Click

Monday rolled around a lot slower than I had hoped for because I spent every minute of every hour thinking about that kiss, and when Monday finally did get here, the time seemed to go by ten times longer than usual until the next time I got to see Blade again. He wasn’t in second period though, and he didn’t hang out with us at lunch either. In fact, no one had seen him. He came to fifth period though. Shane and I were sitting on the edge of the stage reading over lines together even though they weren’t even ours when Blade walked in, looking absolutely exhausted.

“Hey, where were you?” Shane asked.

“Dentist,” he replied, rubbing his shoulder and yawning. “And the chiropractors. Did I miss anything in science?” he asked me. I shook my head.

“Not really,” I said, crossing my legs. “We just took up Friday’s work and did another lab.”

Blade nodded. “Okay. So hey, my dad wanted to know if you would like to come out to dinner with us again,” he said. “Sometime next week though.”

I smiled. “Sure, sounds like fun.”

“You met his parents?” Shane asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Not just my parents,” Blade said, crossing his arms. “I’d say pretty much every Donahue alive.”

“Oh gosh,” Shane said, laughing. “You must have had fun. I remember when your family had the summer barbeque and I came over. So many kids.”

“Yeah but there were more on Saturday,” Blade said. “Eric didn’t have Scarlett and Addison back then.”

“Right, we were in like grade seven or something,” Shane replied, nodding. “That must have been one hell of a family reunion then.”

Blade glanced at me and smiled. “It was one for the books.”

I blushed and looked down at my feet while Shane stared at me curiously. Mr. Sadusky walked into the theatre looking really stressed out. He rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes.

“All right everybody,” he said. Everyone around the room turned to look at him. “Ryan’s broken his leg in rugby so he’s not going to be with us for a number of weeks and that also means that someone has to take over his part in the play as Paris but since all the spots are filled by someone or you guys are just too lazy and decided to be part of the tech crew instead, we’re going to need someone to volunteer. Now, if you’ve got a friend that you think would fit the part, please let me know and I’ll talk to one of their teachers so they can get some extra credit for missing their classes.”

I thought about if I knew anyone that was dramatic enough and then smirked.

“I think I know exactly who to talk to.”



“What’s up, people?!” David screamed the next day after he pushed the doors opened and walked into the theatre. He sauntered almost heroically down the aisle toward us. Blade and I looked up at him from our place on the edge of the theatre stage.

“Good choice,” he said, laughing. “He’s more of a leading character than a backup part, though.”

“Well he’s dramatic enough,” I said, leaning back on my hands.

“You’re David?” Mr. Sadusky asked, walking up to him. I tuned them out as David continued the conversation animatedly and looked at Blade instead.

“Has anything new happened with Amanda?” I asked him. He shook his head.

“Not really. Although, she asked me if I was going to the dance and I said yes but I didn’t say I was going with her,” he replied. “She’s waiting for my answer.”

“Are you going to tell her you’ve already got a date?”

He smirked. “Probably not. I’ll just wait for her to show up at the dance and see me with you. She’ll probably make a scene and then that’s when I can turn it on her and tell her I know she fooled around with Damien. It all works out in the end.”

I smiled. “If you say so, but if I get slapped or something, you’re the only one to blame.”

He laughed. “Fair enough. I think she’s starting to understand that I’m upset with her, though. She just doesn’t know what it’s about exactly.”

I nodded. “Well don’t look now but the devil herself is coming over here,” I said, hopping off the stage and brushing the dust off my ass. Blade looked over his shoulder as Amanda approached and sat down next to him.

“Ready to practice?” she asked.

“Hey Blade, can you and Amanda run lines while I sort things out with David?” Mr. Sadusky asked. “Actually, everyone!Practice your lines for a few minutes; we need to start putting everything together today!”

Blade sent me a desperate look. I shrugged. He stood up and walked over slowly to the center of the stage. I moved over to the stairs and headed to the side where Shane was. He ran a hand through his hair.

“This is so boring,” he mumbled. “I should have stuck with the part of Paris. There’s only so much that we can do here all period.” He looked at my sympathetically. “It really sucks that Amanda stole your part. You would have made a much better Juliet than her.”

I smiled. “Thanks, but it’s okay. Blade knows that she cheated on him so she may have the leading part in the play but she won’t have him,” I said. Shane’s eyes widened slightly.

“He knows?”

“Yeah. Amanda didn’t actually have anything over me with my dad or my friendship with Blade so I told him. He’s going to dump her soon enough,” I replied. He smiled and looked over my shoulder at Blade and Amanda.

“Uh oh,” he said, nodding behind me. “Looks like someone’s about to start a scene and I don’t think it’s going to be Blade.”

I turned around to look at them. Amanda lowered her script and sighed. “Did I piss you off or something?” she asked. “You’ve been ignoring me for a while now or just being plain old rude.”

Blade crossed his arms. “I’m being rude? How about you and what you did to Christabelle? You don’t think that’s mean?”

“I did what I had to do,” she argued, stomping her foot. Mature. “You don’t even act like I’m your girlfriend anymore!”

“I don’t hear lines being recited!” Mr. Sadusky exclaimed, glaring at them. “This isn’t a time to talk about your social lives. We need to get this done.”

Blade sighed and looked down at his script. “Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged.Okay, you want me to be honest? I don’t like how you treat my friends. Even though you’re my girlfriend, I’m not afraid to admit that you can be a real snake sometimes. And making Christabelle lose the part of Juliet was really uncool.” He took her hand like he was supposed to in the play. “I don’t get why you do it—why you’re always out to get her. She didn’t do anything.”

“Then have my lips the sin that they have took,” Amanda said, looking up at Blade and lowering her voice. “You like her,” she deadpanned. “I can tell. And who said I auditioned for the part of Juliet just to get back at her? Maybe I wanted that part. And I’m sorry if it upsets me that you have really obvious feelings for her but I can’t handle my boyfriend liking someone else when he’s supposed to like me.”

“That’s it?” Blade asked, raising his eyebrows. He dropped her hand and she stared at him with wide eyes. “You can finish this by yourself. If being Juliet really meant all that much to you, you would have auditioned when she did to make it even. Personally, I don’t think you deserve it because Juliet’s supposed to be sweet and I just don’t think you are.” He turned and headed for the stage but stopped and looked over his shoulder. “If you did all of this out of spite for her, then you’re just being immature. If you really have to sabotage someone else’s chance of getting the spotlight for once just so you have more attention, then whatever. The stage is yours but I’m not working this out with you. And one more thing,” he said quickly right before he was about to walk down the stairs. “My relationship with Christabelle isn’t any of your business and I’m getting really tired of you acting like you’re the victim here when you’ve been the one causing trouble and wrecking havoc. She’s my friend, and no one treats my friends like that. So if you have a problem with that, then maybe we shouldn’t date anymore.”

Then he turned and walked off the stage. He said something to Mr. Sadusky, who nodded his head and Blade walked out of the theatre.

“Holy shit,” Shane breathed. “Way to tell her, Blade.”

I stared wide-eyed at Amanda, wondering what she was going to do. Usually, she had a quick wit and would make some snarky remark to get herself back on track but she did nothing; just stood there like a statue. As happy as I was that she finally got told off by Blade, I couldn’t help but feel bad for her. He had said that she wasn’t the victim but in some way, she was. If I was her, I’d be pissed. I mean, I wouldn’t have gone about things the way she did but I would still be upset about it. Amanda ran a hand through her hair and walked away, joining her friends at the side of the stage. They surrounded her and automatically comforted her because everyone in the class—except for David and Mr. Sadusky—had seen what just happened.

“Does this mean he likes you?” Shane asked. “Because that’s how I interpreted it.”

I shook my head. “No,” I said, disappointed. “He said I was his friend.”



That week at school was actually pretty dull. Amanda didn’t really bother me. I guess Blade really got to her head. The two of them weren’t officially broken up or anything, but they didn’t really talk either. Amanda would shoot me glares in the hall and everything, but she never approached me to give me a little warning that meant nothing, or anything that would physically hurt me. Even though things were awkward with Blade and Amanda, neither of them gave up their parts in the play. They just acted like nothing had happened but when I talked to Blade, he would complain about it every now and again.

On Friday, it was the dance. My dad actually let me go, which was a little surprising. Aiden was the one that actually convinced him. He said that I hadn’t done anything bad and that I deserved to have a night out with my friends, so my dad eased up on the rules for just tonight. Aiden sent me a wink when my dad was turned around and mouthed “sneaking out”.

I lifted my curled hair over the back of my dress and then zipped it up. I was wearing a thing strapped black dress that reached down to my knees and had a white silk waistband. I clipped together my silver necklace that my mom had given me for my fourteenth birthday and grabbed my black heels. I walked down the stairs and Aiden glanced over the back of the couch.

“You look nice,” he said. “Do you have a date tonight?”

I shrugged. “Sort of. It’s like a friend date,” I replied.

“Who?”

“Blade.”

Aiden nodded. “Good match. Dad’s in the kitchen,” he said, looking back at the television. I stuck my head around the doorway and saw my dad and Anne talking. They looked up when I stepped into view.

“Christabelle, you look beautiful,” Anne said, smiling. I grinned.

“Thanks.”

“Ready to go?” my dad asked. I nodded and slipped my heels on. My dad walked out of the kitchen and put on his shoes, tying them up and waving goodbye to Anne. We went outside and got into the car. On the ride to the dance, my dad made short conversation with me asking how school was going, who was going to the dance, how I was doing in my classes. When he pulled into the parking lot of the school, he cut the engine and looked over at me.

“Now you know the rules,” he said. I sighed and nodded.

“You’ll be here at eleven so I have to be ready, no kissing anyone, no drinking strange beverages. I know, dad,” I said, laughing. “I’ll keep an eye out, okay?”

He nodded. “Good, and if that Blade boy tries anything—”

I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. “Goodbye dad,” I said, stepping out of the car. He sighed and shook his head.

“Bye Chris. Have a good time,” he said. I closed the door and waved as he drove off. When I turned around, David and Preston were right in front of me.

“Your dad has a nice car,” David said, crossing his arms. “Our dates aren’t here yet.”

“They’re coming,” I said. “Do you guys know where Nick is?”

Preston nodded over his shoulder. “He’s inside. I feel bad for him. The poor guy came alone.”

“That’s because you stole his date,” I said, laughing. “Let’s go inside. It’s kind of cold.”

I gave them a shove toward the doors and stepped inside when we got there. I handed the girl at the table my ticket and turned around, heading for the cafeteria. It was the biggest room in the school and whenever we had a dance, it was always in there. Everyone would just push the tables and chairs to the side of put them into storage so we had space. I saw Blade and Nick talking to each other a little ways down the hall. Blade was wearing a pair of dark jeans, a button up white shirt and a black blazer on top. He looked formal but not too formal that it didn’t suit the dance. Nick was wearing a pair of black pants and a black vest with a blue tie and a white shirt underneath. He had rolled up the sleeves to his elbows.

I felt a hand on my back and turned around to see Marcy’s smiling face. She was wearing a short, cream-coloured strapless dress and had curled her hair like mine, except she pinned it back on the sides of her face. She seemed a bit taller than usual but it was only because she was wearing four inch heels. She really looked like a goddess.

“Hey! Kayti’s just outside. She’ll be here in a second,” she said. I nodded and we walked into the cafeteria. It was mostly all black with the exception of a few white lights circling certain areas. About twenty round tables were set up on the side with table clothes on top and eight chairs surrounding each one. Each place to sit had a plate in front of it and in the corner was a long series of tables with food on top of it. Tall white vases with fake flowers were placed in the center of each table.

“It looks like a wedding,” Marcy said, pulling me over to a table. “Only, you know, more exciting with the lights and stuff.” I smiled at her.

There were already about thirty people or so inside the cafeteria either dancing or sitting down and chatting with each other, and that’s when I spotted Amanda. She was sitting in the far back corner with Damien, rubbing her forehead and constantly throwing back punch. If someone had spiked it, she would be wasted by the time half hour mark was over. She was wearing a red and black dress that was way too revealing for a social event like this but she didn’t really seem to care. She had that “piss off” attitude about her again—not that she didn’t have that attitude already but it was ten times worse right now. She might as well have just tattooed it on her forehead as warning in case someone approached her, expecting light conversation rather than getting their head bit off.

Marcy and I sat down at the table while we waited for Kayti to find us and when she did, she brought David, Nick, Preston and Blade with her. She tapped me on the shoulder and I turned in my seat to look up at her. She grinned at both Marcy and I.

Kayti was wearing a short blue strapless dress that shone and sparkled in the light. It reached mid-thigh and curled inward there. She had silver flats on and had tied her hair into a bun on the back of her head but had a piece of curled hair hanging down on either side of her face.

“Wow!” Marcy exclaimed. “You definitely clean up good, considering you were covered in dirt last time I saw you.”

Kayti smiled. “I was playing soccer with the next door neighbours when you passed by,” she explained. “Now I’m freshened up. You guys want to dance or what?”

“I’ll dance,” Marcy said, standing up. “Come on Preston. It’s time for you to shake your groove thing.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor and he followed, laughing at her. Kayti took David’s arm and yanked him in the same direction. I glanced at Nick before I looked at Blade because I knew that if I did, I would probably go into a hyper fever if he looked back.

“What about you?” I asked. “Did you bring a date?”

Nick shook his head. “No, but I’m going to wait for some of my friends to arrive. You guys go. I’ll hang out here.”

“Are you sure?” Blade asked, tilting his head. “Because we can wait with you if you want. We don’t mind.” I nodded in agreement.

Nick waved a hand in the air. “Go ahead. I’ll catch up with you guys later.” He walked around Blade and took a seat in one of the chairs. I looked at Blade.

“Nice outfit,” I said. He beamed.

“Thanks. You look beautiful,” he replied. I blushed and looked out at Marcy, David, Preston and Kayti, avoiding eye contact. I could definitely feel my face heating up. “Want to join them?” he asked, offering me his hand. I smiled and nodded, slipping my hand into his and walking out onto the dance floor with him to join our friends.



The night was turning out to be a lot of fun. I wasn’t completely sure if it would be because I still wasn’t big on dances and if Blade hadn’t asked me to go with him, I wouldn’t have gone. I would have spent my night at home studying for a test or watching comedies on the television with Aiden, most likely getting into a fight with him too. Shane showed up a bit later, laughing because he managed to get into the dance without a ticket. He didn’t have a date but he partied with us anyway. Amanda definitely noticed that Blade had decided to take me to the dance because when she saw us, she stormed right past with an evil glared and since she screamed something at Blade that no one could understand, it was obvious she was drunk too. Kayti nudged me.

“Good thing we made sure Marcy didn’t have any punch!” she yelled over the music. I laughed. A slower song came on and Preston left for a bathroom break. I glanced over to the table and saw Nick sitting by himself, staring at his shoes and looking really miserable. My heart ached when I thought about how he was feeling. I touched Blade on the arm lightly and he turned around.

“What’s up?”

“I’ll be right back, okay?” I said. He nodded.

“Okay. I’ll dance with Marcy, I guess,” he said, moving away from me and tapping Marcy on the shoulder. I walked off the dance floor and shoved my way through the now very heavy crowds of people. When I got over to where Nick was, I sat down next to him and crossed my legs.

“Hey there, tiger,” I said, punching him lightly in the shoulder. He looked up at me. “How’re you holding up?”

“All right,” he answered with a shrug. “I forgot to tell you when I first saw you tonight. You look really nice.”

“Thanks. You do too,” I said, smiling at him. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“You have no idea how hard this crush thing is,” he mumbled.

“Oh believe me, I do,” I said, nodding. I probably knew better than anybody out there. “Your friends aren’t coming tonight, are they?”

He shook his head. “Never planned to.”

“Come on, Nick,” I said, standing up again and offering him my hand. “You can’t just stay here sulking all night. Get up.”

“But—”

I frowned. “Nick. Please, just one dance. I won’t pester you anymore tonight.”

He stared at me for a few seconds, then at my hand, and finally he stood up, taking it and walking back onto the floor to join the big mounds of people breathing heavily, dancing slowly and humming quietly to the song that was playing. With one arm, it slithered to my back and his other hand held onto mine like he was ready to waltz or something. I raised my eyebrows at him and let go of his hand, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and taking a step closer. He hesitated for a second, and then his arms circled my waist, pulling me a little bit closer but not to a point where we were dangerously close that it would make things uncomfortable and a few rumors might rise if someone looked at us.

“He likes you, you know,” Nick said all of a sudden. I looked up at him.

“What?”

“Blade,” he said, nodding over to him. “He really likes you.”

“Did he tell you he does?” I asked.

Nick shook his head. “No, but I can tell by the way he looks at you and the way he acts around you. Everyone notices it but you, Chris.”

I sighed. “I want to believe you, but it just seems impossible to me.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s Blade, you know? I’m Christabelle; I’m not Amanda or some beauty queen or prom queen or whoever. I’m like that damsel in distress that every fairytale reader gets tired of and just wants killed off,” I explained.

“Chris, come on. Even you know that’s not true,” he objects, shaking his head. “Look, I know you like to say no all of the time”—I smiled, amused—“but believe me, he likes you. If it was anyone else but you in your position and you were just a third party observer like we are, you’d see it too.”

"Nick, you know how it's hard for you to believe that Marcy likes you?" I asked, to which he replied with a simple nod. “Well it's like that with Blade," I said. "And Marcy only came with Preston because you took too long to ask her yourself. If you had asked her first, then I know she would have said yes."

"Did she tell you that?"

I nodded now. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well either way, it doesn't seem like she likes me."

"Exactly, so do you see what I’m getting at now? It’s like, impossible for you to believe you'd have a chance with her, even though you do, but for me, it’s impossible to believe because I knowI don't have a chance with him."

"But you do like him?" he asked but it came out as a statement because he really already knew the answer. I nodded again. "Then why don't you tell him? I’m sure he would've liked to come with you to the dance as your date."

"He is my date. We came together."

"Yeah, as friends,” Nick said, shaking his head. “That doesn't make it a date unless he asked you as a date. If it was a mutual decision to go with each other just as friends, then you can't count it as a date."

"Well it doesn't matter. He couldn't come with me as my date even if he wanted to. He’s going out with Amanda,” I said. "She pretty much makes all of his major decisions for him. It’s a good thing he knows that she cheated on him or is cheating on him.”

"Because then you wouldn’t be able to come to the dance with him,” Nick said, smiling. “I get that you don’t think you have a chance with him but in his case, he doesn’t think he has a chance with you."

I blinked at him, and then shook my head. All this talk about dating and crushes was really starting to stress me out and I didn’t want to think about it tonight.

“For once, let’s not talk about relationships,” I said, looking up at him. “Let’s just dance.”



I only thought that the dance was moving along smoothly for about a half an hour after that point because Amanda walked in when I was dancing with Blade. She strolled, or rather stomped and stumbled, toward us holding another cup of punch. As bad as it was, I wasn’t think about what she had been doing for the past hour and a half—mostly because it was pretty obvious since Damien was standing against the cafeteria doorway with an energy drink in his hand, his shirt half unbuttoned, his face red and his hair a disaster. Instead, I was wondering who spiked the punch. Amanda’s hair was a disheveled mess as well and her makeup was smudged on the lips that was an easy hint to what she’d spent her time doing and who she had spent it with. Damien had a number of lipstick prints on his neck, and his lips looked numb and swollen but he didn’t really seem to care.

“You!” Amanda yelled at me, grabbing the top of her dress and pulling it up so violently that she almost fell over. Since the music was pretty much tuning her out completely, no one else was paying attention to what was going on except for Blade, Kayti, Marcy, Shane, Nick, David and myself. “Do you ever keep your hands to yourself?!”

She threw her head back, taking another long drink and I stole a glance at Blade, who looked unusually calm. I could only imagine my expression was absolutely horrified. Amanda chucked her empty cup to the ground and pointed a finger at me but she lost her balance a little and ended up pointing at Blade, my nose and pretty much everything around me. She rubbed her eyes. “He’s my boyfriend! Back off!”

“We went over this,” I said, crossing my arms. “He’s just my friend.”

She shoved me suddenly and I stumbled back, rubbing my chest where her hands made contact. I was surprised at how much strength she had when she looked near ready to pass out. “Keep your filthy little hands off my boyfriend!” she shrieked hysterically. She grabbed Blade’s arm and pressed herself right up against him. “You want to get out of here?”

He looked at me, and then back at her. Then he took a step back, shook his head and removed her hands from him. “No,” he replied. “I don’t want to go anywhere with you. In fact, I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

She froze, for once not moving around like a worm on steroids. She was completely frozen in her spot, her eyes wide as saucers. “Excuse me?!” she wailed. “Are you saying you’re choosing that over me? Do you know who you’re dealing with?” she asked, eyeing me up nastily and then looking back at Blade with fury in her eyes. “We’ve been together for almost two years!”

“Yeah, I know,” he said. “And I don’t care. And yes, I am choosing her over you because she’s not a completely ridiculous, over-obsessive girlfriend who doesn’t give me freedom. And she doesn’t freak out at the littlest things. You blew this out of proportion, Amanda, and frankly I can’t take it anymore. You dug your own grave and I’m not saving you this time like I usually do. You’re busting a cap in everybody’s ass and it’s really starting to piss me off so I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”

Amanda’s eyes welled up, but then only a second later, her face was going red and the angry expression returned to her face. “Fine,” she hissed. “But just so you know . . . I cheated on you. That’s right, Blade. I made out with your best friend! Seven times! Did you hear that, everybody?! I made out with Damien White!” she screamed, pointing behind her. Damien stilled, scratched the back of his head and made a quick exist. Other people were watching the scene unravel now.

Blade shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “I know,” he said.

Amanda’s face went slack. “What?” she asked, gulping.

“I already know that you cheated on me,” he said. “You know, at first I wanted to get you back for it somehow but I realized that I didn’t need to because you just embarrassed yourself enough for me that I don’t need to do it. And I’m not going to waste my time and energy on someone who totally isn’t worth it. So basically, it’s over.”

A couple people chuckled around us. Amanda stomped her foot.

“Shut up!” she said, finally blowing her lid. She turned to me and started to take a step forward. I took another one back, a little intimidated. I knew she was drunk but the look in her eyes and the menacing glare she was shooting me was actually very scary; the strobe lights didn’t help either. “You,” she seethed, gaining on me, “are such a slut!”

Blade’s eyes narrowed. “Hey now—” he began, stepping in front of me but he didn’t get to finish his sentence because Amanda leaned over suddenly, held her stomach and puked. My jaw dropped.

“Not again,” I moaned, rubbing my forehead. That was the second pair of shoes that had been ruined due to someone else’s eating and drinking habits being emptied all over my heels.

David burst out laughing and clapped his hands together. “Why Amanda, you’ve never looked lovelier!”



“This sucks,” I mumbled, examining my shoe as I sat down at the table again. Blade was in front of me on his knees, wiping off Amanda’s stomach contents from my shoes with some napkins. “I don’t think I’m meant to wear heels. People always throw up on them. From now on, I’m wearing running shoes to dances.”

Blade laughed. “Just bad luck,” he said. “At least Marcy stayed sober tonight, right?”

“I guess,” I said, bending down and putting the one clean shoe back on my foot. He looked up at me through his eye lashes and smiled.

“When’s your dad picking you up?” he asked.

“Eleven,” I replied. “I’ve still got about an hour and a half but I’ve kind of lost the enthusiasm to dance after that big scene.” Blade nodded, and then he did something that I found to be extremely sweet and very heart-melting, even though it was the smallest gesture. He lifted my foot off the floor and slowly slid my shoe onto it. I stared at him, mesmerized as he rose and glanced at his watch.

“We’ve got enough time to take a walk down to the beach and get some ice cream or something,” he said, looking back up at me. “You want to split or do you just want to go home?”

“I could go for a walk,” I replied, standing up. Blade smiled and took my hand, pulling me to the door. Shane and Kayti were outside of the cafeteria talking and when we passed them, Shane asked us where we were going.

“Out,” Blade replied simply. The walk down to the beach wasn’t too far but after a while, it got pretty breezy and cold. Blade noticed me shivering so he took off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. This night was rapidly becoming one of the best nights of my life. Heels were difficult to walk long distances in so I took them off and walked barefoot on the cold cement but it felt so good after wearing the shoes because they made my feet feel like they were on fire.

I enjoyed spending the time I did with Blade more than I enjoyed the dance. When we got down to the lakeshore, we got ice cream cones, sat on the docks and stuck our feet in the water. It was absolutely freezing but neither of us seemed to care. After all, we were wearing dress clothes at the beach in the end of March, and eating ice cream cones. Maybe it was a Canadian thing; I didn’t know but it didn’t make any difference to me because just being with Blade made me forget the weather, made me forget the time, made me forget everything but him.

When it got close to ten-thirty, we started heading to my house so that I could be there before my dad arrived at the school to pick me up. I could hear the crickets as we made our way up my driveway to the front door and it made things a little awkward because besides our feet, that was the only noise around us. I turned to Blade when we were at my doorstep.

“Thanks for tonight,” I said. “I had a lot of fun.”

He smiled. “So did I. I’m sorry about Amanda.”

I shrugged. “It’s okay. I’ve gotten used to it.”

Blade chuckled lightly. “Do you think your dad’s left yet?” he asked. I shook my head.

“That’s his car in the driveway,” I replied. Blade glanced over his shoulder and then looked back at me, blushing from embarrassment. He scratched the back of his head.

“Oh.”

I smiled. “So I’ll talk to you later?” Blade nodded. “Okay. Uhm . . . bye.”

I started to turn around but just like last weekend, Blade stopped me. He put his hand on my arm lightly and I looked back at him.

“Wait,” he said quietly.

“What?” I asked.

He stepped closer to me and my breath got caught in my throat. I swore that my heart stopped beating for a few seconds. Was he going to kiss me? Gosh, I hoped so. He leaned in, put his hand on my cheek and lightly planted his lips on the other side. I closed my eyes for a second and sighed when he pulled away. I just wanted to pull him back and kiss him like I had been dying to do for ages now. He smiled at me.

“Returning the favor,” he said, winking. “But to be honest, I’ve wanted to do that for a while." He cleared his throat and shoved his hands in his pockets. My eyes were wide as I stared at him. "Good night, Christabelle.”

“Yeah,” I blurted. “Good night, Blade.” My voice was shaky and I felt like a total idiot. He turned and walked down the steps. My fingers clutched at the soft material of what I was wearing, and then I turned around just in time to be greeted with my dad opening the door. His eyes widened and he said a quiet but surprised “oh” when he realized I was there. Then he frowned.

“Why did you walk all the way home? I was just coming to get you.”

I shrugged. “I needed the fresh air,” I lied.

My dad’s eyes narrowed as he stared at me. “Whose jacket is that?”

So that was what I had been gripping onto. I didn’t think it felt like my dress but it hadn’t clicked until now that Blade had forgotten to take his jacket back. I looked over my shoulder, hoping to see him walking up the pathway towards his house but it was too dark and the streetlight nearest to our house was flickering on and off repeatedly, before just shutting off completely.

“Blade’s,” I replied. “He walked me home.”

“Oh,” my dad said, crossing his arms. “Did he try anything?”

“No,” I said, a little disappointed and I was sure it showed in my voice but if my dad noticed, he didn’t say anything. I quickly shook it off. “Thanks for dropping me off, dad. I had fun.”

He nodded. “Good. Be sure to give the boy his jacket back next time you see him,” he said, holding the door opened for me. I stepped inside and he closed the door. “Be quiet when you go upstairs,” he added, holding a finger to his mouth. “Everyone’s sleeping.”

“Really?” I asked. “Even Aiden?’

“Surprisingly, yes,” he replied. “Not completely surprising, though. Guess where he’s sleeping.”

I looked into the living room and saw my brother lying on the couch, eyes closed and snoring loudly. I shook my head and gave my dad a kiss on the cheek.
“Good night, dad,” I said. “Love you.”

“Love you too,” he said, slipping into the kitchen. “And I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

I walked upstairs with my shoes in my hand and quietly closed my bedroom door behind me. I tossed my shoes onto the floor and slipped Blade’s jacket off of my shoulders, hanging it up in my closet. I sat down on my bed and held a hand against my cheek where Blade’s lips had been. There was no denying it now; no point to.

I didn’t just have a crush on Blade. I was absolutely crazy about him.

But what scared me a little was that Nathaniel, the one boy I should have been concentrating my romantic feelings on, didn’t enter my head even once the entire evening. And Blade was the one who I fell asleep thinking about that night.