153. The Last Dance

Warning: none

Glossary: matric dance=prom

Bridgeport, present day...

Krimsyn spent a large part of her Saturday helping Michaela get ready for her matric dance.

“How do you I look?” Michaela asked as she twirled in front of the mirror. She wasn’t a ‘dress’ kind of girl. In fact she felt uncomfortable in her blue silk chiffon gown and heels, she would have preferred jeans and sneakers, but the organizing body was very specific about the dress code.

Krimsyn jumped from the bed and approached her. “You look like a princess,” she gushed as she brushed away her tears.

“Oh mom, stop it. You promised you won’t cry,” Michaela complained, but she accepted her mother’s loving embrace.

“Okay, no more tears, I promise,” Krimsyn clapped her hands and rushed her to the bed where she fixed her makeup and hair.

An hour later, Michaela was done and ready to leave.

The doorbell rang and Michaela tensed up a little. Her ride had arrived.

“I can’t do this, I can’t do this,” she panicked. Before she could bury her head under her pillow, Krimsyn stopped her.

“Yes you can. You look beautiful.”

“But I don’t have a date,” Michaela cried in a small voice.

At that moment Krimsyn wanted nothing more than to reach out and squeeze her; she looked like her little girl again, scared and unsure of herself.

“Dates are so overrated! And on the bright side, you can dance with whoever you want without anyone getting jealous. Now go out there and tear up the dance floor.” Krimsyn gently pushed her towards the door.

“Okay. I can do this!” With that Michaela grabbed her clutch bag from her desk and rushed to the living room.

The moment her bedroom door opened, Cameron and J.D. turned to look.

J.D. beamed at his daughter, a look of love and pride shimmered in his eyes.

Cameron held his breath.

He thought Michaela had never looked more beautiful. No, ‘beautiful’ didn’t begin to describe the gem in front of him. She was perfection at its finest.

He silently cussed himself for cancelling on her. When she asked him to be her date he’d initially agreed to go with her, but with the day approaching, he’d gotten cold feet and he’d let her down, gently though, explaining he would have felt out of place there, and he didn’t want to cramp her style.

“Do I look okay?” Michaela asked, unable to take their silence anymore.

“You look beautiful, come here,” J.D. told her as he gave her a hug. “Tell all those hoodlums to stay away from you.”

“Those hoodlums don’t stand a chance,” Michaela squeezed him back, but her statement was meant for Cameron.

Cameron placed a pink carnation in her hair. “You look wonderful.” He whispered softly as he kissed her gently on the cheek.

“Okay, break it up,” J.D. came between them, ruining the moment. He’d seen something he didn’t quite understand in Cameron’s eyes.

Krimsyn rushed upstairs to get her video camera. When she came back she handed it to Cameron…

And asked him to take a video of the three of them as a family.

Next Michaela posed with Krimsyn alone.

And then with J.D.

And of course she insisted on taking a few shots with Cam too…

This one, J.D. wasn’t too happy with.

“Fasten your seatbelt. Have fun, but be responsible, and if you need a ride call me or your dad, we’ll pick you up,” Krimsyn told her as they were leaving.

“Okay, but Cam said he’ll bring me home. Don’t wait up for me!” Even when she said this she knew her parents, specifically her mom, would be waiting for her, dying to hear the stories and the drama.

The elevator ride was a little tense.

“Are you mad at me?” Michaela asked.

“No, what makes you say that?” Cameron replied.

“You’ve hardly said anything to me.”

“I’m not mad at you, I’m fine.” Cameron snapped and pushed the “stop” button to halt the elevator.

 Before Michaela knew what was happening he had her locked in his arms. And he was kissing her.

It was different, unlike the other kisses they’d shared in the past. But it still felt restrained.

“Do you mind telling me what’s going on?” Michaela asked.

“You want me to say it?”

“What?”

“Fine, I’m jealous okay. I’m jealous that it’s not me you’ll be dancing with tonight. I’m jealous that all those guys will be perving after you the whole night. I can’t take it!’ He growled as he started the lift again.

Michaela frowned. She was confused. “But I asked you to be my date and you dropped me at the last minute.”

Cameron didn’t say anything. He stared straight ahead of him and silently counted the floors as the lift sped down.

“I won’t go if you don’t want me to. We can go to your place, we’ll watch a movie,” she offered and that just made him feel horrible.

“No. Of course you’re going. This is your night. I’m just being an old fool that’s all. I want you to have fun tonight,” he assured her as he hugged her again.

“Okay,” Michaela mumbled on his chest.

Leaving her at the entrance of her school was the hardest thing Cameron had ever done.

He wanted to kiss her again, take her in his arms and mark his territory, but with the cameras flashing and the sleazy reporter (who’d chased them since they left the penthouse) milling about, he knew it wouldn’t be the smartest thing to do. By morning they’d be all over the tabloids and it would ruin any chance he had of getting J.D. to accept their relationship. They were so close, in twelve hours Mickey would be officially an adult.

“Call me when you’re ready to leave,” he told her.

“I will,” Michaela agreed.

Before they could say anything else, Maddie and Rose appeared out of nowhere.

They shrieked at Michaela, both jumping up and down.

Cameron was utterly confused, he had no idea what the screaming was about.

He slowly walked away, and when he turned back, he was angry and disappointed to see some guy in a tuxedo move in on Michaela.

He wanted to kick himself, the flower he’d placed in Michaela’s hair paled in comparison to the bunch of red roses Mr. Smooth Kid over there was doing his best to shove in her hands.

If he had stuck around for at least another five minutes, he would have heard Michaela brush off Reuben’s advances.

She politely informed her classmate she was in a serious relationship and she wasn’t into meaningless flirting.

Reuben didn’t mind. Like her, he didn’t have a date, and he didn’t want any strings, just someone to hang out and dance with for the night, nothing more.

“As friends?” Michaela asked.

“Just friends, nothing more,” Reuben smiled his assurance.

When Michaela took his hand and allowed him to lead her inside, her friends were ecstatic, they’d worried about her being the fifth wheel since they both had dates.

Michaela and her friends barely paid attention to the decorations; they were more fascinated with the open bar.

Their excitement though was short-lived when they found out only non alcoholic cocktails were being served.

Dinner was a three course meal.

Frogs Legs was served for the entrée, they had Lobster for the main meal.

and they topped it off with Baked Angel Food Cake for dessert.

For entertainment, the matric dance committee (with Michaela’s help) had managed to rope in Half & Half, the latest band to sign up with O+ Records.

For two hours straight the mood on the dance floor was euphoric as the crowd sang and danced along to Half & Half.

Michaela didn’t want to dance, especially to slow music, but when she saw the eager look on Reuben’s face, she decided to give it a shot.  Since she was there, she might as well make the most of it.

Reuben’s arms around her felt strange, he was anxious. Nothing like Cameron at all.

She smiled when Rose and Dustin danced past. She was happy for her friend. Rose had crushed over Dustin since they were juniors and when he’d asked her to be his date she had literally flipped with excitement.

Maddie and Jake (her boyfriend since they started high school) seemed to be lost in their own little world.

“This was nice,” Michaela told Reuben when the song came to an end.

Before Rueben could say anything, Cameron cut in, and just in time too, Chris Brown's Forever came on and the lights dimmed once again.

“What are you doing here?” She asked.

“I had to have one dance with you,” Cameron explained sheepishly.

“But how? How did you get in?” Michaela was puzzled. If your name wasn’t on the guest list there was no way you could get past the bouncers.

“Did you really ask me that?” He gave her a lazy smile; her heart did somersaults in her chest. She wondered if she’d ever get used to this feeling of free falling through time and space every time he looked at her, every time his hand brushed hers, or their bodies made contact. She was convinced it was not only insane, but also impossible to feel this way about someone.

“I love you,” Cameron whispered as he pulled her closer to him. His cool breath on her skin sent excited ripples through her body and she found herself leaning closer to him, wishing they were in his apartment, with no clothes between them.

Dancing with Cameron was an adventure.

As perfectly synchronized as their movements were, he still managed to keep her on her toes.

With every twirl, every turn, she found herself anticipating his next move and not for the first time since she met him, she wondered if he was just as creative in bed.

“You’ll have to find out, won’t you?” He replied with a cheeky smirk, answering her naughty thoughts.

C.Breezy's voice died down, and the lights came on again. As soon as her classmates caught sight of Cameron, they moved in on him and asked for autographs.

They also begged him to sing at least one song from the After Dark album. Cameron couldn’t since he needed the rest of the band for that, but he did entertain them with You and I, one of the songs he’d written for Michaela.

outside in a rainstorm on a summer's day...

dancing in the raindrops,

singing with the rainfall,

to wash off all the sorrows

that have come our way

you and I ...

sleeping in the shadows of another life ...

dreams upon our pillow,

shared with breaths between us,

caressing our memory,

a forgotten past

I hear a voice, telling me, telling me,

leave this alone, let it go,

let it drift away with the wind...

yet I feel your pain, like a fist,

pounding heavy on my heart...

and out of my blanket of darkness,

flies a wistful wish, filled with emptiness

yet all the while I scream 'I want more!'

a silent cry to the world that won't let you go...

can't you see that you're my reason to go on..

please come to me,

let me hold you close,

let me take your tears,

make you smile again...

there must be something here

'cause I cannot find

another in the world

who lights my soul like you

please come to me...

you and I...

entering the unknown with our hands held tight....

cautious steps we're taking,

watching through the shadows,

our fear, misunderstandings,

tearing us apart

you and I ….

fighting for a chance to show the world our love...

words that we don't speak of,

doubts that come between us,

won't wash off with the rainfall

and the sun won't shine.

I hear a voice, telling me, telling me,

let it stay in shadows,

drifted away with the wind...

yet I feel your pain, like a fist,

pounding heavy on my heart...

and within my blanket of sorrow,

dies a wistful wish, filled with emptiness

and still I can't stop screaming 'I want more!'

a silent cry to the world that won't let you go...

can't you see that you're my reason to go on...

without you close to me,

my heart will cease to beat,

my song will fade away,

the music will not play...

please come to me,

let me hold you close,

let me take your tears,

make you smile again...

there must be something here

'cause I cannot find

another in the world

who lights my soul like you

please come to me,

let us try to find

what we know we have

what we've hid away...

there must be something here

'cause I cannot find

another in the world

who lights my soul like you

without you close to me,

my heart will cease to beat,

my song will fade away,

the music will not play...

please come to me...

“Thank you,” Michaela told him much, much later, when he dropped her off at home.

“For what?”

“For coming back and making this a night to remember,” she kissed his cheek gently…

______

Note: I'll put up some Matric Dance spam on Facebook. I was too tired last night to upload the pics, so I'll probably link them up with the next update (which so happens to be the one EVERYONE has been waiting for)

Credits: The lyrics to You and I are intellectual property of Zhippidy/Fae. Thank you Fae, for all the work you've put into the follow up album to After Dark. You Rock!

Half & Half is Aussie Karima's half human/half vampire band and the latest to sign up with O+ Records. They'll be opening for K-Infinity on their upcoming five cities tour soon soon.

Calling all Talent Agents: If you have a band, artist you'd like to see tour with K-Infinity and Half & Half, let me know, I'll be happy to slot them in, but you'd have to bring your own music/material.