The Graduation

Chapter 3- The Dance

9:12pm

Alex watched Nisha leave, her face an expression of mild shock, "am I that easy to read?" she asked herself, surprised.

"Yes, you most definitely are." Kaiden's hand pulled Alex's apart, and she realized she'd been pulling at her fingers absentmindedly, her skin red and tender. She smiled at Kaiden, and laughed softly, kissing his cheek.

"I thought you were waiting with the others?" Alex glanced over to where Jordan was dancing wildly to the music that rang out loudly throughout the hall. Bear and Declan stood to the side, engaged in conversation, and Dix had some more governmentally involved parents engaged in conversation, pretending not to notice her boyfriend's ridiculous dancing.

"I was, but I noticed you over here and you looked worried so I thought I'd check up on you. Are you ok? Was it something that Nisha said?" Kaiden glanced at his aunt, a concerned expression on his face.

Alex placed a hand to his cheek, pulling the worried gaze back to hers. The stubble on his cheek was bristly under her fingertips but the skin was warm. Those piercing eyes softened, and the storm in them subsided, turning the blue calm again. "I'm ok. And Nisha did nothing wrong. In fact, she offered me a job."

Surprise flickered over Kaiden's features, "Oh. What did you say?"

"Nothing, she told me to think about it, but I really don't know what I'm going to say."

"Well, if you need someone to talk to or rant to, just let me know."

"Thank you, Kaiden. Now, enough with the seriousness." Alex took his hand in hers and dragged him towards their friends, a slow song was playing and Jordan had taken a pause from his manic moves to spin Dix around the dance floor. The grace in their movements was enchanting, but, with both of them growing up around formal balls and having had to take dance lessons as children, understandable. Alex, carefully passed by the couples, and approached Bear and Declan's conversation. She smiled at Declan who grinned cheekily back, and pulled Bear into a tight hug, laughing when he chose to spin her around, her feet dangling several inches above the ground.

"Where have you been? I thought you'd snuck out the second people started dancing." Bear laughed and placed Alex carefully on her feet, holding out an arm whilst she steadied herself with her heels.
"I was being held hostage by parents. No matter how many times I go to these events, there still always seem to be hundreds of people wanting to thank me." Alex rolled her eyes, before glancing around the ballroom/cafeteria. "Oh, and speaking of parents, have you seen mine?" Alex continued to look, spinning around like a top, trying to spot her mum and dad in the crowd of other parents. Expecting to see them talking to Doc or another professor, Alex examined the group of teachers chatting around the buffet, but they were nowhere to be found.

"Oh right." Declan suddenly remembered, dragging Alex's attention back to him, "They told me that they were heading back to the library to pick up a few things they remembered they'd left there after their last trip." He moved next to Alex to give a quick hug which she returned with a quick squeeze, panic welling inside her.

"What? No, they'll get lost!" Alex was already strolling from the hall, preparing to retrieve them from the library.

"They also told me that you would panic and feel the need to save them, and so I should try to stop you and tell you that they are fine. They said that if they are not back by the time you are ready to leave, then, and only then, are you allowed to 'save' them." Declan put air quotes around save and laughed at Alex's disgruntled expression.

"Fine." Alex did the very mature thing and stuck her tongue out, which brought more laughter from the others. "I'll wait but you better not be lying." She pointed a dramatic finger at Declan, much to the increasing amusement of her friends.