Oh Boy! (BL)

30 - Glimmer Ball (2/3)

"B...boss!" Cooper stared at me with wide eyes, his mouth was standing half open. "I almost didn't recognize you!"

"I didn't know you were such a looker!", exclaimed Trish, and even the quiet Amber gave me compliments.

Usually, I would've averted my eyes, but the suit gave me a confidence I'd never had before. "Thanks, guys."

Cooper was also dressed in a black suit, but instead of a tie, he was wearing a royal blue bowtie to his crisp white shirt. After all the work Clara and Lisa had put into my look, it was kinda disappointing that most of the boys were wearing similar outfits. Most were dressed in suits, most of those suits were black but what differed was the way we were wearing them. Some with professional elegance like the track athletes, others were tugging at the hem as if they were feeling uncomfortable. The girls, on the other hand, were silently competing for the most elegant dress, or the one with the most glitter on it. The meeting of two girls wearing the same dress in the hallway almost threatened to spark a war.

You think I'm exaggerating?

Well, one of them left the sport shall crying.

Before the ball officially began, Cooper spent most of his time taking photos of couples posing in front of the giant snowflake at the entrance to the sports hall. I had smirked when seeing that the snowflake was only half covered in glitter. Seemed like my little accident with Evans had had some severe consequences. Trish looked for captivating stories, such as the clash of dresses, or the guy who showed up with a date that was not his girlfriend. In the meantime, I helped Amber taking pictures of the dresses while she asked the girls for the designers. At least that's what she called it, when in reality, the "designers" were mostly H&M, Forever21, and Macy's. This was a high school dance after all.

The crowd of students parted for the first time when the cheerleaders arrived with their dates. Little surprising, most of their partners were players of the Thunderbirds SC. Alvarez, Ducky and Kenner were walking up front, each of them accompanied by a girl who looked tiny next to the wall. Evans had one girl on each of his arms and none of the two seemed to be bothered by it.

I watched the couples glide through the crowd like pop idols. There was an aura surrounding them that made them appear untouchable – divine. But I knew they were humans, like Cooper, like Amber, like Trish, and like me.

Friday, December 17, 2010. More than a quarter of a year had passed in which I'd learned so much about this school, about this city, and about me. Three and a half months, too many days since my world got turned upside down.

Too many days since I had last spoken to my mom.

In which I'd almost lost her. Twice.

In which I'd found friends.

In which I'd found love.

In which I'd found Clay.

Who was currently MIA.

"She's delaying their arrival," mumbled Cooper during a short break of taking pictures. "To make sure everyone notices her."

Ten minutes passed.

Twenty.

Amber and I left our spot at the entrance and entered the sports hall that was already filled with dark blue lights. Couples were already dancing to slow music below the disco ball, a teacher was watching the punch with eagle eyes. Probably because of last year's disaster when a handful of drunken...teachers had caused so much trouble that the local newspaper wrote about it for weeks!

Amber had just started talking to a girl dressed in something that looked more like a cupcake than a dress when the crowd got nervous. I followed their gazes to the double doors and if my camera hadn't been hanging on a lanyard round my neck, I would've dropped it.