All I'm Dreaming Of

Addison's hand was warm in her grasp as he gently tugged her into the crowd of swirling skirts.

A waltz was playing softly in the background but all Brianne could hear was her heart racing. She and her father have been attending royal dinners as long as Brianne could remember. The only men she has danced with were of immediate family.

Addison slid his arm around Brianne's waist, pulling her close. With a smirk, he adjusted their linked hands as she placed her free one on his shoulder. They slid into the waltz rhythm easily, moving around each other like water.

Brianne studied how small her hand looked against Addison's broad shoulder. She refused to admit even to herself that she was trying to look everywhere but up at his face.

"You're okay at waltzing," he said, his breath tickling her ear.

She twitched a bit as her thoughts were interrupted, but slid her eyes up to his aqua eyes that reminded her of a choppy sea. "Thank you," Brianne said with a nod.

He tugged her closer, a wide grin spreading across his face. "What?" he questioned spinning her out, then back in. "The point of waltzing is to be close, very close."

Brianne smiled shyly. Now it seemed that Addison was courting her. The smile slipped from her face but reappeared a few moments later. So what if he was? It felt nice, not like the other times. Usually she felt pressured to find someone – and quick. Only now... Brianne felt butterflies and a sense of nervousness, which she took as a good sign.

"You think too much," he observed. "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, just about my birthday," she blurted, the words tumbling out from behind her lips.

Addison looked at her curiously. Maybe, by some chance, he didn't realize she needed a suitor by then. "Really? Then how come a troubled look came to your eyes?"

Brianne bit her lip and looked over Addison's shoulder, not answering. She noticed her father smiling and chatting happily with the King, gesturing over in their direction.

"Oh no," she whispered, pulling away from Addison. "I... I have to get some air." Brianne quickly moved through the dancers and out an empty balcony. She leaned over the rail, taking deep breaths.

Had her father set this up? The one time Brianne was actually enjoying herself in a mans company. Did everything have to be about a ridiculous suitor?

"Brianne? Are you well?" Addison's voice soothed her anger almost instantly. She fought it – she did not want to play into her father's hands – but she gave in and heaved out a breath.

"Honestly? No," she admitted. "But I am not sick."

Addison gently touched her shoulder and she turned towards him. "How about a stroll through the gardens?" he offered. "That always makes me feel better when I have a lot on my mind."

Brianne nodded, taking his arm as he led her down a narrow staircase. The gardens came into view and were lit by oil lamps. The spring flowers rustled in the balmy summer breeze.

"So what's on your mind?" Addison asked when they were in the middle of the garden.

"My birthday, but it's more than that," Brianne said, looking around nervously incase her father sent someone after them to supervise.

"No one followed us out here," he said, watching her carefully.

"My father expects a suitor that I approve of by my birthday, which is in August," Brianne said with a sigh, playing with a stem of a flower. She heard Addison sit down on the nearby bench but didn't say anything, so she continued.

"He is pressuring me with all of these men that I am simply not interested in. I do not want to disappoint him, but I am beginning to grow tired of these games he and I play. When we were dancing, I saw him talking with your grandfather and gesturing at us. It made me so angry."

"I could tell," he said after a few moments. "What will happen if you don't find a suitor?"

"Then he will find one anyway, with or without my approval," Brianne said, turning to face him, almost loosing her breath. The moonlight hit Addison's hair perfectly, the strands looked transparent. Half of his face was in shadow emphasizing his strong facial structure.

Addison rose to his feet and took a step forward but paused. Brianne moved forward the remaining distance and slipped into his arms.

Her head tipped unconsciously up, her lips parting in a silent plea. Addison's eyes caught Brianne's in silent understanding before lowered his head.

-x-

Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep!

"Mmm Addison," I mumbled, burying my head in my pillow while reaching over and turning off my alarm.

I sat up in bed and squinted at the poster of Johnny Depp above my head board. "Who the hell is Addison?"

-x-

"Everything okay Lisa?" Emily asked. "You look really tired."

"Yeah, I am,"< I admitted. "I had a rough night. I've been having these weird dreams with a very hot guy."

Emily wiggled her eyebrows. "Who is he?"

"I'm not sure," I said, munching on a carrot stick thoughtfully. "He talks with a British accent and has red hair. Very charming."

"Speaking of charming," Emily whispered before standing up and waving. "Lunch period just got a hell of a lot better."

Before I could ask what was going on, a bunch of guys crowded around our lunch table, setting their bags, jackets and lunches down. I was instantly sandwiched between two guys, a whole cloud of Abercrombie and Fitch cologne filling my nose.

"Oh man," I mumbled, the cologne was seriously making me light-headed.

"Lisa," Emily said casually. "This is Gabe Kellerman. Gabe, this is Lisa Pestle."

"Oh, we've met," I said, looking at Gabe then back to Emily. "He's the one that plowed me over yesterday in the hall and knocked me out."

"Uh, no," he said with a sneer. "You're the one who wasn't paying attention to where you were walking and smacked into me. I had to lug you the whole way to the nurses office because I'm a nice guy."

"Humph," I said, biting back a smile.

"So are you ladies coming to the game tonight?" Torin asked, looking between me and Emily.

Emily nodded eagerly and began talking quickly with Torin about the game.

I rolled my eyes and picked up my juice box, slurping through the straw.

"Dude, could you calm it down?" Gabe asked annoyed, turning towards me again.

I slurped harder, sucking the rest of the juice from the bottom obnoxiously. Gabe's jaw tightened as I smiled innocently. "What?"

"You're slurping. It's immature," Gabe said, like it was obvious.

"Well sorry. I like juice boxes."

"I could tell," he said. "So Lisa Pestle-"

"Oh hey Gabe," a sickening sweet voice cooed from behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know it would be Stacy Hansen with her lap dog Laura Null close behind.

"Hey Stacy," Gabe said with an easy smile. Before they could start a chummy conversation, I tuned them out. Emily and I made puke faces at each other from across the table, obviously about Stacy and Laura. They were easily the sluttiest girls in Cloverdale. They put up this innocent front, but everyone knew differently.

"Lisa Pestle," a voice said close to my ear, making me jump. I glared at Gabe, but smiled when I saw Stacy and Laura walking away.

"Gabe Kellerman," I mimicked in his deep voice.

He smirked at me. "I shall see you at the game tonight," he said in a British accent.

That voice sounded so familiar. "Yes you shall," I repeated, surprised how smooth my voice sounded.

The bell sounded, signaling the end of lunch. Gabe waved before he walked away. I grabbed my bag and waited for Emily to grab her things before heading to honors English.

"I knew you and Gabe would hit it off!" Emily squealed excitedly.

I rolled my eyes. "I guess you could say that, but basically he told me to stop slurping."

"Still, that's good," she sighed. "He's so hot."

I snorted.

"Oh please Lisa. You know he is," she teased, walking into the classroom.

"Okay fine," I admitted, following her. "Any girl's a fool if she thinks he's anything less than hott."

"Oh man," Emily squeaked, stopping in her tracks. I bumped into her, but managed to follow her eyes to where Gabe was sitting, a smug look on his face.

"Oh man," I repeated.