Elena Sergio.

"Elena, come on, just wait a minute!"

I played deaf to Kj's words, walking away in fury, my heels making an angry clack-clack sound against the asphalt floor as I went.

Suddenly, I felt a hand wrap around my arm. "Elena, please. I said I'm sorry."

"And I said don't touch me!" At once I yanked my arm out of his hold.

I jabbed a finger into his face. "I'm warning you for the last time, KJ, do not follow me, do not talk to me, and most especially do not touch me. Not one more time."

With that, I spun around and began walking away and if not for the fact that I had pinned up my hair, it'd have given KJ a deserving lash on the face the moment I turned around and away.

"But I said I'm sorry!" KJ yelled from behind me.

"I'm sorry doesn't change a fucking thing, KJ!" I shouted and walked away. "Not one fucking thing!"

By the next minute I heard footsteps run up behind me and a moment later, KJ came to stand before me, blocking me from moving any further.

"Get out of my way, KJ," I said through gritted teeth, glaring at him. "Right now."

"Please, just hear me out," he begged.

"What could you possibly say that'll change what you did?" I said, pausing afterward.

When he didn't say a word after I kept quiet, I raised my eyebrows at him. "See? Nothing, nada."

And then I sidestepped him and headed on my way when all of sudden, and taking me by utter surprise, the heel of my stilettos got hooked in a crack causing my ankle to bend painfully and me to lose my balance. The next thing I knew, I was falling. A downward spiral onto the hard floor below me.

But before I could touch the floor, a hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back up quickly and into its owner's body, the other hand going to rest on my waist.

"Are you okay?" Kj's voice came to me, whispered against my ear, his breath fanning down on the nape of my neck. Much to my surprise, I felt shivers run down and across my skin.

"I'm fine." I quickly recovered and pushed my body out of his hold. "I said don't touch me."

And then I tried to walk away from him, that's when I felt the pain, sharp, stinging, through my right ankle. Almost felt like I'd broken the darned ankle.

"Ow," I let out a yelp involuntarily, hopping on one foot over to the cement bench almost directly beside where I stood.

"Are you sure you're okay?" KJ asked, following me over to the bench.

"Ow," I groaned, ignoring KJ and sitting down. I took off the heels, they were the ones Matthew had gifted me some days ago, back when we were still just best friends.

I took them off and fixed the toes of my left leg before massaging the ankle of my right leg. "Ow, that hurts," I muttered.

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to the nurse's clinic, Elena?" KJ looked down at me.

Finally, I paid him some attention. "No, KJ, I don't need you to. Now can you please leave me alone?"

"Elena!"

I diverted my gaze from KJ, looking across at Matthew. At the sight of him clad in his perfectly fitting tux and neatly styled hair plus the extra accessory he decided to add, a dark ear stud to his right ear lobe, my heart skipped a beat and for a moment, I forgot about the fact that I'd possibly sprained my ankle.

He was breathing hard by the time he got to us, some of his hair already slipping out of the hold of the gel and falling onto his face and into his eyes.

"I've been looking all over for you," he breathed, giving KJ a brief, unfriendly look before moving his eyes back at me. "Are you okay? Is he bothering you?"

"No everything's fine,'' I said immediately, trying to avert an argument and possibly a fight from ensuing. The last time Matthew had a black eye and I didn't want him to get hurt again. I would never want to see him hurt, not for any reason.

"Elena and I were just talking," KJ said, looking at Matthew. "And we're not done yet."

"Well I'm here now, so that means you are," Matthew said, turning to face KJ squarely.

"That's not for you to decide," KJ said, looking at Matthew dead in the eye. I saw his jaw tic.

"Last time I checked, you're an asshole so yeah it's left for me to decide," Matthew said coolly.

"It's Matthew's choice to decide, KJ, so if he says you need to leave then you have to," I chipped in, trying to dissuade KJ from trying to take his claim.

KJ moved his brown eyes to me. Then he let out a sigh, a defeated one, stepping backward. "You know what, fuck this. I'm done. Don't even know why I bother."

And then he turned away and stalked off. A moment after KJ left, Matthew turned back toward me.

"Hey," he said, his tone had gone soft now.

"Hey," I replied with a small smile.

He walked around my legs and came over to the other side of the bench where he sat down beside me.

"Are you okay?" He asked, giving me a concerned look. "Did he say anything to you?"

"Oh, just some random apology." I waved it off. "I guess he realized the errors of his ways."

At my last sentence, Matthew chuckled. "So, what do you think we should do now? Prom is almost over you know, although I wonder how you didn't win prom queen because look at you!"

"I'm honestly wondering too," I smiled.

"Look at the infamous Elena Sergio. The one and only, bedazzling, gorgeous, amazingly extremely beautiful. I mean, the fact that you didn't win that role, only means one thing. Everyone in there has an issue with their eyes and if they don't get it checked in time, things might escalate and eventually lead to blindness."

By the time Matthew had finished talking, I was laughing. Laughing so hard, I felt the start of tears prick my eyes. But I didn't want to ruin my makeup so I reduced the laughter to a mere giggle.

"Thank you, thank you, monsieur." I did a half curtsy. "I must say you aren't looking so bad yourself."

"Oh really?" Matthew quirked his eyebrow, his lips curling into a smile.

"I must say." I maintained my faux French accent. "You're looking quite the extraordinaire. None compared. Those inside that building over there don't compare to you one bit. With the way that tuxedo fits around your biceps and body perfectly, and the handsome breathtaking look on your face, it's only questionable that you didn't win the prom king. Indeed, we'll have to look into what's going on and review the judges one by one to determine if they cheated and have your deserving role to someone much less worthy of it."

"Ah, mademoiselle!" Matthew cued in on my French accent, doing it even better than me. Matthew had origins traced back to France. "I'm truly honored and flattered by your kind words. If you mean them and this is not just a joke, then merci, merci. Tres Bien merci."

"Of course, I mean it, silly," I chuckled lightly. "You look amazing. You should be wearing a tux every day because then I'll want to put a leash on you and look at you every day so you get forever burned into my memory."

There was a brief silence after I was done and when I moved my gaze directly to Matthew, I saw the ruby tints on his cheeks. Despite his natural tan, you could still tell when he was blushing. The fact that he was sent the butterflies in my belly rousing a little more. Once again, the stirred, my pulse and heart seeming to start a race simultaneously.

He looked at me then with his lidded blue eyes and hell I wanted to stare into his eyes forever. It was funny really how I'd had a best friend this mesmerizing and I'd only been interested in him for a couple of months. It begs the question, was I okay with regards to my hormones?

"I enjoyed dancing with you today," he said in a soft voice. "Back in there, our hands together, your head on my shoulder. It was the best feeling ever, and I mean every word of what I'm saying."

It was my turn to blush. Not able to hold his gaze out of sheer shyness, something I never thought I'd ever experience because of Matthew, of all people, my best friend, I looked down at my hands, fixing my gaze on the manicured orange of my fingernails.

"I enjoyed every moment of it too, "I said, a smile forming on my lips as I remembered the time he'd asked if I'd like to have the dance with him. When our hands met and locked, his warm ones against my equally warm ones, I could feel the slight shakiness in his hand. He was nervous. I'd been too. I was happy we were both nervous, it made me less nervous knowing he was too.

My smile stretched wider when I remembered the first he'd made then I did. Stepping on each other's toes, him first and then me. We'd both laughed, realizing just how complicated ball dance as compared to what it looked like on TV.

And the time I laid my head on his chest, his shoulder, that was the best feeling ever. Knowing I had someone who loved me and cared for me and the best part as we'd known each other for a long time, it was the best thought ever.

"You're a really good dancer." I looked up at him then with a smile.

"Am I?" He grinned.

"I mean there's room for improvement of course, but since it's your first time, you deserve the accolades."

"Well thank you," Matthew said, adjusting his tuxedo with a smug look on his face.

"That's the last time you'll hear me say that though," I laughed.

Then there was silence. Awkward, but not as much as it was ab initio. And by ab initio, I meant during the first couple of days after we kissed.

"Do you—"

"I think—"

"Ah, damn," I chuckled. "Nothing like starting together to make a situation more awkward. You go on."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Sure, you say," I nodded.

"I just wanted to say, I think you're really beautiful, Elena. I swear the moment I saw you today, I had to stop my jaw from dropping. You're the prettiest girl I've ever been this close with."

I didn't look away this time. When he was done, I remained looking at him, gazing into the ethereal blue of his eyes, noting the sincerity in his words through them. And then I did it, did what I'd been wanting to do for ages now.

I leaned into him, past his personal space, and closed my eyes the moment our lips met, mine against his parted ones.

I placed a hand on his face, scooting closer to him so I got the angle right with the kiss. Our lips moved in sync, tongues merging as one and with every second that passed, the butterflies in my stomach aroused more.

Until he wrapped his arm around my waist and hoisted me up, placing me on his lap. Only then did the butterflies wake up fully and begin fluttering about, colliding with one another as they went.

The kiss wasn't broken by the action, and once again, I could tell by my hand resting on his chest, feeling the rapid heartbeat of his heart, that Matthew was nervous once again. And that calmed just how nervous I was too

So, I let go of all my thoughts, all the images of how I had been so easily fooled by KJ and how I'd yelled at Matthew for trying to make me see, telling him to go fuck himself.

I let go of it all and gave myself entirely to my best friend. Ex best friend.

I can't wait for Clara to step in.