“Oh,” he says, just an inch away from me. I look at the bright disco lights reflected in his dark eyes. The fine sheen of sweat on his forehead, the small dark blond curl that he tucks behind his ear. His face is so close to mine. He swallows, and his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat.

There’s a growing buzz in my head that reaches down to my fingers. I feel it in my bones and in my lips and in my intestines and in my cheeks.

“Isn’t this the best?” Camille and Bucky come up behind me just as the next song starts pounding through the speakers. She grabs my shoulders and spins me around, Elijah disappearing from my vision. I look for him, but he’s disappeared into a mass of our dancing friends. My stomach is still buzzing, and I don’t answer Camille. Slowly the feeling starts to come back to my fingers, and I spot Elijah dancing just a few feet away. I meet his eye through the crowd, and he gives me a tiny private smile.

Bucky stays close by and starts doing some country steps in his scuffed cowboy boots. To Bucky, “dressing up” includes shaving, jeans without holes, and his nicest belt buckle. I watch Elijah try to learn Bucky’s moves while Camille and I goof around doing ballet positions in time with the music. Well, Camille does ballet positions. I try desperately to keep up.

Eventually, Nate and Darien and a few of the cheerleaders join the group, and we just widen the circle. We’re having a blast, sweating our asses off in the decorated gym. Elijah is opposite me in the circle, and I watch the disco ball throw dancing white light across his cheeks. His whole face is smiling, and it’s the first time I’ve seen that since he got back to Meridien.

The DJ puts on a slow song, and all around us, our friends are coupling up. I watch Camille wrap her arms around Bucky’s neck, and I raise my eyebrows in Elijah’s direction. He mirrors my expression.

“Want to go outside?” he asks.

It’s dark in the circle drive outside the gym, with a few students standing here and there laughing. Elijah sits down on the concrete planter. I sit down next to him.

“So, Bucky and Camille?” Elijah says with a chuckle.

“Bucky’s been waiting in the wings for years.” I laugh. “Maybe he figured tonight was finally the night he was going to stop thinking about it and just go for it. Good for him.”

“She looks pretty happy, too,” Elijah says.

“She deserves to be,” I answer. “In the past, she hasn’t exactly had the best luck in the romance department.”

Elijah doesn’t answer, and the crickets and bullfrogs fill the silence between us.

“I’m surprised no one has asked me about Taylor tonight,” I finally say.