Page 23 of Falling Like Leaves (Bramble Falls #1)

The commons is covered in streamers. Helium-filled black and blue balloons flood the ceiling, and colorful disco lights bounce around the room. The heavy bass shakes the dance floor, where kids are packed like sardines, grinding against each other and throwing their hands in the air.

All but three tables have been cleared out to make space for everyone, but plenty of people are hanging out on the outskirts of the crowd. I hug the walls as I make my way around the room, keeping my eyes peeled for any of my friends.

But I hear them before I see them.

“Ellis?” Jake’s voice carries over the blasting music.

To my right, Jake, Chloe, Slug, and Cooper are standing with a few other football guys, some of Chloe’s friends, and Sterling, whose hair is now dyed pink to match their chic pantsuit.

Everyone is sweaty, and the boys have abandoned their jackets.

Their sleeves are rolled up, and Jake’s dress shirt is unbuttoned, exposing his white undershirt.

Jake’s whole face lights up as I approach. “What are you doing here?”

“Ellis!” Slug shouts. Judging by his red-rimmed glassy eyes and the hug he pulls me into, I’d guess he pregamed before the dance.

Even if they’re mad at me, I can’t contain the smile that tugs at my lips being here with them.

“Hey,” I say as Slug lets me go. Chloe smiles sweetly at me, and Sterling gives me a nod. My gaze finally slides to Cooper. I expect to find him glaring or snarling at me, but instead his lips are parted, his eyes traveling over my dress. I blush and turn back to Jake.

“Things didn’t go as planned,” I tell him, trying to keep all emotion out of my voice.

“Hell yeah!” he shouts. “I mean, I’m sorry, but also, hell yeah!” I laugh, and he looks at my wrist. “I wish I’d known you were coming. I would have brought your corsage.”

“I’m not worried about it.” I shrug. “I’m just glad I made it.”

“Me too.”

“I love your dress,” Chloe says in her own sparkling green ballgown. “Where’d you get it? I feel like I scoured every store and never found anything like that.”

“Oh, I, um… I made it,” I say, wringing my hands.

“Are you serious?” she asks. “That’s incredible.”

“Thanks.”

“We’d love to stay and chat, Chlo, but we’ve got places to be.” Jake grabs my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor before I even realize what’s happening. With the rest of our group close behind, he stops in a small open space and starts dancing, which he’s surprisingly decent at.

When I just stand there watching him, he leans into my ear. “Dance with me, Ellis!”

So I do.

My hair has been crimped and teased. It’s long and big, just like I imagined.

And now it’s flying wildly as I move my hips against Jake.

As the song goes on, I grow hot, sweaty, and breathless.

My thighs burn. I am in no shape for this sort of exercise.

I turn to face my date, and he lifts my hands into the air to lyrics about apple-bottom jeans before we all lower our hips to the floor.

Which is hard in my mermaid-cut dress. I nearly fall, but Jake catches me, and we both laugh.

As the next song comes on, I catch Cooper dancing with Chloe out of the corner of my eye.

It shouldn’t bother me.

His hands on her hips shouldn’t matter to me.

Her ass rocking against him shouldn’t make me want to burn the building down.

And yet.

I force myself to look away. I’m having fun with Jake. I’m not letting some weird feelings ruin this night.

We dance for another fifteen minutes before my feet feel like they might fall off. Louboutins are gorgeous, but they’re not exactly meant for high-exertion activities.

“I gotta go take my shoes off. I’ll be back,” I shout into Jake’s ear. He nods, and I fight my way off the dance floor. I can’t leave my mom’s shoes anywhere, though—they’re too special to risk losing. So instead I head outside and let the crisp night air cool me as I rest my throbbing feet.

I’m sitting at one of the metal picnic tables when footsteps approach.

Then Cooper sits across from me.

“Hey,” he says. “Taking a break?”

“Yeah, it’s hot in there.”

“At least you aren’t stuck in long sleeves and pants.” His thin black tie is loosened around his neck, his top two buttons undone, and his shirt untucked. His hair is sweaty and disheveled. He looks so good. His eyes dip to the silky black fabric I’m wearing. “I can’t believe you made the dress.”

“It was harder than I thought. There are plenty of mistakes, things I wish I’d had time to fix. But yeah.” I smile, looking at him. “I sort of can’t believe I did it either.”

“I’m impressed,” he says. “It’s… stunning.”

My insides swell with pride, and my cheeks heat. “Thank you.”

He takes his phone from his pocket. His thumbs move swiftly over the screen before he looks at me and says, “Text me.”

“Um, okay…” I grab my phone from my tiny clutch purse and send a text as he sets his phone on the table in front of me.

Dress Designer Ellis: hi?

My heart dances before my brain shuts it down fast, pressure building in my chest. I grab his phone and hit the edit button. Journalist Ellis. I pass his phone back to him. He frowns at it but then fixes his face.

“So,” he says, changing the subject, “are you having fun? Jake said this is your first school dance.”

“It is, and I am, yeah.”

He nods, and silence falls between us. I’m dying to ask him what he’s thinking about, but then he takes off his boutonniere and starts pulling it apart, tugging the end of the small black ribbon wrapped around the red rose that matches Chloe’s dress.

He reaches over and gently grabs my wrist. He ties the ribbon in a bow around it. “I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday.”

I peel my eyes from his fingers on the soft skin of my inner wrist and look at him, but he’s focused on what he’s doing. “Thanks for saying that. But you weren’t wrong. Even if I didn’t feel like I had a choice, it was still messed up.”

“It was,” he agrees. “But I could have handled it better.” He plucks the black berries from his deconstructed pile of flowers and begins weaving the short stems around the ribbon. I’m mesmerized by his delicate movements as he tucks his little white flowers into it. “What happened with New York?”

I sigh. “The meeting was canceled, and my dad had more important things to do than see his daughter.”

“I’m sorry.”

I shrug. “It is what it is.”

His eyes meet mine. “You know you’re allowed to be upset. You don’t have to pretend it’s fine.”

I look away. “It is fine.”

“Okay.”

“It just… it feels like things are happening for everyone in New York, like everything outside of this place is moving forward, and I’m… stuck. Being here feels like trying to claw my way out of quicksand.”

He nods as he sticks one last flower in and lets go of my hand. I stare at his handiwork.

He made me a corsage.

A shiver runs through me, and it’s not because of the temperature.

Ed Sheeran’s voice spills through the propped open double doors. Cooper pins the red rose back into his pocket, stands, and holds out his hand for me to take. “Dance with me?”

“Um, okay.” I swallow and set my hand in his, rising to dance with him.

Barefoot in the cold grass, I wrap my arms around his neck and his arms come around me, his hands resting on my bare lower back. I shudder at his touch, but if he notices, he doesn’t say anything.

We sway to the song.

We were just kids when we fell in love,

Not knowing what it was…

“Has it really been that terrible?” Cooper asks, his voice low. “Being in Bramble Falls, I mean?”

I look up at him, and he stares back at me with those burnt honey eyes. “No,” I whisper. “It hasn’t.”

His thumb makes slow, soft circles on my lower back, and I melt into him, resting my cheek on his shoulder and closing my eyes. Because it’s perfect here. I could live in this moment forever.

We dance like that, beneath the starlit sky, with our hearts beating fast and untamed, and his touch raising the hairs on my neck and arms.

Until someone clears their throat.

I open my eyes to find Chloe watching us. “Cooper, we were announced as homecoming king and queen. They’re waiting for us onstage.”

She glances at me again, and I pull out of Cooper’s arms. “Well, that’s… fun. Congrats,” I say. “I’ll, uh, let you get back to your date.” I step over to where my shoes sit on the ground by the table. “Thanks for the dance.”

“Yeah,” he mumbles.

“Let’s go,” Chloe says to him.

I slide my shoes on, a thousand frenzied feelings exploding inside of me like fireworks.

Then I watch as Cooper walks back into the dance with his queen, and the denial slips away, giving way to the most heart-stopping and unfortunate realization.

I really, really like Cooper Barnett.

This is not good.