The Heart Does Go On

The limousine arrived at my house about the time the horse drawn cart was meant to arrive with Seto, 6.30pm. Feeling a little happier that no time was lost, I happily skipped out to the limousine.

I crawled over all the happy couples, and took the last remaining seat in the middle next to Joey.

“Alright, so I HAVE to ask before we do anything, why are you with us and not Kaiba?” Tea asked, sounding curious.

Everyone fell silent, and their eyes fell on me.

I took a deep breath in, not wanting to explain but knowing that I had to.

“I don’t want anyone to make a big deal out of this, okay? Seto and I broke up. He called 20 minutes before he was meant to pick me up, telling me that he couldn’t make the dance due to work commitments. I then proceeded to end the relationship telling him that we weren’t working out, but he wanted the upper hand so he quickly dumped me first.” I explained, as the limousine started moving.

There was a round of apologies and people patting me on the back, trying to make me feel better.

“I’m fine. I don’t really want to talk about it though; Seto and I are in the past, and tonight I want a good night with my good friends, not to be hung up on the past and a relationship that didn’t work out.” I smiled, and everyone let out a cheer.

Because there were 8 of us in the limousine, we were caught up in different conversations. On the side I was sitting on, there was Joey, me, Kathryn and Sam. In front of us were Tristan, Duke, Tea and Yugi. As Tristan and Duke were opposite Joey and I in the limousine, we were within easy talking distance, and I was chatting to them with Joey.

“Here, have a cocktail. Now you and Kaiba are over, he won’t shoot me for being a bad influence on you.” Duke said, handing me a martini glass with a fruity sort of cocktail inside.

I took it, but only took a sip. I knew I could not binge drink, but having one cocktail between now and when we arrive at the dance with friends was not a binge drink session, and I wouldn’t even get tipsy from it.

“So Joseph, what’s this I hear about you trying to get random pussy tonight?” I asked, and Joey choked on his bourbon and coke.

“That’s Duke, not me!” He spluttered, defending himself.

“Okay, maybe not ‘pussy’ but a little birdie told me you went to the dance single tonight to pick up random girls.” I smirked, watching Joey squirm.

“It’s alright. I won’t think any lower of you.” I said to Joey, who looked like he had never been embarrassed before.

“Hey I must admit that was the original plan, you don’t know what it’s like to be a single guy with urges.” Joey joked.

“Yeah that must suck, not being laid in a month. Must feel like an eternity.” I said, rolling my eyes and Duke sent out a loud laugh.

“Which is why my plan changed, as I knew that train of thought was ridiculous.” Joey stated.

“Kay.” I replied, growing a little bored of the subject.

I then turned to Kathryn who was on my side and we began gossiping a little, breaking out in little fits of giggles every now and then.

In no time at all the limousine pulled up to Domino High School, and we all piled out. A lot of the bystanders watched in awe, I guess they didn’t really go all out.

“It’s because we’re classy,” Kathryn said, reading my thoughts “We go all out on measly school dances, not just prom”

“I can’t wait until prom. It’ll mean the year is nearly over and so is school.” I replied.

“Neither can I. But right now, it’s the middle of November and we have a good dance in front of us.” Kathryn said, jolting me forwards.

Joey caught me, as I was losing my balance.

“You guys go ahead, Ella and I need to talk.” Joey called out to everyone, and dragged me behind the school hall before Kathryn could object.

“Look, whoever told you I was coming to the dance to pick up, they obviously didn’t understand what I meant. Duke suggested that we both go as single guys so we can pick up, but unlike Duke I wasn’t after a one-night stand. I just wanted to have fun with lots of girls, in completely innocent ways. I wanted to see how many girls I could dance with.” Joey said, putting his hands on my shoulder.

“Look Joey, it’s okay. Go have fun, go dance with heaps of girls. I must congratulate you for having more…innocent intentions than Duke though.” I slightly giggled.

“As I said before, I have a change of plan.” Joey said, moving away from me to lean on the back wall of the school hall. I joined him.

“What’s your plan then?” I asked, being quite curious.

“Well. I don’t quite know how to put it. We’re friends, right?” Joey asked.

“Right…” I replied, not quite knowing where this was going.

“I don’t have a date. You don’t have a date. I want a date, I take it you don’t want to walk in alone without a date, when both Tea and Kathryn have dates.” Joey explained.

Oh now I know where this was going. Joey was heavily implying that we go as each other’s dates. It wasn’t a bad idea, but if I said yes, would Joey think I still had feelings for him? A few weeks ago he still had feelings for me, does he still now? I don’t want to lead him on by saying yes. But it would be embarrassing walking into that room without a date, when every other girl in my group had one.

“Besides, there’s no harm in just going as friends. We’ll have a few dances together, with no pressures of having the perfect night, like the couples who are dating.” Joey smiled, and offered his hand.

I smiled back and took his hand, his intentions were now clear and they matched mine, so I could smile happily as we made our way back to the entrance of the school hall.