order again.

"Ugh." I huffed.

Then, I continued my walk, making my way to the stairs. After about ten minutes, I finally made it to the apartment floor. Then I knocked on the door, because I was pretty sure I left my house keys at the apartment earlier anyway.

Almost immediately, Nancy flung open the door. She held a glass of wine in her hands, and her strawberry blonde hair was pulled up into a bun. Plus, she had on grey sweats that had little miniature sauce stains. I looked at her up and down, before she ushered me into the apartment.

I could tell she hadn't been asleep, her eyes still were bright and wide open—without an ounce of redness that would indicate if she was sleeping or not.

"Well!" Nancy said, excitedly.

I placed the trophy down near the door, then closed and locked it behind me. "What?" I asked.

"Uh uh. I stayed up this whole time just to talk to you about everything that happened."

I sighed then went to sit down on the couch, she followed me, and so did Sammy. He was all too happy to see me as he dived into my lap, and began licking my arms.

"Tonight was...crazy."

"Yeah, I bet." Nancy replied.

"I mean, you already know about the whole...Katerina situation."

Nancy nodded her head, then took a sip of her wine.

"But I guess, I should fill you in on everything that happened after we got off the phone. For starters, Ryder apologized to me."

"Oh good, I really wanted to like him."

"Me too, and I still do. He explained to me how he thought I was so beautiful, and he ended up telling me he really liked me."

Nancy smiled brightly, but then titled her head. "But?"

"What makes you think there's a but?"

"Just your tone...and body language." Then she readjusted her body by putting her legs up on the couch. "Girl, what happened?"

I sighed, bracing myself for her reaction.

"Jeremy and I...we had a moment. We had a few moments, actually."