Across Boundaries (COMPLETED)

32

"Hey, you wanna dance. Looking lonely, standing out here all by yourself." A friendly voice yelled behind me, straining to get heard over the loud music. I could hear the bass thumping inside my chest as I turned around frowning.

I gasped when the source of the voice was just behind me. I steadied myself, blinking up to see Nathan.

He smiled down at me but seeing my frown his cheerful expression quickly morphed into that of a hurt one.

"Aww, don't frown like that. Didn't think an offer to dance from me could produce a frown on a pretty face like yours." He said charmingly.

I put on a fake smile but decided against saying anything. Dylan would be back with his drink any second now and it was better not to create a scene.

"You took me by surprise, that's all." I shrugged.

I glanced around desperately to catch a glimpse of Dylan but he was nowhere to be seen. Flashes of that cafeteria incident came rushing back to my mind as I felt the familiar thrum of nervousness and fear inside my body. It still haunted me the way I had called out for help and no one had stepped in to help me.

No one but Dylan.

But even he wasn't here right now and my mind was forcing me to imagine all the bad things that could happen. I swallowed.

"You don't look the sort who get taken by surprise easily." Observed Nathan and I blinked up at him, glaring.

"You don't even know me." I said.

"Yes, of course I don't. It's always safer for beautiful girls like yourself to keep things a secret. You know, it adds to the intrigue." Nathan said edging closer, or was it my brain playing tricks on me?

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said loudly as the music got louder. I had to plug my ears to block the sound but it barely helped. So much for coming to such parties. These people could ruin your hearing abilities if it weren't for the apparently strict regulations of the police.

"Let's dance." Nathan offered. "I saw you with Dylan, you were fire." He said grinning lopsidedly but unfortunately for him, the charm, all of his smooth talking was doing nothing for me. Nope, nothing at all.

Had it been Dylan complimenting me for being "fire" I definitely would have blushed with my heartbeat skyrocketing while glaring at him and trying to brush him off.

But Nathan made me feel nothing. No racing heart, no erratic breathing, no butterflies, no nothing. Nada.

"I can't dance." I told him truthfully. "I assure you it was a one time thing." I put on a huge fake smile and tried to dodge his offer.

"Let's put that to test, shall we?" Nathan asked, persistent. "I would love to see the fire igniting again. If not, the cinders are still better than nothing at all." He winked and I controlled the urge to roll my eyes. He was so corny, all for big expressions and declarations.

"This song's almost over, Nathan. I guess we can dance till Dylan gets here, although I'm warning you, I've been blessed with a very bad case of two left feet. Not everyone can dance with me." I stated truthfully as Nathan took my hands and led me to the middle of the dance floor.

"Oh but I insist." He said ever so charmingly and I tried to ignore the warning bells that went off inside my brain, the moment his hand slid around my waist. Afterall, Dylan's hand had rested a lot lower than his was but for some reason, I couldn't shake of the sense of foreboding that I felt.

I didn't even know the song and I felt myself focussing more on the intrusive feeling of his hands on me rather than on my feet. He wasn't even trying anything, yet I didn't like the way his hand rested on the small of my back as he pulled me closer. I tried my best to maintain a respectable distance between us but when I felt him pulling too close for my liking, i decided to step away.