Brendan tried to flush these thoughts out by turning his refuge to homework. He spent one-and-a-half hours on Biology and two hours on Math. As soon as he was finished, he threw the books away and looked at the time; it was five-thirty and he only had two hours to prepare for the Dance. He showered and picked out a black tuxedo from his wardrobe and he sprayed himself with one of his colognes. Confident that he was ready, he walked up and down the living room. He glanced at the time. The time was six-thirty-five. He wondered what could have been keeping Todd. No sooner had he thought about this had he heard the honking of his car.
'Supper before you leave, sir?' Miriam asked him.
'No, there's food where I'm going.'
She curtsied and left.
Todd was beside the door of the backseat of the car. The Bentley was remarkably big and beautiful. It had classy thin tires and silver rims and it was beaming even in the dark.
Todd opened the door for him. 'Evening, sir.'
As Brendan walked towards it, he felt undeserving of such class.
'Are you ready to leave yet, sir?'
He paused for a while, admiring the beauty of his car. 'Yes…let's go.'
The seats were pure black and the texture of the covers felt like a big, soft pile of leather. The car looked like it stretched on and on to the other door. Without another word, Todd switched on the engine and they left.
The same thing happened as earlier. People stood gaping at Brendan's posh car but this time in more admiration. He stepped out of the car with his head held high. 'Come back at nine,' he told Todd.
Todd nodded and got into the Bentley and left.
Brendan walked with a pompous air and step towards the school building.
Samantha was waiting by the gate. 'You made it!' she grinned in delight. She was wearing a short maroon dress which ended right between her thighs. Her hair had been let free to touch her shoulders as usual. She was also wearing maroon high heels and her perfume smelt strongly like roses and her skin looked as smooth as a baby's.
His eyes were glued to her, trapped in a trance.
'Well..? Aren't you going to say something?' she said, trying to shake him out of his trance.
'I…I…You look…Uh…You look…What's the word..?'
'Beautiful..?' she suggested.
'Yeah, that…You look that.'
She giggled and pulled him inside.
Loud music could be heard playing in the Function hall as she pulled him towards it.
The hall was crowded with students of all grades and the music was very loud. It was Rap music.
'Come on, let's dance,' she said, beginning to dance.
'Remember what we talked about?' he reminded her scanning everyone in the room nervously.
'Oh, hush! You're so uptight. It's time you just let your stress loose and have fun.' She grabbed his wrists and pulled him further into the crowd, then she let him go and she continued dancing.
He scratched his head and nervously looked in all directions then almost as if unconsciously but cautiously, he began to shift his feet from one side to the other, subtly.
Near the DJ were Natasha and Owen, thrusting and swinging their limbs in the air. Owen suddenly turned his eyes at Brendan and grinned at him, raising his thumb.
Brendan ignored him. To the far right of the hall were Mr. Price, Mr. Benson, Mr. Sparrow and Mrs. Cooke. As he stared at Mr. Price, Brendan noticed that he had grown paler than the last time he had seen him. He could not discern the expression on his face; it was a mixture of sorrow and coolness. He was standing a distance away from the other teachers who were busy in conversation and this made Brendan feel slightly perturbed.
As the time continued to slip by, the DJ turned from one genre to another, sometimes mixing both and at times returning to the previous, but he managed to keep the throng of students wildly entertained.
Samantha and Brendan took a break and went to the stands at the far left of the wall which were crowded with food and they began to eat. There were eye satisfying snacks on the stands. Waffles, doughnuts, cold drinks, hotdogs and hamburgers dominated most of the tables.
They ate and talked a little then returned to the dance floor. The music stopped.
'Alright now, I'm gonna slow it down a little for those who are trapped in the paradise of love,' the DJ said and he played a slow and soft love song. Those that had dared to come alone or in the company of their friends took this time to retire to the food stands or to step outside the school building for some fresh air. Those that had come as couples, like Natasha and Owen for example, began the ceremony of the slow dance; the boy's hands on the girl's waist and the girl's hands behind the boy's neck.
Brendan's eyes went for the door. This was his chance to leave. The party had been fun. He turned around to say goodbye to Samantha.
Samantha's hands were extended towards him, her face and the rest of her glowing. 'Shall we?' she inquired as she held out her hand to him.