Center of Attention

[Odette Madison]

Once again, Odette had Hayden at her side at a dance. But this time it was real, official, they were here as each other's dates. Dating, even. She hoped her dress wasn't too simple, and that he wouldn't be staring at all the other girls with long flowing gowns. Her mother always said a dress was meant to compliment a girl's beauty, not overshadow it, but she wondered if she looked too plain. Even though she knew she had overreacted last year when Hayden had compliment Margo, she wasn't sure if she wouldn't do the exact same thing again if he did it again. As irrational as it was, she hated the idea of not being the most beautiful girl to him.

She put her hand on his arm as they entered the great hall. It was beautiful as always, and almost made her forget her worries. She glanced at Hayden with a small smile. "Let's go dance." She told him, not giving him much room for argument. She wasn't sure if she as allowed to call Hayden her boyfriend yet, but she knew that she wanted to show off that she was with a boy and the best way to do that was to dance in the center of the hall before it got to crowded.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

Hayden's fourth Yule ball was easily the one he was most looking forward to as it was the first one where he would have a proper date. It felt like an eternity ago since he had asked Odette so when the night of the ball finally arrived, Hayden was on edge. He wasn't normally one for being nervous but dating was a new experience for him and so far it was opening him up to a whole new world of emotions, he didn't like that. After getting ready for the ball he headed down to the common room where he met Odette, she looked amazing in her dress. It was simple which allowed her natural beauty to shine through, in short, it was perfect. "You look beautiful," He smiled as he kissed her cheek before taking her hand and leading her out of the common room and towards the Great hall.

Walking into the Great hall with Odette on his arm made Hayden feel superior in a way he had never felt before. He liked it. Hayden opted not to look around the hall too much, he didn't need to after all. He was already with the most beautiful girl in the school and he didn't need to look to confirm that. Before Hayden could say anything to his date she suggested they dance. Hayden knew he had little say in the matter but had no intention of refusing such an offer. "I'd be happy to," Hayden took Odette's hand and pulled her over to what was so far a sparsely populated dance floor which was all the better for showing her off. He raised his arm so Odette could spin underneath it before he pulled her closer to him. "I know I've already said it, but you look incredible, no other girl here tonight even comes close,"

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette could tell that Hayden's attention was focused on her, which she enjoyed a lot. She wanted him to have his eyes on her for the entire dance, even if she herself couldn't stop darting glances at people they passed. She compared herself to the other girls she saw, wondering if she looked better than they did. She didn't want to spend the entire evening worrying about her looks, but there was a part of her that never stopped. A voice in her mind that reminded her a lot of her mother. "You look nice too." She said in response to him. It was true. In fact, he looked really good, but she felt odd saying that. She couldn't be too open and admit too much of what she was feeling.

She was glad he agreed to dance with her, even though she hadn't really posed it as a question. It was so much easier to be in control when you talked as if you assumed you were in control. It was still a surprise to her when he took her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor, but she smiled. She assumed he knew what he was doing. Odette could dance, but she didn't have as much experience dancing with a partner. It was still easy for her to go along with him, though, and she smiled as she spun before he pulled her closer. She enjoyed his compliment, but tried her best not to look too pleased. "You're starting to sound like a broken clock, Hayden." She said teasingly. "Though I don't mind hearing that, obviously." She stayed close to him, swaying to the music. "I already said you look good too, but since we're repeating ourselves..." She let the sentence linger, smirking at him.

 

[Hayden Lavish]

Hayden laughed when Odette accused him of sounding like a broken clock. She was right, he was going overboard with the compliments and he knew it but he knew she had been jealous before when she thought he was paying more attention to another girl. Hayden wanted Odette to know that she was the only girl he was interested in. "You're right, I think I've made my point anyway so I'll tone it down," He smiled having stopped short at apologising as he wasn't sorry for telling her how beautiful she was. Hayden sometimes suspected that Odette didn't truly know so he felt that he needed to.

Dancing with Odette felt nice, holding her close made it feel like they were alone in the middle of the dancefloor. No one else mattered or even existed. It helped that he had been in ballroom dance lessons since he could walk and actually knew what he was doing on a dance floor. Hayden smirked when Odette made him think she was going to tell him he looked good again, but instead, she left it unsaid but he knew she meant it. There was something he found so attractive about her smirk, it oozed confidence and he liked that. As silence fell between the pair Hayden decided to take the opportunity to close the small gap between them and plant a kiss on her lips.

 

[Odette Madison]

Odette didn't mind hearing that he would tone down the compliments. As much as she enjoyed hearing that he liked her so much, she felt sort of like he was expecting something similar in return. It was hard to seem sincere when she complimented people, as she wasn't used to doing it. "Thank you." She said simply, turning her gaze on the rest of the hall. She tried to look for anyone in her year. Margo or Beaubelle would be jealous, wouldn't they? And she wanted her enemies to see her, to see how happy and beautiful she looked. But she didn't spot anyone to her annoyance.

When she turned her head back to Hayden to say something, he moved closer to kiss her and she kissed him back as they danced. Her lips curving into a slight smile against his. She stayed close to him, swaying for a while as they kissed. But she was also the one who pulled back again. Kissing in public too long was tacky, she knew that much from her mother, and it just made her feel a little nervous. Though it was annoying that her mother seemed to pop into her mind in any situation, including this one. She glanced away and scrambled for something to say. "That girl is wearing overalls, do you think she's a farmer?" She asked as her eye caught sight of a younger girl in an odd outfit. When in doubt, she tended to go for putting others down, and this was no exception.