The Secret I Tried to Keep

Chapter 24

Around 7, we finally entered the dance. Funding for Homecoming was really good this year and the dance was held at the Sheraton. On the way to the ballroom, there was a red carpet and someone taking pictures of the groups coming through. When we got in the ballroom, it was already packed. I said goodbye to Cassie and Aria as they went to ingle with everyone else. Tyler bowed and offered me his elbow.

"My Queen," he joked. I laughed and held onto his offered elbow. Tyler was goofy. Over the last week, I hung out with Tyler a lot because of our practices, but in that time I got to know him and he was actually a great guy. He wasn't your stereotypical jock. He was nice and smart. We walked to the stage and took a seat on the throws that were off to the side.

"This is crazy," I noted, watching as the ballroom continued to fill will people.

"To be completely honest, I'm nervous about the dance. No one has ever changed the dance before," Tyler admitted. I gave his hand a squeeze and smiled at him.

"It's going to be great. You'll be great and everyone is going to love it. Cassie already gave the track to the DJ; it's too late to turn back now," I joked. Tyler laughed and shrugged before his eyes drifted.

"So you and Reeds, huh?" Tyler asked after a moment. "He doesn't really like me around you, you know?" he added. Where we were, we had a bit of privacy from lingering ears. I sighed and let go of Tyler's hand as my eyes wandered to my lap.

"Zane... is a long story," I settled on saying.

"I know," Tyler said sympathetically. My eyes shot to his face in confusion. Surely he couldn't mean that he knew about me. There was no way. He looked around cautiously before he shrugged and leaned closer to me. "You always watch out for your stomach, the way Zane touches you and looks at your stomach, and... you showed a little. I saw when you wore that one tight gray shirt during practice. I can see that he cares about you, Dria. It's actually quite refreshing. Zane and I used to be friends. We were actually great friends, but then he lost his mom and his dad remarried, and after that he just... flew off the handle. He started sleeping around after that and we were only freshmen at the time. I tried to help, but he didn't want it. We just stopped talking after that," Tyler explained. I was shocked to say the least.

"I had no idea about his mother," I said softly. Tyler shrugged as his eyes scanned the crowd.

"He never talks about it... to anyone, not even Presley. He doesn't want people to know how much it crushed him, but I saw it anyway," Tyler said.

"You still care about him," I noted. Tyler nodded with a heavy sigh.

"He was my best friend. That doesn't just... go away," Tyler agreed. "But I care for you, too, as a friend. Just know I got your back, too," Tyler assured me. I gave him a small, thankful smile as I squeezed his hand again.

"You have no idea how much that means to me,Tyler," I said gratefully.

"Attention everyone Welcome to Homecoming 2015!" the MC said into the microphone. The MC was our student body president, Chloe. Everyone cheered as their attention was brought to the stage. I let go of Tyler's hand as my attention was brought to Chloe also. "To kick off our night, let's welcome to the floor our Homecoming King and Queen: Chandria Shandi and Tyler Martin for our opening dance!" she introduced as she motioned to us. We stood and Tyler offered me his elbow again as we smiled and a spotlight was put on us. Aria held my crown and sash as Tyler's friend did the same.

"Here goes nothing," Tyler muttered as we got to the center of the cleared dance floor. I gave his arm a reassuring squeeze as we held onto each, but my heart was pounding nervously, too. The music started and we bang our routine.

It started with a tango and people whooped excitedly at the choreography. After I sun out and let go of Tyler's hand, the music remixed into a quick-paced salsa. I smiled as we ran through the steps perfectly. The music flowed seamlessly again, and Tyler and I rocked a fancy Macarena. Finally, the last song in the track played. Tyler and I did our best impression of the final dance scene in 'Dirty Dancing'. When the time came for the lift, I hopped into a cradle hold with Tyler as the music ended. We decided we didn't want to risk a fall with the growing baby in my stomach, although I didn't doubt Tyler could pull it off. The cheering was thunderous as we took a bow. I laughed and hugged Tyler tightly as people began to fill the dance floor around us.

"That was amazing!" I squealed as I smiled at Tyler. He chuckled.

"You were amazing," he complimented me. I felt an arm pull me away quickly. I said a quick goodbye to Tyler and turned to see Aria. She pulled me out of the ballroom and into the bathroom as she placed the sash and crown back on me, but her face was anything but happy.

"What's wrong?" I asked, worried.

"I'm tired, is all. Plus, they don't really need you here anymore and your feet are probably killing you from that dance. We should just go to my place and have a Netflix marathon or something," she rambled as her hands fussed over my hair. I'd known Aria long enough to know that she was trying to protect me from something. I stopped her hands and made her look at me.

"Ari, you're going into overdrive, and I know you. Just breathe and then tell me what happened," I said. She took a deep breath before she looked at me sympathetically. I wasn't going to like this.

"I think I'm over exaggerating, but Zane came with Paris... as a date," Aria explained. I guess I could kind of understand that. I left him going stag, he probably wanted a date. I could understand why he might have picked a last-minute date. Aria sighed. "Look, Dria, your window is closing, just... tell him now before you run out of time," Aria urged. I sighed.

"I was planning on it actually, but I haven't seen him since we got here," I admitted. Aria rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, just look for Paris. She's wearing this God-awful gold sequence dress and parading Zane around like a trophy. You can't miss her; she's practically a highlighter," Aria said. I thanked her before I headed back to the ballroom. I didn't even make it to the door when I heard voices that stopped me. Well, one voice in particular.

"... Zane, you know the deal," I heard Paris' voice. Zane didn't reply. I hesitated before I followed the voice down a hallway. I stopped as my breath caught in my throat at the scene. Zane and Paris were making out against the wall. Paris had her hands tangled around his neck as his rested on her lower back. There was no room between them.

And right then, in that moment, my worst fears had been realized and my hesitations were confirmed.

Zane hadn't changed at all.