In Her Shoes

Chapter 39: Love Octagon

I scanned the room looking either for a beautiful ray of sunshine or an angel dressed in white. As I said the multi-purpose room was quite big so when I walked around a dozen times to no avail, I thought that maybe she hadn't even showed up. I leaned against the wall away from the crowd and sighed, taking a break. I scanned the mass crowd with frustration and was about to take off my shoes for a foot rest when I saw her. She was leaning across from me, on the same wall but on very the end, near where they were serving the refreshments.

I stared at her in wonder, my jaw hanging open in awe. Luckily, she didn't see me coming towards her cause it was too loud and she was too focussed on people on the floor. She stared at them in apathy, a blank emotionless face as if she weren't even really seeing them. I almost forgot what I had to say, where I was, or even what body I was in, as I took in her appearance.

She had chosen the white one. An angel in white. Her blond hair cascaded over one shoulder in gentle waves, her red lip stick and made-up pouty face making her look much more like a model advertisement or a celebrity attending the Oscars than a high schooler at a dance. She stood out among everyone else with the steely class and elegance she carried with her, and I knew if she had been on the floor there would have been no way I could have missed her.

She turned to the refreshment table, grabbed a glass of lemonade and swirled her cup around, looking into the swirling liquid as if it would answer her obviously unspoken questions. I took a deep breath before I said anything to her, partially to remember what I had to say and partially to admire her beauty before she turned hard on me again.

Seeing her in the white dress, with full make-up and hair I wondered how the yellow one even compared. She seemed to have applied some shimmer lotion to her neck and shoulders, or maybe it was just her natural glow. I admired how her blond hair waved gracefully over one shoulder like a golden waterfall, but still, something was missing. It was her smile. Her big excited grin was missing. And it was because of me.

"Anna...."

She didn't hear me, which wasn't surprising since the music that was playing was loud enough to vibrate your heart out of your chest. I gently touched her wrist. "Anna."

She looked up and me quickly and tightened her grip around her clear plastic cup. Though her hostile reaction to me caught me off guard and still stung, something she did confirmed the fact that I knew something else was causing her to act this way.

She looked at me in relief, but then quickly it turned to fear as her eyes surveyed around the room, and then the anger came. She snatched her hand away and set her cup down harshly, causing some to flip over the top, and turned away. But I wasn't letting her getaway that easily. I grabbed her wrist again and yanked her along with me down the wall.

Normally Anna was the stronger of the two of us, but she was in heels higher than mine so she had to be naturally daintier unless she wanted to slip or break a heel or something. She protested all the way but I managed to yank her into the girls bathroom.

"Out." I snapped to the three girls that were in there gossiping. They gave Anna and I a dirty look but left one by one, clearly hating along the way.

"I don't wanna talk to you Jess!" Anna practically whined.

"Well that's just too bad," I snapped. "Listen Anna, I know something's up and you need to tell me what's going on."

"What's going on is I realized how much of a freak weirdo you are and I want nothing to do with you."

I flinched from the harshness of her words, but tried to play it off and keep my composure. "Really? Is that really what it is? Cause I don't believe you. You wouldn't have had to kiss me to figure that out because I know the fact of me being weird and out-casted was the reason you befriended me in the first place!"