"There's a cockroach in the bathroom!"

Lena had shouted this, and it was then followed by a high-pitched, drawn out scream from Kristie. I covered my ears as it continued for a good thirty seconds. 

Unlike the two other girls in the bathroom with me, I was not afraid of the cockroach. When I lived at my old foster home, there were bugs in my room all the time. I'd gotten used to them because most of them were usually harmless.

"Someone kill it!" Kristie screeched, actual tears in her eyes as she stood on top of the closed toilet.

Lena was on the counter, holding one shoe in her hand as she got ready to throw it. "If it'd stop moving, I'd be able to get it!"

I didn't really know what to do or say. It wasn't a scary thing; it was just a bug. It was completely harmless.

Now, the reason we were all in the bathroom was simple. We were getting ready for the dance when suddenly the cockroach appeared, causing both Lena and Kristie to freak out. I couldn't have cared less.

The bathroom door burst open the reveal my three male teammates, all seemingly worried at the fact that two of us were screaming. I just stared at them flatly, since I still couldn't believe they were freaking out over a little bug.

"What's wrong?" Aiden demanded, his hands engulfing in flames.

"Is that, like, your go-to move?" I couldn't help but ask, but he ignored me.

"Did you not hear me?" Lena shouted at him. "There's a cockroach!"

Aiden's hands immediately extinguished himself and he stared at the girls flatly, just like I had been. Clearly he felt the same way I did.

Dex blinked as he looked from me, to Kristie, to Lena, and then to the cockroach. "You wouldn't think this was a bathroom filled with superhuman women, would you?" he asked to no one in particular.

"You shut up!" Lena barked.

"Lena... it's a bug," I couldn't help but comment, being the only one of the three girls to still be standing on the tiled floor, not that far away from the cockroach.

This didn't make Lena feel any better. "You shut up, too!"

"Someone just kill it!" Kristie pleaded, tears in her eyes. "I just want it gone!"

Aiden sighed, stepping into the bathroom and bending over to pick the cockroach up. Kristie screamed once again as Aiden stood back up with the cockroach in the palm of his hand.

"Hey, little guy," Aiden said, petting it's head. "How're you?"

"Don't talk to it!" Lena hissed, throwing her shoe at him. "That just makes it even worse!"

Aiden nodded as the cockroach responded to him. Sometimes I forgot he could talk to animals since he rarely ever used that power since he didn't really need to. We didn't deal with animals often.

"I'm taking him outside," Aiden informed us, turning toward the door. "He's just trying to find food for his family."

"Doesn't make him any less gross!" Lena called out after him.

"You guys okay now?" Anthony asked as the two girls finally got back onto the floor. "No kind of danger? No more bugs?"

"I mean, it's not like you have powers or anything," Dex commented.

Lena glared at him. "We might be superhuman, but we're still girls!"

"Not all girls are scared of bugs though," Anthony pointed out, as if it should have been obvious. Which I guess it kind of should have been. "Violet wasn't freaking out like you two were."

"Well, Violet's weird!" Lena squawked.

I shrugged, not offended in the slightest. "She's right, you know."

"Now get out, both of you," the blonde ordered, shooing the two boys out the door. "We need to finish getting ready."

The boys rolled their eyes but did as they were told, leaving us in the bathroom alone once again. We quickly went back to doing our makeup and hair, trying to ignore the fact that we'd just lost time freaking out over a cockroach.

"Do you guys like this hair length on me?" Kristie asked us as she curled her hair. "I kind of miss it long."

Lena shrugged as she applied her eyeshadow. "It's fine," she told her. "You look good either way, honestly."

Though Kristie's hair was still short, Nay was finally able to get it back to its normal red color, which she was very happy about. Aiden, however, didn't enjoy it as much because it meant that she would most likely start getting the attention of boys again. But he still got to take her to the dance so he shouldn't have been complaining.

It didn't take much longer to get ready, and soon it was time to go to the dance. I couldn't help but feel excited; this was the first dance I'd ever gone to, and I actually had a date to it. A date that I really liked.

"This is so exciting!" Kristie giggled as our group made our way down the hall to the front door. "I love dancing! This is going to be so much fun!"

Aiden placed his hand on Kristie's waist, smiling at her when she didn't push him away. Anthony rolled his eyes at the two of them.

Dex trailed behind us to say goodbye, his hands in his pockets. He was the only one of the team that wasn't going, and I didn't really know how to feel about it. It just seemed like he was going to be missing out.

My friends made their way out the front door, but I stopped and turned back toward Dex. He was in ripped blue jeans and a tight black t-shirt. The other boys were in much dressier clothing. He definitely didn't look like he was going to a dance.

"You sure you're not going to go?" I asked, leaning against the door. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Dex didn't answer right away. He slowly looked me up and down and then let out a sigh. "No, thanks," he declined, turning away to start back to his room. "Dances really aren't my thing. I wouldn't enjoy it at all."

I shrugged. "Well, okay. Don't say I didn't try."

I headed out, closing the door after me and following my friends to the car. I couldn't help but feel bad for leaving Dex behind. He didn't want to go and it was totally his choice, but I still just felt bad.

"Where's Tom?" Kristie asked me as the five of us got into the car.

"We agreed to meet at the school," I informed her with a shrug. "It's just easier that way."

Aiden's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he put the keys in the ignition. "Isn't that a little weird?" he inquired.

"I don't think so," I said as I buckled myself in. 

"We're meeting Nick at the dance," Lena reminded him.

"Yeah, but he's not your date." He pulled out of the driveway and turned toward the way to school. "It's weird for your date to not pick you up."

"Aiden, please just stop judging for one night," Lena sighed as she looked out the window, down with Aiden's crap for the night. "It shouldn't be that difficult."

Aiden stayed silent for the rest of the car ride, since it was clearly easier for him to be quiet than for him to say something nice. I wasn't complaining; his voice and his stupid comments gave me a headache sometimes.

Tom wasn't there yet when we got there, but I wasn't worried because we were ten minutes early. My friends and I got out of the car and made our way toward the gym, where the dance was taking place.

"You guys go on in," I told my friends as I stopped in front of the door. "I'm going to wait for Tom out here."

I took a seat outside the gym to wait for him. I expected him to be there by the time the dance officially started, but I was wrong. Twenty minutes went by with no sign of him.

I called Tom but got no answer. I texted him, but there was still no response. I tried not to worry, but I couldn't help it. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that would be late.

I let out a groan when I saw Lynx and Vanessa making their way to the door, neither of them with a date. They had to pass me to get inside, so I knew for a fact that they saw me.

"Hi, Violet," Lynx greeted with a sickening smile, and I couldn't help but glare at her. "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for Tom," I answered, even though it was none of her business.

Vanessa snorted. "I wouldn't be surprised if he totally just blew you off," she informed me with a wicked grin. "There's no way he'd actually want to go to the dance with you."

Vanessa and Lynx both laughed at me together as they made their way inside with other students. I gulped, suddenly afraid. Tom wouldn't have stood me up... right?

Where was he? Why was he so late? Was he okay? Was he hurt? So many questions were racing through my mind. I had no idea where Tom could have possibly been.

An hour passed, and soon no one else began to show up. I was all alone outside and it was starting to get cold. I rubbed my arms up and down. My eyes filled with tears. Why wasn't here here?

I soon gave up on expecting him to show up. He wouldn't answer my calls or texts, so I eventually just stopped trying. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the tears from spilling over.

I then heard footsteps, and I snapped my head up to see who was there. I expected it to be Tom, but I was wrong. Who was actually standing there was much more shocking.

"Dex?" I gasped, swallowing down the lump in my throat. "What are you doing here?"

He blinked at me. "What are you doing out here?"

"I asked you first," I countered, just as difficult as I always was.

He rolled his eyes. "Kristie called me," he informed me. "She said she didn't know where you were."

I was surprised. Why would Dex come just because our friends didn't know where I was? They knew I was waiting for Tom outside. They just didn't know he never showed up...

I swallowed the lump in my throat once again. "So you came all the way over here?"

"I wanted to see if you were alright," he shrugged, and then looked around. "What are you even doing out here?"

"I don't really want to go in there without a date," I mumbled.

"Without a date?"

"Tom isn't here."

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean, what do I mean?" I snapped, not even meaning to do so. "Tom isn't here. He didn't show up."

Dex seemed surprised and also looked like he had no idea what he was supposed to say. I didn't really blame him. I was really close to being really, really emotional.

"I shouldn't be surprised, right?" I sniffed, trying to wipe at my eyes without completely messing up my makeup. "Of course he stood me up. Of course he blew me off. Who would want to be with me, anyway?"

Dex's eyebrows furrowed. "Don't talk about yourself like that."

"What? It's true." I hated feeling sorry for myself, but it was honestly how I felt and clearly everyone else felt that way as well. "I'm no Kristie or Lena or Vanessa. I'm not beautiful like them."

"Stop it," he ordered. "That's not true."

"Is it?" I sniffed and wiped at my eyes as carefully as I could. "Because it sure doesn't feel like it."

I hated feeling sorry for myself. I used to do it a lot; I used to do it too much. I used to be jealous of Kristie for her looks, and even Lena and Vanessa I was envious of. They were so beautiful and had plenty of guys that were interested. I only had one and he stood me up.

"Why did I ever think this was going to work out?" "Why did I think he actually liked me? Why did I think I had a chance?"

Dex frowned. "Did you seriously like that asshole that much?"

"I don't know," I groaned, running my hand through my hair. "He was just... He was a guy that gave me attention and I thought he honestly liked me, but I was wrong."

I couldn't believe I was so stupid. Everything told me not to go for Tom; my friends didn't like him very much, and he was human. Of course it wasn't going to work out. Humans and superhumans weren't supposed to go together. And when they did, it rarely ever worked out.

Dex took a seat next to me and neither of us said anything for a few minutes. I didn't know what to say and he seemed to be thinking of what he could say. It was silent, but it wasn't awkward. I really liked that.

"Well, just so you know, any bastard who gives you up is a damn fool," he stated after those few moments of silence.

I let out a small laugh. "You and your foul language never cease to make me feel better."

He gave me a look. "You know what I mean."

"Yeah..." I sniffed and wiped at my eyes again. "I know."

I was thankful for him being there. I was thankful that he was trying to make me feel better. I didn't know how well it would work, but I was still very thankful.

"Don't let that asshole ruin your night, Violet," he told me. "You deserve to have a good night."

"Clearly I don't," I whispered, blinking to try to stop the tears from falling. So far, none had rolled down my cheeks and I was not planning for any to.

Dex let out a sigh, pushing himself up from his seat beside me and taking a step in front of me. He held out his hand for me to take.

"Want to dance?" he asked.

I looked at him as if he was insane. "What?"

"Do you want to dance?" he repeated.

I didn't even know what to say at first. This was not something I was expecting him to ask me, not in the slightest. I'd danced with Dex once, and that was the only time I'd ever seen him dance. He didn't seem like the kind of guy that liked to dance.

I looked at his hand as if it was going to explode. "You don't really strike me as the dancing type..." I couldn't help but informed him.

He rolled his eyes at me. "I'm trying to be compassionate. Want to play along?"

"I really don't want to go inside, Dex..." I tentatively played with one of the bracelets on my wrist nervously. "Everyone knew that Tom and I were supposed to go together. It'd just be so humiliating to go in there without him."

"That's fine," he shrugged. "We can just dance out here."

I looked Dex up and down. He was still wearing the clothes he'd been wearing when I left, only with a leather jacket over it now. This definitely wasn't what I imagined my date to a formal dance to wear.

But I didn't want to say no. I wasn't in much of a dancing kind of mood, but he was offering to do this for me to make me feel better... We could hear the music that was playing in the gym inside, so it wasn't like we would be dancing in silence. It was a slow dance, too.

I stood up, placing my arms around Dex's neck as he placed his hands on my hips. I remembered the classical dancing Nay and Hank had taught us, but I knew that those weren't the types of dances people did at school dances. Slow dancing wasn't that much different anyway.

We were both silent for a few moments, neither of us really knowing what we were doing. But slow dancing wasn't that difficult, considering we just swayed back and forth.

I could barely even look at him. I didn't know why, but suddenly I felt awkward. It wasn't really a bad feeling, it was just... weird.

"I've never been to a dance before," I said to fill the awkward silence. "That's pretty obvious though, isn't it?"

"I went to one before," he shrugged uncaringly. "But that's because I was trying to get with a girl that liked these stupid school dances. It didn't work."

I wasn't surprised; that was typical Dex. He was always interested in girls and they were usually interested in him right back. I didn't blame them; he was handsome, and when you got by his rough and gruff exterior, he was a sweet guy as well.

He was sweet... He really was. He could be rude, but I knew he cared about me. If he didn't, he wouldn't have come to the dance to make sure I was okay. If he didn't, he wouldn't have been dancing with me right then. He really was a sweet and caring guy.

Dex was always there for me, in his own way. He was brash, and even rude sometimes, but he was always there... He was always looking out for me, no matter what. He didn't like Tom and I guess he was right for feeling that way.

"Dex," I whispered, pulling away slightly to look up at him.

He blinked. "Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"For what?"

I wrapped my arms around his neck once again and rested my head on his shoulder. "For just... being here."

Dex said nothing to this, and I assumed it was because he didn't really know what to say. That was fine; I didn't need him to say anything. Him just being there was enough.

We continued to dance in silence, my head on his shoulder. For such a strong guy, he was surprisingly soft. It was almost as if my body was made to fit perfectly in his.

And who knew... Maybe it was?

Dex was always there for me. Dex cared about me. He truly, honestly did... And I realized Tom wasn't who I wanted to be with... Dex was who I wanted to be with. And it was about time I finally realized it.

"Dex, I... I've been an idiot," I started, a million things going through my head all at once. "This whole time I've only been focusing on Tom and I never noticed how you were always there for me. You were always by my side... I've been so stupid and I'm so sorry. I've probably been so awful to you..."

I wasn't going to cry. I refused to cry. This was a stupid thing to cry about anyway.

"I'm just sorry," I apologized again. "You really care about me, and I... I really care about you, too. I care about you so much."

Dex didn't let me say anything else. Instead of responding back to me, he pulled me even closer to him and pressed his lips to mine. I was surprised, but didn't pull away, and I quickly tightened my grip around his neck and kissed him back.

It just felt so... amazing. It was different than any other time we'd kissed before, and I loved it. I never wanted to stop. He just made me feel warm and safe. He made me feel fantastic.

Dex was out of breath when he pulled away. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," he informed me.

"Well, don't stop."

I pulled him back to me, crashing our lips together once again. The kiss was hungry, needy, desperate. Like it was something we had both wanted for the longest time. And I guess it was.

We pulled away again and he just stared at me like I was the most beautiful thing on the planet. And under his gaze, that was exactly what I felt.

I'd been so stupid... Why did I ever like Tom? Why hadn't I ever realized that I had feelings for Dex?

I had feelings for Dex... I had feelings for Dex and I didn't regret it one bit.

"God... You're beautiful," he breathed, his forehead pressed against mine as his hands continued to stay tightly gripped on my hips. "You're so perfect."

"I never thought I'd hear those words come from your mouth," I couldn't help but smirk at him. "It just doesn't seem like something you'd say. Are you really Dex?"

"Shut up, dummy." He brushed a loose strand of my hair our of my face.  "Kiss me again."

I did what he told me to do and kissed him again. It wasn't the first time we'd ever kissed, but we sure acted as if it was the last. Even though I knew for a fact that it wouldn't be. I wasn't going to make the mistake of not kissing him any longer.

Suddenly, screams erupted from inside the gym, causing Dex and I to push away from each other and spin in the direction of the noise.

"What the heck is going on?" he nearly shouted.

I gulped. "I don't know," I answered. "But we're going to have to go find out."

We ran as quickly as we could toward the gym. As soon as Dex and I got inside, the doors slammed shut behind us. I turned back toward them and tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge. I then looked back into the gym to see everyone was running and scrambling around.

"What the heck?" I shrieked.

We turned back toward the rest of the gym to see what exactly was going on. My friends were fighting Malicius and Lynx. In front of everyone. And they were all scrambling and screaming, absolutely terrified by the scene going on before them.

"What the hell are they doing?" Dex exclaimed, his hands moving to his hair in shock. "Why are they doing this in front of everyone?"

Suddenly, people began to drop to the floor. I assumed they were fainting, and I didn't blame them. This was probably unbelievable to them.

Lynx saw the two of us and laughed. "Swollen lips and her lipsticks all over your face," she cackled, and Dex immediately wiped at his mouth with his jacket sleeve. "Someone was having a good time!"

Students and chaperones continued to hit the floor, so much so that it was beginning to become suspicious. Not this many people could have fainted.

"You know, there's this cool gas that makes humans pass out that superhumans are immune to," Lynx informed me with a grin, as if reading our minds. "It'll be really helpful for Hank and Anthony!"

Before she could say anything else, Lena threw an icicle at her, causing her attention to move elsewhere. Almost all the humans in the room were out, and my friends had to attack carefully so they wouldn't injure any of them. The whole room was practically destroyed.

Dex suddenly pushed me onto the ground. I sat up and was about to yell at him until I realized he had pushed me out of the way of a rock Malicius had thrown at us. Luckily, he was able to jump out of the way as well before the rock could hit him.

"Poor little Violet with no date to the dance," Malicius laughed, continuing to wreck the gym as much as he could with his powers. "Have you wondered why Tom hasn't shown up yet?"

"What did you do?" I growled, my hands balling into fists. "What did you do to him?"

"You want to find out?" This only caused him to laugh even harder. "Then follow me!"

He stuck his hands out and suddenly a large boulder erupted from the ground and floated in the air. He blasted a hole through the ceiling with other large rocks he had broken off beforehand. He then jumped on top of the large rock he'd just lifted from the ground and started off through the hole.

I was so angry. I was furious. I wasn't going to let him get away with this!

That was why he hadn't shown up... I knew Tom wouldn't have just stood me up for no reason. It was because of Malicius and Lynx that he wasn't there!

I rocketed up, flying right after him without even thinking twice about it. I wasn't going to let them hurt Tom!

"Violet!" I heard Dex call out after me, but I didn't stop. I couldn't. I couldn't let an innocent person get hurt because of me. I knew my friends could handle what was going on in the gym, especially if Hank and nay were on the way. I needed to save Tom.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

The song attached is literally perfect.

Are you surprised the update came after four days and not a month? Yeah, me too.

I've been waiting to write this chapter for a long, long time... I hope you enjoy it. It just gets better from here. ;)

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3