Make-Believe Ballroom

"Josh," the brown haired girl in front of him practically growled his name. She was standing beside the maths room where he would be beginning the first detention, making it clear she had been waiting to catch him. Knowing whatever was said wouldn't be nice, but completely deserved, he stood braced for what she was going to say.

"You have to fix this."

"Sorry?" he blinked having not recieved the lecture he had expected from Lauren Cooper.

"You make her so happy. Her face brightened everytime she stepped into that room and now she's so miserable. Gotta say, thanks for getting her into detention. I've been trying to make her have the full teen experience for a while and this is a nice start. Having a boyfriend would be wonderful too."

He choked on air at the exaggerated wink "Saskia hasn't had a boyfriend?"

"She's had offers, of course. The ones she liked turned out to be jerks but I'll spare the details. Waiting for calls that weren't coming broke her trust. You managed to catch her attention and also fight to keep it. Your pretty boy face helps as well."

His cheeks caught fire and a small grin came automatically after learning this.

"I erm, better get inside before I'm late." he excused himself from the conversation quickly before he became flustered or a talking mess, dodging into the classroom.

Mrs. Humpherson tutted impatiently after noticing him stumble inside. Nervously deciding to take the seat next to Saskia out of all the vacant options he had. Crest fallen when she chose to ignore his presence.

"I've got to rush to a faculty meeting now, but I trust you'll both be wise enough to use the cleaning products and ensure every surface in here is spotless by the time I return." the teacher ordered, smugly placing the bottled chemicals and scraggy pieces of cloth in front of them before waddling out of the room.

He sat and watched as she reached for what was provided to tackle the task ahead of them instantly. Removing a pencil from her blazer and twirling it to keep her hair up. Making him remember how he had seen her when it had all began. Shamefully recalling how he disliked her for the simple reason that she was extremely intelligant, thinking that before he knew her.

He gladly noted how she avoided their desk, but chose to begin at a table on the opposite side of the room so she wouldn't be the one to scrub it clean. Instead of taking the other worn cloth, he pulled the pen he used from the pocket in his tight jeans.

Moving towards the desk beside the one she was cleaning and removed the cap to expose the ballpoint. He sensed her eyes on him in confusion as he lowered towards the table-top, scribbling a few wrods down before moving onto the next surface.

Her eyes widened at how he insisted on doing the exact opposite to their instructions. She paused before stepping to the side in front of where he began writing, not being able to fight the curiosity to read it any longer.

Saskia Thompson, you are the girl who got 100% on the test I got 62% on It wasn't clear to her at all what the relevance was, or how he even knew her results. Deflated by the burst of her false hope that he'd have written something too wonderful to ignore, she sprayed the black ink and wiped it away.

The girl who can make me laugh so easily. She lifted her head to see how he was still moving around and writing to her distaste as she would be the one left to clean it all.

The girl who is beautiful, even when she cries.

...but I wish you wouldn't because it really breaks my heart.

& I am sorry for everytime I was the reason.

It was at that point a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, something he noticed instantly. It being as good as he had imagined it to be. Affectionately, he also saw the rosy colour of her cheeks screaming modesty and doubt in his words. As she looked up to glance at him, he turned to hide his stare of admiration. Quickly writing the last thing he had to express, before sitting in the chair placed behind the final table.

Stomach flipping unpleasantly with nerves, and finding he could no longer keep his eyes off her as he waited for her to complete the trail he had set out.

Do you really think so much of me?

Like your friend just told me...

Her mouth dropped at this, her mind whirling with things that could have been said between him and Lauren. Paranoia hit her hard as did the panic. She placed the products down on the table in her haste to read. No longer was she concerned with her reputation within school or the consequences that would come if neither of them obied Mrs. Humphersons orders. She only desired to know what he had to say to her.

I'd totally understand if it's just a misunderstanding on my behalf

But y'know, I hope not or I'm going to look like such a prat.

So Saskia, I really like you.

I felt so silly, the way I became so reliant on your messages in maths.

And you know, liking someone so much without having a face-to-face conversation.

Both their heartbeats were pounding in their ears. She couldn't believe this was possible in reality, he couldn't believe he had been bold enough to do it. She suspected what was spread out across the next few tables, but she stopped in fear of fainting by the overwhelming emotions. Eyes connected to each others and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

She edged towards the next message, taking time to memorise everything about the moment. A pounding on the window steered her attention towards the noise and for him to jump in alarm in his seat.

Max was standing outside, all that was visible from their positions in the room were his head and arms that were raised banging on the glass manically even though he already had their focus. Both looked for the reason why he was there, but saw nothing. She couldn't help but laugh lightly at the face pushed against the window and he paled as he waited to see what stunt his friend was about to pull.

The boy began to jump up and down as if he were on springs. They tried to figure out why he was doing this as well. Josh being the first to notice and letting out a disbelieving groan.

"I said no t-shirts." he mumbled quietly, but she heard and knew what to look for.

"Oh my goodness," she laughed brightly, reading the words that had been written in black capitals on his otherwise plain shirt "How do I let him down gentley?"

He wanted to be laughing with her at his friend who was wearing a shirt saying "Will you be my girlfriend?" yet he was utterly embarrassed by it and annoyed that the mood in the room had shifted. Dreading also that he would have the same response Max had. She moved away from him and closer to the window and he knew that being forgotten felt worse.

She opened the window that only moved less than an inch from the frame, so she was able to talk to the boy who finally stopped moving on the other side "I'm sorry Max, but I don't think we know each other that well."

His face started with a look of confusion, that made him look down to read what he had put. Finally looking back up with an alarmed expression "Ah shit no, I'm not meant to be wearing this or I should have put... aww crap. Hang on."

She giggled once again as he ran across the grounds of the staff car park towards the entrance. Her eyes moved back to Josh, stopping when she saw he wasn't amused like she was. Instead he was looking down at the desk, smudging what was written there with his finger. His dark brown hair hanging down so she wasn't able to see his face.

"Josh," she said softly, skipping some of the tables she hadn't read and stepped straight to the final one. Hesitantly, she reached out to rest her hand on his to stop him. But it was too late, as the black ink was beyond legibility.

"What did it say?"

"It's a bit obvious now, with Max's performance and everything." he muttered, bravery escaping him.

"I don't know, I mean, I know what I hope it was."

A tinge of pink crossed both of their faces at the same time. He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He growled in frustration at himself before resorting once again to the pen.

I'm sorry I can't say this out loud, but I suppose this is appropriate anyway. Saskia, will you go out with me?

The pen he pressed into the palm of her hand so she could respond was rested on the table, without her writing anything. Every part of her was shaking, including her breath, as she lifted her eyes to face the boy who was watching every move she made intently. She leant down to his seated level, close enough to feel the air he was exhaling on her lips. She grabbed onto the table to support her weakened arms which her weight was resting on; guessing that she would buckle under the sensation she would soon feel as he closed the distance between them.

She froze when she felt him kiss her to begin with, her shy side resurfacing. Then he pressed more forcefully, hinted with an urgent need of confirmation that she wanted it.

And she finally let go of every emotion she felt for him and put all her effort in showing them with her lips.

He stood up, not breaking the connection, meaning he was the one that had to lean down to be even with her small frame, but still with their bodies seperated by the table.

He pulled away, she caught her breath but mimicked the amazing smile on his face.

"I'm okay to pressume that meant yes?" he asked cautiously.

"Of course it did, Josh." she laughed at his innocence before moving around to be beside him. His right hand rested in the small of her back and gentley brought her closer to him. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around his neck. As her eyes fluttered shut and he leant down again, the classroom door swung open. Making them leap apart with matching postures of guilt.

"From now on, you'll refer to me as Magic Maxie the Magnificent Matchmaker." they were greeted with a childish grin rather than the furious glare they had been expecting from Mrs. Humpherson.

"I thought you were coming here when you disappeared." Josh said, as he timidly took Saskia's hand in his.

"Mate, I got ambushed by girls that saw the shirt." he said with pride.

"You're a liar." his friend snorted in disbelief.

"Okay, Miranda did," Max shrugged as if the exaggeration wasn't a big deal "See, I've created two relationships today with the wonderous t-shirt. Admit it's not stupid."

"I'm sorry, but it was Josh that made this happen." They turned to look at the added participant, speaking so comfortably. He smiled down at her and kissed the top of her head.

"Aren't you two just darling." Max observed the new couple.

She never imagined that when she allowed her mind to wander and draw on her desk that she would end up pressed closely to the most beautiful person she could hope for. All she knew then was how amazing the moment felt.

"Jish-Josh and Blondie, cut with the cuteness, you've got a detention to complete." they were reminded, with only a small amount of time left to complete the task they were set.

"Max, could you clean our one?" she asked, knowing she had no intention of doing it again and doubted Josh would want to either.

"Oh sure, leave me to do the only one that is totally covered. Cheers for doing that." he moaned playfully but did as she had asked. Once again, it all being cleared from existance, including the pen marks she didn't erase before. They both watched closely, mourning the loss of the foundation of their relationship.

"We'll have to stick to more conventional forms of conversation from now on." he said quietly with a smile.

"I'm still going to write things to you in Maths. You kept me going." she admitted lightly.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."