𝐎𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 ➳ THE NEXT STEP, OZZY

6:10

Ophelia looked down at her phone, and the bold numbers 6:17 shone back to her.

"Shit" she muttered.

Prom had started at 6, a whole 17 minutes ago. She was late because her brother had to drive her, since her parents were at some thing with her older sister.

Initially, Noah had offered to take her, however that would mean that Ophelia would have to third wheel with him and Jacquie, something Ophelia didn't like the idea of.

As fast as she could, Ophelia made her way into Studio 1. Across the room, Ophelia finds Ozzy, though her heart stops at the sight of Winnie in pursuit of him.

"I have Ozzy in my sights. Time to cha-cha over to him" Winnie grins.

Similar to the first time Ophelia saw them dance together, a horrible, sick feeling built up in her stomach. She almost felt as if she was being possessive over him, though in the back of her mind, Ophelia knew it was jealousy mixed with her natural insecurity.

"Winnie's my friend, but Ozzy's MY date" Ophelia says "I think I need to stand my ground"

Ophelia walked over, feeling a pung of guilt because of how much Winnie pined over Ozzy, but Lia didn't want to give up.

It only took a few seconds for Ozzy to notice Ophelia, and he paused for a moment, taking in her appearance. It was difficult not to gawk at her.

"Lia" Ozzy finally exclaims, walking over to her and giving her a hug. "I was getting worried. I thought you stood me up"

Ever since their duet, Ophelia had been able to keep her cool about Ozzy, but it seemed that tonight was different. Maybe it was the pressure with Winnie being there, or the fact that Ophelia had put a long time into her appearance, but the point was that her heart was racing.

"Sorry, Oz" Ophelia says, pulling away "Lukas had to drive me, and he took about fifty wrong turns"

Ozzy laughs. "Yeah, he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Actually earlier Winnie bumped into me and said how surprising it was to see me here" Ozzy tells Ophelia "As if I don't dance here"

"That's pretty weird" Ophelia laughs, knowing exactly why Winnie was like that.

"God Ozzy is gullible" Ophelia laughs "I can't decide if that's good or bad for me"

Eagerly, Ozzy grabs onto her wrist dragging her across the room "Have you voted for prom king or queen yet"

"No" Ophelia answers "I've barely been here five minutes"

On the way, Ophelia spots Winnie, who glares but says nothing. Seeing her causes Ophelia to sneakily move her hand around, working it into Ozzy's grasp, so she was now holding his hand.

Initially, Ophelia wanted to take a photo of this moment and make it her lock screen, but she didn't, as on second thought it sounded a bit creepy.

"Who are you gonna vote for" Ophelia asks, as she takes her two pieces of paper.

"I was actually gonna vote for you" Ozzy says, scratching the back of his neck. "You're my date after all"

"Even if she didn't come with me I'd still vote for Lia" Ozzy smiles "Who else would I vote for"

"Since you're being so kind I guess I'll return the favour" Ophelia mockingly sighs.

"Don't tell Ozzy this, but I would have voted for him anyway" Ophelia whispers

Everyone got one vote for Prom King, and one vote for Prom Queen. And earlier, Ophelia had made a deal with Jacquie to vote for her, so Ophelia stuck with that.

Ozzy ended up voting for Kingston, although he wasn't there, which Ophelia found quite amusing and was sure to send Kingston a picture on snapchat.

*****

Ophelia glances over at Noah and Jacquie and copies Jacquie's position, wrapping her arms around Ozzy's neck, it was clear to see that he had much more experience in this than she did.

"If I step on your feet I'm really sorry" Ophelia apologises in advance.

"I thought you were a dancer" Ozzy jokes.

"I'm sorry I'm not used to dancing in heels" she retorts, making Ozzy laugh.

A comfortable silence followed, but Ophelia couldn't help the feeling of someone's gaze on her. She glanced above Ozzy's shoulder and found Winnie glaring at her.

"I get super jealous seeing Ozzy and Ophelia dancing, because I haven't had my chance to dance with Ozzy yet" Winnie complains to the camera "But Ophelia can have this dance, I'm in it for the long game"

Ophelia, however, kept her head held high, as she felt a slight sense of pride upon simply being with Ozzy. Also, she knew that if she gave up on this opportunity, her future self would regret it.

It was safe to say partner dancing wasn't Ophelia's specialty, however she made it work. And it was with Ozzy, so Ophelia felt minimal pressure to be particularly good.

By the end of the song, her stomach hurt from laughter, and Emily and Michelle announcing prom king and queen was a welcome break to both of them.

There was no pressure as, Ophelia knew that she'd most likely only secured two votes which was not enough to win. So she and Ozzy stuck near the back of the crowd.

"Who are you betting on" Ophelia whispers to Ozzy.

"Henry" Ozzy immediately responds with. "For queen I don't know, no offence but I don't think you have a chance"

Ophelia acts shock, but she did agree. "What's that supposed to mean"

"Sorry, I just worded it bad" Ozzy pleads "I love you and everything but you aren't very social"

It was true, Ophelia was popular among her fellow A Troupers, but the prom queen was most likely going to be someone who was known by people from A Troupe, B Troupe amd J Troupe, something which Ophelia wasn't.

Ophelia chuckled under her breath, kissing her teeth. "I see how it is. Just so you know I'm an ambivert"

"Sure"

There was only time for Ophelia to give Ozzy a quick side eye before Prom King and Queen were announced.

But it was then that the conversation Ophelia had with Ozzy replayed and the phrase "I love you" finally hit her. Albeit, Ozzy meant it in nothing more than a platonic way, but Ophelia was content enough with that for the rest of the night.

KIARA SPEAKS
It's been ages, sorry for that, but I hope you all like this chapter lmao