Once

Fifty Three

After that the night had a strange sense of normality about it. They talked, they laughed. Jax told them how she'd made her dress. Russell gave them an in-depth analysis of his Drama exam that morning, which naturally he knew he'd done great in. After a while a song came on that Sellan liked; he grabbed Maggie by the hand and dragged her toward the dancefloor. She objected, obviously, but she didn't put up too much of a fight. Jax watched them go with a look on her face as if she were deciding what she might wear to their wedding. Russell raised a sarcastic eyebrow at them as they left, and Maggie grinned back at him and gave him the finger.

Elle almost felt like bursting into tears again. But this time they were tears of relief and joy she felt prickling the corners of her eyes. She just felt so normal, sitting here with her friends laughing at the same old jokes, the same jokes countless teenagers would be laughing at at their own proms all over the country that same week. It was just all so ordinary. She had almost forgotten what ordinary felt like.

David suddenly rose and, with an overly-formal gesture and an incredibly solemn look on his face, bowed over Jax and said:

"Miss Linwood, would you give me the pleasure of this dance?"

Jax, going along with the joke, pretended to fan herself and smirked back at him.

"Why, Mr Wrexham," she said, in a dramatic breathy voice straight out of a tacky period drama, "I thought you'd never ask."

And the next second they, too, were whirling away toward the dancefloor, giggling hysterically like a couple of toddlers.

Elle smiled, watching them. Then she looked round, and found Russell studying her.

"What?" she said.

He cocked his head on one side a little.

"You're not bothered, are you? About Jax and David dancing, I mean."

Elle almost burst out laughing.

"What? No! No, Russell, seriously. It's not like that between me and David. It's... look, we've had a talk."

"A talk?"

"Yes. And we've both made it clear we just want to be friends."

Russell arched that sardonic eyebrow once again.

"I believe you. Thousands wouldn't, of course." His wry face suddenly melted into a look of genuine concern. "Everything's OK, Elle. You do know that, don't you? None of us are angry with you. We just want you to be alright."

"I know that, Russell. I guess I'm just trying to learn not to hate myself too much."

"If you learn the secret, be sure to let me know. But seriously. You know none of us are even angry about what happened yesterday. If you thought we all hated you because of some stupid things you said when you were angry, you can't have a very good opinion of any of us."

"I'm working on that, too. Not the 'opinion of you guys' part, which frankly couldn't really be much higher. I mean... I guess what I mean is that I'm trying to be a better person. I know that sounds stupid and obvious, but I think I've only just realised that that's what's actually important. Be a good person, and be happy. I think that's what I'd like to try to be in the future."

"Well, 'happy' is something for you to work on in your own time. But to be honest, Elle, the 'better person' bit - I think you might have that nailed already."

"I don't think -"

"Elle Louise Ashcroft - can you point to one other person in this room who would fight off a wolf, a giant and a wicked witch in the space of a week, just to save the lives of her friends? I don't think I could. I think, Elle, you might just be the best person I know."