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Chapter 67

When I woke up the next day, I noticed there were bags by the door and almost crashed into the house staff as they took them one by one into a large van parked outside.

"Family Emergency," Maria explained when she saw me frown and looked confused at the unexpected commotion.

"You're going on a trip?"

"No. Just my mother and Robbie. They're staying until Friday."

"Is everything okay?"

"I believe it's my grandfather's health but who knows, who cares," she said, rolling her eyes and pouring herself a bowl of sugary cereal.

Nicole and I sat down at her kitchen island, and I reached over to grab us bowls and the box of cereal Maria had just put down.

"How'd you guys sleep?" Lana asked while looking at her phone.

"Great," Nicole said, smiling.

"What about this dress?" Lana asked, turning her phone to Maria.

Maria looked up at me, "Can you believe she's looking for a dress now. The event is on Saturday; it's like she wants to age me."

Lana snickered. "So yes or no?" She turned and showed it to us.

"Pretty," I said, eating a spoonful of cereal.

"Your brother would probably kill you," Robbie said with a grossed out look on his face while looking over her shoulder.

My head whipped up involuntarily. I had not heard him come into the kitchen.

"Right? Jessie is so annoying," She pouted. "I'm buying it anyway for Junior homecoming; I can sneak out in a long coat." She said, smiling evilly.

"Can I talk to you before I leave?" Robbie asked as he looked down at his watch as if to make sure he had time.

"You want to talk now?" I said, my eyes becoming wide. I was not mentally prepared. I was on 3 hours of sleep and a spoonful of cereal; I was not about to process anything that Robbie would have to say.

"Sorry, I meant Nicole, not you." He said, looking straight at Nicole with that intense gaze that could mean a million different things.

"Oh," I said, surprised. Nicole looked at me, confused, and shrugged.

"Sure," She said slowly, hopping off the stool.

Robbie looked up from his watch and noticed that we were all staring at him.

"We can go outside," Robbie said, frowning at us and motioning to the double doors that separated the kitchen from the gardens.

When they were outside, and the French doors closed, Maria turned to look at us, "Sooo, are we eavesdropping, or are we eavesdropping?"

"No," I said, taking my bowl to the sink.

"Come on, Lia."

"No. That's not okay. I'm going to go shower and change. I would hope that in my absence, you two behave," I said, going upstairs.

"Oh yeah, we're total angels," Lana said, folding her hands in front of her.Maria gave me an innocent smile.

When I was done showering, Robbie had left. Despite Maria and Lana's insistent pleading, Nicole would not tell me what he said; she said she promised him not to tell me anything until he had a chance to speak to me.

"I mean, did he at least apologize?" I asked her on the cab ride home.

"Yeah, I mean, as you said, he's very polite."

"And so I mean, did you accept it? Did it seem sincere?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Lia, I promised," she said, somewhat annoyed at my persistence. This is what drove me crazy about Nicole; it didn't matter who you were or where her loyalties lied; she did not make exceptions. Especially concerning promises.

Soon Nicole was on a plane back to Miami, and I was back in school. The week was pretty relaxed. Midterms would be coming up soon, and teachers we essentially giving us the entire class to make sure we were up to date with the material we needed to know. 

The winter ball was also on Saturday, and many students took the time to help with the preparations for it. All of the clubs were going to showcase themselves before investors and possible college recruiters. 

This was more than a dance. This was the dance of the year, according to Maria. The one that occurred just as Senior college applications were sent out. An ambitious senior can potentially have a small chat with someone who might nudge their application in the right direction or place it in the right hands. It was a networking opportunity disguised as an innocent high school dance to say hello to the upcoming holidays. The pressure for it to be perfect was evident, and Maria was on autopilot.

Before I knew it, the week was over, and it was Saturday.

The day of the Winter Ball was a whirlwind, yet Maria was unusually calm. Usually, she would be a massive ball of anxiety, like bridezilla except depressed instead of angry. Her calmness made me a bit nervous.

I mentioned it to her, and she chuckled and walked away from me. Lana and I had been helping her set up all day. Which meant a lot of calling people to make sure they were doing their job and a lot of driving. When the time to get ready came around, I was more prepared to nap than get into a fancy dress and heels.

My dress was simple. It was an emerald strappy dress that I found in the thrift shop with Nicole.

I sent a picture of it to Maria when it caught my eye, and she demanded that I buy it and bring it to her so she can take it to her seamstress for hemming. I looked in the mirror and was pleased with how it came out. It draped nicely while still being form-fitting. 

 Throw on a pair of strappy heels, and we were good to go. I sat in front of a mirror in Maria's room, deciding whether I should put my hair up or down.

"Our ride is going to be here soon," She said, coming into her room while fixing her earrings. She was wearing a blue one-shouldered gown that looked amazing on her.

"You look so pretty." She said, stopping to look at me.

I guess down it is. I said to myself.

The night was taking place in a museum about a 40-minute drive from Maria's house. When we got there, we noticed there was a line of people to get inside. We walked to the front, and Maria showed the man entrance her ID card as the school event planner, allowing us to skip the wait. We walked up the steps into the museum, and my jaw dropped.

"Maria, this looks incredible!" I exclaimed my eyes widening as I took in the impressive decor.

The theme this year was 40's film noir, and the museum had been decorated impeccably with large white globes and tapestries that were hanging from the ceiling and gorgeous flower arrangements everywhere.

I had seen pictures of past winter balls, and they didn't compare. She had seriously outdone herself.

"Really? Not over the top?" She said, wincing.

"No. Perfect," I promised.

I followed her into the museum, and we walked towards the back where they had the ballroom set up. When we arrived, the place was already bustling with people. Towards the end, we found Lana and the boys. Lana gave us a hug and a kiss when she saw us; she looked incredible, wearing a black dress that pushed up her ample chest and a gorgeous shade of red lipstick to match.

"Everything is going well, and I overheard people commenting on how well done it looks," Lana said, rubbing Maria's arm in an attempt to ease some stress.

"I know, I'm still kind of worried something is going to go horribly wrong, but also really happy with how it's turning out she answered."

"Yeah, Maria it's really nice," I said, "I think we can take a deep breath now."

"You guys are right," she said, "I need to calm down; please tell me you spiked that punch, Lana," She said, looking at the giant punch fountain.

"First thing I did when I got here and noticed no one was looking," She answered nonchalantly and gave her a wink before she noticed someone coming up to us.

"Damien!" Lana shouted, beckoning her boyfriend, "Let's dance, babe!" She said and made her way over to him.

"Do you want to dance?" Jesse asked Maria as she gestured to one of the waiters walking around to serve her spiked punch. She seemed taken aback for a second by Jesse's request and looked at me. I gave her a look that said, 'Girl go.' Maria took Jesse's hand with a big smile on her face. I leaned back against a table that held different appetizers when I saw a hand offered to me through my peripheral vision.

Chris smiled at me, waiting.

"Oh, I don't know how to dance to this," I said, suddenly shy. Keeping with the overall theme of the gala, the music playing was old-timey jazz crooners.

"It's okay. I'm good at leading," Chris said and took my hand before I could say anything else.

"You clean up nice," He said as he took the lead. He was not lying when he said he was good at leading. It helped the songs weren't challenging to dance to.

"Thanks, Chris, you look nice tonight as well," I said.

"So, are you going to tell me why Robbie is looking at us as if he wants to kill me?"

"He is not," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I beg to differ; he looks like a jilted lover," He said and spun us so that I was facing Robbie.

Robbie was leaning against the table and staring at us intently, a small frown on his face.

"Robbie always looks miserable," I answered, "Just ignore him."

"I don't have anything to worry about? Like there won't be a confrontation tomorrow during practice, right? I'm not stepping on any toes?"

"Are you scared of him?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Kind of."

"What is he going to do, Chris, contact his lawyer to sue you?" I joked sardonically.

Chris chuckled.

"Look, Robbie is a chill guy, but he has his limits. I've seen him knock some guys around who cross them. I haven't really been keeping up with what goes on with you two, but he doesn't look too happy right now."

"Well, I promise you aren't stepping on any toes. We aren't dating," I sighed.

"Why are you upset with him?"

"He was an arrogant ass to my friend."

"What, friend?"

"Nicole," I answered.

"Who?" He asked, confused.

"She came over for some time during the summer. I don't know if you remember her. She and Cameron were always together. He told Cameron she wasn't good enough for him."

"That does seem shitty; you ask him why?"

"No. Who cares why?"

He shrugged, "Robbie usually has good reasons for doing things."

"Chris, what reasons could there possibly be that would make this okay?" I said, my voice acquiring an edge to it.

Chris paused and considered me. While usually very lighthearted, he was also very perceptive.

"Hey, hey. Forget, I asked. I just noticed the way you guys looked at each other and wanted to make sure I wasn't cutting into anything unknowingly," He said, chuckling and trying to ease my tension.

"We don't look at each other in any particular way," I said, a little too quickly to sound convincing.

"Yeah, okay. If you say so," He said and dropped the subject.

A slow song came on, and Chris brought me closer.

"You mind if I take over?" Robbie was standing next to us, an expectant frown on his face.

"No, of course not," Chris said.

Wow. Chris. Thanks.

"I mind." I snapped. Grabbing hold of Chris's hand and putting it back on my waist. Chris looked at me then looked at Robbie as if considering who he was more frightened of.

"I'm thirsty," he said, prying himself away from my grip and gingerly shoving me into Robbie before making a swift exit.

I glared at Chris's retreating figure. Coward.

"Just one dance, Lia. I want to talk to you," Robbie said, holding out his hand.

I sighed and reluctantly took it. Robbie smoothly brought me close to him. One hand on my back, one holding my hand. He swayed us to the open balcony where there was a bit of privacy away from the cloud of dancing Trinity students. It was partially open. 

They had been planning on making the old stone structure into a makeshift greenhouse. There were glass panels erected on top of the stone balustrades. If you got close to them, you could feel them do a poor job keeping out the winter air. Maria had ordered for them to add a fire pit in the middle to keep the enclosed place warm. 

"Maybe the stars will be visible," she had said. She had been wrong. It was a cloudy night.

"Is Abigail going to dump pigs' blood on my head for this? I saw you guys getting cozy in chem." I asked as he brought me close to him, his hand on the small of my back.

"At least you're quippy. I'll take that over complete silence." He said, swaying us to the music.

"Yes, well, don't get ahead of yourself," I said, meeting his eyes. We were so close I had to crane my neck to look at his face.

"You look really beautiful today."

I felt a wave of heat rise up and settle on my cheeks and looked to the side to avoid meeting his eyes.

"You said you wanted to talk?" I asked.

"It bothers you if I tell you that you look nice?" He asked, ignoring my question.

"Yes. What possible reason have you concocted that would make your acting like a complete snob, okay?" I asked, wanting to get to the point. I looked at him square in the eyes, "You wanted to talk, then talk. Or should I just go back to dancing with Chris?" I continued.

"No! Fine. If your friend was talking to someone that made no sense for them to talk to, wouldn't you say something?"

"How does it make no sense, Robbie, because Nicole is not wealthy?"

"No. Because she was a distraction. Cameron is here on a visa thanks to a scholarship to play soccer. I would think of all people you would be able to sympathize with, making your scholarship a priority. She would barely say a word to him, and she lives on the other side of the country. Sustaining that relationship would require a lot of effort and maybe even some missed practices."

"Long-distance relationships can work," I said.

"Long-distance relationships are stupid and unnecessarily stressful," He said, sounding exasperated.

"They aren't if both of them are in love."

"Nicole and Cameron are not in love," He chuckled dryly.

"What do you know? They could be," I challenged.

"They knew each other for a bit over a week and barely spoke to each other."

"So, sometimes you can make an instant connection with a person," I argued.

"No one falls in love instantly. You have to know a person to love them, and for that to happen, you have to say more than three words to them."

I clenched my jaw and exhaled a breath.

"They weren't in love, Lia, and their infatuation wasn't worth losing nationals and a visa."

"Whether that is true or not, we can't know, and it was not your decision to make," I said.

"Okay, in retrospect, I agree that I was a bit out of line," He said.

I stayed quiet, raised an eyebrow, and he clenched his jaw.

"Okay, was very much out of line."

Another slow song came on. I thought he would end our dance, but instead, he spun me and brought me a little closer.

"Lia, can you say something? Are you even considering what I'm saying? I thought we were friends? Friends talk things out," He said.

"Friends don't ruin other friend's relationships."

"Nicole is not my friend. Now maybe she's an acquaintance, and maybe you can argue that she's a little more, only because of you. At that time, she wasn't anything, and you were just the pretty girl my sister was bringing home all the time. I didn't even think a friendship was a possibility with you."

I looked up at him to meet his eyes. They were piercing, pleading, and upset, and beyond beautiful. I felt my heart rate double. I pulled back a bit, anything to stop being this close to him. I felt like I needed my wits, and I was losing my hold on them. He smelled and looked so amazing. If I just slightly stood on my tippy toes and tilted my head, I could press my lips to his. He dipped his head, his mouth centimeters from my ear, and whispered.

"Lia, I miss you so much. It's agony."

A current of goosebumps ran up my arm.

"You're doing that thing," I said, shaking my head.

"What thing?"

"Where you get too close, and I can't think straight. You aren't playing fair."

"I already explained why I did what I did."

"It's a shitty explanation based on assumptions. Plus, the reason that soccer practice is so sacred is a lie. You missed soccer practice so many times to help me when I hurt my leg. Obviously, it's not that big of a deal," I argued.

"That was different," He said, shaking his head.

"Oh yeah, because you're so good," I said sarcastically. "I've seen you guys play. Cameron is just as good,"

"He is," he said calmly.

I breathed out in frustration; we were going in circles, "Then it is no different,"

"Yes. It is. Cameron isn't in love with Nicole." He said, fixing his gaze on mine.

I swear I heard my brain pull on a level and screech to a halt.

I would say I felt all the air was sucked out of the room, but we were outside.