The evening that I've been dreading has arrived. Wickworth High's Sixth Form Christmas Dance. I don't know if it's the bad mood I've been in lately, thanks to a certain someone, or the workload, but I'm looking forward to this about as much as an elf enjoys working in a labour camp.

I huff out another sigh as I smooth the creases in my dress. The evening's literally going to be a few hours of terrible music and cheesy Christmas songs, not to mention awkward slow dancing in the presence of teachers and trying to avoid over-zealous boys and mistletoe, even despite having a boyfriend.

Imogen, on the other hand, doesn't quite see it that way.

"This is going to be so fun!" she cries, tossing her glossy brown hair behind her shoulders as she walks into the room with a certain kind of flourish she's pinned down perfectly. Max and I gape at her silently. She looks bloody beautiful.

For the past ten minutes Max and I have been awkwardly trying to make conversation as Imogen finished off getting ready in her bathroom. Ryan and I decided to meet each other school since he has some last minute work to do while Oliver's yet to arrive, by himself no less.

It really isn't a surprise that Max and Imogen are going together, not when all they've been doing is staring at each other and laughing madly at every little thing the other says. It's actually beginning to bug me, the two idiots just need to be together already so this ridiculous flirting can stop.

Max gets up off the bed, clearing his throat slightly as he does so. "You... uh, look great." By now it's evident that the guy isn't that great with words. Imogen blushes and gives a beaming smile that could've made you assume he just read out a Shakespearean sonnet.

"Thanks." 

I can feel myself rapidly turning into a third wheel again. Sitting at the bed awkwardly, I pray for Oliver to get here soon. I need someone to laugh at Imogen's lovesick antics with.

Her outfit is incredibly different to mine. She looks stunning in an iridescent silver dress while I've gone for a less glitzy deep red number. To be honest, I decided it was my favourite choice mainly because of how festive it makes me feel not to mention the off-shoulder sleeves feel pretty cute to wear.

Frustratingly, when I was buying the dress, the thought of Levi sprung up in my mind. Ever since he's pointed it out I've begun to notice just how many of my possessions are red, from my shampoo down to my favourite pair of Converse and it bugs me how he noticed it before me. The owner of said possessions.

The doorbell finally rings and, hastily, I announce I'll answer it, leaving Imogen and Max up in her room to themselves. Opening the door, I see Oliver standing there, looking dapper in a white shirt, tie and black trousers. He's already taken off his blazer and slung it over his shoulder with one hand as he flashes me a lazy grin with his bright green eyes shining.

"Oliver Fink is here and looking sexy as ever," he declares, strolling into the hallway and kicking the door shut behind him. I pretend to sigh as I let him in, returning the grin he'd greeted me with.

"If you're so sexy, why are you coming alone?" I ask teasingly as we walk into the living room. Oliver gives a dismissive shrug of his shoulders and I know it doesn't bother him one bit.

I raise my eyebrows warningly at him. "You better not be planning to steal anyone's girlfriend."

"Who do you think I am!" Oliver pretends to look appalled before shrugging. "I'm trying to get into Santa's good books this year, Ruby. I don't need a date for a good time," he says, almost seriously. "Besides, it's not really stealing if they come to you is it?" he adds with a devilish smile which is soon met with a swift thwack on his arm.

"Is that a big-headed idiot I hear?" Imogen asks as she strides into the living room, clutch in one hand, Max on the other. Oliver's mouth falls open a little when he sees her.

"Blimey!" Oliver pretends to adjust a pair of imaginary glasses.

Max frowns at him for a moment and I want to tell him that Imogen would sooner snog a fish than get off with Oliver and vice versa but I feel like that would kill the mood slightly. Instead, I just suggest leaving.

Max searches his pockets for a moment before swinging his car keys around his finger. "Are we ready to go?"

It doesn't take us long to get there. When we arrive I feel strange butterflies squirming in my stomach, a familiar sort of nervousness that always rises whenever I turn up at these sorts of things.

There's always something weird about seeing the school during the evening. I guess a small, childish part of me still assumes everything just powers off when the students leave, but looking at the building now, it's anything but powered off. There are Christmas lights which are bright and shining through the dark while tinny music and cheering can be heard from inside.

Inside the Hall, Mariah Carey is playing at full blast and the entire atmosphere is buzzing. I stand by the door, standing happily corrected. The dance doesn't seem bleak or boring at all, the Hall is filled with conversation and laughter and there are already people drifting to the dance floor.

I look up towards the decorations and that same childlike wonder returns. The place is sheathed with chains of paper snowflakes, the walls are lined with glittering tinsel and the windows are frosted a shimmery white.

The Hall itself is dimly lit with a classic disco ball revolving above everything, dispersing fragments of light across the room that float onto and over everything and everyone, beams of temporary silver.

Then I see him. Standing tall, talking to one of his friends and looking heart-stoppingly gorgeous.

Ryan's standing to the side of the Hall where all the chairs and tables are situated. His raven dark hair falls across his eyes in slightly tamer curls as he laughs at something someone says. With a quick good bye, I leave the others behind and head over to him, smiling.

As soon as he sees me he gives a bright grin, breaking off the conversation he was engaged in to stride over to me and take me in his arms. His eyes glance over me and I laugh when he raises his eyebrows.

"You look beautiful," Ryan murmurs before pulling me in close by the waist. I brush away a piece of black hair that's fallen free. He really does look good in a black suit, it looks like he's ready to go off and become the next Bond or something.

A hand slips away from my waist and Ryan gently uses his finger and thumb to turn my chin up to look at him. I smile and Ryan grins brightly back. 

"I love your smile," he says.

"I like yours," I reply, feeling the corners of my mouth reach higher.

"No, but I literally love your smile, Ruby Parkes," Ryan declares. He leans forward and presses a light, warm kiss on my mouth.

I laugh against his lips and shake my head slightly. "Really now?" I notice the way his cheeks are slightly flushed and I'm guessing he's probably had something to drink before coming here with his friends.

Ryan nods and clears his throat. "I LOVE YOUR SMILE RUBY-"

"Oh my god, Ryan!" I hit his shoulder lightly and he finally shuts up only when he sees that I'm laughing.

He takes a step back and pulls gently at my hand. Still grinning, he asks, "Wanna dance?"

I pull him to the dance-floor.

Just as we reach it, a slow song comes on. The warmth of Ryan's hands has my skin tingling and gentle heat courses through me as I hook my arms around his neck and we take slow, revolving steps in time to the song.

We don't really say much, I just let the vocals of the song act as the conversation between us. There's something wonderfully pleasing about just dancing slowly with someone, simply moving as leisurely as you'd like as though you have all the time in the world and not just a few hours.

The song comes to a close and my eyes flutter shut when Ryan leans in to leave a kiss against my forehead. Smiling, I press my mouth against his shoulder. Yep, I definitely don't mind being wrong about tonight. 

Ryan sweeps a hand up my back and dips his head so that his lips rest by my ear before explaining what work he had to before he got here. I don't make total sense of what he's saying because I'm a little too distracted by the crisp scent of cologne wafting off him.

Keeping my eyes closed, I breathe deeper.

Then I feel it. The sensation of the hairs on the back of neck rising and a strange tug at my stomach. I get the sudden feeling that I'm being watched. Still leaning against Ryan, with only my eyes peering over his shoulder, I look up.

My heart catches.

Standing across the Hall is Levi. Our eyes meet and at once I feel a current of white hot electricity coursing through my spine. He's got a cup in his hand which he idly takes a drink of as he watches me, leaning nonchalantly against as the wall with a bored expression on his face.

It's not long before the dull look on his face turns into sly delight as his eyes roam mine, knowing he's got my attention. Even from here, there's no mistaking the glimmering amusement in them. The heavy weight of Levi's gaze has me flushing and I attempt to force myself to look away as Ryan and I revolve in another circle.

When we turn back to where I was standing a brief moment ago, I see Levi's still looking towards me. And it's like a strange sort of dance. A confusing one of turns and stolen glances and secret smiles and threatening frowns that makes my pulse pick up and my cheeks blush red.

Levi raises his glass a little before inclining his head toward me. His infuriating smirk tilts upwards. I glare fiercely at him. I hate how my heart's fluttering, it's stammering frantically in my chest as if it's trying to tell me about something.

The breathy singing and slow beat of the song playing in the background really isn't helping my situation.

Finally, I manage to drag my eyes away, back to the dark material of Ryan's blazer. My pulse thrums rapidly as I wait for a few vital seconds, just enough so that the maddening boy standing across the Hall will at least look away or hopefully clear off.

What's Levi doing anyway, just lounging about? I would have thought he'd be getting off with his girlfriend in some dark, dismal corner of the Hall or attracting attention with his mates. And speaking of his girlfriend, where is Elle? Why isn't she trying to hoover out Levi's tonsils with her mouth on the dancefloor?

My eyes scan the area in search for her. They come across Oliver who's already dancing with a girl who probably arrived with someone else, they skim past Reece Jackson doing unspeakable things with a girl in previously mentioned dark corner and then they then land upon Imogen and Max who are also in a corner, enough said about that.

None of the people I see are Elle. 

"Ruby?" Ryan asks, interrupting my thoughts.

I turn to look to look at him. "Huh?"

"Do you have a ride home?" Ryan asks, looking back at me equally as bemused. I realise this must not be the first time he's asking this question and I nod hastily, annoyed at myself for getting distracted.

"Yeah, Imogen's taking me back," I assure him with a smile. Ryan nods before pulling away from me.

"Want a drink?"

"Sure." I nod, following behind him as we head to the tables where all the food and drinks are. I chance a glance behind my shoulder, back to where Levi was standing. He's no longer there. Thank god.

I look back towards Ryan, he's collecting some cups of lemonade and suddenly I feel bad. I hate the way I responded to Levi, or rather how my heart had. I really need to calm down and give my body the memo that I certainly, definitely do not like this guy. At all.

Ryan and I sit at some chairs and drink our lemonade, chatting idly about TV and other stuff as we watch everyone else dancing. A fast Christmas track comes on and I'm shocked to see Mr Hibbert rushing to the middle of the dancefloor, throwing his arms about to the beat.

His usual grey clothes have been replaced by a bright green Christmas jumper which has flashing LED lights sewn into it. He looks like a human Christmas tree and it's brilliant. Beside him, throwing equally as alarming moves, is Mrs Billard who's wearing just a gold dress that's just as blinding. They both dance so wildly people soon make a small clearing around them, in fear of being caught in the cross-fire of their flailing arms and manic moves.

I have never seen this side of my counsellor before.

"Woah," Ryan says, looking at them open-mouthed. "Are they high off that fruit punch or something?"

I give a snort of laughter, shaking my head. They look too happy and fun for anyone to be mean to them, in fact more people are joining in.

Then I finally catch sight of Elle. She storms into the Hall with her minions Stacey and Rosie quickly walking behind her, they're both literally whispering behind her back. Elle's expression is thunderous and quite frankly frightening compared to the cheery likes of Mr Hibbert.

She stomps over to a dark side of the room where she slouches against the wall and repeatedly shakes her head while exclaiming something furiously to her two friends. Stacey puts what looks like a consoling hand on her friend's shoulder but Elle roughly shrugs it away before spinning round to face Rosie and stabbing an accusatory finger towards her.

"What do you think's up with her?" I ask Ryan, leaning in towards him as we both watch the situation unfold. No one else seems to have noticed, they're too busy talking or dancing.

Ryan shrugs, giving a low whistle. "I have no idea but I'll tell you what, I don't want to be Stacey or Rosie right now."

And he's completely right. Elle's now pointing her finger at the both of them, and the way Stacey and Rosie take a step backwards suggests that she's not exactly congratulating them for being Friends of the Year. In the middle of her rant, however, she suddenly stops. She stills before looking around, presumably checking for anybody watching her.

I pretend to look at the table cloth when she looks our way. As soon as her eyes pass us I look back up again and see she's talking to Stacey and Rosie again. This time she's not yelling at them but I think... I think she might be crying.

I don't have time to figure it out because suddenly Imogen comes out of nowhere, arriving right in front of me. Her cheeks are flushed and rosy and she's breathing quite heavily.

Imogen drops into a seat next to me, fanning herself with her hand. "Oh my god!" she presses her hand against her forehead, shaking her head as she grins uncontrollably. "I think I'm in love!"

"So it's going well between you and Max?" I ask, smiling. She nods hurriedly.

"More than well!" Imogen gives a mad laugh before exhaling loudly to calm herself down. "He finally kissed me!"

"That's nice to hear," Ryan says, the sarcasm in his voice making me laugh. "Where is he now?"

"He's gone to get us drinks," Imogen says, her voice buzzing. "I bloody need one too, I'm so out of breath." She leans against the back of her chair, still breathing erratically and beaming. Her smile widens when Max comes back over with a drink in each hand.

"Hey guys!" he greets us with a grin and flops down on the seat beside Imogen, before handing her a cup and a kiss.

"Hey," I say, smiling. I take a moment to regard him. Max seems equally as vibrant as Imogen. He's jiggling his leg up and down and keeps sending playful glances her way. Ryan and I sit there awkwardly, we are so clearly in the way that it isn't even funny.

Max suddenly looks over my way and furrows his brows.

"Is someone's phone ringing?"

We all fall silent for a moment and after a few seconds of straining my ear, I manage to hear something vibrating in my clutch. Reaching over for it, I see I'm getting a call from home.

"Uh, I'm just going to get this outside," I say, getting up, glancing at everyone apologetically. The closest available space I find to take the call and actually be able to hear it is a small, enclosed outside space beyond a set of doors that are usually closed.

The area's empty save a few people who I guess want to take a breather in the cold, icy air.

I answer my phone. "Hi?"

"Hello? Ruby?" I smile when I hear it's Granddad on the other end of the line.

"Is everything OK?"

"Yes, yes, everything's all fine. I was just calling under your Mum's instruction to see whether you were alright," Granddad says. In the background I hear the distinctive noise of clicking and wonder what he's doing.

"Yeah, I am, thanks," I say, relieved there's no emergency. "Are you guys OK? What're you all up to?"

"Well I'm just writing my book," Granddad replies, "your parents are off somewhere and Evie's gone to sleep. Is everything all fine over where you are?"

"Yeah," I say before pausing. "Wait. You're writing a book?" I hadn't heard anything about Granddad writing.

"I'll tell you all about it when you come home. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," he replies.

My cheeks flame at this and I awkwardly splutter into the phone, "Er- bye then!"

Granddad chuckles. "See you later, love." 

Once he hangs up, I notice just cold it is out here in a dress. The other people who were out here have gone back inside, probably because of how freezing it is out, save for one person. Out here in the darkness I'm not able to recognise him at first, but once my eyes have adjusted, I can.

My stomach sinks.

"Huh," Levi says, putting away his phone into his pocket, "look who we have here."

I grit my teeth, not knowing whether to cry or yell at seeing him before me.

Universe, these coincidental meetings have to stop, or I really don't know what I'll do.

I swallow, debating whether to just stride back to the hall or just leg it.

My eyes flit to the doors and I think of Elle who's just stormed out of this entrance moments earlier. I look back towards Levi who's simply watching me silently, waiting.

I raise my brows and straighten, determined not to let him have the upper hand and annoy me. "How come you're here by yourself? Where's Elle?"

For a moment Levi's jaw clenches, but he shrugs and the expression's replaced with a wry smile. "What do you care about my love life?"

"I don't." I glower at him.

"Then why are you asking?"

"Anyone would notice Elle looks ready to send someone six feet under," I reply, folding my arms. "Surprisingly enough, I don't think that's a typical party mood."

For once the glimmer of amusement in Levi's eyes distinguishes. His gaze darkens and that same angry expression returns. He stares stonily past me, like he's ready to throw away the drink he's clenching and start yelling. Instead, he pulls in a short breath before his eyes find mine again. They're worryingly empty of any emotion.

"We've broken up." He shrugs casually as if it's normal to end a relationship at a Christmas dance, where there are tons of other people and the occasion's meant to be happy.

I stare at him incredulously. As much as I dislike Elle, even this is low. "Why here, at the dance? Couldn't you wait-"