Shades of navy and lavender danced around the hall. Lights of the same colour shone on me. This was the night.

My dress; a red satin number, clung to me, only parting when the dress slit to show off my freshly shaved left leg. A smile escaped me. I stood there towering in a pair of pumps that made me six inches taller.

"Hi, " said a deep voice behind me. I'd have recognized it anywhere. It was a voice that made me feel at home. It was a voice that made me laugh whenever it imitated the screechy one of our principal. Okay, it wasn't Cyrus's voice.

"Hey, Kegan, " I said smiling at the boy in front of me.

"Bianca, you look so beautiful, " he whispered, his lips inches away from mine.

They looked soft. Like fluffed feather pillows and cotton candy. For a minute, my mind did the impossible.

'Imagine what it would be like to kiss him, ' it whispered to me. 'Go ahead girl.'

Thankfully, that absurd little voice shut up when I saw Cyrus. Beautiful, intelligent, muscular Cyrus. There he was, chatting to all his friends while trying to get Sasha her glass of punch.

And there Sasha was, draped in his arms like an ornament. Her white silk gown fitted her form and coronated her curves like the queens they were. Her long, straight hair fell down to her waist, making her the perfect portrait.

"You're a thousand times more beautiful than her, you know that right?"

"And you know that you are a very good liar, " I said as I smirked at Kegan. He smirked back. His dimples peeked through the black stubble, making me want to put my hand on them.

"Umm...she's got curves," I pointed out as I stared at Sasha's amazonian form. I imagined what it would be like to have them on my body. I pictured the unlikely possibility that my breast would swell up. They would hang full and heavy on my chest. I wished that my hips would widen themselves making way for a plump derriere.  Unfortunately, nature had other plans.

"Yeah, I know she's got curves. She's got very noticeable ones too, " Kegan said. "But you've got a smile that can kill millions of Sasha's curves with just a flash. You're beautiful and kind and honest and Alister is lucky to have you."

Warmth spread through my heart, intensifying every second that his eyes gazed into mine. No one ever made me feel special like Kegan did.

Did he have a way with words? Or did he mean every word that came out of his mouth? I hope he did.

I longed to feel worthy. I longed for the stage, the cheers and most of all, the spotlight. To get that I had to do what so many before me have done. I had to lie.

"Yeah, Alister is lucky, " I said.

"Well, I'm glad you realise that, " he said. "Let me get you a glass of punch."

He didn't get to the beverage table though. At that moment, a busty figure in a low-cut gown tore towards us. It was Melissa.

"Kegan, let's dance, " she said as she tried to pull him away. She didn't succeed. I saw her glance at him with a long, hungry look. It's a good thing that he was disgusted.

For a minute something kicked into me. Perhaps it was the soul of a very different girl. A girl who wouldn't mind kicking Melissa with her heels.

I hated the way she looked at Kegan. The way she put her fleshy arm around his shoulders or fluttered her lash extensions at him. I didn't know why I hated it so much. I just did.

"Sorry Melissa," he said. "But I'm dancing with Bianca."

When those words escaped his lips, I was dragged to the dance floor. As he dragged me, I felt my high-heeled shoe pass over something soft. It was Melissa's foot. Smiling, I put all my weight on my right leg and brought it down on Melissa. She screamed.

I thought of all the things she had said and done to me over the years. She put my birthday cake on the floor when we were fourteen. She humiliated me in the cafeteria every single day. She flirted with Kegan.

I should have been brimming with joy. I had hurt her. At least, for a few meagre minutes. Another girl would have held her smile. I didn't.

Melissa's pain was my pain. As guilt ripped through my heart, I dealt with the fact that everybody was right about me all along. I am different.

"You okay?" Megan asked as concern crossed his face.

"I hardly know, " I whispered back as our bodies clung close together. We were two separate people. Yet, we merged into one.

I glanced at him. He glanced right back. To the others, we just looked at each other the way two people sharing a dance do. Yet, we were nothing like any other couple in the room.

Kegan and I studied the mixture of russet and gold, as they danced around in each other's eyes. It was like a dream. A rare sort of dream which one never wishes to wake up from.

In spite of all the music and the dancing in the hall, my consciousness woke up to the whispers of others.

"Is that Bianca?" someone asked as I danced in Kegan's arms.

"Yes, it is, " her friend said. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"She sure is, " boomed a third voice. "Who knew that she looked so good? Or danced so well?"

"I didn't."

"She and Kegan look like a great team, "came Sasha's voice from the back of the hall. Oh, don't sulk Melissa. Bianca is dating someone. She's not after Kegan."

"I overheard her, " someone said. "She's dating a college student. How many of us could ever hope to get a college student?"

"Imagine if he is a senior, " another girl giggled. "Imagine if he is twenty-one and has his own apartment."

This reminded me, I had never really decided on Alister's age. I just said that he was in University.

Well, if everyone seemed to think that dating a college senior was romantic, then Alister would be the most romantic story they've heard.

"What is it Melissa?" Sasha asked her.

"Well, I guess I can excuse Bianca, " Melissa said at last. "And yes, she doesn't just look pretty. She looks regal."

Melissa thought I looked like a queen. And no, not a jungle queen. A real one. I couldn't believe it.

With all eyes on me and a crimson dress having a desperate hold on my body, I did feel royal. A single gold light shone on me as I danced. It was then that I knew that my days of being laughed at in the cafeteria were as dead as Dickens.

I felt full. Full of happiness and laughter and sparkling success. I was like a vase filled with liquid gold. Yet, the vase had cracks in them. I felt like I was made out of plastic. I felt broken.