Frostbitten Past

X V I I

THE NIGHT  was going as Andorra expected it to go. After the initial entrance, eyes were on her wherever she spun, and boy, did she spin. Kyle didn't let her go as he looped her around and around the gym, matching the tempo of whatever song played. She felt joyous laughter bubble up from her chest as she looked into his honey brown eyes, getting lost in wondering what it would feel like to kiss him.

He was a perfect gentleman the entire night. His hand was on her lower back, the other held hers firmly as they moved across the gym floor like it was a ballroom. She felt like a princess in that moment, her dress flowing up and around her, the laugher spilling from her lips genuine and pure.

When Lila arrived, her happiness only mounted. Lila wore a simple blue gown, her hair pinned up, and she was smiling at Andorra when she came over to them. Beside her was a tall, lanky boy with wide eyes and an even wider mouth, currently pulled into an o shape at the sight of Andorra.

"How on earth do you make your skin glow?" He asked, his voice dumbstruck in awe. Andorra blinked up at him for a moment, taken aback, and then she looked down at her own arm. To her, she looked normal, if not dark under the lights. Her tan skin looked like it usually did.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, examining her right arm, and then her left. She saw nothing of the sort, no glowing, no shimmering, nothing. Her eyes met Kyle's, silently asking if he saw it too, but his eyes gave nothing away.

Instead, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "She is radiant, isn't she?"

The boy didn't ask anymore questions for the rest of the night, but Lila had the same question. Her eyes roamed over Andorra, somehow taken aback at how glamorous Andorra looked in their school gym versus the store, or even Andorra's own house. Something about that moment, in the dark gym, surrounded by others, made Andorra shine much brighter.

Kyle too had a glow to him that wasn't artificial, but impossible. Lila felt something wasn't quite right, but her mind didn't want to ask any questions, but rather accept it as is. Of course they glow, she thought to herself, they're beautiful people.

Lila's date made an excuse to go get some punch and left them, hastily moving towards the double doors to the hallway. Kyle lingered for a moment, but headed that way as well, telling Andorra he'd get her something to drink.

"You look stunning," Andorra said to Lila, her voice shy. And, it was true; Lila did look stunning in her dress and with the way her hair was pinned back. Andorra was so surprised that Lila was even there, talking to her.

"Thanks. And so do you, Andorra. I don't know how you do it, but you absolutely transformed into someone you never show at school. I mean, the way you command attention in this room is... magnificent."

Andorra glanced around the room, finding eyes watching her from all over the place. Some were glancing at her, others were outright staring, but everyone seemed to be whispering about her, and it made her face redden at the thought that she was the topic of so many conversations.

"And unsurprisingly, here comes trouble. As predicted, since Kyle isn't here."

Andorra turned to see who Lila was talking about, and she watched as Noah looped over to her with such grace and fluidity that it made her freeze up in place, her eyes connecting with his as he came closer to her. He looked dashing in his tailored suit, and the way his body was totally at ease made her heart begin to race. He had his hands in his pants pockets, and his pace was controlled and dominant. Everything about him was controlled and dominant.

When he finally approached, his face was completely blank, but his eyes were light. He looked at Lila for a moment, then focused his gaze on Andorra. "Can we talk?"