Tear (Seaside 1)

Alec smiled. “He’s talented.”

And that was it. We both stood there looking at one another with sadness, love, friendship, and secrets. I took everything we shared and again stored it into that tiny place in my brain where I labeled the box Alec. It could have said first love on it, but I was lucky enough to have two loves in my life, and the choice had been taken from me by the very boy who had forever reflecting in his eyes.

“Race you back?” I grinned.

“Don’t trip,” Alec teased and pushed me before taking off.

Tears blurred my vision as I chased after him. It was too close to a metaphor for my current situation in life. I would never reach him, never have him, and if I was lucky enough to catch him for even one second, he would always run.

Odd, that in the end Demetri would be the safe one. The one I could trust with my heart.

****

“Nat, hurry up!” Alesha shouted from downstairs.

I rolled my eyes at the reflection in the mirror and put in my earrings. The guys won their football game, and we were quickly trying to get ready for the dance. We had to be there earlier than everyone else so we could take tickets and make sure nobody snuck in alcohol or kids from other schools. “Coming!” I fired back, grabbing my shoes from the box on the bed and skipping down the stairs.

Alec was at the bottom talking with Evan. They were both in black slacks and nice shirts, but it was Alec who stood out. Of course he would wear all black. His clothes screamed expensive, you could actually see the thread count difference between his shirt and Evan’s, and I was a few feet away from them.

“Wow!” Evan applauded. “You clean up well, Nat.”

I rolled my eyes and looked to Alec for approval. His mouth was set in a grim line. I tilted my head to the side and cleared my throat. “Does my date approve?”

“Yes.” His voice was hoarse, his eyes dark, he looked away and licked his lips.

Alesha grabbed my hand. “Okay, got everything you need? Because we needed to be there like ten minutes ago!”

“Yup.” I put on a pair of flip flops and held my shoes in my hand. No way was I going to wear those babies all night.

We rode in Alec’s car, because there really was no use renting a limo when your date has such a cool ride.

My phone buzzed.

HV FN 2NITE, BBY. MISS U SO MCH! –D

I smiled and texted him back.

MISS U 2! I DN’T THNK UR BRO LKS MY DRESS. J

WHT? U’D LK GD N ANYTHNG. TK A PIC & SND IT 2 ME.

“Evan, can you take a picture?” I asked slyly and posed for the camera. I quickly sent it to Demetri and waited.

My alert went off.

DAMN. I H8 MY BRO RT NOW. TELL HIM 2 KP HIS DRTY HNDS OFF.

Guilt stabbed me in the chest. I needed to reassure him.

NO WRRIES! MISS U SO MCH. COME HME SN?

He replied instantly.

PROMISE.

I sighed and put the phone back in my clutch. Alec hadn’t said two words since we got into the car. Maybe he was just trying to keep his distance. I couldn’t blame him. After our run the day before, we had gone our separate ways and said perhaps three words to each other before meeting up for Homecoming. It just seemed easier to avoid everything.

We pulled up to the school parking lot. Music was already booming from inside. We rushed in, Alesha went to the tickets, and Alec and I were put on door patrol.

After ten minutes we realized that it wouldn’t work. Too many kids were excited to see Alec and almost every single girl that walked by blatantly ignored her date, all with looks in their eyes that said, “I’ll drop him in a second if you smile at me.”

Alec was polite but I could tell it was wearing on him. I snuck up behind Alesha. “Hey can we switch?”

“Sure, I’m almost done anyway.”

Alec and I took her seats and managed to be civil to one another, though each time one of us reached for money or tickets, our hands would graze and the storage in my brain would threaten to explode. If I didn’t get a handle on it I was going to literally throw myself onto him. How embarrassing.

It was just because I was missing Demetri so much, too.

Alec was cool and distant once we sold the last ticket. We were at our max. It was up to security to keep kids out and keep others in. Luckily, Bob and Lloyd agreed to help, considering that it was a security threat to have Alec running around with all the normal kids.

“Do you want to dance?” I asked shyly once we walked into the gym.

Alec grinned and tugged me toward the dance floor. He may be brooding, he may be indifferent, he may have possibly broken my heart twice, but the man could dance.

He was amazing.

I felt like I had two left feet next to him.

I kept apologizing when I felt like I couldn’t keep up. He rolled his eyes and laughed, then pulled me so I was nearly on top of him, his hips swirling seductively. Even if my brain wasn’t coordinated to figure out what to do, my body did. Instinctively, I joined in and within minutes we had a crowd around us. The song turned to a popular AD2 song that had a techno tango feel to it.

The music video had millions of hits on Youtube alone, not to mention the people who did parodies or their own flash mobs to it.

It had been filmed at a high school.

And suddenly it dawned on me, as the lights darkened even more and a spotlight shone on us, that I was in my own music video.

Alec grabbed a hat from some random guy and did this crazy Justin Bieber/Michael Jackson move that had people screaming until they were hoarse, and then he jerked me flush against him, lifting my leg above his hip and dipped me backwards. With ease he twisted me around him and we were doing a tango. Which, lucky for me, was the only dance I ever actually learned.