A Song of Change

Chapter 20
Someone Else:
I stood there for a moment just looking around the room at everyone. Ethan and Lucille were still standing next to each other with happy smiles on their faces. They didn't seem to be talking but it didn't look like they needed to. It was like they just knew.
Turning to their left I could see Wesley and Theresa talking. She was smiling brightly, a faint blush across her cheeks. Wesley seemed to be having fun with her too, his dark eyes shining brightly with excitement.
In the center of the room was Mrs. Waters and the boys' teacher. Looking closely at her now I could clearly tell who this man was. Mrs. Waters had that same look on her face that she got when talking about her husband. She was looking up at this man, who towered over even her, with love filled eyes. The same look was spread across the man's face.
In the far corner I could see Monica talking to Matthew. She was quietly laughing at something he had said nodding her head at him at a rapid pace. Matthew laughed back at her his soft brown eyes tearing up.
Even Carter was talking with someone. Her and Adrian were talking to each other by the entrance to the room. Carter's stern and hard look was still in place but her usually cold brown eyes told a different story. Adrian just kept smiling at her, his hazel eyes lighting up.
I continued looking around for the one person in this room that I honestly wanted to talk to but no matter where I looked he was no where to be found. It was then that I felt hands on my waist and I jumped in surprise, a soft chuckle escaping the culprit.
"Not funny Julian," I whispered, playfully smacking his arm. He just continued to laugh at me anyway. "So did you meet anybody yet?" he asked after he had stopped laughing. "Yeah, Ethan and Wesley," I said before thinking about it, "Well I didn't exactly 'meet' Wesley. I kinda bumped into him," I said laughing at the memory.
"What's that suppose to mean?" He asked his grey eyes narrowing as he listened for my answer. "Oh, I wasn't looking where I was going and backed into him. I would have fallen if he hadn't caught me," I explained, "Have you gotten to meet anyone yet?" I asked wanting to talk about something other than me being clumsy.
"Not really, I said hi to Lucille but she didn't seem to notice," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Oh don't take it personally. Lucille is just really shy, she really is sweet once you get to know her…" I rambled on before being cut off. "Hey, hey," he said with his hands raised in surrender, "I didn't think she was mean or anything. You don't have to explain anything," he finished laughing at me.
I let out a sigh of relief at that. For some reason I felt the need to have everything perfect when he finally saw ME. Everything was different now that we were out of that small bedroom and out in public. It felt much more fragile, like the slightest move could shatter everything we had built over these few days.
It felt like a weight was on my chest when I thought about all of this at once. All the fears I'd felt just before this room came crashing down on me and my chest tightened, my eyes stinging with the promise of tears. What if this really was the last time I saw him? What if the Society found out about us? What if he was coupled up with someone else? What would I do? What could I do?
Even though I'd only met Julian a couple of days ago, and our meetings so brief, it had felt like a lifetime to me. Like a part of me would be dead and incomplete without him there.
It was then that the tears came and it wasn't because of all those other things, it was the thought of Julian holding another girl in his arms. It was him with his soft lips placed against another's. It was him saying 'I love you' to someone else. The image I once had of a small child with beautiful grey eyes dissipating into nothingness.