Tucker flashes us an amused smile.
“Even in a school filled with people, it’s amazing to me that you barely know anyone,” he says. “I guess that’s the way it is with you high-profile peeps. I see you brought your date?”
I introduce Mae, who reaches out her hand. Tucker, of course, makes a show of kissing Mae’s hand.
“Who knew that Shaun had such classy friends?” asks Mae. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Where’s your date?” I ask him, looking around briefly.
“Oh, no date for me,” answers Tucker. “I decided to come stag. Leaves my evening flexible, you know?” He gives Mae a wink. “Anyway, don’t let me hold you two up. Go on and get in there!”
Just as quickly as he arrived, Tucker is gone.
Not wanting to keep Mae out in the chilly weather with snowflakes floating all around us, I lead the way inside.
The hallway is packed with classmates all dressed up, milling about and chatting as they wait for others to arrive. We wind our way through the crowd and eventually make it through the doors and into the gymnasium.
A large stage is set up at the rear of the gymnasium with a live band playing. Royal Blue fabric is draped from the walls, lit by twinkling icicle lights. From the ceiling hang glowing paper balls and spinning glittery snowflake cutouts. Near the entrance is a small archway that has been made out to look like draped snowbanks that sit just in front of a glistening picture of icy mountains. Couples line up to get their pictures taken, and I remember Mom asking for one.
“Do you mind if we get our picture taken?” I ask.
Mae has to laugh.
“Considering our aversion to cameras lately, this time I’ll say yes.”
I smirk and take her hand, leading her to the line. We don’t have long to wait.
When we’re up, the photographer, an older gentleman, prompts us to pose.
“Go ahead - get closer. Come on, don’t be shy. Put your arm around her waist, young man!”
When I don’t do it good enough, the man steps forward and arranges us. I’m pressed up against Mae, and I feel as if a jolt of electricity has just coursed through my body, from my head all the way down to my toes. Mae takes my hand and places it firmly on her waist, and then places her own hand on my back. The fabric of her dress feels silky against my hand, and I worry for a moment that my sweaty palm will ruin it.
The picture is taken and we are both blinded by the flash, then the moment is over and we part.
We receive a notification that the picture has been emailed to us a few seconds later.
“Well?” says Mae. “Now what?”
I glance out at the dance floor which is alive with people.
“How about we dance for a bit?”
Mae and I leave our coats at a nearby table and walk out onto the dance floor.
At first the music is an upbeat, fast song, so the dancing isn’t awkward. We slip into the crowd and nobody notices us. We are normal high schoolers enjoying music and laughing at each other’s ideas of what good dance moves are. I may be able to fly, but Mae has tears in her eyes when she sees some of my dance moves.
Then the song comes to an end and a new, slower song begins.
All the couples on the dance floor come together, while the singles slowly make their way off to the sides.
Mae catches my eye, raising an eyebrow.
“Shall we?” she says. It’s not really a question. I know she’s waiting for me, so I close the gap between us and settle into a formal dance position with one hand clasping Mae’s, while the other wraps around her waist.
To my surprise she rests her head against my shoulder for a moment as we begin to move in slow circles like everyone else.
“I wasn’t sure if we would make it here, Fallout,” she says.
I look up at the strings of lights - the amusement not lost in my voice.
“For a while there, up on that rooftop, I was sure we wouldn’t make it here. I’m glad that wasn’t the end of us.”
Mae glances up at me.
“Me too,” she says in a soft, peaceful voice. “It’s only the beginning.”
My cheeks go red and I look up again to hide it from Mae. Something tells me I’m never going to get used to being this close to Mae. It seems silly since we’ve been through so much, but I fall back on humor like I always do.
“My sidekick has become a partner,” I say with a grin.
Mae pulls back, giving me a mock frown.
“Sidekick?” she says. “Not that again. Don’t make me use my spiked shoes against you.”
I flinch.
“You’re not wearing those, are you?”
This gets a laugh out of Mae and she pulls me back towards her. She takes the lead on our dance for a bit, after a while saying, “So, we haven’t really talked about that thing we took from Bill Flagrant’s hand.”
“You mean that black square?”
She nods. “What do you think about it?”
I give it a moment of thought, then I smile.
“I think that we can deal with that later. It’s safely hidden.”
“But, what if somebody finds it?”
I let out a laugh.
“Look around,” I say. “Does anybody look like they care about finding that thing?”
Mae glances at the people dancing around us and finally lets it go.
“It’s going to be hard trying to be normal,” she says. “Not to think about all these crazy mysterious things that have forced their way into our lives.”
“No one ever told us it was going to be easy,” I say, leaning closer to her. She catches my gaze and takes a breath. “The things that matter never are.”
In perhaps the only suave moment of my life up until now I kiss Mae in the middle of the dance floor. She returns the kiss then as we part, rests her head against my chest as we continue to dance.
I can honestly say that there’s no other place I would rather be right now.
Flying is an incredible experience, but it doesn’t top this.
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The Aberrant Series (Book 3): Super Villain Page 17