Sing to Me (11 page)

A shadow blocked out the little light that found its way over to our corner and I looked up. And up. It was Sienna’s boyfriend, Lee. My heart might be aching over Colby, but I couldn’t help but appreciate what Lee did for a tuxedo. Dang.

“Hey!
Rylie
, right?”

I
nodded,
surprised he knew who I was.

“Mind if I steal Sienna? This is kind of our song.”

I smiled and shook my head as he took her hand and pulled her up. “Of course not
,”
I said
.
“
Want me to hold your camera, Sienna?”

“You think there’s a chance she’s putting that thing down? I’ve learned to live with it
,
”
Lee said, his voice dry.

Sienna paused and looked up at him. Without a word, she handed me the camera, and a look passed between them that nearly curled my toes. What I wouldn’t give to have that with Colby.

Colby and Olivia were singing “Blown Away,” their voices rich with the passion of the song and the power of the lyrics. It was physically painful to listen to them, my heart aching with the hope that Colby sang with such intense emotion because he felt that way about me.
The
final lines of the song hummed in my brain long after they had faded away.

“
I’m blown away by the strength of your love

Hold me tight or I’ll get carried away.”

Then I had nothing to do but wait – though f
or what, I wasn’t exactly sure.
Sienna came back
with a soft expression on her face and Lee’s arm around her waist. She got her camera and disappeared into the crowd. I felt as if I had disappeared as well.

Somehow, I had
become a spectator at my own prom – there, but not really part of it. Couples drifted by my dark corner and a group of guys stood talking nearby as they tried to look cool while avoiding the dance floor
.
A few people sat at the tables around the room, looking bored despite the
cookies and punch in front of them. But they were all still part of prom
, even if they weren’t out dancing
.

I was somewhere else,
alone.

When Micah took back over for Olivia, I could tell that he was a little put out at what a hit Olivia had been. There was
a tightness
around his mouth and a mocking tone in his voice as he encouraged the crowd to cheer for her as she bowed and left the stage
.
A few seconds later, I realized he was jealous of Colby too.

Looking over at him, Micah said, “So, Colby, my man – it looks like you have some fans out there.”

A chorus of screams erupted from the girls around the stage, and I could see Colby’s expression flick
er
between surprise and dismay before finally settling on a weird combination of embarrassment and satisfaction
. He nodded his head slightly, acknowledging the cheers he was receiving, and waited silently – and impatiently – for Micah to get on with the show.

Talking to the audience again, Micah said, “Well, even though he’s so popular, he’s
flying solo
, so he’s not in the running for the first of tonight’s award
s. I’ve been asked to announce the winner of the
Best Dressed Couple
competition
.”
He tore open an
envelope and laughed as he read the names. “Actually Colby, you’ll like this one. The Best Dressed couple is Brian Gibbons and
Rylie
Butcher.”

There was cheering and whistling. I could see Brian pumping his fist in the air as he went up on stage. My brain didn’t quite catch what was going on until hand
s
were grabbing mine and pulling me towards the stage.

“What are you waiting for?” Olivia ask
ed
me, her eyes shining with excitement and laughter. “Get up there.”

I had never been more reluctant to do anything in my life. I would rather have faced a spider infestation than stand next to Brian with Colby watching, and
no bug ever made my skin crawl like his arm slipping around my waist did. I reached behind me and tried to push it away, but he was
determined. He pulled me close to his side, and I glanced frantically at Colby as I clawed at Brian’s hand on my hip.

The anger I saw burning in Colby’
s eyes startled me
.
Surely, any chance I’d had of working things out with him was gone
now
. Angry and sick with the pain in my chest, I elbowed Brian
’s
stomach enjoying his pained grunt as he let go of me and hunch
ed over. I got off the stage somehow, despite my blurry eyes and high heels. I could hear a roar of laughter behind me as I pushed my way through the crowd to the exit, and over it all, Micah was on the
mic
calling, “Go get her, man! Um, I guess the band will be taking a break. Hey, DJ, take over, will you?”

I made it through the series of doors and finally outside, a rock song crashing in the gym behind me. I wanted to hide, get out of the lights flooding the school park
ing lot – away from everyone and everything
and be alon
e
. I hurried to the corner of the school and had just escaped the pool of white light around the door when I heard footsteps behind me.

“
Rylie
!
Wait.”

My heart jerked, and for a second I almost ran, but my traitorous feet stopped and waite
d for him. There in the shadowed twilight
, his hands came over my shoulders and held them as if he was afraid I would still run away.
If only he knew, I was his willing prisoner.

Neither of us moved, and I waited – as I had all night. Hope rose like a silver bubble through the heaviness of my misery. He had come after me. That had to mean something.

He sighed
deeply
and his arms came around me. He bent his head over my shoulder and pressed a kiss to my ear before he rested against me, his breath softly fanning my cheek. “If you run away now, I won’t get to dance with you at prom after all
,” he murmured. “
The thought of doing that has been the only thing that kept me going up there.”

It felt heavenly being held this way, but I needed to see his face – to look in his eyes. I turned and his arms loosened just l
ong enough to let me before he pulled me close again. His face was shadowed though. “Why am I always talking to you in the dark?” I complained.

“I don’t know, but you look beautiful in the moonlight.”

“When you can’t see me you mean?” I asked indignantly.

“I can see you,” he said simply. “I can see the soft lines of your face, the glimmer in your eyes, the tempting curve of your lips.
You’re so beautiful it’s hard to take it all in. And I’m glad it’s dark because no one will see me kiss you
.
This moment
belongs to us and no one else.”

If I could stop time, freeze one perfect
frame of my life and live there forever, that kiss would have tempted me to. But time doesn’t stop. It pushes us ever forward into a new moment, and I was soon glad for it.

Colby pulled back,
though only by inches
. “
Rylie
, I’m so crazy in love with you, I don’t know what to do about it.”

The swift joy that rushed into my heart made it hard to speak, but he sounded so confused and lost that I couldn’t help laugh a little. “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

“It is, if you don’t feel the same way for me.”

“But I do! Why do you think it hurt so much to see you angry with me up on stage?”

He inhaled sharply. “With you? No. I wanted to beat that low-life’s brains out for putting his hands all over you when you obviously didn’t want him to. Believe me - the only thing that stopped me from laying into him was that you beat me to it.”

“What?” Then I remembered throwing my elbow. “Oh. Yeah. I got him pretty good didn’t I?”

“That would be an understatement. It’s a good thing you’ve got me, or you might not have gotten another date all year. The other guys will be terrified of you after that. Can’t say I mind either.”

“So, would you mind doing something to scare off all the girls who are going to be p
anting around you after tonight?
”

I caught the glint of his white teeth as he smiled. “Jealous? Don’t worry
. They’ll move on
when they see I don’t care
for
anyone but you.”

He kissed me again, and I endeavored to return it in a way that would leave no doubt I returned his feelings. I must have been pretty convincing, because he was breathing hard and he almost pushed me away from him.
“Holy cow,
Rylie
.
If you keep that up, I’ll never make it back inside
-
Micah’s probably ready to tear my head off as it is.”

I laughed and said, “That’s fine. I don’t want you to sing to anyone but me anyway.”

He put his hands on either side of my face and smiled down at me. “I haven’t been singing to anyone but you all night. Now, come on. You’ll like our next song.”

I took his hand and let him lead me back towards the gym. “I’m sure I will, but why this one in particular?”

“Because I wrote it, and it’s about you.”

“Oh, nice. But when did you have time to write a new song and get it worked up for prom?”

“Wel
l…”
he sounded like he was hesitating over his answer
, but I could tell he was teasing me. “
I wrote this one a long time ago. It’s called “Bleeding Hearts
Don’t
Die
.”

“Um, that sounds disturbing. So, I’
m guessing this was from those angry, jealous days of yours.
”

“Yeah
.
Now you’ll
feel sorry for how tormented you made me feel
and finally forgive me
,
”
he said, his smile making me respond with one of my own.

We’
d made it t
hrough the gym and up to
the stage
by then,
and Micah had seen us, so he motioned anxiously for Colby to get back up there. I wasn’t ready to let him go though. “Can’t you do a song about how great you think I am instead?”

He grinned at me. “I’m still working on that one. You aren’t an easy girl to capture in chords and lyrics. But when I get it perfect, I promise I’ll sing it to you.”

He ran back up on
stage and grabbed up his guitar
. The girls began cheering again when they saw he
was back, and he acknowledged them with a nod of his head. But h
is
wink
an
d
his
smile
were just for me
.

I smiled back, knowing now what I’d been waiting for all night.
H
e was on stage and I was watching below
, but w
e’d come together at last, like melody and harmony, our song just beginning – and I knew it was going to be a beautiful one.