Meet Me After Class

Chapter 46: Slow Dance

Mr. Scott walked up, tall and handsome in his suit. Was he here to give me detention for being outside or something?

"Getting some air?" he asked, giving me a little smile.

"Oh yeah, just cooling off from all that wild dancing," I joked, attempting to look like everything was fine even though on the inside I was a mess. "Shouldn't you be inside, policing everyone else's good time?"

Mr. Scott laughed. "I'm on break. But I could always write you up for a dress code violation instead of being out here enjoying this lovely evening if you'd prefer."

I grimaced. "Yeah, no, I'm good, thanks."

Then came an awkward silence. And it stretched on.

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other nervously. Mr. Scott was watching me with a hint of concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked.

"Yeah. Just waiting for my dad to come pick me up."

"You seem kind of upset about something."

"Upset? No way!" I waved my hand in what I hoped was a casual manner. "I'm having a blast. Can't you tell by this gorgeous corsage my date got me?" I flashed my empty wrist at him.

Smooth, Wendy. Real smooth. My cheeks flushed. Here I was, making awkward jokes when I could barely look him in the eye.

Mr. Scott raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? Funny, I could've sworn I saw you walk in with Penny and Melissa earlier."

I felt my face flush. "Okay, fine. No date. But can you blame a guy for being intimidated by all this?" I gestured at myself, nearly whacking Mr. Scott in the face on accident. "Whoah! Sorry!"

Mr. Scott chuckled. "I guess prom does kind of transform everyone. I barely recognized some people when they walked through those doors tonight."

"Right?" I said, latching onto the new topic. "It's like everyone suddenly looks decent. The girls are suddenly walking in slow motion with flawless hair, and the guys clean up nicely when they actually put on something other than sweatpants."

Mr. Scott nodded with amusement glinting in his eyes. "Yeah, it's nice to see everyone looking so fancy. And you look really nice..."

"Oh, totally! I mean, yeah! The decorations are super nice!Right? The gym's like a fancy wonderland." I blurted, and he gave me a confused look. I knew what he actually said, but I just couldn't dive into talking about me.

"Sure, sure."

I felt my stomach flutter strangely, but I pushed it down. "Absolutely! And everyone's looking sharp. It's that prom magic, you know? Suddenly, everyone's Cinderella for a night. Not that I've been Cinderella or anything." I rambled on, unable to stop the nonsense.

Mr. Scott just looked at me, then grinned, like he caught on that I was avoiding his compliment.

"Look, Wendy, I really hope you're okay," he said. "I didn't mean to pry. I just wanted to make sure you were alright out here by yourself is all."

"I'm fine, totally good; everything's just dandy," I babbled, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "But, uh, thanks for checking on me, I guess."

I peeked up at Mr. Scott's face, and he gave me a little half-smile, though his eyebrows were still furrowed with mild concern. My heart pounded in my chest.

Wait. Had he shaved recently?

Cut it out, Wendy, I scolded myself.

Then came another awkward silence.