I jinxed myself. I one thousand percent jinxed myself.

"Why do I have to attend this party? Dad, I'm not a part of your business for you to take to lure clients," I groaned.

"It helps, son. Everyone brings their kids, you'll have a good time. Dress nice," he said.

"Not everyone," I stated.

"Who doesn't?"

What is her last name again?

"The people who live with the red door."

Sorry, Alex. Kind of ratted her out there.

"The Lockharts?" he asked and I nodded immediately.

That's it. Lockhart.

"Have you made a friend there?" he asked.

"If you will," I shrugged.

"Okay, I'll call up Mr. Lockhart, he'll bring him in," he shrugged.

"Her. He'll bring his daughter in," I corrected.

"Carter," he sighed, giving me a pointed look.

"It's not like that, dad. We hit it off, she's nice," I shrugged before going up to my room. I opened the closet and grabbed one of the tuxes from the back. I hit the shower an hour later after doing my homework, yes I do my homework, nobody likes detention. I still get detention, for different reasons.

I came back out and got dressed, pulling on the black pants and the black shirt with the black blazer. I stared at the bow tie, debating whether I should wear it or not.

"Screw it," I mumbled before throwing it into the back of my closet. I pulled the shoes on, tied up the laces, misted some cologne on, pushed my hair back so it wasn't falling over my eyes like it usually does before heading downstairs, grabbing my phone and flask on the way.

You can't get through these things without a little alcohol.

I unbuttoned the top two buttons and straightened out the blazer while my dad came out of his room dressed in a navy blue suit. "What is this with your hair?" he clicked his tongue, trying to push the one strand that never likes to sit in place.

"Dad, it's fine, let's just go."

He acted like mom sometimes. She's not here anymore, I guess he has to. My mom passed away two years ago from leukemia. It's a chapter of my life I try to block out as much and as often as possible. It's not a good thought or memory.

We climbed into the car and Dave drove us over. He's my dad's chauffeur. After about thirty to thirty-five minutes, we finally arrived at the hotel where in one of the halls, this apparently huge dinner was being hosted.

I'm counting on Alex showing up so I have some company tonight.

Connor is my best friend, and he would be here usually but he's flown out to Florida to spend a few weeks with his grandparents. His grandmother recently recovered, she had been sick and he was extremely relieved.

We walked in and were greeted by the hosts before I followed my dad around, saying hello to whoever he asked me to. I'm here, may as well. I was looking around, observing some people, some girls when my dad pulled me over.

"There you are, Tim!" I didn't bother looking yet while they said their hellos. "Carter."

I looked forward when my dad said my name and was taken by surprise. "Mr. Lockhart, hello," I stuck my hand out.

"Nice to meet you, this is my daughter, Alexandria-" She elbowed her dad gently. "Sorry, Alex," he chuckled.

Wonder why she doesn't like her name.

"Well, why don't you kids go off then, go talk to some of the others, we'll be around," my dad said before disappearing with Mr. Lockhart.

I finally let myself check her out and take the sight in. She looked gorgeous. She had her hair pulled up in a high ponytail while she wore a rose gold dress that went a little deeper down her chest with a slit down her leg to show off her skin. Her face had specks of glitter scattered across, mainly her eyes while she held a matching clutch in her hands.

"Hi," she offered me a small smile.

I snapped out of it and met her eyes. "Hey," I nodded before sticking my arm out for her to link hers in. She looked at me in confusion. "Do you see anybody walking alone here?" I questioned.

She scanned the room before sighing and linking her arm with mine as we began walking around.

"I thought your dad doesn't bring you to these things," I smirked.

"He doesn't, apparently I was requested to come here. Especially," she said while looking around, exchanging smiles with some of the women. I could see some girls from our grade eyeing her, probably wondering who she was because I doubt she's spoken to any of the girls before. "So this is what you do here? Just walk around, smile at strangers, talk to strangers, dance with strangers?" she asked, turning to face me.

"Pretty much," I sighed while we found a spot in the corner of the room where there wasn't much of a crowd.

"Do you want a drink?"

She didn't strike me as the type to drink.

"Yes, please." I bit back a smile when she took me by surprise and pulled out the flask and handed it to her. She took a sip before her face scrunched up in disgust and she coughed. "God, what the hell is that?" she asked while patting down her chest.

"Devil Springs Vodka," I answered.

"That is eighty-percent!" she gaped at me. I chuckled before taking a sip and putting it back into my coat. "Now what? We just stand here like idiots?" she asked while leaning against the wall.

People are dancing. We could dance.

"We could dance," I stated.

She laughed nervously, "I can't dance," she admitted.

"I can teach you. It's rich snobby people, all we have to do is sway around," I shrugged with a smirk.

She stared at me before sighing in defeat and placing her clutch on the nearest table before walking to the dance floor with me. "Okay, now what?" she asked, shaking her arms to get rid of the nervousness.

"First, relax," I laughed. I took a step closer and she immediately took one back. I sighed before putting an arm around her waist and pulling her closer. "Breathe," I whispered. I grabbed her arms and put them around my neck before resting mine around her waist, leaving a small distance between us. "There's a little routine," I cleared my throat.

"What routine?" she asked, looking up at me in confusion.

"Every five minutes, everyone spins their partners and gets a new partner. It's just normal dancing until then. It moves in a clockwise rotation," I explained.

"So I'm dancing with a lot of strangers tonight, great," she muttered.

"I'm a stranger still?" I asked, feigning hurt.

"You're the strangest stranger I've ever met," she mumbled while absentmindedly taking a step closer.

"You should be grateful you've got a guide here. The dance ends when you circle back to your first partner, have fun," I winked at her before spinning her around, sending her over to Mr. Pierce. He's worked with my dad before.

She's going to hate this.

◆:*:◇:*:◆:*:◇:*:◆

"Enjoy the night, sweetie," Mrs. Pierce grinned at me before I spun her around, sending her back to her husband.

"Thanks for the warning, I'm glad I knew I'd be dancing with grandparents," she mumbled while I placed my arms around her waist and pulled her closer.

"Sorry," I chuckled.

"At least Mr. Pierce knows how to dance," she said as the music slowed to a stop and we broke away. She sent Mr. Pierce a small wave before linking her arm with mine and heading to the table where her clutch was.

"See, these parties aren't so bad with the right company," I said.

"And that's supposed to be you?" she arched an eyebrow at me.

I laughed, astonished how different she's been all this time. So quiet, so hushed, almost somber at the cafe. And now? I guess she opens up to people quickly. That doesn't help a person's heart.

The rest of the night we talked, danced some more, had our dinner and then said goodbyes.

"Thank you for keeping her company," Mr. Lockhart smiled at me.

"My pleasure," I replied. While our dads said goodbye to each other, we sort of just stood there awkwardly. Once they headed to the exit, we followed behind.

"Thanks for sticking with me tonight. I didn't know anybody here. What was the point of someone calling me and then not even approaching me?" she mumbled to herself.

"Sure he did," I replied.

"Huh?" she asked.

"I called you," I smirked.

"You what?" she stammered.

"Bye, stranger."

And then we went our separate ways.

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