Page 78 of No Ordinary Girl
I smiled. “This party’s free, you silly.”
His gaze darted around the room. “Yeah, not bad.”
Ace cuddled close to me. I hadn’t even noticed him creeping up on us. “I think it’s time for tin man and Dorothy to go shake up the dance floor,” he said. “Shall we have a go, love?” He had his arm wrapped around my waist, which I thought was a little too familiar.
Leo’s eyes darted from me to Ace, and back again, and it dawned on him–Ace and I were an item. His heart sank. I could feel it like it was my own heart sinking.
I desperately wanted to explain. “Uh… Ace and I, and Alicia and Kendra went shopping yesterday and we’re doing the whole Oz thing,” I was quick to say. “It was Kendra’s idea… kinda silly.” I really didn’t want him to think that Ace and I were an item. We were definitely not.I could barely stand the guy.
Leo shrugged. “Sure.”
Ace pulled at me. “Let’s get on.” I did need to talk to him so I went along as he dragged me to the dance floor.
Ace was definitely a dancer. As soon as he started moving, he shot a few grins and glances around the room, and girls were drawn in like moths to a flame. I knew there would be no talking to him, and I took the opportunity to exit the silly group of giddy girls. Not my circus… and I was no monkey.
I looked for Leo, but he was gone. I drowned my sorrows in a chocolate cupcake. Alicia was eating chocolate and I wondered how she managed to be so tiny when she ate candy all the time.Maybe it was one of her potions.
“Kendra’s one of Ace’s groupies.” She plopped a chocolate in her mouth as she watched them sway on the dance floor.
“And you’re not?” I asked. I knew she liked him, too.
She shook her head. “I like him, but he has so many admirers. It’s hard to get his attention,” she complained. “It’s like being onThe Bachelor, twenty girls vying for one guy.”
I laughed. “You think he’s a player?”
“I don’t know… he’s obviously super charming, and super cute.”
I pondered my question. I’d never really seen him with a girlfriend, or kissing anyone, but then again, no one ever kissed in the halls at RAMS–there was a strict no PDA policy.
“I think he’s a bit of a narcissist,” I said. “He likes the attention. He has a big ego.”
“Look at you, Mrs. Psychology.”
“I think I might want to be a therapist when I grow up.” I was joking but the words surprised me a little. “I don’t think I ever told you that. I can read people, after all. You think I’d be good at it?”
Her gaze was still glued to them. “I think you’d be great.”
“Hey, whatever happened to that boy at the bonfire? The one you were sitting with?”
She scowled. “We broke up. He was a slime ball.”
I didn’t ask, but I got the sense that he might have pushed her beyond her comfort level. I knew for a fact that she was still a virgin, like me.
“No worries. I stirred myself a little magic potion, and I don’t feel anything for him anymore.”
I smiled. “Wow. That’s pretty handy.”
She turned to me and grinned. “Let’s go dance again.”
Simone madeher grand entrance about thirty minutes later. She was magnificent. She towered over everyone–she was larger than life. Already tall, she must have been wearing six inch platforms under her long black dress. She was dressed like the queen in Snow White, and she was indeed, a queen.
All heads turned to her as she took Cedric’s arm (he may have been the only one who was taller than her) and walked slowly up to the sound stage. The music died and she held a microphone to her ruby mouth.
“Good evening, my darling little wizards,” she started. “I hope you are all having a wonderful time.”
The crowd roared. A few whistles could be heard amongst the claps. The cheering settled down as she started to speak again. “Tonight is about celebration, about whimsy, about forgetting about all the serious stuff; homework, assignments. It’s about fun.”
I thought about Haley again. It was hard not to. I vowed to enjoy the next few hours, and try to have fun and be a regular sixteen year old girl. Like Mr. Morris had said, if I just stopped thinking about it, the answers might just come to me.
