One Night Read online

  "Wow. Look at you, you’re a dream,” I said.

  She wore a pearl pink off-the-shoulder mini dress that made her warm almond skin glow. I wiped away faux tears as she twirled for me.

  "Thank you!" she replied, excitedly. "You're looking quite delicious yourself."

  I let out a surprised laugh. "Oh? That's the first time I heard that tonight- or ever."

  "I'm surprised Joseph hasn't taken a bite out of you yet. I certainly would," she said with a wink. Thank goodness the lights were dimmed low, or my cheeks would have revealed how much her words affected me.

  "You are such a flirt,” I told her, grabbing an eco-friendly solo cup, and filling it with sprite from one of the awesome glass drink dispensers Khai donated. "And Joseph isn't here yet.”

  "Well, he's missing out, and I'm not just talking about you, the eye candy. You've done an amazing job with this thing. I think this is the first time in a while that I've been so satisfied with a school event."

  I scoffed. "As if you didn't do anything. You gave 75% of the ideas and handmade half of the decorations for tonight! Don't you dare give me all the credit."

  "But it's your leadership that brought everyone together. It was also your kindness and approachability that encouraged me to speak out and voice my opinions. Last year's rep was a snooty little B and had our winter formal looking like a gathering in a prison cafeteria."

  "Oh, Riah I’m sorry about that, but I'm also really glad to have been able to make this senior event a good one. We have to leave a good impression before we graduate, right?" I said, raising my cup to hers.

  "You're damn right!" she cheered, clinking her cup on the side of mine.

  "I'll see you later though. I promised Mindy and Khai I'd be the cream to their Oreo cookies," she said.

  "No problem! Go ahead and do your creamy -er- duties."

  I had no idea what she meant, but I waved her off with a huge grin on my face. With my sprite in hand, I made another round about the gym. That's when I spotted Joseph.

  Oh, he was beautiful. He wore a pair of black slacks and a blue velvet blazer over a crisp black dress shirt. His hair was done up the same way he styled it, meeting my parents, slicked back and sexy. Breathing had become a difficult task. It was so rude of him not to give me a heads up before he waltzed in like an angel sent from God himself.

  'Hey Sienna, before you leave the house, stop by the hospital and grab an oxygen tank from your father just in case you won't be able to handle my dashing good looks tonight.'

  SO rude.

  He noticed me gawking and my first instinct was to cower, but soon enough I realized he'd been gawking right back at me. I tried my luck to attempt what I hoped was a confident Joseph-esque smirk and it seemed to work. His eyes widened and immediately following was the cheesiest smile he's ever smiled.

  Pointing at me, he clutched his heart and feigned a pained expression that made me laugh. We stayed like this for a minute or two, just appreciating one another until I made the first move and walked over to greet him officially.

  "Mariposa you look... wow- you're... hi..." he stammered, seemingly at a loss for words as he fully took me in.

  "Thank you. You look pretty good yourself," I chuckled.

  "You think?" he asked, giving me a quick 360 turn.

  "Definitely. I couldn't take my eyes off you,” I told him honestly.

  "Mariposa, you're making me blush."

  "I know and I kinda love it."

  He laughed, shaking his head. "Can I just say that the band is awesome? I don't know what you did to get Kook to play here, but like, thank you."

  "I did it the best way I knew how. I wrote to him. Talked about how my first prom wouldn't be right without his band rocking the stage etcetera, etcetera," I said, regally waving my hand.

  "I swear there isn't a moment where I'm not amazed by something you've done."

  "Gosh Joseph, now you're making me blush."

  "I know and I kinda love it," he said, echoing my words from earlier. "Would you like to dance with me?" he asked, beaming down at me with his million-dollar smile.

  "I would very much like to dance with you."

  He escorted me to the dance floor, decked out with a disco ball and all, and we got down. I had no idea Joseph could dance so well. Getting lost in the rhythm, he swayed confidently to the mid-tempo reggaeton being cranked out by the band onstage. I was in awe as he whirled around me. He looked so good, so sure out there compared to my shuffling.

  "Don't tell me you’ve gone all shy on me now. Show me what you can do."

  He challenged me as he continued moving to the music behind me, mere inches between us. I felt my arms prickle with goosebumps, but this was not the time to be weak. He wanted me to dance for him? I'd dance well.

  Conveniently, Kook's upbeat tempo evened out just right. With my back to Joseph’s chest, I was able to hide my embarrassment if I failed. Slowly, I let my head fall back on his shoulder and raised my arm hooking it around his neck. Closing my eyes, I began to rock my hips back and forth to the smooth beat.

  The music and the heat of Joseph's body against mine entranced me further. I'd forgotten my initial goal and just enjoyed the moment, my body moving on its own accord. It was the tight grip on my waist that brought me back to reality. Before I could register, Joseph swiftly spun me around.

  "Whoa!" I yelped.

  "Enough, you temptress."

  His voice was so deep it was almost inaudible. I took this as a warning, but upon looking up at him, his eyes told another story. If I read it correctly, he didn't really want me to stop dancing. I had to bite my lip to keep the complacent grin from growing on my face.

  Joseph fully wrapped his arms around me and let his hands rest on my waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world. In turn, I draped my arms around his neck. It felt right. Things always felt right with him.

  "I know I didn't formally ask you to prom, but I'm glad you agreed to this dance with me. I'm the happiest I've been in a long time."

  "I'm happy too, Joey. I always have a good time when we're together, but especially tonight."

  The two of us had begun waltzing to a slow, romantic melody. For a while we exchanged no words. It was as if the room full of people faded into nothing. The lights around the gym twinkled like stars in a galaxy only he and I were a part of. It reminded me of the moment we shared in the ocean at the cliff and the night at the bar; there was this tacit connection and I felt myself being pulled toward him. He had to have felt it too.

  JOSEPH

  "Sienna?"

  "Yes, Joseph?"

  There was no hiding the rippling in my voice. Hell, my heart was running a mile a minute. Sienna was staring up at me and she looked so beautiful. Her amazing brown, almond shaped eyes were sparkling under the lights, locking me in a trance. Looking away was unthinkable. I knew she was waiting for a reply, but words were something I just couldn't produce.

  I never really "had a crush" on anyone before. Truthfully, I didn't even like thinking of the word when it came to Sienna. What I felt was much more than that. Me saying I had a "crush" would be belittling the way I felt about her mind. So sexy. I could drink her words like the strongest liquor and I'd fully enjoy being drunk.

  The word "crush" would belittle the way I admired hair that fell in relaxed curls down her back. The way her lips formed the perfect smile or when they curled around my name. It was enough to make my heartbeat so wildly in my chest to the point I thought it'd fly out. In this very moment I was positive it'd fly out... but I moved on before I had another second to think about it.

  SIENNA

  The look on Joseph’s face when he called my name was worrisome. I started to ask if he was okay but was cut off when his lips suddenly met mine. That was my first kiss, and it was no peck either. Joseph captured my lips in an electrifying hold that made my knees buckle.

  His thumb grazed my jawline while his fingers gently gripped the back of my neck. I wasn’t sure of what to do
with my hands, so I placed them on his chest. If it weren't for his steady hand on my back, I'm more than sure I'd have fainted right there.

  Though I'd never kissed anyone, it was easy finding a rhythm with Joseph. He was slow and careful with me and I kissed him back with curious excitement. His lips were slightly chapped, but warm and inviting.

  If I had any doubts about what he felt for me, they were whisked away like a bunch of fruit flies caught in a heavy gust of wind. When we pulled apart for air, I felt a little woozy. My heart was fluttering uncontrollably, lips were swollen, and my face was undoubtedly flushed.

  "Fuck. I'm sorry."

  I couldn't believe he was apologizing. "Don’t be. It- that was amazing.”

  His hands found the familiar spot on the back of his neck and right away I could tell exactly how he felt. "W-wanna take a walk?" he asked.

  I nodded. "Yeah, I could use some air."

  "After you," he said, allowing me to walk before him.

  I waved to Alex and pointed to the exit, so she knew where I'd be. She gave me a half-present nod, seemingly consumed in her own little happy bubble with her date. Joseph and I slipped outside and walked along the quad. There was a heavy silence. All I could think about was the feel of Joseph's lips, how it lingered on mine. It drove me crazy as we wandered about.

  I didn't notice at first, but I strayed quite far away from him. He was now on the grass opposite me, but we were walking in the same direction. "You're not trying to run away from me now, are you?" he asked.

  "No, of course not," I replied, stopping to face him.

  "Good. Because I'd really like to talk to you."

  He made his way over the grass to the stone sidewalk where I stood and held both my hands. "This has been such a surreal night and I don't want it to end just yet. I don't want to go home. I don't want to go anywhere without telling you how I feel."

  Chapter Eleven

  My heart rattled in my ribcage hearing his words. For the second time tonight, I thought I was going to faint.

  "Are you okay?" he asked, bracing my back.

  "I just- can we sit for a second? I need to sit."

  I squatted to sit down on the steps in front of the school, but Joseph stopped me. "I brought my car. We can hang out there for a minute. I don't want you to ruin your dress sitting on the ground."

  A nervous titter escaped me. "Oh, thank you. I appreciate it." I latched onto his arm as we made our way to the lot to find Lucy.

  After sitting for a while, the air leaving and entering my lungs started to steady. Joseph set a lively and much less nerve-racking mood with some classic 80s music. With our heads thrown back in laughter, we sang along to Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'.

  "I'm just a small-town girl!" Joseph sang.

  Turning in my seat, I gave him my full attention along with the spotlight- aka turning on the inside car light. He was illuminated in an artificial yellow glow.

  "Oh? You're a small-town girl?"

  "Mhm. Livin’ in a lonely world! I took the midnight train goin' an-y-where." Taking my hand, he encouraged me to sing the next part. "C'mon, Mariposa. Be my city boy tonight."

  I missed the first couple of lines because of the fit of giggles that overtook me, but I ended up letting him finish and joined him in the second verse. Boy did he do a mean air guitar.

  "A singer in a smokey room, the smell of wine and cheap perfume. For a smile, they can share the night —"

  "It goes on and on, and on, and on!!" Joseph held his phone to his lips like a microphone and belted out the lyrics with passion. As often as I said I wouldn't do it, I found myself grabbing his hand to get a turn at the "mic." We went back and forth.

  "Don’t stop believin!"

  "Hold on to that feelin'!"

  "Streetlight! People, ohhhhhh!!”

  His ending air guitar solo was just as badass as the first one, and I could say with confidence that at that point in time I had reached peak happiness. It was also at this moment that I knew my feelings for Joseph had been too intense to any longer be considered platonic. The gravity of this scared the daylights out of me, and I needed to talk to Alex like... last month.

  I was having a little trouble believing the night was real. That I had been dressed to the nines and danced the night away with the most amazing guy I'd ever met. I couldn't believe I was this happy. The ever-growing smile on my face could probably have been seen miles away.

  "So," I started, half kneeling in my seat.

  "You wanna duet with me again?" He got ready to crank up the radio.

  "Of course I do, buuut that's not what I was going to say."

  "Go on then," he said, tilting his head in my direction.

  "My mom and dad are supposed to be out for the majority of the night."

  "Mhm?"

  "Do you maybe want to come back to my house and extend our night?"

  His brow quirked in surprise.

  "I don't- I didn't mean it that way. It's just that I'm having a really good time with you and I'd really hate to part ways so early. Not when we have time to make more sweet memories like this sick jam session."

  "Look at you being all spontaneous tonight."

  "Guess your bravery has been rubbing off on me. I did follow you off a cliff after all."

  “You've always been brave. You just needed a little push."

  "Or a jump... off a cliff," I countered.

  "Semantics," he replied.

  "So whaddaya say?” I asked, excitedly.

  "I say hell yeah."

  "Let's do it then!"

  Joseph dug into his pocket for his key and stuck it into the ignition making Lucy roar to life. I quickly fixed myself in my seat and secured my seatbelt for the ride. Safety first, folks.

  ⋅. ✯ .⋅

  9:45 p.m.

  "Would you like something to drink?" I asked, depositing my clutch on the entryway table.

  "Water would be great, thank you," he replied, taking a seat on the left side of the couch. In the kitchen, I discovered a note from my parents taped to the fridge.

  "There's rice and leftover chicken in the fridge if you get hungry at all tonight -Papa.

  Don't do anything I wouldn't do -Mom."

  I shook my head with a small smile on my face and filled a glass before joining Joseph in the living room. After handing him the water, I kicked off my heels and sat beside him, folding my legs underneath me.

  He finished half the glass in just a couple seconds and cleared his throat.

  “Before anything, I really wanna talk about that kiss.” His hand was balled up into a fist that repeatedly smashed into his upper thigh.

  “Do you wish you hadn’t done it?” I asked, unable to take my eyes off his fidgeting hand.

  "No, that’s definitely not the case. I’ve wanted to kiss you for a while now, but whenever I'm around you I kinda lose my shit. I was nervous as hell back there.” he said, placing the empty cup on the coffee table.