The purring camper pulled infront of the hotel downtown, where the dance was being held. For some reason, there was the tingling sensation of butterflies in my stomach as I glanced out the window, watching other people from our year get their photos taken outside.

"I'll park round the corner. Is Rachael here?" Ace muttered, swinging his arm over the steering wheel as we turned the street.

"Yep." I replied glumly, instantly spotting Rachael blushing and clinging to Aidan's arm in the crowd of people. The only reason I could spot her so easily was that her dress was a ginormous light pink ball gown, ballooning out underneath her tiny waist. Only she could rock something like that. I was much more low-key.

"So, is Raidan a thing now?"

"I should still get credit for that ship name, yanno."

"You didn't answer my question." Ace declares, as we slowly drive further down the street to find a parking space, losing sight of Rachael's Disney princess.

"I think so. She doesn't want to admit it though, and I can never seem to have a lengthy conversation with Aidan anymore." Ace swings the camper into a space and turns the engine off, turning in his seat to look at me with confused eyes.

"Why?"

"I don't know. Probably something to do with Evan. He used to throw sarcastic comments at me all day in class, but he's quieter now. Sure, he brightens Rach's days, but he seems to hate me now." I explain, unplugging my seatbelt and shrugging.

"Heh, he's losing out. Now c'mon, let's go kick ass at this dance." In one swift movement, Ace hops out of the car, speeds round to my door and opens it. "After you, m'lady."

"Shut up. If you're this annoying for the whole evening I'm jumping out a window." I hiss in reply, smirking a little as I ignore his offer of a hand and jump down from the camper seat onto the street. 

"Hey, I was just trying to be charming! If you want, I can be grumpy instead." 

"Nah, this is fine."

"Mhm, really?" Ace murmurs near my ear, as we cross the street and walk towards the entrance of the hotel, where students have gathered to take photos. 

"I take it back." Smirking at him, I look towards the crowd of people and lock eyes with Rachael. She immediately grins at me and begins strutting towards us, dragging Aidan behind her.

"You guys made it!" She exclaims, beaming at us as the two approach. Her eyes land at our feet and her grin slowly forms into a sly smirk. "And you're matching? Goals."

"Rach, I won't hesitate to shoot you with water." I snap, before realising Aidan was stood right next to her. I feel Ace tense up beside me, noticing my mistake.

"Shoot her? What?" Aidan asks, raising an eyebrow at me. Rachael opens her mouth, but Ace interrupts.

"There were water guns in the back of my camper. Cass wanted to bring one, but I wouldn't let her." He smoothly explains, looking over at me and flashing a smile.

"Cass, you're seriously weird. Anyway, let's go dance!" Rachael breaks Aidan's odd stare at me and takes his hand, causing Ace to nudge me in the side as we walk behind them.

"I ship it so hard."

Half an hour and twelve sausage rolls later, I found myself leaning against the wall of the large dance room, which the hotel had decked with coloured streamers and tacky decorations. Ace had bumped into a friend from his own school, and was currently laughing around with him and a large group on the other side of the room. Still, he kept stealing occasional glances in my direction. I let my eyes wander over the crowd of students as 'Welcome To New York' by Taylor Swift blasted from the speakers.

Wrong city, dude.

Some couples were dancing along to the beat together, whilst some looked like they were in an awkward situation from a TV series. There were groups of giggling girls together, along with the jocks of the school yelling and probably drinking smuggled alcohol. There were teachers scattered around the room, keeping a close eye on any trouble forming, and guarding the doors so they could monitor anyone sneaking out to misbehave. Upon spotting Rachael and Aidan dancing together, I smirked at Rachael over Aidan's shoulder and pouted with my lips at the overload of PDA. In reply, I got a middle finger. The song ended, and 'Mr Blue Sky' began playing. I instantly noticed Ace making his way towards me.

"Come dance! This is a bop, Cass!" He yelled over the music, grabbing my hand and dragging me into the crowd. I reluctantly followed, although I somehow felt myself loosening up as the song continued. I recognised it from the intro of Guardians Of The Galaxy Volume 2, one of my favourite Marvel films.

"Will you be the Gamora to my Star-Lord?" Ace asked, smirking a little as we found a space in the crowd.

"Dude, this isn't a romance film, don't think you'll win me over with your references!" I exclaimed, fighting back a grin at his words.

"At least I tried." He muttered, only just loud enough for me to hear. He grabbed my other hand and began swinging my arms side to side, causing me to laugh as we danced. After a few minutes of Ace being a goofy idiot, the song ended and was replaced with 'Yellow' by Coldplay. 

The awkward couples and groups slowly melted off the dance floor, leaving only a few idiotic jocks laughing around, and the official couples snaking their arms around each other. I was about to check if Raidan was still a thing, but Ace interrupted me.

"Hey, put your hands on my shoulders." He suggested, grinning down at me.

"You mean you want me to slow dance with you? If you're gonna smirk at me and blurt out sarcastic comments, count me out, especially if you.."

"Just do it." Ace interrupted me, before his eyes softened a little. "Please?"

Huffing a little, I placed my hands on his shoulders and fought back the butterflies swarming my stomach again as he gingerly wrapped his arms around my waist. As Chris Martin sang softly, we slowly began swaying to the beat.

"Not gonna lie, it's disappointing you didn't rock up in your silver jacket." I murmured, causing Ace to break out into a grin.

"Sorry to disappoint, Cascade. I would've done, but we wouldn't have matched. Does silver and blue go well?" I found myself staring up at Ace's icey blue eyes as he replied, and his platinum blonde hair dangling messily over them.

"Uh, well, Quicksilver and Aqua Girl have been seen together a lot lately. Maybe they do go well, who knows?"

"Do they go well?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow and smiling. I noticed it was a genuine smile this time, not his signature cocky smirk.

"W-What do you mean?"

"Us, Cass. Do we go well? Don't pretend you haven't realised what's been going on." I opened my mouth to reply, but Ace cut me off. "Where did we go wrong?"

I knew what he was talking about, for sure. The kiss outside the police station. The constant pick-up lines that I shut him down for. The side-glances, the smirks. 

"I...I don't know. It's just..."

"What if we tried again?"

Although I was speechless, my mind was racing at 100 miles a minute. I knew I had to move on. Life goes on. But romance? This was new to me. Since Evan's death, the concept of love had been running through my mind constantly. But if life moves on, then so do I.

"Just kiss me, you idiot." I declared, standing on my tip-toes and pressing my lips against his. Although this had already happened once, it felt like a whole brand new sensation. There was the returning taste of orange and lime Tic Tacs lingering on his soft lips, giving me a sense of summer, the only time of year I would skate to the 7-11 down the street and splurge on candy. Mid-way through the kiss, Chris Martin's singing was interrupted by a new song, and the volume was cranked up. Ace broke the kiss and glanced behind me at the DJ table.

"What the..." he murmured, as the song continued with lyrics I couldn't understand. I turned around and focused my own eyes on the DJ table, finding myself staring at a blonde-haired girl laughing to herself as the song belted out. I recognised her as someone from my year, but my gut was telling me something wasn't right. My eyes scanned the room as I felt Ace's grip on my hip tighten. Then I realised.

There weren't any teachers here.

"What is this music?" Ace inquired, looking confused as I turned back to him with wide eyes.

"Korean pop," I explained in a rush, before glancing at the exit door and grabbing Ace's hand. "something's wrong. There's no teachers here." 

"Crap, you're right." Ace and I dodged groups of confused students and made it to the door. I pushed hard against it and it wouldn't budge. Ace dropped my hand and pushed his whole body against it, but it was locked.

I opened my mouth to ask what we should do, but was interrupted by a blood-curling scream.