^^Ballroom

The weekend was hard for me to spend. I couldn’t concentrate on my homework or anything else because David’s secret kept bothering me all the time. I wanted to tell Tiana so much about him and how he was using her but I couldn’t take the risk of him finding out and no wonder what he’ll do after that. I didn’t even know exactly what was going on between their families and why he needed to date Tiana for four years without loving her.

And that wasn’t the only thing that kept bugging me. I couldn’t get Andrew’s smile out of my brain. I was so stunned when he smiled at me and couldn’t control my dumbfounded reaction at the diner.

I was used to his eagle-gawking eyes at me and frowns on his face. When I bumped into him at the diner, I thought he would insult me or call me blind for stepping in his way, but when his lips stretched into a charming smile, my mind went blank.

I stood there like a dumbhead and watched him as I tried to comprehend what was going on, and nothing made sense. I didn’t mean to sound rude when I excused myself, but I was confused and didn’t know what to do. The entire time we ate I felt his gaze on me, which was like his usual thing to do and I still haven’t figured out why he always does that.

After eating at the diner, everyone was getting ready to go to the after-party, and I thought of skipping it. I was glad when Chloe said no too because otherwise, she would have forced me. I was exhausted, and it wasn’t my thing to be outside all day. I always spent my time in my room with my books and doing nothing.

On Monday at school, the whole student body kept gossiping over the game and the upcoming fundraiser, which was on the weekend. Nate and the student council started working on the preparations and they were gathering volunteers for it. I thought of joining them but backed out because I wasn’t sure if I’d be any help to them.

After classes, I was at my locker with Chloe getting the books needed for the assignment our professor gave us to do.

“Thank God the cheerleading practice got easy after the game ended.” Chloe sighed in relief and leaned her back to the locker beside mine. “Now we don’t have to do it every day.”

“I thought you enjoyed it?”

“I enjoy it but my muscles ache. Tiana and Brittany make us work out so much.” She groaned and I couldn’t focus on what she was saying because the name Tiana made my stomach clench in guilt.

I didn’t know Tiana that well and never got the chance to talk to her before. She’s Brittany’s friend, and she seems just like her, but no girl deserves to be deceived by her boyfriend.

“Hello!” Chloe snapped her fingers in front of me. “Where did you go?” She asked, cutting my train of thoughts.

“Nowhere...” I mumbled and ducked my head.

“Seriously, what were you thinking? You looked like you were solving a math problem.” Chloe raised her brows at me, and I knew she wouldn’t let it go until I tell her.

“I was thinking about...” I stretched the words to think of something and blurted the first name that came to my mind. “Andrew.” My eyes widened when I uttered his name.

Why did I say his name?!

“Why are you thinking about Andrew?” Chloe asked, tilting her head with her brows furrowed in confusion.

“I was just...” I swallowed hard and licked my lips. “He’s a weird guy, isn’t he?”

“Huh?” Chloe’s face scrunched. “I uh... don’t know. I mean he’s hot, and every girl likes him.” Chloe shrugged, then added. “Though he’s not my type. You already know who is.” She bit her lip, and I found the topic to divert her attention.

“Are you going to ask Louis to come with you to the fundraiser?” I questioned.

The fundraiser at West High was like prom and homecoming. You’re supposed to bring a date or come alone like a loner.

Chloe howled, rubbing her face. “I want to but I don’t know how to ask him?!”

“You can google some ideas,” I suggested.

“No...” She shook her head. “Not like that, it’s just... I’m scared. We haven’t even properly talked and whenever he’s in front of me I get frozen. I don’t know what to do?” She whimpered.

I was about to open my mouth but stopped when someone from behind tapped my shoulder. I turned my head and saw Ben grinning at me.

“Hey, Lilly.” He glanced behind me. “Chloe.”

“Hi, Ben.” Chloe smiled. Suddenly her mood lifted, and she darted her eyes between us, looking amused.

Ben turned to me. “You free now?”

“Yeah...” I closed my locker and looked at him in confusion.

“Good.” His grin broadened, and he twisted his head towards Chloe. “You don’t mind if I take her.” He asked.

“Oh no, I don’t mind at all!” Chloe bit her lip, trying to hide her amused grin. “I was just going home, anyway.”

“We’ll see you later then,” Ben said.

“What-“ before I could ask him what was going on, he grabbed my arm and yanked me to the hallway.

“Bye!” I angled my neck and saw Chloe furiously waving her hands at me. “Have fun, my precious kids!”

She must have gotten the wrong idea.

“Where are we going?” I asked Ben when he turned towards the auditorium corridor.

“You’ll see.” He smirked and took turned into another corner. I glanced at the signs and frowned when I read ballroom written on it.

“We have a ballroom in our school?”

Ben paused and blinked at me. “In what world do you live?”

Tucking my hair lock that fell out of my braid, I averted my gaze. “I uh... I never came to this side.”

When Chloe gave me the high school tour, I specifically asked her to show me the library and classes because that was all I needed to know. I never went around the entire school.

“We have a separate ballroom for the events like prom, homecoming, fundraisers, and all that,” Ben said and opened the double door. “It’s a good thing you’ll see it now.”

My eyes grew big and my jaw dropped at the sight of the enormous room. I blinked and observed the surrounding. There was a huge staircase in the middle leading down the hall. Ben and I stepped down, and I spun slowly, looking around. The ballroom itself was plain and didn’t have any furniture, but it was tremendous.

Students were working in the room. I watched as some were painting the walls, others had a huge table in the corner, and some were sitting on the floor, working on things.

“What’s going on here?”

“They are preparing for the fundraiser,” Ben said.

“And...?” I waved my hand, urging him to continue.

“And... We’re here so you could spend time with him.” He beamed and pointed behind me. I whirled around, following his gaze, and saw Nate standing there, instructing everyone.

“What?” I tilted my head.

“You’ve been supporting me a lot with Toby and I appreciate it and now I thought of helping you.”

I shook my head. “You don’t need to-“

“I need to and you like him, right?” I gulped and bobbed my head. “Then get him. Nate’s been single since... Forever. He dated a few girls in the beginning then stopped because he wanted to concentrate on his studies but I think now is the time for him to get a girl.” He smirked. “You two will look good together.” I blushed and glanced at Nate.

“You think so?”

“I know so.” He grinned. “I’ve known him for a very long time and he’s a nice guy so I approve him for you.”

“But... What am I supposed to do?” My shoulders slumped.

“He’s working on this fundraiser, so you volunteer and help him. You don’t actually have to do anything.” He whispered, looking around to make sure no one heard him. “Just be yourself around him and when he’ll spend some time with you, he’ll like you.”

“How can you be so sure?” I murmured.

“Because I did.” I stared at Ben, and he gave me an assuring smile. “There’s something about you that makes people like you in an instant. He already likes you it won’t take long for him to fall for you.” He winked.

I bit my lip and looked around, wondering if it was a good idea, then I heard Nate calling us. We turned and saw him coming toward us with a dashing smile on his face.

“Hey. What are you guys doing here?” He looked between Ben and me.

“Lilly is here...” Ben said, putting his arm over my shoulder, “...to volunteer.”

“Really?” Nate's smile broadened. I pressed my lips and nodded. “And what about you?” Nate arched his brows at Ben.

“I have more important work to do,” Ben smirked and walked backward. “See ya guys later.” With that, he jogged upstairs.

I know his important work was to go to the library.

“What made you volunteer?” Nate asked, and I turned towards him. “Ben isn’t forcing you, right?”

“No.” I shook my head and played with my finger nervously. “I uh... I wanted to do it and to help with everything.”

In the beginning, I wanted to help, but I chickened out and now I’m here so... Let’s do this.

Nate gazed at me and beamed. “Alright, then I’ll show you around.” I nodded and followed him.

“Those people over there are in the student council committee and they are planning the decorations, budget, and all that.” He pointed around the corner to where the students were sitting at the huge table. “Those painters there are from the art class. We asked them to help us with the theme.” I watched as they were painting the walls.

“What are they painting?”

“Since it’s day one they’re painting the wall plain and after that, they’ll start with the major theme.”

“What’s the theme?”

“It’s Supernatural night,” Nate said and I frowned.

“You themed supernatural... For a fundraiser?” I questioned.

He chuckled. “The thing is that here in West Hills a lot of events happen every month and they’re all plain in which everyone wears formal dresses.” He said as we walked around the hall.

I already knew about that. Every week in magazines there was news about some events. Mom gushed over their dresses and the venues.

“Fundraisers in our school were also like that and it was getting plain and boring, people weren’t showing interest in it. So everyone did something different and used a costume theme, the first year was a hit. At the end of the event we got the feedback that they all loved the space theme we did, everyone wants to dress up differently but they only get to do that on Halloween so we did a themed fundraiser every year.”

“It’s different so a lot of people come and who doesn’t like to get dressed up? Since the first costume fundraiser, our funds shot up like never. It’s a simple theory the happier they are the more they give.” He concluded with a grin.

I nodded my head, trying to process whatever he said. In my previous school, we had a simple fundraiser in which students sold their thing and did performances. Here it was different. I still haven’t understood the rich people's lifestyle.

I looked at the students working; they were around thirty. “And they’re all volunteering for it?”

“Don’t get blinded by them.” Nate scoffed. “Ninety percent of them are here for extra credit.” I frowned. “They’re failing in their subjects and if they want to graduate this year, they have to volunteer and according to their performance they’ll get extra credit.”

“Oh...” I mumbled.

“Let’s get this party started!” We turned around and saw Louis, David, and Andrew coming down the stairs.

“They’re also here for the credits.” Nate leaned in and whispered. I nodded, and he walked to them, glaring. “You’re late.”

“We’re here and that should be enough,” Andrew grunted and flickered his eyes around, and they landed on me. He tilted his head and gave me a once over then unexpectedly his lips stretched into a devilish sweet smile making me cease my breath.

Even though he has a cute smile, it scared the hell out of me.

“What is she doing here?” David scowled at me and I glared at him in return.

I hate him for what he did at the game. I thanked God that we had collars in our uniform and they hid the bruises or else I had to wear a muffler all the time to hide it.

“Oh, my dear Lilly!” Louis came to me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Don’t tell me you’re also failing!” I opened my mouth, but he continued. “Let me guess... Maths right? It’s the hardest subject.” Louis patted my head. “No worries I’ll teach you.”

“You’re already failing maths, Louis,” Andrew said deadpan.

“And she’s a scholarship student.” Nate rolled his eyes. “Unlike you all, she’s here to volunteer.”

“Oh...” Louis mumbled, then peeked at me. “I’m not the only one failing just to be clear, Andrew is failing History-“

“Shut up,” Andrew growled, but Louis continued.

“And David is failing... Almost everything.”

“I’m not!” David snapped.

“Yes, you are!” Louis stuck his tongue out.

“If you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll leak your d**k forehead pictures.” David threatened.

Louis gasped loudly. “You will not!”

“Oh, l will,” David smirked. I watched back and forth between them as they talked about some pictures which I did not know about.

“Shut up, both of you, or else you won’t graduate!” Nate growled. They slammed their mouths shut. “Now follow me I’ll give assign you all work.”

We followed Nate, and he appointed us to work. Louis got with the painters since he was also good at it and Andrew, David, and I were assigned to help the craft team.

“Can you bring the plywood from the storage room?” A girl from the craft team asked.

“Sure.” I nodded and went to where she pointed.

There was a room next to the ballroom. I peeked through the door and saw more students carrying things in and out. I entered the room and looked for the woods. The storage room was filled with different things like paint buckets, plies, and different tools.

I went to the woods section and saw a lot of plywood cut into gigantic pieces. I picked one and groaned.

It’s heavy.

Balancing it under my arm, I turned around and almost scream when I came face to face with someone’s chest. I peeked up and saw Andrew.

He stared at me, then smiled again. “Let me get that.”

I frowned. “What-“ before I could finish he yanked the wood out of my hand and picked a few more like they weight nothing. I watched, dumbfounded, as he left the room.

This guy is weird.

That wasn’t the only weird thing he did. The entire time he kept doing this. Whenever someone asked me to bring something, he would follow me and take it from me.

He was like ‘let me help you’, ‘this must be heavy for you’, and ‘you shouldn’t pick heavy stuff’.

I didn’t know if he was being nice to me, which made no sense, or if he was making fun of me for being tiny.

Definitely the latter.

When he kept doing that, I got frustrated and asked Nate to assign me something else. He told me to help with the painting since they were only painting it white.

I was peacefully painting the wall and got on my toes to reach higher, but someone jerked the brush from my hand. I turned around, and a groan escaped from my lips when I saw Andrew grinning at me.

“It must be hard for you to reach. I’ll do it.” He said and stood still in front of me.

I blinked at him, then looked around. Everyone was engrossed with their work. I darted my eyes back to Andrew, who was still standing looking at me with his sparkling blue eyes.

Is he waiting for me to say something?

When after a minute he didn’t move, I step aside. “I’ll get more paint,” I mumbled and walked to the storage room.

There’s something wrong with him.

When I entered the room, I saw David picking up some tools and It was just the two of us inside.

“Can you leave me alone?” David grunted, putting his hands on his hips.

“I’m not following you.” I gave him a disgusted look.

He raised his brows and stood in front of me. “What’s with the look?”

“You already know that.” I gave him a sarcastic smile.

“For a nerd you sure have attitude.” He smirked and stepped closer to me. Instead of backing away like a coward, I stood in my place.

“And for a cheater you sure are arrogant.” I retorted.

His brows shot up, and amusement took over his face. “You’re something. I never excepted you to be like this. Tell me, is this why Ben’s interested in you?”

“Don’t involve him in this,” I growled.

“I’m sure you must have some tricks up your sleeve in bed too.” He grinned and leaned in front of my face. “I’d like to try them with you.”

I looked at him in disbelief and opened my mouth to back him off, but halted when I heard another voice.

“What’s going on here?” We turned and saw Andrew darting his eyes between us, looking confused.

“Nothing,” David said, backing away. “Came here to get some supplies.” He shrugged and got whatever he was looking for.

I watched David casting me a warning glare before walking out of the room. I blew a breath and darted my gaze to Andrew, who gave me a deadpan look.

And he’s back.

~•~ • ~•~ • ~•~

A/N

And here's the update!

Hope you guys like the update! I changed a lot of themes for the fundraiser and ended up on this XD

Don't forget to vote and comment ❤