"Come on, Patricia. This is my all time favorite song. If we have to be stuck here in this corner, we should at least dance. Look at all the people having fun out there!"

"Joy. You know I don't dance…"

The smaller of the two girls bumped her hip into her best friend's prompting an outburst that was luckily drowned out by the music.

"Joy! I said no, knock it off will you!"

She frowned, her displeasure at Patricia's tone showing in a wrinkle across her forehead.

"Some way to talk to your best friend who's just been held against their will for a whole term. Why did you even bother coming if you were just going to be a fuddy duddy?"

Patricia felt a little remorse for snapping at her long time roommate. The high stress of the term had caused her to be even higher strung than she usually was. She had grown so used to taking her frustrations out on anyone who crossed her path that she had forgotten for a moment that Joy's absence was the cause of it all in the first place.

"Sorry… But you already know why I'm here, remember? Bag switch, Chosen One, the Cup… Any of this ringing a bell? Like you said, you were being held hostage. What was I supposed to do, trust everyone else to get the job done? Not likely."

"No, that's why you got all dressed up in the first place, but why are you here now? Would it have anything to do with a certain somebody?"

Patricia sipped at her punch, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh come on, Patricia! You know exactly who—"

"Joy!" a gasp interrupted her, "it is you, where have you been?! I've missed you so much!"

"Mara!" she squealed as she lunged into her hug. "Aw! I've missed you too."

"Totally. We've all missed you," Mick agreed behind their embrace, his eyes flicking up to meet Patricia's. "Especially Williamson."

Joy watched over Mara's shoulder as Mick scanned over her best friend's body not once, but twice.

"So…" Joy broke away from Mara, "are you two dates tonight?"

A grin and a dusting of pink spread across Mara's face, "Mick and I are a couple now. We sort of made it official a few weeks ago…"

"Really?" Joy's eyes widened as she turned to Patricia with a "why didn't you tell me!" look on her face, "I guess I missed a lot while I was away, didn't I…"

Patricia shrugged behind another casual sip of her drink.

"I guess so. Like, did you know that Jerome actually has feelings and a conscience sometimes? Weird. Oh! And Patricia…" a coy smile filled her face despite Joy motioning her not to take the conversation in that direction, "He doesn't have a date tonight either…"

"What exactly are you getting at, Mara?" Patricia forced in the most polite way she could manage and Joy slapped a hand to her forehead.

"Well, I overheard you two talking on the way over about a top secret someone and I think you should go for it. Ask him to dance!"

Patricia sat her glass down on the nearest table, feeling the heat simultaneously rising to her face and beginning to constrict the air all around her, choking her with every breath. She had to get out of there.

"Thanks for the suggestion Mara, but I'm not that desperate. I wouldn't dance with Jerome Clarke if he were the last slimeball on Earth."

She pushed passed both Mick and Mara, crossing over to the other side of the dance floor, as far away from them as she could get.

Mara's face fell as she turned back to Joy, "What did I say?!"

Patricia eventually made her way back over to her designated area for the night after Amber had pulled Mara out into the hall to help with a 'refreshment emergency'. Joy met her with an annoyed glare.

"Really subtle back there, Patricia."

"What? Everyone knows Jerome is like the annoying little brother I never wanted. I would rather chew on glass than date him."

"I meant, the panicked look you got on your face when Mara mentioned overhearing us. It's a good thing Mick doesn't catch on very easily and that she's still in the honeymoon phase or…"

Patricia shifted her weight to her other leg and rolled her eyes behind her new punch cup.

"Stop talking about him, okay. He's taken, Joy. End of."

The smaller of the two girls watched as Fabian finally got up the nerve to pull Nina out on the dance floor. They danced goofily to the beat and she continued albeit now distracted, "Come on, Trish. Everyone's single if you try hard enough…"

"And by that," Patricia followed her line of sight, "you mostly mean Fabian."

Nina stumbled on her heels and giggled into Fabian's chest and he in turn chuckled as well. Joy's frown was conformation enough.

The girls were so busy monitoring the one side of the dance floor, they hadn't seen the pair of boys approaching them from the other side as the music faded into a slower song.

"Would you girls care for a dance?"

Patricia's heart hammered in her chest at the sound of his voice. But when she turned his way, her mood instantly deflated.

"Look, I already told your girlfriend I wasn't interested in Slimeball back there."

"Hey!" Jerome objected, "Some of us can hear you, you know!"

Mick took a step closer and Patricia's stomach flipped. She hoped it didn't read across her face because while Mick and Mara hadn't noticed her prior expressions, Jerome would most definitely pick up on anything suspicious.

"Right. And listen, she feels really bad about upsetting you earlier. It's just, she overheard some of the guys talking about Clarke having a secret crush too and just assumed you two had a thing for each other. She's taken the prom committee thing pretty seriously and just wants everyone to have a good time tonight."

Jerome combed a hand back through his hair as he rounded around Mick, as if on scripted cue.

"So what do you say, Joyless. Care to dance with King Clarke?"

To be honest, her answer was a quick 'no!'. Not only did dancing with Jerome and his ego sound like a terrible time, she was also grossly under dressed and hesitant to step into the limelight where she could be seen. But when she realized that by her getting Jerome as a dance partner, it meant that Patricia would be getting Mick, her quick no turned into a quick yes despite Patricia desperately signaling her not to do it.

"Well, I suppose since I can't get Patricia to dance…" she took Jerome's hand and both of them clinched their jaws in annoyance of the situation. Trixie was so going to owe her.

"Joy's right you know, I don't dance," Patricia spat as she mentally cursed her best friend for setting her up like this.

"Maybe not, but I do. So come on. You got yourself all dolled up, might as well take advantage, yeah? Besides, I've never known you to chicken out before."

Patricia glanced around the room, finding that they were the only two not paired up and that quite a few people were starting to stare because they stood out in the crowd.

"Okay, I'll do it, but make it quick."

"There you go, that's the spirit!"

"You're actually not a bad dancer, Clarke."

"Thank you for assuming I would be terrible, Joyless. Always warms the heart."

He spun her around and the small grin that surfaced on her face caught his eye. And with the way that her hair followed her motion just so, she almost looked rather appealing to him until she glared up through her lashes.

"You know what I meant."

Jerome hadn't wanted to dance with Joy in the first place. Dancing really wasn't his thing. He was more of a 'dress to the nines, stand back and be noticed' kind of guy at these types of events. It was Mara that had persuaded him to ask her, and she had pulled the "please, for me?" card, one of Jerome's few weaknesses.

How was he to have said no to that?

But he supposed appearing to have landed a girl for once didn't look all bad on him. And then there was that tiny detail that the both of them had faced death just a mere hour prior that had put things a little bit into perspective.

"Joy, um… You'll probably be hearing rumors around the house about jokes that were allegedly made at your expense while you were gone. And whilst I can confirm they are in fact, merely rumors… Hypothetically speaking, they probably never would have been made if we all knew you were in real danger. For what it's worth, I'm glad you're safe…Hypothetically speaking, of course."

Joy's brow furrowed in disbelief, "Wow, Mara was right about you. You do have feelings… It really suits you…"

"Mara said that…about me? What else did she tell you?!"

Joy rolled her eyes and took the lead as Jerome had stopped dancing in his panic.

"Sorry," Patricia mumbled as her ankle boots landed on Mick's toes for the second time.

"Come on, Williamson! Where's your fancy footwork? Left it all on the field, did you?"

She caught Mick's gaze, holding back her retort at his amused blue eyes. The warmth of his smile was almost as palatable as that of his broad shoulders under her wrists. Their dancing technique was very much primary school swaying, where her whole silly crush on him had began in the first place.

"Here," he started softer, "let's try it this way… Like I taught Fabian…"

He took her in one arm to pull her closer to him, closer than they'd ever been before, Patricia not sure if she was prepared for that but finding no power to stop him. He then pulled one of her frozen hands from his shoulder, threading it into his own. Patricia swallowed hard as her nervous system overloaded.

"Okay, ready? Just listen to the music. 1, 2, 3, 4… 1, 2, 3, 4… There you go, now you've got it!"

The absurdity of the situation caught up with Patricia and she scoffed, finding her voice, "I don't have any fancy foot work, remember?"

"Come on, sure you do! Coach went absolutely mental when he found out you weren't coming back. The girls team needs you."

The reprieve from her nervous jitters was welcomed, but brief. It all rushed back as Mick's hand began traveling up and down the curve of her waist as he made conversation. She gasped, covering it with a glare at him when it caught his attention.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just…stop doing that, would you?"

He tightened his grip, subconsciously continuing the action that was causing her the most distress, "Doing what?"

"That," she hissed, moving her hip to acknowledge the motion. She didn't actually want him to stop and that in and of itself was a big reason why she needed him to.

"Sorry…"

They finished their dance in utter silence. Patricia relieved to see her exit strategy within reach as the song started to come a close.

"Well, thanks for the pity dance but—"

"Wait! Mara…well, she's not back yet. Would you…fancy another dance with me? Not because I have to ask you, but because I want to?"

Patricia started to object but Joy motioned for her go for it, still in Jerome's arms.

She sighed, "Alright. But only because Joy's still busy."

"Cool! Now let me show you some of my real moves."

Mick grinned at Patricia's warning glare and spun her back into position.

"Cut it out," she tried but couldn't wipe the smirk off her face.

"Oh yeah, what are you gonna do about it, Williamson?"

She went to answer but he dipped her, earning a panicked shriek from her. She pushed him playfully when he pulled her back upright. He motioned her back to him with a bright smile and surprisingly, she slipped herself back into their stance. They resumed their count, Patricia deciding dancing wasn't all that bad. It sort of felt like she was floating and since Mick had officially broken the ice, she had so much more confidence to just enjoy it.

"May I cut in?" Mara teased just as Patricia returned Mick's smile at the closing of the second song. She had waited in the wings, happy to see everyone…including Patricia and her boyfriend…enjoying their night. Overall, the prom appeared to be a success and was well worth the extra workload she had shouldered.

"Oh hey, Babes! All sorted then?" Patricia started to back away, the perfection of the last ten minutes crumbling away just as quickly as it had been built up. She was suddenly as invisible as she'd ever been, hoping for once in her life, to slip away unnoticed by Mick Campbell. "Oh, Williamson! Thanks for the dance…es, yeah? And think about what I said…the girls' team could still really use your help."

Patricia nodded, trying not to look disappointed as Mick took Mara in his arms and looked at her as if she were the only girl in the room. She slunk back to her place against the wall in the shadows, in another girl's shadow, as firm and tough as she'd ever been.

It looked as though Joy had found herself a date for the night, and Patricia was about to find her third cup of punch.

Her best friend had been so wrong…outside of the mystery, not much had changed during the last term at all…