Page 23 of Kingpin
Alannah
“My goodness. You look beautiful, honey.”
My mother snaps another picture of me in my off-white homecoming dress as I stand next to Marcus Smart, my date for the dance. Marcus is wearing a dark gray suit and he really looks great in it. He’s sixteen and just under six-foot tall, with skinny arms and short brown hair. Apparently I have a thing for basketball players, because every boyfriend I’ve ever had has played for the school’s team, and Marcus is no exception. We haven’t been going out for long, but he’s a nice guy. He’s sweet and is always going out of his way to spoil me, which can get a little annoying at times, but it’s better than dating an asshole. He’s definitely not a bad boy, though, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
Tonight’s the homecoming dance, and it’s been a week and a half since I’ve seen Dominic. I don’t know what’s going on with him but he hasn’t been at school at all, and I haven’t even gotten an answer when I’ve tried calling him, which is unusual. I’m worried about him, but one thing I know for sure is that Dominic Collazo can take care of himself, so I try not to let it bother me too much. I’ve just been wanting to see him since my parents told me we’re moving to Alaska soon. I’ve tried to use the time to figure out a way to tell him, but I haven’t come up with anything.
Marcus and I spend another half an hour posing for pictures before my parents finally let us leave. Marcus, a sophomore, is driving his mother’s red Honda with one hand like he’s been doing it his whole life, and he puts his other hand on my knee. I smile when he places it there and he smiles back, then looks straight ahead.
When we get to the dance, there are people and decorations everywhere. The school colors are purple and white, and it’s like those two colors have taken over the world the second we step out of the car. There’s purple and white flashing lights bouncing off the walls outside, and even more of them dancing around the room when Marcus and I step inside. Purple streamers lay spread across the floor and music blares from gigantic speakers in every corner of the basketball court that’s been turned into a dance floor for the night.
“Wow, they went all out,” Marcus says, raising his voice so I can hear him.
“Sure did,” I reply. “You wanna dance?”
“Not yet, let’s mingle a bit. I wanna see if any of my people are hear yet.” Marcus speaks to me without looking at me as he scans the room for his friends. He starts to walk away and I contemplate following him, but I see something out of the corner of my eye that makes me stop.
I notice people looking in the same direction, watching as a figure struts into the room. It’s pretty hard to tell with the purple and white lights, but I’m pretty sure he’s wearing a black suit with light gray pinstripes. Everything about him is attractive: styled black hair, strong jaw, wide shoulders, and even his intimidating scowl. Every girl in the vicinity is looking over at Dominic as he walks in like he owns the building.
There’s something different about him. I don’t know what it is, but it’s there. The way he holds himself is bigger, prouder, like something has changed him. He’s surer of himself, straddling the line between confidence and arrogance with absolute perfection, and it looks just as good on him as the suit he’s wearing.
I watch him walk and I’m almost in awe of him. When he sees me, his demeanor changes. His scowl turns into a smile that’s only meant for me, and my heart seems to skip a beat. Dominic is gorgeous, and it’s like I’m seeing him for the first time right now.
“Hey,” is all he says as he approaches, hands in his pockets.
“Hi,” I reply with a feeling of nervousness I’ve never had around him before. “Umm, where’s your date?”
He shrugs. “Don’t have one. Just wanted to come see what this was all about. You look beautiful, Alannah.”
Another skipped heartbeat.
“Thank you. You look . . . really handsome. That suit is awesome.”
“Thank you.” Dominic glances around before settling his eyes on mine. “Where’syourdate?”
Now it’s my turn to look around. Marcus is nowhere to be found.
“Oh, umm, I guess he walked off. I think he’s looking for his friends or something. I don’t know.”
“Hmm.” Dominic pinches his lips together, just as Mariah Carey’sWe Belong Togetherstarts up on the big speakers. “So, you wanna dance?”
I smile to myself, but then I take a second to look around for Marcus, but Dominic stops me.
“He’s more concerned with finding his friends. I’m interested in you. So, how about it?”
I twist my mouth to try to keep from smiling, but I lose the battle.
“I’d love to.”
Dominic smiles slyly, then he takes my hand and leads me to the dance floor. We don’t have to push our way through the couples that are already dancing, because they seem to move out of the way for us. Dominic couldn’t seem to care less, but I notice their eyes. They’re glued to us from every direction like we’re covered in pig’s blood, and Dominic walks us right into the middle of the pack. He faces me and puts his hands on my waist, still oblivious to the stares.
“They’re really staring a lot,” I inform him, but he shrugs it off.
“Fuck them. It’s just us in here. We’re the only ones on this dance floor.”
I lose the fight to another smile as I wrap my arms around his neck and we start to dance to the music. It only takes a second for me to forget about the people glaring, and eventually they go back to minding their own business, so I give my full attention to Dominic.
“So,” I begin. “Where have you been the past couple of weeks?”
