Silver Promises
an excerpt

"Hey Lisa," I said to her, getting an idea. "You know how to play the piano, right?"

"...Yes. Why don't I like the look on your face, Eric Stinle?" She smiled at me, though, without waiting for an answer, and walked over to the grand piano. She started playing after a minute, obviously loving the sound in the huge empty ball room. I disentangled Simon's hands from my arm, quickly running back and shutting the door. Before I could, though, Jade showed up, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Yo." I said to him. "What're you doing here?"

"Lisa told me to come," he replied. Looking into the room, he let out a low whistle. "Nice." Taking a second to revise my idea, I leaned up and whispered it into his ear. "As long as we don't scare him too much," was his only reply. I walked ahead of him back into the room, seeing that Simon caught sight of Jade and waved shyly at him. Knowing Jade would offer a smile in return, I didn't bother to look back at him.

"May I have this dance?" I asked to Simon, bowing and extending my hand. I was hoping he'd get caught up in the magic of the room, and not think too much about my offer. I got my wish, and he put his hand in mine. Lisa must've seen us and realized what I was doing, as she slowed to a simple waltz. I led Simon around the dance floor, laughing with him as he tripped on his feet more than once. A couple minutes later, Jade tapped on my shoulder as per the plan, and cut in. He danced with the cute youn--I mean, with Simon just as I did, and Lisa kept up with the same melody.

When we were younger, Jade and I had taken a dance class together. Our favorite was the waltz, and we had a ball waltzing with each other as partners at random moments--and we were really good. It's something that I never forgot, and, watching Jade, I realized he never forgot either. The other thing we were really good at was dancing with three people. I'm not sure how we managed it, but we'd come up with a dance set to a waltz that worked for three people. And that was the plan for now.

So after Jade and Simon had been dancing for a few minutes (which I spent watching them and looking more around this amazing room), I strolled over and tapped Jade's shoulder. Simon was obviously enjoying himself, laughing and smiling wider than I'd ever seen him smile before.

"Follow our lead, okay?" I said to him, moving beside Jade. He nodded, and the three of us danced, as Lisa played an even slower waltz. That girl really is good.

About five minutes later, Lisa stopped playing and came over to us. "We really should go," she said. "Mark and Trent will probably be looking for me, and I'm sure someone noticed the infamous Jade Natel is missing."

"Alright," I agreed, albeit reluctantly. Jade and Simon nodded as well.

"You three looked great dancing, you know." Simon blushed, and I giggled while Jade rolled his eyes. "Feel free to come up here whenever you feel like it, as long as you don't get caught. It's beautiful, but I found a couple rooms--which I refuse to show you--that I like even better. It can be a hideout for you three."

It was strange, but as she was talking it was like I felt something...shifting, I guess is the word, around me. Maybe it was just that I could see the potential for all that the room could be to us. Or maybe it was something more.