The dance came fast and I knew I made a mistake. When Xavier picked me up and I had to force a smile, I regretted my choice. I felt guilty, but I was prone to making rash decisions. This was one of the many I made.

"You look beautiful," Xavier said, taking my hand in the school parking lot.

"Thank you," I said, forcing a smile.

I had actually put effort into how I looked tonight. My hair was curled, I wore makeup, and I wore a black dress. All this was not for Xavier however, but in hopes that I would see someone else tonight. As usual, it was frustrating but thrilling all at once.

"Shall we go?" Xavier asked, tugging my hand.

"Yeah."

We walked to school and went straight to the gymnasium. It was already packed with hundreds of teenagers and the music was loud. This was not my scene, but this was my last year so I decided to suck it up.

"Can we find Hannah and Archer?" I shouted at Xavier.

"Sure," he shouted back, looking uneasy.

I could tell this wasn't his scene either, but I didn't say anything. Loosening my grip on his hand, I began to walk past the dancing teenagers and looked around. The lights were dimmed so it was hard to see much to be honest.

As I walked, I caught sight of Luke, standing off to the side by the punch bowl. He was surrounded by his friends and his friends were talking animatedly, but Luke was staring longingly at something. Following his eyes, I saw that he was staring at some petite girl who was dancing with her friends. She was beautiful and I wondered about my brother's feelings for this girl. Knowing I couldn't ask now, I decided to ask him one day.

"Did you spot them yet?" Xavier asked.

"No," I responded. "I should call them."

The second I pulled out my phone, I heard a familiar squeal. My head whipped up and I saw Hannah running towards me, grinning. I smiled back, noticing my friend looked gorgeous.

    "Zoey!" she exclaimed when she reached me. "You look beautiful."

    Archer stood behind her and he gave me a smile. I smiled back and noticed that Xavier looked uncomfortable. Knowing this was his personality, I just let him be.

    "So do you," I said. "Maroon is definitely your colour."

    "Thanks babe!" Hannah twirled in front of me. "Let's dance."

   "I don't dance Hannah." I groaned, wishing she'd realize that. "Xavier doesn't either."  

    "I don't," Xavier chirped in.

   "Boring!" Hannah sighed heavily. "Come on Archer, lets dance. We'll see you two later."  

   Hannah grabbed Archer's hand and led him away, leaving me standing in my spot with Xavier. I frowned, staring after them and wondered about our double date. Weren't those supposed to be spent together?

    "Should we stand to the side?" Xavier asked.

    "Sounds good," I said, confused by Hannah ditching me.  

   We walked to a wall nearby and just stood, watching others dance. They all looked like they were having a blast and it was oddly touching, seeing how alive everyone was. As Xavier and I stood in silence for a long time, I began to wish that I danced.

   All of the sudden, emerging from the crowd of dancing teenagers, I saw Axel. He was wearing blue jeans and a black v-neck, a causal outfit, but he looked good. My heart froze as I saw that he was walking towards me, looking as confident as ever. When our eyes met and he grinned, I found myself blushing.

    "Hey," he said when he reached me. "You look beautiful."

   "Oh," I said awkwardly. "Thank you."

    He smiled, eyes softening. "Did you like my book?"

    "Yeah." I looked away shyly. "It was really beautiful. I was touched."

    "So you're not mad?"

    "No."

I looked up and saw that Axel was grinning. He looked genuinely happy and god, when he looked like that he looked so freaking attractive. I hated how attractive he was as it left me flustered.

"So what are you doing?" he asked, glancing at Xavier with a disapproving look. "Why are you just standing here?"

"I don't dance," I said honestly. "Here is where I'm meant to be."

"Are you serious?" His eyebrows shot up. "You don't dance?"

"Yup."

"Really? I thought you don't care about what others think?"

"I don't." I frowned. "How do those things relate?"

"Then why don't you dance?" he asked.

"Just because." I shrugged. "I'm not into dancing."

Axel stared at me for a second, seeming to analyze me. His eyes wandered around my face and I remembered his compliment, and blushed. I had dressed up in hopes that he would notice and he did. I was satisfied.

"No sane person is not into dancing," Axel finally said, smirking. "Come on."

He extended his hands out to me and I blinked, confused. I wasn't sure of what he wanted.

"Come on," he urged. "We're going to dance."

"What?" My eyes widened.

"You and I are going to dance," he said slowly, earning him an eye roll. "Let's go."

"Axel." I shook my head. "It's fine. I'm happy here."

His eyebrows rose and I didn't dare try to convince him. Looking at the dancing people, I found myself wanting to join them. This was a dance and with Axel here, urging me, I wanted this. But because I was annoyingly stubborn, I just stood where I was.

But Axel knew how I really felt because he grabbed my hands and pulled me forward.

"Let's go," he said, grinning.

I rolled my eyes, pretending to be annoyed, but felt a jolt of excitement shoot through me as he led me to the dance floor. Our hands were together and for once, I didn't mind. Probably because being with Axel made me forget about my morals. 

   At the dance floor I instantaneously broke into dance, surprising Axel. His eyes went wide as I let loose and soon enough, he was laughing. I laughed and he joined me and soon the both of us were dancing.

   It was nice to let yourself just let go. To love as if there was nothing holding you back and as Axel and I grinned at each other, I realized that was just like us.

   For so long I had been holding back. I had been trying to tell myself that I hate him, but the truth was I didn't. The boy in front of me was someone that had always caught my attention for reasons I wasn't sure of. Not wanting to overthink, I just let it be and kept dancing, having a great night.