It was the first school dance of the Alexandra Academy 2020-2021 school year, the fall dance on October 9th. The student council had come early to do all the set up. Levar Hawkins-Domino was seasoned at this since he’d been a class president for many years before becoming the student body president this fall. He had herded his new crew in putting fall themed decorations and putting out some chips and pretzels and coolers of canned drinks. They had decided not to do a Halloween theme since everyone was so eager to have a dance earlier in October. It was just a regular dance with a fall flair. Plus some people thought the later in October it got, the more it could risk being cursed by Alexandra’s notorious Octobers.
Levar had short dreads and a fitted black polo shirt and a pair of nice blue jeans and black runners. His physique was the definition of fitness and he was just a very good looking guy. He leaned against the stage in the gym with his arm around Otis Carpenter, his beloved. They were chatting happily with the rest of the student council kids as the DJ, Stella Ferris-Smith did her sound checks. Student council was grades 7-12 so in the conversation was Sparrow Walsh, Romeo Rogers, and Daphne McLeod.
Sparrow had sleek shoulder length raven hair parted down the middle and she was a striking but perhaps a bit unusual looking young woman. She wore both her Cree and Musquem heritage by her light brown skin and black brown eyes and her jewelry. She had a bone necklace carved into the shape of a sea turtle and intricate beaded earrings with many colours. She wore a green striped long sleeve shirt under a pair of dungaree style overalls that topped slouchy brown leather boots. She never wore makeup but her facial features were just naturally quite defined. Sparrow had been fearless about taking on all the high decorations that needed someone up on a ladder. “I am named after a bird after all.” She joked down to Daphne who passed things up to her that she’d put curly qs of tape on the back of. When Stella came in to set up the music stuff she called out to her “Goddess of Rock….bestow your tunes upon us.”
Daphne loved being on student council with the older kids. Levar, Sparrow and Romeo were super fun but in her mind, Sparrow was by far the coolest. Daphne had worn a cute little purple t-shirt dress with her rainbow tights and a pair of funky star patterned high top sneakers. She had on a necklace she'd made herself with a shell she found on the beach strung on a length of tied hemp string. Her golden hair was in two little buns with her bangs in the centre like a fringe. She had a little bit of sparkle makeup on for fun and some clear lip gloss but it was subtle. Daphne looked rather like an adorable anime character tonight. She was dressed for herself, not trying to look like anything for anyone else. In particular she was not trying to be pretty for Tony Penhall. She didn't seem to be flashy or fangirl enough to keep his attention anymore and watching him with girls who fawned over him made her feel both hurt and sick. She had forced herself to start looking away. She was sure LaTonya Hawkins-Domino was going to ask him to the dance but it seemed Candra Stevens had beat her to it. Daphne didn’t want to dislike either of those girls but she was finding it a challenge. But tonight was about friends. Aislin and Cath and Mabel were meeting her here and they would have their own fun dammit. They didn’t need boys! As people slowly started to file in she watched for her friends.
Romeo helped where he could to put the dance together. He was still glad to be at the dance and supporting the school even though he did not have a date. Girls had asked him; almost too many. He initially turned them all down because he couldn't make up his own mind who to go with. They all seemed shocked and curious because he didn't tell them who he WAS going with, only that he would be coming to the dance. And he had come Alone. But also not alone, as he had friends at the dance. He approached Levar and Otis and watched Sparrow and Daphne. He'd done his fair share of the work and now was only waiting for the party to begin.
Otis stood near Levar and watched the whole area with a large smile. When Romeo walked up he looked at him. Then he looked over at Levar. "And here's the man who will take your place once we leave school."
Stella was at her DJ station. She started a couple of sound checks and double checked her tunes. Ever since she'd been told she could be the DJ, she'd gotten ideas for the songs. She had gone to and begged Quentin Tyrell to let her borrow some of his albums to play. He'd asked her a bunch of questions to make sure he knew that she knew how to properly take care of the albums and finally he let her borrow several, which she promised to return to him first thing the morning after the dance. She waved at Sparrow as she put her headphones around her neck. She was stressed in a short jean skirt with autumn brown leggings on. Her top was a forest green turtleneck and a jean jacket without sleeves. She took in and released a deep breath, feeling almost ready to play. She hadn't expected to run into Nlan Lancaster on her way in. He had been kissing Elise Girard and that's when she realized that they were a thing. She'd never made that connection before and she felt like a fool when she realized that the two of them were dating. But at the same time she was sort of lukewarm about him, as well. And she had to work the dance. Now she put on a song and her earphones and started to play tunes and tune out the world.
Sophia Wong walked in arm and arm with her twin sister Mia dressed in identical schoolgirl esque plaid dresses over little black t shirts. Sophi’s was burgundy and Mia’s was turquoise. They both had black thigh high stockings on and little black mary jane shoes. Sophia walked them to the dance floor and they parted from their hooked arms and began to dance in unison looking like mirror images of one another as they moved across from each other. They had of course practiced this.
Justin Stevens skirted around the edge of the dance like he was looking for someone and then checked his phone. Maddox had said he wasn’t coming and then maybe hinted he would. Justin shrugged and then watched the Wong twins dance like some kind of freaky kaleidoscope show. They were cute….but a bit scary sometimes. He kept walking around them and staked out a spot leaning against the wall, scrolling on his phone while he watched people arrive. He was in a Alexandra Otters sweat shirt and blue jeans with white high top runners with his sun kissed blonde hair brushed to one side.
Keisha Hawkins-Domino bounce walked into the dance in her usual yellow high top sneakers. She had a pair of high waisted black jeans on rolled up so they just met the high tops and a funky vertically striped tied short blouse in multiple colours. Her locs were swept back from the front and sides into a tortoise shell clip and the rest were loose down her back. Her nose ring and many earrings glinted as she passed under a light but then she found her way towards Romeo near her brother and Otis. Keisha was close to Levar and they hugged hello and then she also hugged Otis before doing a little spin and point at Romeo and then waving over his head “Hey Student council fancy boy...look it’s Jake!”
Jacob Carpenter appeared behind Romeo and gave him a half hug half headlock greeting “Mr. Rogers neighbourhood!” He chimed. Jake was in an obnoxious Hawaiian shirt with skinny blue jeans that just showed how painfully skinny he really was. He had a mop of frizzy strawberry blonde hair and ruddy skin, a little pimply but not near as bad as his oldest brother Albert, but not near as pretty as his other brother Otis...who he grinned at as he let go of Romeo. Jake stepped beside Romeo and reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of pretzels. “Pretzel?”
Keisha recoiled from Jake “Why do you have those in your POCKET? Ew!”
Jake shrugged “What...they’re from here. My pants are clean.”
Daphne was still looking around and then beamed as she spotted her crew of girls, Mabel, Cath and Aislin all walked in together and daphne sprinted to them and hugged them all “Yay! You’re here!”
Mabel was a little dressed up tonight in a pretty layered light pink knee length flowered dress. She had had her mom help her with her hair so it wasn’t wild tonight but baretted back on one side in pretty and controlled ringletts. She even put on makeup, very carefully from tips she found on YouTube. She had little brown flats on and a matching little brown purse. She looked the most cleaned up and pretty her friends had likely ever seen. And she was more than a bit hopeful for a chance to dance with Rene.
Daphne noticed Mabel and stepped back after hugging her “Oh my god Mabel….you look amazing!”
Mabel smiled proudly “Thank you...have you seen Rene yet?”
Cath’s eyes went wide and she looked between Daphne and Aislin “Hey why don’t we dance? I like this song.” In truth Cath didn’t even know the song but it was a distraction. Cath was dressed like herself in a little denim overall dress with a t-shirt with a strawberry pattern on it. It was something she wore to school all the time. She had on red leggings and white sneakers and her hair was held back by a white plastic headband. Cath didn’t fuss much. She was just happy to be out with her friends and she’d never been to a dance before. She reached for Mabel and Aislin's hands to pull them into the dance area. The Wong twins were close by but doing their own thing as usual. Cath watched in fascination as she tried to move to the music too.
Anton Zelenko was stuck on teacher dance supervision duty and he did a slow round of the room before stopping beside George Arnett to chat. George was seasoned so he was going to follow the guy’s lead on how much supervision they should actually be on top of. The kids seemed to have it in hand so far and the music was enjoyable.
Romeo waved at Keisha and then tried to turn but found himself in a Jake headlock. He can't look at Jake, so he looks at Keisha. "Won't you be ... my neighbor." and rolls his eyes. Jake pulls pretzels out of his pocket, "You're pocketing the snacks...." he just shakes his head, but watches how Levar handles this, because he is bound and determined to have that position someday.
Otis watches Jacob headlock Romeo and then pull pretzels out of his pocket and laughs at Jake's protest.
Aislin hugs Daphne. "Of course we're here." she looks innocently around. "You look very nice, Mabel." She is in pink leggings, a purple denim overall dress on a matching pink shirt. Then Mabel mentions Rene and she looks at Cath and Daphne, not wanting to be the one to say anything.
Zach Wong walks in all by himself. He sees Romeo and Jacob and joins them. "You know, Romeo." he begins. "You could have pawned your rejects our way you know." he gives him a mock punch on the shoulder. For the most part, he ignores his sisters and just lets them do them.
Mason walks in looking mildly annoyed. For his part, he would just as soon stay home and work on his computer, but he came to see his friends. And of course .. no Tony, no Tristan and no Rene. He knew about Tristan and Rene, so he expected them soon. Tony had suggested that he would be making an entrance ... as usual. He would wait to see them and then he decided he would go home.
Tomas walked in slightly behind Mason, but didn't talk to him. He didn't really move too far from the door. This was his first dance and he hadn't asked anyone to come with him.
Daniel walks in with Hayley on his arm. Today he had gone into the clothes that he'd brought with him from Vancouver. Nearly new blue jeans and a button up light blue shirt with a black t'shirt underneath it. The clothes were neat and nice. He was fascinated because he had never been to a dance like this one. At his old school the dances were the boys school and the girls school, supervised within an inch of their lives and catered. This was so much different and better.
Hayley brown had never been on a date with a boy or to a dance. She hadn’t done much of anything. She had run home as fast as she could after school so she could take a bath without her father yelling about how long she took and then put on a grey turtleneck and a simple brown knit dress with black leggings. Her father had come home after she was dressed. He knew she was going to a dance and he seemed to have sniffed out the fact that she was someone’s date. His working in the school was a curse sometimes. But he didn’t seem to know who’s date so when he pressed her on it she had blurted out the first name that came to her head “Mason Stanley.” Mason was white and not Jewish so she hoped her father would end his questions there. Her mother had given her a little hug goodbye and pressed a crumpled 20 dollar bill into her hand secretly that she’s probably been hiding for awhile. With her secret money she sneaks to the pharmacy and buys the cheapest tube of pink lipstick they have and some black brown mascara. She so rarely has her own spending cash. LaTonya mentioned putting on makeup together and Hayley didn’t even own any. When she got to LaTonya’s she was yanked into her room and offered another dress. Her knit one was old and pilling. LaTonya offered her one with flowers on it in the same pink as her lipstick. She had suggested Hayley lose the turtleneck but Hayley tugged it self consciously further down her wrists “I have so many freckles it’s gross.” The other dress was sleeveless so it fit over the turtleneck and looked ok. Daniel had asked Hayley at the final hour on Thursday right after Stefan asked LaTonya...like the boys were goading each other to both ask. Hayley had forgotten about Tony since she ended up at a table with Daniel. He was so cute and kind to her. But she knew LaTonya still liked him. But here they were now walking into the dance and Daniel had offered his arm like a gentleman as they got to the door so with a great big blush, she took it.
Stefan walked in behind Daniel and Hayley. He had seen Daniel do the little suave arm offer and had tried it with LaTonya but she unfortunately looked the other way as he gave her a winning grin and stuck out the elbow so he sheepishly walked beside her just looking at her as often as he could get away with it and basking in her beauty. The room was getting full and he saw quite a bit of their class in there already. The Wong twins were dancing in creepy synchronization. Over from them the group of 4 girls who hung out together all the time were dancing more randomly but seemed to be having fun...Cath, Aislin, Daphne and ...was that Mabel? She was all spruced up. He saw her brother walking alone and Tomas and gave them each a little nod.
Tristan hovered outside the doors to the dance with Rene. They were both a little nervous. Rene looked so hot in his black on black outfit Tristan had been tempted to scrap the dance and just make out with him but his parents were looming and his mother took their picture and called them adorable. Tristan was wearing his red button up shirt with a pair of black jeans. He had styled his hair a bit again. He was getting better at it at least. Now he let out a big sigh and looked at his beloved and then head jutted into the dance where Levar Hawkins-Domino had just leaned in and kissed his boyfriend Otis, not giving a damn who saw them. “Rene….look at them….we got this.” He reached for Rene’s hand if he could take it to walk in holding it and revealing to their friends and their school that they were in fact...a couple. Tony and Mason knew...and Cath knew. The rest was uncharted waters.
Mina James walked in behind Tristan and Rene. She saw Tristan reach for Rene’s hand and had just the slightest smirk about it. She pulled up her black hood and skulked her way through the crowd like a little goth ghost, talking to no one. For a while she found a dark corner and disappeared into it where she could watch the room undisturbed and decide if this was at all her scene. She had a short black dress over fishnets with combat boots and an oversized black hoodie on.
Fernanda took Duncan by the hand to the dance area. She loved to dance. Her family loved music and dancing. She hoped her man could at least move side to side. If not she’d settled for the slow songs regardless. She was wearing a fun swishy red dress and she had twisted her hair up behind her head. She looked like some kind of Flamenco performer minus the castanets. On her feet were little flat black shoes. She beckoned to both Miranda and Laia when she saw them to join them as it was a fast song.
Miranda Rogers was almost ready to leave the dance the moment she walked in. Because the first person she laid eyes on was none other than Spencer Newcastle standing with Cosmo Cherneski. They smiled at her and she walked the other way, stopping to say hi to Romeo and his crew and hoping Spencer would get hit by one of the pumpkin decorations if it was inclined to fall on him. Miranda was in an offwhite peasant blouse top and faded black jeans with black boots. Her hair was currently purple. She couldn’t help but smile at Fernanda when she was beckoned and she went to dance, even if it was going to be her only one of the night and she might leave after.
Rene had nearly swooned when he saw how incredible Tristan looked when he came to get him. They survived his parents and walked the little way to the school. He spotted Levar and Otis when Tristan pointed them out. Then Tristan took his hand and Rene was ready for the world to know about them, or at least the school. As they walked in, he nodded. "Damn right we do." and he, as he often does, lifted Tristan's hand to his lips to kiss it.
Mason saw Tristan and Rene walk in and jogged over to them. "Great. You guys are here! You both look great. So on so forth .. where the hell is Tony? I have a download going." His goal was to see Rene and Tristan, then see Tony and be seen by them. Then he planned to go home. Period.
Duncan walked onto the dance floor with Fernanda. He was absolutely enthralled by Fernanda's red dress. She had given him some warning and her father had given his advice, so now he was dressed ib black pants and a white button down shirt that was open at the collar. Personally, he thought he looked like a bullfighter. He danced the way he danced. His brother said it was like a scarecrow in a windstorm.
Laia had opted not to try and compete with Fernanda in the dressing department. She'd lose and badly. So she wound up wearing black slacks, a white shirt and one of her brothers' performing hats. So she looked like them when they performed. And, as it turned out, she also looked like Duncan, which made her giggle.
Cosmo Cherneski saw Miranda walk in the door and he bit his lip, grabbing a drink and moving to the opposite side of the dance from her.
Otis broke from his kiss with Levar and looked around again. He spotted Tristan Yamada and Rene Beaulieu and elbowed Levar, beaming.
Stella played song after song, never allowing more than a second of silence between. She was watching everyone and smiling. Nearly everyone had arrived and as one song started its end, the doors opened and she grinned, replacing the record she was about to play with her digital player. Tony Penhall's Fame started blasting through the speakers.
Tony Penhall walked into the dance with Candra on his arm and a broad smile on his face. Stella started playing his song and they walked out to the middle of the dance floor and started dancing to it.
Candra Stevens had many years of ballet, jazz, gymnastics and modern dance under her tight little belt. During the fog she had practiced from videos even. She was a confident girl, blonde, pretty and agile as she danced with and around Tony, but made sure he was still the center of the who they were putting on. She wore a tied waist wraparound style hot pink dress and little black pumps which she kicked off to dance and left right beside the group of 4 dancing gald friends from Tony’s 7-8 class. She did finish with an impressive flip right into Tony’s arms and ended her part of the show by kissing him right on the lips. He had such lovely lips after all and she’d been dying to.
Tristan starts to answer Mason with what could have been a joke when the music changes to Fame and everyone turns as Tony and Candra make one hell of an entrance. Tristan can’t help but laugh a bit and then cheer because it was so Tony.
Mabel was having fun and dancing with her friends when suddenly a few people stare towards the doorway and she sees Rene and Tristan walking in holding hands. She feels like a knife has been stabbed into her side. The knife twists as Rene lifts Tristan’s hand and kisses it. She just stares at them as the breath leaves her body. She doesn’t even have time to react further when the music changes to Fame and Tony and Candra come in dancing. The whole room watches that scene and Mabel just stares numbly.
Daphne was grooving with her hands in the air when she saw Tristan and Rene arrive together. She knew but she had never seen them as a couple. They were super sweet together but she cast a worried look at Mabel as she watched her look very upset by it. She saw making her way to Mabel to check on her when the music changed and then all of a sudden a pair of black pumps dropped beside her and Tony and Candra danced by and then put on a big show in the middle of the room that ended with a kiss. Daphne felt a pit in her stomach and her eyes burned with tears but she fought it and glared down at the shoes like she was considering throwing one of them instead of cheering like other people were. But before she could decide between revenge or ignoring Mabel sobbed and flew past her towards the bathroom. “Shit..” She looked back at Cath and Aislin and head jutted and then went after Mabel.
Cath smiled at her brother and Tristan, feeling so proud of them for going public. She had seen the school president around with his boyfriend and hoped it made them feel like this school was a safe place to be who they were. But then Mabel was taking it badly, which she had kind of expected. And then something wild happened with Tony and Candra coming in with his special song and a big dance. Cath looked impressed but she also suspected it was making Daphne a little annoyed. And then Mabel took off crying and her duty was clear. But she was a sister too. And she held up a finger to Aislin before following and walked over to Tristan and Rene and gave her brother a supportive little hug before she went to comfort Mabel “You guys are amazing. I love you.” It wasn’t something she often said to her siblings at this age but she felt like this was probably a really big step for Rene and Tristan. She gave Tristan a smile too before she was gone.
Sophia Wong had stilled her dancing and tapped Mia with a look of alarm “Our turtle dove has a man friend. We have chosen poorly.” She stands and her wheels are turning in her brain and then there’s an over the top little dance number from the famous Tony and his flippy blonde little friend. “Well that was interesting.” she remarks.
Fernanda enjoys Duncan’s dancing. He danced and that was all she cared about. Miranda was dancing too. Laia joined them looking like outfit twins with Duncan and it made her laugh. Then there was a big fun looking dance happening in the middle of the room and Fernanda of course knew of Tony but the girl was newer to her this year in school and not in her class. She cheered them on regardless as they were quite fun to watch.
Levar had given a little clap at Tristan and Rene when Otis pointed them out “Oh they’re so sweet…..it warms my heart.” He gave the younger gay couple a thumbs up and grinned at them. Then Tony Penhall and his date put on a hell of a show and he hooted and hollered at them because these were the things that made dances memorable. Good for them.
Mr. Zelenko exchanged a little smile with Mr. Arnett about Rene coming in with a boy holding hands. The other boy wasn't in his drama class but Mr.Arnett knew them both and smiled encouragingly at them. Then Anton cheered and clapped with the students at Tony and Candra’s performance “I should have made the whole play a musical….” Anton exclaimed. “That was great.”
Keisha had dragged her crew of boys onto the dance floor but they cleared a path when Tony and Candra started doing their thing. Keisha couldn’t help but cheer them on because it was too much fun. Beside her, Jake whistled almost right in her ear and she gave him a playful shove.
Sparrow had been dancing up a storm but got thirsty and went for a drink. She ended up watching the dance entrance from afar but smiling and clapping. She also grinned at Stella for being on top of her DJ game and playing to the crowd that included the little rock star Tony Penhall.
Tony loved dancing almost as much as he loved singing, and Candra was an incredible partner. He caught her when she flipped into his arms and kissed her back like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn't even look surprised, even though he was. Once the song is over most of the place is filled with applause and cheers, which is like a drug for him. Then Stella switches to a slow song and he keeps his arms around her, transitioning smoothly from the fast dance to the slow dance, and giving her little kisses on the lips, cheek and neck.
Aislin couldn't help but smile as Tristan and Rene came in, apparently comfortable enough for Rene to kiss Tristan's hand in such an affectionate way there was no confusing how they felt about each other. Then Tony makes the entrance to end all entrances, but Mabel is crying and running off towards the bathroom. "Shit ..." she looks at Cath, but gets the hold on a minute finger and she nods, understanding.
Rene couldn't help but smile and dance beside Tristan during Tony's signature cover song. Once it's over he sees the kiss and stares. He tightens his grip on Tristan's hand. Cath comes by and speaks words so touching, Rene almost chokes up, "I love you too, sis." and then she is gone in the crowd, but he can't see where. He looks around and sees Levar giving them the thumbs up and nods at him, pointing them out to Tristan. A slow song starts and he leans into Tristan. "Dance with me, mon amour?"
Mason watches Tony's entrance, dance and kiss, cheering like everyone else. He moves behind Tristan and Rene and spreads his arms wide, clapping them both on the shoulder. "And Tony makes another spectacular entrance!" he proclaims. Slow music begins and he claps the two shoulders again. "I've socialized and done the friendship thing. Again, congratulations to you two. I'm going home." he looks around real quick for his twin, but doesn't see her. He shrugs and heads out.
Mia looks where her twin indicates and arches both of her brows. "Ah well ... we'll have to choose more wisely next time." She looks at the dance from Tony and the blonde. "Very interesting."
Duncan stopped dancing when Tony started dancing. That kid was famous and a MUCH better dancer than he was. He puts his arm around Fernanda and watches. When the slow song starts, he turns to her and pulls her into his arms, giving a quick prayer for her feet before he begins to sway.
Stella danced in place as the Fame cover played. She looked at the dance and saw Sparrow drinking across the room. She set up a few more songs. 2 slow and one long and not too fast and took off her headphones, leaving her station for a drink of her own. She stops by Sparrow. "Hey..." she says, feeling a little shy around this girl. She pours herself a drink and turns to face the slow dancers, downing the cup dry in a few swallows.
Daniel grins at seeing Tristan and Rene together. He loved anyone in a happy relationship, since he hadn't seen many. Plus it meant more gay people and so he figured Levi was even safer in this town. Then Tony comes in and gives such a performance that Daniel can't help but clap. When a slow song comes on, he looks at Hayley/ "May I have this dance?" he asks, offering her his hand to lead her onto the dance floor.
Hayley had noticed Tristan and Rene and hesitated briefly just because she seemed to recall Tristan and Rene’s sister. But as the sister hugs the brother she has some curious thoughts. And all three of them seemed happy with those two together. She gave a little nod about it and then Daniel was asking her to dance very sweetly. She took his offered hand and stepped towards him. She wasn’t sure how close to get as it seemed to really vary on the dance floor. Cautiously, she put her hands on Daniel’s shoulders and stepped side to side with him a bit letting him choose how close they got. As their hands touched she got a tiny spark though and it made her blink. But the dancing gave her a warm feeling.
Sparrow did an impressive trick shot with her now empty can drink as Stella walked up and said hey. “Hey yourself goddess of tunes. You’ve left the station?” She looks around dramatically “Does that mean you get to dance?” She grins a little and offers her hand “And if so, may I have this one?” Sparrow is not shy and if it’s a yes she’ll tug Stella into the crowd and pull her close but not body to body and start to sway and turn.
Fernanda throws her arms around Duncan and sways with him slowly as she snuggles into him. Part way through the song she starts kissing him and the swaying becomes a bit erratic. At some point they bump right into Sparrow and Stella and break apart to apologize and dance the other way.
Tristan bites his lip and nods enthusiastically at Rene and slides one hand to his waist and the other over his shoulder pulling him close with zero shame. He gives Rene a light kiss and then pulls him into a full hug as they sway and turn a bit. This is heaven to him, absolute heaven. He had of course said bye to Mason and was a little bummed their pal didn’t want to hang out for the evening but he got Mason and this wasn’t his scene.
Keisha liked dancing and she’d even do the slow songs with a male friend platonically. She considered Romeo but for some reason asking him felt overwhelming so he gave Zach a swat “Dance with me ya moron.” she demanded jovially “Hands stay at the waist!” And with that she dragged her buddy to the floor and it would be a pretty goofy dance but fun.
Stefan worked up all his courage, every last bit and thought about all the lines he’d practiced in the mirror. He kept it simple and asked LaTonya “May I have this dance...please?” He held out a hand like Daniel had. If she accepted he’d lead them out and dance at a very chaste distance and try to keep a nice tempo and hope to god his hands didn’t sweat. When their hands did finally touch there was a weird little spark between them like static electricity.
Candra melted into Tony’s affection and returned them. By halfway through the song she was kissing him with pretty reckless passion. There was practically steam coming off the pair of them as they swayed and turned. Every now and then they’d come up for air and end up looking over each other’s shoulders and around but they could barely stay away.
Meanwhile in the bathroom stall, Mabel was slumped against the door bawling and almost accusing Daphne “Did you KNOW? Did you know he was gay? I had no idea...I’m such a stupid ass…” She cried and cried.
Daphne held her friend's hand under the door “Oh Mabel I’m sorry. I know you liked him….I know it hurts.”
Cath came in with Aislin and sat down on the floor by Daphne “Mabel? Are you ok?”
Now Mabel got even more upset “Is that Cath? You’re his sister...you MUST have known he was gay! Did Tristan cheat on you with your BROTHER? Is that why you broke up?”
Cath bit her lip and looked helplessly at Aislin.
Daniel started a little at the spark. "Sorry ... must be static." he moves with her and pulls her close enough to be polite. Not so far away they looked like total noobs and not so close they were like .. well ... Tony and Candra. "I hope you're having a good time." he turns them a little bit.
Stella nodded. "Union coffee break." she quips and then smiles, biing the corner of her lip. "It does mean I get to dance.'' She takes Sparrow's hand and moves with her to the dance floor. As they begin to dance she looks at her and clears her throat a little nervously. "The decorations are great.'' She offers up a little small talk. Then Fernanda and her boyfriend bump into them, pushing them closer together. At their apology, Stella says. "No problem." but didn't back away from Sparrow to that original distance.
Romeo watched as Keisha took her pick of their friends. She chose Zach and he smiled as she gave instructions. He stays where he is, dancing slowly in place until Taylor Newcastle came up to him and shyly asked him to dance. He smiled at her and took her hands, making sure to keep his hands on her waist. Taylor seemed very shy. She was one of the girls who hadn't asked him out, so he thought maybe she wasn't going to come at all.
Aislin went into the girls room and could almost feel Mabel's pain. That pain seemed almost to turn to anger aimed at poor Cath and she saw Caths look and took in a deep breath. "Cath was covering for Rene and Tristan when their awful aunt started asking questions. It wound up going a little too far." she inhales and blows out a breath. "But I think we all knew Rene was gay, but not until Rene finally came out of the closet. Cath didn't even confirm it for me and I was there when she suddenly claimed to be Tristan's girlfriend. she sighs. "We're all sorry you got hurt Mabel, but it's more important that you don't crush on a gay boy, don't you think?"
Mabel now unlocks the stall door and looks out at them all “Did you ALL know before TONIGHT?” She’s hurt and mad but she’s stopped crying and is now just staring daggers.
Daphne looks sheepish “Mabel we didn’t want you to get hurt….we’re really sorry. Rene’s not the one...I mean it looks like he is for Tristan. It sucks and it hurts. I have to accept that Tony’s not the one for me either…..which is getting easier because god they’re disgusting. But we can’t hold onto this stuff.”
Mabel takes a deep breath and calms slightly “You’re all right….I just feel like an idiot. He didn’t see me crying over him did he? I have made such an ass of myself for Rene.”
Cath nods along with Aislin and then looks at Mabel “No...he didn’t see. But if you hide in the bathroom all night it might be obvious something’s up.” She shrugs “I think we should just go dance. It won’t be a slow song all night right?”
Daphne laughs “No...not usually...but whatever...we can dance with each other. You don’t have to date someone to dance with them.”
Mabel gave a little nod “You’re right….but no offense...I do want to dance with a boy...nothing against gay people anywhere…” Mabel stood up and brushed herself off and then went to the mirror “My god I’m a raccoon. They said this mascara was waterproof!” She quickly washes off the shadows under her eyes and then turns “Come on ladies….we got this. Thank you. I know you were trying to protect me.” She quickly hugs them all and then heads to the door.
Cath opens it for Mabel after hugging her “You go girl….” She follows Mabel out but then feels a tickle in her throat and ends up walking herself towards the drink table.
Mabel is unsure which way to go so she turns to follow Cath and runs smack into Tomas, literally collides with him “Oh...sorry Tomas.” Then she looks at him like she’s just noticing something “Hey you’re a boy…..do you want to dance with me?”
Daphne had hugged Mabel but then laughed and laughed as she followed with Aislin “Wow what a night.” She saw Tony and Candra looking like they might swallow one another’s heads and shuddered “Jesus…..oxygen? Oh hell...Aislin do you want to dance with me?” She dramatically does a little bow in front of her. It seems a second slow song is kicking in now.
Aislin sighs. "I'm sorry too. It was just ... hard to break it to you." Daphne suggests they dance with each other and Aislin bites her lip. But once again Mabel lets them all know she's straight, fixes her face and they exit. She sees Tony and Candra and then smiles at Daphne. "I'd be honored." After the bow, she takes Daphne's hand and dances with her, not as close as Tony and Candra, but closer than most.
Tomas is nearly knocked to the ground and looks to see it's Mabel Stanley. "Perdoname." he apologizes, in case it was his fault. She then notices he's a boy and asks him to dance. "Si, por favor." and he leads her a little bit away to dance with her.
LaTonya sees Tony’s dance with Candra and tightens her jaw so much it pops. “Come on, Stefan.” she pulls him into the slow dance and steers him closer to Tony. He’ll see her with Stefan and he’ll see what he’s missing.
Tony is still dancing, or he’s pretty sure he is dancing. Candra is a good kisser and he is very much into her. There almost is no one around him, that he is aware of.
Candra is practically wrapped around Tony kissing him non stop. He’s cute and he’s popular and he’s a rock star and he’s making out with her. It was the best night of her life as far as she was concerned.
Stefan is over the moon about LaTonya’s enthusiasm to dance with him. He allows himself to be steered and is politely putting his hands chastely at LaTonya’s waist when he’s pulled in closer. While they were walking his epi pen had shifted in his pocket so now it was kind of uncomfortably up front but he’d sort that out later and not ruin this perfect moment as he felt the rhythm of the music and swayed and got close to this amazing beautiful girl. They were right beside Tony and Candra who were making out like crazy. It was almost indecent so he cleared his throat and looked at LaTonya as she got even closer and his eyes widened as he grinned at her, their bodies now pressed together. He would not complain about that.
LaTonya has steered them so they are dancing close to Tony and Candra. But the problem was that they were not looking. If they’d come up for air for one lousy second! She pulls Stefan nearly as close as her target couple was. If Tony doesn’t look she might have to kiss Stefan and she did NOT want to do that. She continues to dance, pressing her body against him when she feels something hard. Gasping, she pulls away from him. “”What the hell, Stefan?” she nearly screams.
Tony hears shouting and, very reluctantly begins to come into the here and now. Some girl was shouting … someplace.
Candra is still hanging onto Tony, trying to ignore the shouting and keep kissing him. She was a little addicted.
Stefan is melting into LaTonya without a care in the world when suddenly she’s pulling away and yelling at him “What’d I do?” He’s genuinely confused “Did I step on your foot?” He hadn’t felt a foot under either of his. Was his sister right about the cologne? He reaches for LaTonya again “Hey hey…” A few people are staring at them now and he wants to apologize and get back to slow dancing because slow dancing is so nice.
LaTonya glances down and sees what he thinks is a ‘tent’ like she’s read about in books and online stories. She looks back at him as he tries to reach out for her again. “It is not THAT kind of dance, Stefan!” she huffs
Tony kept kissing but the droning in his ears is getting annoying.
Stefan follows LaTonya’s gaze to the front of his jeans and gulps as he hears her words. He shifts the epi pen so it’s not sticking out “Oh god no...LaTonya...it’s my epi pen...I wasn’t...I wouldn’t.” He starts to reach into his pocket “I’ll show you…..”
Candra actually got distracted finally since the conversation beside them was loud and also peeking her interest. She pulls back from Tony and stares at LaTonya and Stefan like pretty much the rest of the 15 foot radius around them.
LaTonya hears Stefan, but she is already mad on a couple of levels. His epi pen? And he’s reaching for his pants? She huffs and reacts by slapping him in the face. “You pervert!” she snaps, turns and stomps off of the dance floor.
Tony blinks as Candra pulls out of the kiss and he follows her gaze to see LaTonya and Stefan. LaTonya is mad about Stefans epi-pen and then Stefan gets slapped hard enough to hear. Afterwards. LaTonya hurries off leaving Stefan standing there alone. He pulls at Candra. “I think this is our cue to leave, baby. How bout we go to my place and finish this conversation in private?
Stella had been concentrating on Sparrow, but when the commotion commanded her attention, she blinks. “Fuck … looks like my break is over…” she sighs. “Thanks ..” she suddenly gives Sparrow a kiss on the cheek and hurries off before the can hear any response, never mind get slapped. No one has to tell her to stop the slow song and put on something that says ‘dance fast and far apart’.
Stefan reeled and put his hand to his cheek where LaTonya slapped him. It hurt but not as much as it hurt his heart. In fact he was pretty sure he felt his heart break right then and there. Pervert? He had nothing but respect for her and all girls. He saw Daniel and Hayley looking concerned and like they might come over to him and he held up a hand and shook his head before bolting out the back door of the gym and running for home.
Hayley’s jaw dropped as she watched the scene between Stefan and LaTonya. She had been bravely moving closer to Daniel, resting her head on his shoulder but their argument made her pull back. As LaTonya stomps off after slapping Stefan, Hayley looks at Daniel. He surely wanted to check on Stefan but she needed to go to LaTonya. They took a step towards Stefan together and then Stefan was out of there. She turned to Daniel “I’m sorry...I need to find her…” And she walked in the direction LaTonya had gone beginning to check the bathroom, the gym change room and every dark corner she could duck into looking for her friend. At one point she found Mina James and asked “Have you seen Latonya?”
Mina shook her head “No...but that was dope. And here I thought this dance would be boring.”
Hayley shook her head at her and kept looking. Her friend was upset. After 3 rounds she came back to Daniel and sighed “I don’t know where she is and I don’t have a phone to text her. My dad won’t let me get one…”
Candra smiled slyly at Tony “Yeah let’s leave the drama...I like private conversations.” she cooed and took Tony by the hand towards the exit. They passed her brother Justin who was still standing at the wall and she noticed a look of concern from him and shrugged at him dismissively. She was old enough to do what she wanted with who she wanted.
Tristan’s eyes went wide at what was going on between Stefan and LaTonya. He held Rene close but watched and listened and then heard the thing about the epi pen and winced for Stefan. Then Stefan got slapped and he winced again “Poor guy….” He moved his head back over Rene’s shoulder by his ear “I do have an epi pen in my pocket...but I’m also happy to see you.” He teased and then kissed Rene’s cheek.
Sparrow observes the commotion too and then feels the kiss on her cheek and grins at Stella as she goes. As the fast song starts she lets the music move her and blows Stella a kiss before disappearing into the crowd beginning to dance faster.
Mabel had been enjoying dancing with Tomas more than she expected to. They talked and he was very sweet and he seemed to take on her being a bit zany with a patience many people didn’t have for it. By the second song they had moved a bit closer and she felt herself blushing a bit as it happened but then something volatile was happening a ways over and they turned to look with the rest of the crowd. Mabel couldn’t hear it all but she saw the slap and grimaced “Ow…..yikes…” then LaTonya ran past them and before anyone could do much else the song switched to fast. Mabel gave a little shrug and started fast dancing hoping Tomas did that because he was pretty fun and the more she looked at him, the cuter he seemed to get too.
Soon they were joined by Cath and Daphne and Aislin in their dancing circle. Daphne even dragged over Tristan and Rene to join them and Mabel tensed briefly and then took a breath and let it go, giving them a genuine smile. She leaned over to Rene and said “You guys are really good together.” She had accepted it.
Daphne and Aislin had been doing a very dramatic pseudo ballroom dance routine to all the slow songs which was very fun and led to lots of giggling. They spun each other, they dipped, they tried to tango. Daphne knew Tony was across the room swapping spit with a blonde floozy but Aislin was making her forget to care tonight and she appreciated it. Then a big nasty scene happened between LaTonya and Stefan and they stopped after a dip to stare. Daphne blinked and shook her head “Well that happened….” Then the music got fast and the fun went on. She didn’t really know Stefan well and LaTonya had been getting on her nerves flirting with Tony. she was fine to ignore all that and dance. Since Mabel seemed to be enjoying hanging out with Tomas, Daphne took a risk and dragged Rene and Tristan into the group to fast dance. For Daphne, preserving the group of her friends as a whole was important. Tony left with Candra and Mason seemed to be long gone…..but the rest were around. She noticed Sparrow blowing a kiss to Stella the DJ and smiled at them. She had seen them slow dancing. Just another way Sparrow was pretty darn cool in her mind. Daphne smiled warmly at Aislin, she just felt inspired to.
After the one dramatic moment, the rest of the dance was just a lot of fun. There were fast songs and slow songs and all kinds of people danced with one another for fun, friendship and romance. Couples paired off of course but the singles mixed it up at the Academy. Cath even ended up being asked to dance by an older boy named Jake from her drama class who offered her pretzels from his pocket. She politely declined the pocket snack but he was amusing. Dancing with Jake kind of meant dancing with all his friends since he steered them around and nattered at Romeo, Keisha now dancing with Zach again. That group of friends was gregarious with one another. At one point Keisha and Jake enacted the on the bow scene from the movie Titanic before she pretended to push him overboard and he did an epic drowning scene.
Sparrow slipped behind the DJ booth and brought Stella a can of pop, hanging with her while she spun tunes and then when the last slow one came on she danced with her right there very close.
Levar and Otis danced all night both fast and slow and at the end of the night Levar called up to Stella “Hey last song!” Because the music was going past the time. He laughed when he saw Stella was distracted as she and Sparrow were now kissing behind the DJ booth “Alright….” He kissed Otis too happy to have Stella go overtime until she actually announced her last song.
Daniel winced when he heard the slap and saw Stefan move off. He'd been enjoying his own dance with Hayley but understood her need to find her friend. While she looked, he pulled out his phone and called Stefan who didn't say much but told him he wanted him to stay at the dance. After the call ended, Hayley returned saying she couldn't find her friend and that she didn't have a phone. "You can use my phone, if you know the number." he offered, holding his phone out. It was the latest and greatest model, even though he wasn't thinking about that. But she looks at it as it it were a poisonous snake and turns down the offer. So he pockets it and tries to comfort her by distracting her with dance.
Rene watched what happened and felt horrified on Stefan's behalf. But it doesn't interrupt the dance as much as he thought. Tristan even put his head on his shoulder and made a joke, which made Rene laugh. AFter being kissed on the cheek, Rene gives Tristan a quick peck on the lips. The slow song feels like it's stopped and faster music put in its place. But Rene doesn't mind. Fast music or slow, he is with Tristan and that's all that matters. Mabel even says they are good together. He smiles. "Merci, Mabel." and his evening got somehow even better.
Tomas is actually an incredible dancer, given how much his family likes music. Mabel had energy to spare and she paid attention to him ... until the drama. But after that she and he danced to fast music and while she was inexperienced and hyper, he had a good time. Maybe if they became friends, he could teach her some of the more energetic Latin dances.
Aislin had a great time dancing with Daphne. She blinked at the drama, but fast dancing was also fine. She was a little worried when Tony left with Candra, but Daphne took it all in stride. Aislin saw Sparrow blowing a kiss to the DJ and that somehow made her feel even better in her skin. Maybe it wasn't just the guys .. and maybe someday she could tell her friends her little secret. She returns Daphne's smile. It was just good to be around friends tonight.
Stella didn't take another break for the rest of the dance. She was very happy when Sparrow brought her a pop and kept her company. She thought, finally about the kiss and could not stop smiling. Finally, she played one last slow song and finally, she got on her mic, which she didn't do often. "And now that one last song ... everyone have a great night and be safe going home."
People started to leave, meeting parents and older siblings to walk them home if they weren’t with groups. It was October in Alexandra after all.
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