I WAS WEARING A BLAZER. I had planned on wearing a black button-down and calling it a day, but Asian Cupid (my new nickname for Dana) had other plans. She announced that if we didn't give one hundred percent for this dance, we would suffer "repercussions far worse than the dinosaurs." I didn't know how you could get worse than extinction, but I surely didn't want to find out.

          So, blazer.

          "Michael, I've decided that I'm terrified of your girlfriend," Luke said as we all walked into the gym. Then, Luke turned to me. "Ash, isn't Dana a little off-putting?"

          "Well," I said, scratching the back of my neck and glancing around the room. It resembled what you would see if you were high. Colors and waves of stars everywhere. "I wouldn't say "off-putting" maybe, but she is very murderous, I've noticed."

          Michael passed off my statement. "Oh, whatever. Dana couldn't even hurt a fly."

          Except, she did. In the food court at the mall last week. She killed it with a napkin and then decapitated it. Did I say anything to her? Nope. If she beheaded a fly, then I was sure she would behead a human.

          As Luke attempted to explain the terrors of Dana to Michael further, Calum laid a hand on my shoulder. He was also wearing a blazer, a red wine color. "So, think something good's gonna happen tonight?" he asked.

          I shrugged. "Maybe." Hopefully.

          I wasn't expecting anything tonight, but you never knew what was in store for you. As we waited for the ladies to show, we chatted about guy things: cars, video games, and how the scent of a rose is different from a lily. You know, as real men did.

          Dana's voice was detected before she was seen, and Luke immediately shuddered. It was crazy how he was afraid of Dana when his ex-girlfriend was Mandy—the girl who threw a scorpion at Luke at a football game during junior year for a prank.

          When my eyes traveled to Valentine, I almost broke out into sweats. So. Much. Skin. I loved the female assets like there was no tomorrow, but there was something about the smooth skin of a woman that set me on fire. Val looked drop-dead gorgeous in yellow; the sun was jealous, I was sure of it.

          Calum patted me on my shoulder and released a chuckle. "Plan on keeping it in your pants tonight?" he said with a smug grin.

          I threw back the same smile, jokingly. "Only if she says no."

          He laughed before standing up. "I always knew you were a little bit of a player."

          While the others went to the middle of the gym, Luke and I stayed behind. I wasn't much of a dancer, and Luke was anxious about getting pranked by Mandy. The two obviously had some pent up emotions but were going about it the wrong way.

          "You don't understand," Luke said to me, explaining his uneasiness, "she put a picture of a cow turd in my locker yesterday and wrote 'tomorrow' on it. Ashton, I can't afford to get shitted on...literally."

          I held back a laugh. "Luke, my man, you gotta face it one way or another. Either get cow poop thrown at you or just tell Mandy you still like her."

          He paused. "Who said I still liked her?" he asked, then scoffed. "She threw a scorpion at me, remember?"

          I nodded slowly and bit back my lips. "Yeah, okay," I said and focused my eyes out in the crowd. Valentine must have gotten lost in the music because she was dancing like a disco ball, and soon enough, we joined her and the others. Amid the crowd, Mandy was trying to not-so-subtly creep up to Calum, but before she got there, Luke swept in and twirled her away. He glanced back at me with an I-just-saved-Calum's-ass smirk. Mandy simply rolled her eyes and danced with him anyway.

          After we agreed that we were tired, we reclaimed our spots at a table. A slow tempo song started playing, so Dana and Michael, as well as the rest of the couples out there, still had their moment on the dance floor.

          "Honestly, good for Michael," I said to the other guys. "I'm glad he's found someone he truly likes."

          "And sure, Dana's a feisty little Asian," Calum added, and Luke and I chuckled, "but I think she's good for him." After a moment of silence, Calum pointed behind me. "Ah, speak of the Devil."

          Someone flicked the back of my head, and I shifted in my seat to see Dana with a hand on her hip. "Ashton, what are you doing just sitting down? Someone's stealing your girl right now."

          While rubbing the back of my head, my face fell in confusion. "Huh?"

          "Val is dancing with some other guy," she told me, and then pointed them out.

          I moved my eyes to where her finger led and saw Val dancing with...Brian? I forgot all about him. I usually ignored him because he would always talk about Val like she was some object. The dude was annoying and a complete douchebag.

          "I'll tell you right now, Val isn't into him," Calum said with a shake of his head. "Just look at her. She's bored."

          That made me chuckle because looking at Valentine, she did look bored out of her mind. Her face was impassive as she stared at her feet, barely moving along to the beat. Brian was an idiot to think that she was actually having a good time.

          "I say that we spy on them," Calum said with a smile, "because Val's gonna get tired of him, and I want to see this guy get embarrassed by her." Agreeing with him, all five of us started to burn holes in Brian's head. Then, Brian did something that made my heartbeat pick up.

          "No way this guy is about to kiss her," I said, on the edge of my seat. Val noticed what Brian was about to do and pushed him away while taking some steps back. I turned to Calum. "That is embarrassing."

          Val and Brian then had a verbal exchange, but it seemed like Val said something that made Brian clenched his jaw. Then she quickly walked away, and Brian's eyes searched the entire gym before they landed on me.

          "Ah, crap," Dana said, "we need a distraction, fast."

          Calum, a man of action, called out for the one person that made me cringe. "Hey, Mandy!"

          Mandy literally shoved through the crowd to get to Calum. "Calum! You called me?" she asked excitedly. And I never thought I would say this about her, but I honestly felt bad for her at this moment. This was unrequited love at its finest.

          Calum sighed. "You know people, right? So, there's this guy named Brian, moving through the crowd. Find him and distract him until I give you the say-so, okay?"

          Mandy frowned, looking timid. "But what's in it for me?" she asked.

          Calum put on a pained look. "You get one free dance with me. Just one." Then, Mandy smiled wide and sauntered off. Calum turned to me and nodded to the door. "If you fuck up, I might kill you. Go."

          I let out a small laugh. "You're a real one, Calum."

          As soon as I left the gym, the chilly air slapped me in the face and made me realize just how hot it was in the gym. I knew Valentine had to be cold since she had nothing covering her arms. And when I noticed her, sitting on an outside basketball court bench, hugging herself, I knew I was right. As I sat down next to her, I realized that I didn't have a plan.

          Luckily, she spoke first, her head still facing the ground. "Brian, I really don't want to talk about it. Especially not with you."

          "Well, it's a good thing I'm not Brian, so you can talk to me about it."

          Her head shot up, and her brown eyes widened in surprise when she saw me. "Not you," she said, and I wasn't sure if I should take offense. "Why are you showing up everywhere I go? I don't get it. Why does it have to be you?" She asked why, but her tone told me all I needed to hear.

          She wanted me here, but I wanted her to actually say it. So, I stood up with a small smile. "I guess I'll be on my way then." I shoved my hands in my pocket and started to walk away.

          "Wait, Ashton," she called out, and I stopped in my tracks, turning back around casually. She was fidgeting and stared down at the ground. "I'm sorry. I was nervous because I did want you here, and then you showed up, and I got scared. Confrontation really isn't my thing sometimes, but I didn't mean to push you away at the same time. I'm just...sorry."

          I slowly strolled back to the bench and took a seat next to her. The corners of my lips lifted slightly, and as I peered over to her. "I'll stay if you want me to," I told her.

          She glanced up at me and inched a little closer to me until our knees brushed. "Please, stay."

          The wind picked up, and her hair blew in her face as she shivered. I took off my coat and placed it around her shoulders. She thanked me, and I nodded. I only had on a short-sleeve shirt underneath but better for me to get sick than her. She already missed like a thousand days of school.

          "Brian wanted to kiss me," Val blurted out, seeming nervous, but she hardly ever opened up, so I let her talk, "but I didn't want to kiss him back. This wasn't my first rodeo; I've kissed guys before, but this was just weird. I barely know Brian. He's just a kid in some of my classes who I shared a few laughs with. Sure, he's cute or whatever, but when he leaned in, it didn't feel right."

          I hummed and looked up at the night sky. The moon was full and bright, shining down on us like it was a spotlight. "What made it not feel right?" I asked.

          She inhaled deeply before speaking. "Because...he wasn't you."

          My head snapped towards Val, but she hid her face in her hands. My smile took up my entire face, and I laughed. "Wait, what?" I said, trying to see her face. I tugged her hands away and held onto them, but she still turned the other way. "I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said. Inside the gym was so loud, and I think I have hearing problems, so I couldn't hear you properly."

          She spun back to me, holding back her smile. "Shut up, you heard me," she said, pushing at my chest and crossing her arms.

          I let out a laugh, wanting to tease her some more. "Do I need to look away so you won't feel the need to kiss me all the time? Or better yet, I shouldn't wear short-sleeves so you wouldn't be tempted to feel my muscles. Man, being attractive is so hard 'cause girls just can't resist my charm."

          Val slapped me on the arm. "Screw you, Ashton."

          "I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to do that for real."

          She groaned, and I laughed. "The one time I'm honest about my feelings, they get ignored."

          "I'm just teasing," I said once I sobered up. "Don't feel rejected, Val. I'm just as attracted to you as you are to me." She didn't look up at me, but she did smile.

          "Have you ever wanted to do something totally crazy because you know it would be worthwhile?" she asked. "Because you don't know when you'll have another chance?"

          "Like?"

          Then, she placed her hands on my face, drawing me near, and the world disappeared as my soul exploded. I'd kissed girls before, and more intimately than this, but this was the first time my heart burst in my chest. This was revolutionary, and I couldn't stop bringing her closer to me. Time stopped to let us have this chance. This...moment of intimacy. It was fearless. It was raw. It was just so fucking perfect that when it ended, I knew that it was only the beginning.

          "Damn," I whispered.

          "Damn, indeed," Val whispered back. Then, she sighed sadly, which was not a good sign. "Ashton, what just happened was amazing. So, so, amazing. But I can't like you."

          I shoved my hands back in my pockets, feeling distant. "What do you mean by that?" I asked her.

          "I told myself that I can't like another person, but somewhere in between, you got to me," she said, holding my gaze. "And I knew I blew it. And you, Ashton—you are so good of a person, but we don't know anything about each other."

          I was about to rebuttal, but then I let her words sink in. She was right. I didn't know anything about her. Her favorite things. Her middle name. Her family life. I only heard about her homelife once, and it seemed terrible. She never spoke about her dad, her mom, relatives, old friends, boyfriends—nothing. I liked a person I knew nothing about.

          I sat up. "Then, let's get to know each other. There's plenty of time in the world," I said.

          "Ashton, I'm not talking about a regular game of Twenty Questions," she sighed. "There's so much more beneath my skin that I don't want you to find out."

          "What's so hard about letting people in, Val?" I asked.

          "Like I said, Ashton, you're too good of a person," she said. "I would never bring you into this hell I'm living in. I already made the mistake once, and I'm not doing it to you too. It's a nightmare that only I have to escape. A cycle of madness I'll never get out of."

          I tried to process her words even though I had no idea what she was talking about, but there had to be a solution. There always was one. "You have to find out a way to leave," I told her.

          "I can't just leave, Ashton. There's no way they would let me escape willingly," she said. "They wouldn't be able to feed. They can't breathe without me. They've chained weights to my feet and threw me in the water. Believe me, I've tried. I've been trying for years."

          "There's absolutely nothing you can do?"

          She stared up at me with a blank expression and raised her hand up to brush my face. Her hands were freezing but warming. Then, she smiled softly and let her hand lower back to her side. "Don't worry, Ashton," she said. "I already have a plan."

: : : : : : : : :

Yo yo yo, froyoooooo! Anyways, I gave the end of this chapter Looking for Alaska vibeeeeez. Cause John Green is *chef's kiss* 

And sorry this took so long. I was kind of tapped out. But I watched some good ol' John Mulaney and the old clinker started to work again. So if you ever have writer's block, just watch any John Mulaney special and you'll be cured.

STREET SMARTS!

Also..........................................................................................................................................................................................................

THEY KISSED! SIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSYS! MY WIG WAS SNAPPED.

ANywAys.

How's your mom?

Bye, you peeps.