She was supposed to meet Steven at the school, bringing a matching tie with her. When Lucy was ready, decked in her suit and looking like a goddess, the two Bloodstorm sisters took off. Rhia landed softly in her heels, startling a dashing Steven. He whistled at the sight of her.
"Damn, babe, I am a lucky man to have you as my date tonight," he exclaimed as she tied the tie around his neck. "Shall we?"
Rhia laughed, a joyful, excited sound, and hooked her arm through his.
   When they entered the gymnasium arm in arm, Steven dragged her quickly to the dance floor, whirling her into a giggling stupor. Eyes were locked on their twirling frames, and Rhia felt a particularly fiery pair burning identical holes in her head.
   Rhia spotted him watching her almost immediately, his dark eyes scalding. She found the strength within her not to flinch, and let Steven continue to twirl her. Suddenly, he pulled her into his chest, the girl realizing the song changed. It was slower, romantic. He stared at her with such admiration that if Rhia didn't know the actual plan, she would've thought he was actually in love with her.
   She could only imagine how Warren saw it.
   Her heart rate spiked both at their closeness and her fear of Warren's anger. But, she let herself rest her head on Steven's broad shoulder, swaying lightly to the melody. He spun her softly. Certainly, with all this spinning, you'd think Rhia would be dizzy, but instead, she was on cloud nine.
   But it changed, when Shelby, looking glorious in a white dress, tapped Steven's shoulder.
   "Mind if I cut in?" Her voice was sweeter than honey, instantly making Rhia insecure with her own.
   Rhia nodded, dropping her arms from the boy in front of her, "Go ahead." She watched as they swayed away from her.
  Shortly after, Lucy walked in behind her.
   "Where is he?" Lucy whispered, scanning the crowd. Rhia calmly looked away from the boy, taking her sister's arm.
   "Snack table by Mr. Boy," she answered, keeping her chin up.
   "Oh my goodness, of course you get a boyfriend before I do," Lucy hissed quietly, earning a chuckle from her sister.
   The music changed, and Rhia let go of her sister's arm, giving her a twirl. "Yeah, right." The sisters laughed, deciding to dance together for a bit.
   Rhia was being whirled again when she lost balance and fell into someone's arms. Not just anyone, though, Warren Peace's arms. Blushing, she tried to pull herself away, but he kept his hands firm.
   "I'm going to borrow your sister for a moment," he told Lucy, who just grinned.
   "Take her away, cowboy."
   Rhia looked up at his face only to find him already looking at her. "Hi."
   His eyes were indecipherable as he watched her face. "Hey."
   Bravely straightening his tie, she gulped. "You look nice. I thought you weren't going to rent a tux?"
   "It's my dad's," he explained, still watching her face, "he doesn't need it in solitary." Rhia swallowed. "You look nice, too." His arms dropped to his sides and she frowned.
   "Aren't you supposed to be here with Layla?" her eyes immediately found the redhead, looking beautiful in her green dress. Her heart was pounding a million miles a minute.
   "Aren't you supposed to be here with Steven?" he countered, nodding across the gym, where Steven and Shelby were kissing each other softly while dancing. Rhia wasn't phased, however, she just smiled.
   "He didn't want me to be dateless, and he wanted to make her jealous," it was only part of the plan. She looked up accusingly. "You have a habit of not answering my questions."
   He ran a hand over his face in exasperation. "You know that Layla and I only came together to make Stronghold mad, you were there when it was discussed," he pointed out. Rhia crossed her arms, the Peace boy matching her stance.
   "Then, I guess we have an issue, don't we?"
   "I guess we do," it was a stare down, Layla, Ethan, Magenta, and Zach all watching, along with Lucy, who sipped some of the punch. Rhia was the first to waver, looking down at her feet.
   She sighed. "I like you, stupid. I like you a lot and it sucks because I can't ever get a read on you or your emotions. It sucks because I like napping on your shoulder, I like tracing your flames on your wrists, I like how you're the only one who calls me Rhiannon, I like ranting to you at lunch, and I like your stupid face and the way you make me feel when you look at me like I'm your only priority," she whispered the entire time, and she didn't know, but he hung onto every word. "And when I didn't know that you were only going with Layla to piss of Stronghold, it felt like I was losing the only person that cared about what I had to say, the only person that has kept me sane these past few weeks, and it hurt much more than it should have."
   Suddenly, she was wrapped up in his arms again. Rhia gasped at the unexpected contact, but wrapped her arms around his waist anyways. He was so warm, always so warm.
   "I like you too, Rhiannon," he mumbled into her hair. "I've liked you since the first day, when you didn't look away from me like I was some disease you could contract by making eye contact," he chuckled. Rhia laughed too. "And when you called me pretty and pouted about your hand being too small, I found it very hard not to confess right then."
   Rhia gasped, a hot blush crawling up her face. "I said those things? Gosh, drunk me is horrible."
   "You definitely were a mess," he laughed quietly. It was then that Rhia noticed how close their faces were.
   "A mess indeed," she whispered. They were both leaning in when the principal's voice rang out over the speakers.
   "Please welcome Commander and Jetstream!"
   Rhia sighed, angry about the ruining of their moment. "To be continued at a later time," she expressed with a small smile. Warren grinned down at her, a full blown smile.
   "Yes, ma'am."