A/N: The song referenced in the story is "Yellow," by Coldplay. Thank you very much for reading & I hope you enjoy.
I.
"Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do"
The night of her high school graduation, and Nina's favorite song played on the dance floor. She was, however, not dancing to it. Instead, she was sitting by herself in her pretty red dress, her brown curls pinned up high, chewing on her bottom lip, and wishing someone had asked her to dance.
This was her song. The one she had played whenever she need a pick-me-up throughout high school, when no boys had shown interest in her and fewer even knew her name. Gwen had told her to put herself out there on numerous occasions, and Nina had tried, stuttering and blushing each time Will Tenneson walked by her locker.
There, across the room from her, Will sat with his friends, laughing and shaking hands. The flash of white teeth, his big hands, his dress shirt tight across his shoulders, little snapshots of him between the swaying dancers. Gwen and Julian were out there somewhere, likely grinding instead of slow dancing, and Nina sat by herself in the corner, nursing her crush.
Will, popular and handsome and star baseball player, orbited in a different world than she did, and that wasn't going to change on the night of graduation. Sure, they'd been project partners in chemistry, working together throughout the last semester, and she'd helped him with his math homework once or twice. He'd lean over her shoulder in class, his breath on her neck, her voice stammering out the explanation as she shivered in her chair. He even told her little jokes that made her giggle; Nina hadn't thought that differential calculus could be so funny.
But that was less than flirtation than confirming that he was simply aware of her banal existence.
All she knew was that he was focused on baseball, and that they were going to the same community college in the fall. Where she was sure that she'd be swallowed up by the masses.
Nina had arrived at the dance with a plan (and downed two shots in the parking lot for liquid courage). Walk up to Will, ask him to dance. A two-part plan that failed to launch almost immediately. She'd forgotten how shy she was, she'd forgotten how popular Will would be on graduation night. The one moment they'd been half-alone together tonight, she'd fallen back into usual habits and scampered away like a rabbit, almost caught by a wolf.
Halfway through the song, Nina stood and slinked in the shadows of the hallway. The song drifting out the doors behind her, warming her even without the press and heat of bodies. She found a place to sit, just around the corner, the corridor dark, atop a little metal crate. Nina wilted against the wall, letting the chill of the stone feather through her.
She had barely taken a breath before she heard the double doors open, and footsteps on the tile. Towards her, not towards the front of the school. Nina froze, knowing she couldn't get in trouble anymore, not really, but also didn't wish to deal with an overzealous teacher on her last night on campus.
From around the corner, Will stepped into view. He stood a moment peering into the shadows, adjusting his dress shirt and running a hand through his hair. He glanced left and right, and then his eyes settled on her. He grinned, cleared his throat, "I'd hoped I guessed the right way. Gwen told me you'd wanted to check out your locker one last time before you guys left."
Nina's belly tightened; half tempted to turn to see if he was actually talking to someone else. But she was too nervous, too hopefully to move a muscle, and she sat frozen until he stopped directly in front of her.
"Why aren't you dancing, Nina?"
Her face flushed as he bent down close to her. His jaw was angular, his eyes dark, and Nina swallowed hard, trying not to tremble. Was this really happening? Or was this a fever dream, and she'd fallen asleep, slumped over at one of the tables.
"I danced once already. Why aren't you?" She breathed out.
"Well," he said, his hands landed on either side of her hips. "You didn't ask me." On his breath, the sweet smell of alcohol. Where he'd gotten it, she could only guess. But it had loosened him up, a button undone at his throat, and for whatever reason, he was out here with her, the final notes to her song ending.
"You going to dance with me tonight, Nina?" His breath was hot on her cheek, and Nina trembled, a hitch in her breath.
"Okay, Will." She couldn't even believe he was out here talking her, but she rose, slipping off the crate, ready to head back to the dance floor.
"Good," he'd said, and then he placed one hand high up on her thigh, another on her waist, bent down and kissed her.
II.
Earlier when she'd been at the punch bowl, he'd slid up next to her, towering over her, waiting his turn. When she'd filled up her little cup, hand shaking, she'd reached over to put the ladle back, straining against the constriction of her dress.
His big hand had landed on top of hers, and she'd let go of the ladle immediately and jerked her hand back, surprised by the sudden contact.
"Sorry," she'd whispered, even though she hadn't done anything wrong, but the words slipped out, the two shots that Gwen pushed into her hands as soon as they got out of the car apparently doing wonders for her courage.
"You're fine," he'd answered.
And that had been that. She'd went to sit by herself, watching him beneath her eyelashes, and waited for Gwen and Julian to return.
Oh, God,
she'd wanted someone to dance with her. That someone being Will.
He had been staring at her all night. All damn night. From the moment she'd walked in with her friends, and then been immediately left by herself as they all took to the dance floor with their boyfriends. Even Nina, who thought herself mostly invisible, couldn't deny his eyes followed her around, even when surrounded by his friends.
Then Gwen and Julian had returned, and Gwen grinned at her like she always did when she had a secret she couldn't wait to share.
