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Chapter Fifteen Part Two:Ripping Jay's Bieber Sized Ego Into Shreds

The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath.
And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth.

The beginning chords of the song, I'd heard way too many times as a little girl startle me. I am way too aware of all the eyes that are focusing on Cole and me. Some are smiling, warm faces full of encouragement while others, mostly my escort's relentless admirers are scowling fiercely. The tension is palpable; no one is talking as the only voice that resonates around us is that of the singer.

"Hey, don't look at them. Look at me, just me, like we practiced." He whispers gently and I find myself staring right into those deep ocean blue eyes of his. Seriously, how can someone's eyes be this blue? That's not exactly fair on the rest of us non blue-eyed folk.

Steadying myself, I place one hand on his shoulder and interlink the other with his. Even though we've been rehearsing for days, the novelty of the experience never wears off. My skin still tingles, little bolts of electricity still dart through the length of my arm and my waist, where his free hand is placed feels like its been seared.

Tell me that we belong together,
Dress it up with the trappings of love.
I'll be captivated,
I'll hang from your lips,
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above.

People, mostly women from my mother's gardening club gush all around us as we sway on the dance floor. Ballroom dancing isn't the most exciting form of the activity but it's so very beautiful to experience that I have a new found love for it. It's intricate, delicate and just so...romantic. There's no overbearing music, no wild dance moves, just two people moving in sync.

I blush when I think of another activity that sounds similar.

Get your mind out of the gutter Tessa!

"Ready for our big move?" He whispers in my ear and I stop a whimper from escaping my lips. There will be no whimpering tonight, or ever.

I nod, feeling completely dazed. He's never struck me as the type who'd be good at something like slow dancing. The way I used to think about him always portrayed him as someone who wasn't ashamed to grind the house down at some club. I've always known he's a skilled dancer and even the part of me that was terrorized of him wanted to be that girl who gets swept off her feet when the music played.

I hold back a huge smile as I realize that I've got my wish.

I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life.

The music picks up its tempo as Cole lifts me off the ground by the waist and twirls me around. Gone are the fears of being dropped that I had for a very long time. Now I smile widely as people gush all around us. I forget about the watching eyes as I concentrate on the person holding me. I realize that after all this time, after fifteen years of knowing this boy, I finally trust him. Even if he's a narcissistic pig.

Our dance hasn't even ended but people are already clapping and hollering for us. I recognize Megan's voice cutting the crowd's. She's probably yelling her lungs off since this is her fantasy being played out. She's always wanted a moment like this and for Alex's sake I hope he knows how to dance as well as his best friend.

And rain falls angry on the tin roof
As we lie awake in my bed.
You're my survival, you're my living proof.
My love is alive and not dead.
Tell me that we belong together.
Dress it up with the trappings of love.
I'll be captivated,
I'll hang from your lips,
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above

Cole's eyes never leave mine as he lowers me to the ground. I'm taken aback when I notice he's mouthing the words, which just doubles the effect. My knees start to buckle and it would be darn embarrassing to fall on my butt in front of all these people. He notices my trembling and places both hands on my waist as I twine my arms around his neck.

"Okay?" He simply asks as he presses his forehead against mine.

I close my eyes and swallow deeply. This jittering, this shaking, this urge to want everyone else in the room to suddenly vanish is as foreign as it is strong. I'm not completely daft when it comes to these feelings, I had them for Jay for as long as I can remember but somehow these seem...stronger. Cole, of all the people who could cause my heart to do these Olympic gold medal worthy somersaults, its Cole.

Who would've thought?

"Okay," I whisper opening my eyes.

"Good," He says before taking me completely by surprise. Suddenly he lets go of my waist and places his hand on my lower back and straightening up. He interlinks our hands and begins lowering me to the ground.

Oh no, he's attempting to do the dip.

We agreed to not try the dip since it's the one move that scares the bajeebers out of me. Having seen Nicole just being dropped, my fears are stronger than ever. However he doesn't even give me a chance to stop him before I am inches from the floor. He lets me stay that way for about five seconds before pulling me back up and twirling me around with one hand.

I'll be your crying shoulder,
I'll be love's suicide
I'll be better when I'm older,
I'll be the greatest fan of your life...

When everyone starts cheering and clapping again he lets go of my body only to hold my hand. We take a bow as he can't help but yell over the thunderous applause.

"And that, ladies and gentlemen is how you do a dip." He winks at a scowling Henry and a red faced Nicole.

I could honestly say that, that moment alone made my night. S

Still holding my hand he leads me off the dance floor. Since we're the last couple of the competition to perform, all the contestants can now disperse and do whatever the heck they want. I for one want at least a gallon of water since my throat feels drier than the Sahara. Rushing to the drinks table, I gulp down large amounts of the only thing available to drink- a funny looking fruit punch.

"What did I tell you about eating at parties?" Cole questions, trying to snatch my paper cup from me. I smack his hand away, needing the cool liquid to flow down my throat.

"You know that thing's probably been spiked right?"

I almost cough out said punch as I realize that he probably is right.

"Is not!" I retaliate oh so maturely but throw my cup away just in case. If the questionable alcohol hasn't already entered my system, I don't want to improve my chances.

"Don't worry; they won't use the strong stuff. Kids these days are too worried about authority." He rolls his eyes like he's disappointed that someone hadn't emptied a whole bottle of Jack Daniels into the punch.

"Well you certainly never had a problem like that, did you Stone?"

That's not my sarcastic comment. I realize this just in time to see Travis walking over towards us, ignoring the curious looks he's getting from all the nosy low lives around us. I literally want to rip out the fake extensions from their skulls, as the Botox injected women begin whispering amongst themselves. Just showing up at an event like this is difficult enough for him; he doesn't need the gossiping hags adding to his troubles.

"Travis." I squeal, running past Cole who'd suddenly backed away, and hug my brother. He's dressed up after god knows how long. Even though his suit's a little more snug than it used to be two years ago, he still looks immaculate and I know every pair of female eyes are glued to him right now.

"I thought you ditched me." I say pulling away and he chuckles.

"You thought I'd let you go through this on your own?" He looks pointedly in the direction of our parents.

"Mom was going to change your song you know."

I tilt my head to the side, confused. "What?"

"She thought you'd impress the judges more if you used something more traditional. I had to talk her out of doing that. Then Dad thought it was a good idea to chat up Dartmouth's Dean of admissions for you. Don't worry though, I handled that too."

He winks at me and the tight knot of worry that had formed in my stomach after hearing the word, Dartmouth, quickly disappeared. My father is a Dartmouth graduate and is more loyal to his school than he's ever been to his wife. We've avoided talking about the topic for long but its senior year and I need to tell him that I want to go to Brown.

I hug him again, thankful now more than ever that old Travis is back. "You're the best brother ever."

"You can thank me with a dance." He tugs at my hand, leading me towards the now crowded dance floor. I look over my shoulder, to see Cole drinking Coke from a can he's obviously brought with himself. He winks at me and I smile back. Though the smile disappears when Travis notices the look we're sharing and glares at Cole. For a minute, the two are involved in an intense staring match but its Cole who gives up first and walks away, an angry look on his face.

"What was that about?" I ask Travis as we begin dancing. People are now, unashamedly rooted to their spots and staring at us like we're prancing around naked. Seriously, though they need to learn to mind their own business before I teach them how to.

Wow, look at me. From cowering in fear of Nicole's minions to wanting to throw a grenade at the Preacher's wife, I have surely come a long way.

"Nothing,"

"No, not nothing. Why were you guys looking at each like that?"

"Just because," He grits his teeth and looks everywhere but at me. His eyes seem to lock onto something, making him gasp but before I can see what or who has caught his attention, he looks away and pulls us slightly back.

"Come on Trav, I thought you were okay with him, I thought you understood what I told you."

I think about his behavior the night Cole had dropped me off, the same night he'd met his mystery girl. He hadn't seemed too opposed to the idea of my spending time with my ex-tormenter. He actually seemed please about the fact that we were getting along so what is with the mood swing?

"He needs to start thinking about what he's getting you into. You think I don't know the shit Nicole puts you through?"

I look around to see if anyone's noticed his cursing but thankfully we aren't at the end of the uppity town people's wrath yet.

"I don't understand Travis," I lower my voice and am hoping he does too before my mom gets a heart attack.

"Look, if it were up to me then I'd say that you were better off without either of the Stone brothers. One has no balls and the other's just going to get you into trouble."

Trouble? Like I didn't know that already.

"I know what I'm getting myself into," I say, a little more harshly than I'd intended it to be. "He has his fan girls and probably some criminal charges but he's been the best friend I could ever ask for. It's weird, I get it but I want to make this work."

He tips his head to the side, studying me. Looking at me seriously for a while, his face breaks out into a huge grin which takes me by surprise. What is with his erratic behavior today? Did he just walk into the event, my mother considers her baby, totally smashed?

"Hear that Jason, best friends. Now you can stop following her like a sick puppy."

Oh My God. No, he did not just say to who I think he just said that to. Too horrified to move a muscle, I stand there allowing my brother to walk right past me, do doubt shoving into Jay in the process.

"Wow, he really hates me doesn't he?" Jay asks as he steps in to take Travis's place. I look at my feet, shuffling them, not very successfully though in my death trap heels.

"Oops, I did it again; I played with your heart, got lost in the game." I mutter through my teeth, hoping he doesn't hear me. I don't need to embarrass myself even further in front of him.

Britney Spears though, really?

"What?" He strains his ear as he takes a step closer. Wait, does he want to dance with me?

I laugh nervously before shrugging, "Don't take Travis seriously, he's just being his stupid overprotective self."

Placing one of my hands on his shoulder, Jay guides the other to clasp into his. I look around for either Cole or Nicole, not knowing who would react worse. Even though I've dreamt about dancing with him for as long as I've known him, this is quite awkward. The anger I had towards him for demeaning my brother has faded into disappointment. The Jay I thought I knew wasn't real, he had flaws too. I know I should be more forgiving but I couldn't do that, had it been anyone else but Travis I would be kinder but he chose the wrong person.

"He thinks I'm a coward, a coward who's hurt you. I don't blame him; my mom feels the same way." He laughs bitterly as we sway together.

"Jay, no...I,"

"I'm an idiot, the biggest asshole on the planet. I had no right to say all those things about Cole to you; clearly it's none of my business anymore." The bitterness never leaves his voice as his eyes bore into mine.

"What are you..."

He cuts me off again, "I strung you along for too long, I knew about your crush. I shouldn't have encouraged you. I broke your heart."

Wait, wait just a minute. The little piece of donkey poop, is he feeling sorry for me? Does he think that I've been shattered and broken because he chose my slut of an ex-best friend over me? Well maybe that had been the case a month ago but now...

At first I was afraid I was petrified
Kept thinkin' I could never live without you by my side;
But then I spent so many nights
Thinkin' how you did me wrong
And I grew strong and I learned how to get along

I hold back a laugh at the sudden change of song. My eye catches Beth's and I see her glaring at the back of Jay's head. I think, in this very moment I've found someone who's as furious at him as I am.

Patting his chest, I smile serenely at him. "You did," I sigh theatrically as we move onto the middle of the floor. If I'm going to do this, I might as well put up a show right in front of his girl friend.

Go on now, go walk out the door
Just turn around now
('cause) you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Do you think I'd crumble
Did you think I'd lay down and die?
Oh no, not I. I will survive

Gloria Gaynor's breakup anthem gives me the strength I need to pull this off once and for all. Jay's still looking at me like he's afraid I'll have a meltdown any second. Oh there is going to be a meltdown, just not mine.

"But then I realized something. I realized that I knew this really hot guy, the hottest I've ever seen and instead of going after him I was wasting my time over you. Frankly and I really don't mean to offend you, but you're not that good looking." His eyes widen but he doesn't do anything which might attract attention. We're smack dab in the middle of the crowded hall and he'd need to watch his step.

I'm not that chained up little girl who's still in love with you,
And so you felt like droppin' in
And just expect me to be free,
Now I'm savin' all my lovin' for someone who's lovin' me
Go on now...

The song is so spot on; it's actually freaking me out. Is this how Beth spends her time, making a playlist for my life? Anyways, getting back to ripping Jay's Bieber sized ego into shreds,

"I think I'm better off now. Of course, I understand your concern, Cole is well, he's Cole and there's just something so sexy about bad boy's don't you think?"

His jaw drops to the floor, his eyes threaten to bulge out as I push him away. I don't know where this courage or the urge to be provocative is coming from but I'm relishing it. Perhaps the punch really was spiked, oh well who cares.

"Tessa, are you ...are you drunk?" He asks in utter astonishment.

I place a finger on my lip and pretend to think, "Mayyybe," I stretch the word and giggle. This is so much fun, why haven't I gotten drunk before? It feels like I have this visa to say or do anything I want without fearing the consequences.

Ohh, Tessa likes!

"Holy..." He runs a hand through his hair and looks around, as if for help. He's being so silly, I don't need help. I'm perfectly fine, just feeling a little more brave than usual.

I skip past him and go to where Cole's standing with a bunch of giggling bimbos around him. I frown at the sight; he's looking way too friendly for my liking as is allowing one of them to run her hand up and down his arm suggestively.

He is not flirting with someone else while he's my escort! That is just not appropriate.

I stalk towards him, pushing through the scantily clad STD poster child like women until we're face to face. Amusement is written all over his face as he takes another swig from his flask.

"What, did Jay Jay bore you already?" His eyes may have humour in them but his voice is so icy that I'm surprised I haven't gotten frostbite by now. What is his problem? What is with all the men I know tonight? Urgh.

"He was being an idiot; I put him in his place." I mutter, feeling a little hurt that he talked to me like that in front of his groupies. They must think I'm pathetic, just like them,

He looks taken aback my response and snatches his arm away from the girl with beaver like teeth, who'd, been gnawing at it.

"You two had a fight?" He seems interested now.

I sigh, typical Alpha Male, jerk.

"Yes, I told him I thought he was ugly. Does that make you happy?"

His face lights up in an instant and I feel at ease. I don't like it when he's mad at me, it just feels wrong and too painful to handle these days.

"Absolutely," He grabs my hand and pulls me to his side. The groupies are glaring now but beginning to disperse since they've noticed that they've lost his attention. Together, we walk to the middle of the stage where my mom's calling out for all the participants. Apparently it's time to deliver the verdict. I roll my eyes at my fellow contestants who've started to hyperventilate. For Christ's sake, it's not Miss Universe we've got going on in here, calm the fudge down.

I feel a little woozy as we line up in front of the judge's podium. Nicole is on the verge of hysteria from what I can see and Henry looks like he's in pain. Poor thing, Nicole must be digging her nails into his flesh. I've sat by her through enough horror films to know what she does when she's scared or nervous.

Mom starts to drone on and on about the importance of being an active citizenship. I tune her out by the time she stresses on the importance of the taxidermy society. My eyes are drooping and I feel like I need to curl up in my bed and sleep through the century. Resting my head on Cole's shoulder, I try making myself comfortable and am nearly successful before being shaken thoroughly.

"Get up Shortcake, we won!"

Huh? What does winning have to do with the double cheese burger I'm inhaling at Rusty's? Why is Cole even here? Doesn't he have practice?

"Come on, wake up."

I moan at his persistence before lifting my eyelids. Oops, I'm not at Rusty's. The Ball, yes the stupid Ball is still going on. I'm being led by Cole as people clap around us. Megan intercepts us on the way and traps me into a big hug.

"I knew it! I knew you'd win." Alex pulls her away as I give her a lazy smile in return. Yup, I am so drunk. Stumbling I walk after Cole who makes sure I don't fall, face first. Seeing the stern look on my mother's face is a little sobering. I think she suspects and I hope I don't reek of alcohol. I'm not even sure what is it that I drank but it sure wasn't something light.

"Miss Farrow Hills for the year 2012 is Tessa O'Connell." She says loudly and I try to think of what sober Tessa would do right now. Right, she'd blush because of all the attention and then shrug her way into the background, letting someone else steal her thunder.

Well not today.

As they put a sparkling tiara which I know is a fake plastic one, on my head I grin widely and start waving at the people, whom I pretend are my subjects. I stumble just a little, before grabbing the mike from my mom's hand.

Clearing my throat, I approach the podium and address the people of my land.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, my parents," I gesture to where they're standing on stage, "My lovely brother," Travis hollers as I mention him and the crowd bursts out laughing. "I would like to thank my friends, Beth, you're the best DJ we've ever had. Seriously, the last one looked like he should've died in the middle ages." People chuckle again and so do I. "Megan, you're the best. You're like my personal cheerleader. Alexander, take care of her or I'll go all Jackie Chan on your butt."

He shouts something which sounds like, 'I Will' but I've already started talking again. "Cassandra, I love you, you are such a cool person." I gush and the lady in question, who is present on stage, kisses my cheek, laughing too.

"Lastly, I want to thank Cole, my buddy, my pal. He's so awesome and he's a fantastic dancer ladies. If you want his number..."

"Okay, that's enough Tessie." I pout as Cole pries the mike from my hand and gives it to my mother. She announces the end of the evening but people are allowed to stay for an hour or so to enjoy the music and the food.

"Is my daughter drunk?" She hisses once we're safely away from the crowd.

Cole looks a little embarrassed as I tug at his freakishly amazing hair and say, "Prettyy."

"It was the first batch of punch you served. She nearly drank the entire bowl and I'm pretty sure it was spiked."

"I'm going to kill him." She seethes all thoughts of my drunken behavior forgotten and marches off to where a boy roughly my age is collecting plates from around the room. She snatches him by the ear and marches out, with the poor guy yelping in pain behind her.

Weird.

Cole laughs loudly making the corners of his eyes crinkle and the dimples in his cheek deeper. I'm tempted to dig my finger into the indentations but he halts the thought in my hand as he holds my hands in both of his and begins walking backwards.

"Where are we going?" I chuckles as a mischievous grin makes its way on his face.

"I'm going to take advantage of your new found bravery and we're going to do something which will make you feel awesome."

"I'm cold" I complain as we make our way through the parking lot. Still in my slightly backless and completely sleeveless gown I shiver as we go past car after car. Then coming to a rest near a very familiar looking Jeep, Cole grins and fishes out a pocket knife from his trouser pockets.

"You carry a knife in your suit?" I ask, not completely shocked.

"Yes." He says like we're discussing the morning news.

It's not until he hands me said knife that I begin to freak out. What does he want me to do that requires me wielding a weapon?

"Slash his tires." Cole urges and I shake my head vigorously.

"This is a bad idea, this is a very bad idea and even drunk me knows that. Let's go inside Cole." I say patiently. He doesn't seem to want to comply. In fact as we speak, he pulls out yet another small knife. Crap.

"You said so yourself, he was being an idiot. Well, this is payback, let's slit the damn tires." He says excitedly. I think back to the rather insulting things Jay said about my brother and the pitiful way he looked at me tonight.

I don't need his pity.

"Okay, let's get to work."

An hour later, we stumble into my room. The house is quiet as per usual. Mom and Dad have gone for drinks with the people who sponsored the Ball and my grandparents. Travis is likely out, searching for his music store girl.

"Go and change Tessie, you look like you're about to drop dead." Cole chuckles as he sits on the foot of my bed and begins taking his shoes off. The tie follows, and then he pushes up the sleeves of his dress shirt, before unbuttoning its top three buttons.

Yum.

Right, no drooling.

I carefully undress myself, knowing that what I'm wearing costs more than my entire wardrobe. Once it's safely put away, I put on one of Travis's t-shirts which reaches my knee and stumble out. It's all that I can manage to put on without cracking my skull on the tiled floor.

"I'm beat." I mutter, falling onto my bed with a loud thump. When I don't hear a response, I open my eyes to see Cole standing a couple of feet away from me, looking rather pale.

"What's wrong?" I ask, yawning and stretching my sore muscles. All that walking around in heels has wrecked havoc on my body.

"You're not wearing any pants." He stutters and I furrow my brow, so what?

"People can sleep without pants Stone. S'no big deal." Another yawn escapes me as I bury my head in my pillow and snuggle up to it.

"Uh no, you need to cover up."

"I don't want to." I say stubbornly, hating that he's keeping me from slipping into the best sleep I've had in months.

He's quiet and I hope he won't push the topic anymore. That's when a blanket is pulled over me and I'm tucked into bed. I sigh at the pleasant warmth and pull the covers tightly around myself. Hmm, this feels nice.

"Hey. Cole" I say as I hear my door creak open.

"Yeah?" He asks in an unusually throat voice.

"Please stay," I murmur into my pillow.

Even in the state of being half asleep, I hear the lock on my door click into place after about five minutes. Whatever internal debate he's having seems to have settled as he lifts the covers and slips underneath.

"Goodnight Tessie." He whispers, as we lay side by side with a good amount of space between us.

"Goodnight." I reply before drifting back into sleep.

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Merry Christmas to all you amazing peeps, in case I'm not able to wish you on the actual day :D Oh and congratulations for surviving 21/12/2012. WE LIVE! WOOHOO

Anyhow, Music.

I'll Be-Edwin McCain

I Will Survive-Gloria Gaynor

Tessa's rambling :P Oops I Did It Again-Britney Spears

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter :) I probably have loads to say but I've forgotten about it so yeyy. Oh right, ship names. Well Cessa (Kessa). Colessa, Tole, and Colecake were very popular but since there were SO many variations, you guys can use whichever you want :) 

Random Question/Topic For Discussion : What on earth is goin on inside Jay, the douche's head? Have fun with that one :P

Again, thank you for all your vote/comment and fans. I now have over 6000 fans which is just...WOW. Please do continue your support, it means the world to me.

P.S Read Thoughtless by S.C Stephens, Kellan Kyle OHMYGOD. *Fans herself*

Until next time <3