Chapter 25: Perfect

River

Another slow song started to play, and River found himself looking around for Ellie again. It seemed like she’d disappeared a long time ago. Where had she gone? He hoped she was okay. Maybe dancing with her so early on in the night had been a mistake. He’d been so tempted to kiss her, but then she’d taken off, and he hadn’t seen her since. Had he pushed too hard too fast?

“Do you want to dance again?” Jasmine asked, already swaying in time to the music. She was Ulysses’s cousin, and while she was beautiful and sweet, she was only seventeen. The first thing she’d said to him when she’d asked him to dance was, “Don’t worry--I know you like Ellie. But I’m bored. Do you wanna dance?”

How could he say no to that? They’d spun around the dance floor for a while, but River found himself constantly checking to see if Ellie had come back in. Now, he still didn’t see her anywhere, and he was beginning to get worried.