Closed Melody

[Edmund Westwick]

Tonight had presented Edmund an impossible decision. He could go to the dance, something he had never attended before Diana, and be threatened both with an unpleasant evening surrounded by people and memories of his ex, possibly even an unfortunate encounter with her, or he could retire to his room for the evening, and spend the time in silent anger, almost certainly alone with his brother. Edmund was fairly certain all of their roommates had dates, and there was no chance of Theodore attending the dance. Either way, Edmund was going to have an absolutely horrible night. The possibility of avoiding Diana in the crowds was ultimately less threatening than an evening undoubtedly alone with Theodore though, so Edmund had donned something approaching formalwear and made his way down to the Great Hall, hoping to find a quiet corner to while away the evening without having to speak to anyone. Head down, he wound through the crowds silently, hoping Diana wouldn't see him if she was around, looking for a quiet place to be alone.

((closed))

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei had never had a date to the Ball. It was her Third Year already, and she thought it was lame that all of the dances and things that the school did, she always attended alone. Of course, she did have Arvel, and he definitely made the events fun, but Analei would loved to have had a proper date for once. Still, there was someone she was hoping to bump into that night. Her mother had actually taken her shopping and gotten her the pink dress she was wearing, which Analei thought was nice of her. She felt pretty.
After arriving with Arvel, Analei looked around the Hall, taking in how pretty it looked, and who was there already. Spotting the person she was looking for, Analei excused herself from her friend and made her way over to Edmund. "Hey, Edmund. You look nice." She said with a small smile.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Edmund was relieved to find his plan to slink through the dance unnoticed seemed to be working fairly well. At first, at least. Keeping his head and eyes down, Edmund flinched when he heard his name. He relaxed quickly though, when he recognised the voice. Looking up, Edmund was relieved to have run into about the only person he could see himself being happy to see today. The piano lessons he had been giving Analei were the one bright spot in the darkness of the last few months, and though he could never let her know it, he felt deeply grateful to the girl for giving him companionship, and something to look forward to. "Thank you." Edmund said a little stiffly, slightly surprised by her words. Analei had complimented him before, certainly, but it had always been to do with his music. What was he supposed to say back? "You look, um..." He trailed off, struggling to choose a word. "Dress..." Edmund paused. That was just stupid. He had to say something else quickly. "Dress is... nice."

 

[Analei Westwick]

Though Edmund's thank you wasn't as warm as she was expecting, she kept the smile on her face. She had enjoyed the time spent with him, and had quickly come to realize that he wasn't as receptive to smiles as Arvel was, but it didn't matter too much to her. She still liked him. Analei watched him as he continued to - or tried to - talk. The smile grew on her face as he said her dress was nice, and she looked down at it before back at Edmund. "Thank you. My mom helped me choose it..." Analei trailed off, looking out at the dance floor. "Do you want to, maybe, dance or something?"

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Edmund was quite sure that if Analei had ever held him in any esteem that was now being thoroughly dashed by his ineloquence. You look dress?! In what world was that anything approaching an acceptable sentence? In his surprise, Edmund had been reduced to drivel, and it was humiliating. To his relief though, Analei seemed to accept the fumbled compliment for what it was, and he felt a clumsy smile trying to crawl its way onto his face. Her next question floored Edmund though. She wanted to dance with him?! Edmund didn't quite know what to do with the question, his mind racing. Stepping onto the dance floor would no doubt increase his chances of being seen by Diana, and he didn't know if he wanted her to see him dancing with another girl so soon. Analei was nice though, and pretty, and Edmund didn't want to let down the only friend he had left. Opening and closing his mouth, Edmund paused, then nodded uncertainly, his face flushed. He may as well commit to this now, he thought, extending one hand to Analei nervously.

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei felt worried for a moment, as Edmund opened and closed his mouth, wondering if maybe he was going to say no, and lead to a downfall of no more piano lessons. The blonde went to tell him that he didn't have to, wanting to scurry away to hide herself from the embarrassment, her cheeks turning red. Why were boys so complicated?! But, then, Edmund nodded and she felt a smile grow on her face, her worries disappearing as he held out a hand. Analei took it, smiling at the boy before leading the way to the dance floor. Another set of worries hit her as she walked. How did people dance? She had never danced with anyone before. Analei quickly glanced around at the others, trying to get ideas on how they were doing it. Some were standing much too close, and others hardly even looking at each other. She didn't want to not look at Edmund, but it certainly felt like it would be less awkward to not have eye contact. Analei slowed to a spot where they could dance, turning around slowly and timidly putting her hands on Edmund's shoulders. "I'm not really a dancer...I didn't think this through." Analei admitted, a small nervous laugh escaping through her lips.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

As he accompanied Analei to the dance floor, Edmund felt almost as though he was moving in a dream. How had his evening taken such a turn so quickly? His worries about Diana seeing them were somewhat alleviated by the realisation that she might just as easily think he was Theodore. Hopefully that would be the case if anything happened, and he could spend some time with Analei uninterrupted. He paused when they reached a nice spot to dance, the feel of Analei's hands on his shoulders sending a fresh rush of blood to Edmund's cheeks. Resting his hands nervously on her waist, Edmund gave a nervous laugh when she spoke, nodding in agreement. "I'm not much of a dancer either." He said nervously. "I think, if we just..." Dancing with Diana had never been something Edmund was especially good at, but it had at least given him some experience of what to do in this situation. He began swaying gently side to side with her, blushing as he briefly met Analei's eyes for a moment, before looking away quickly. "Um... is this alright?"

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei felt her heart skip a bit when Edmund put his hands on her waist, but kept her cool, relieved to hear that Edmund wasn't much of a dancer either. Surely she wouldn't embarrass herself as much as she would if she was with a proper dancer. All she had to do, was not stand on his feet. Analei watched him as he started swaying them, looking away as well when they made eye contact. Analei nodded her head to his question. "Yeah, this is - great." She smiled, looking at Edmund again. The blonde started to relax a bit, feeling more comfortable with the boy as the swayed slowly to the music. It was still awkward to make eye contact, so Analei let her eyes wander around the hall, falling on a trio of girls who didn't have the happiest expression on their faces. "Except, I think our murders are being plotted as we speak." Analei added with a nervous laugh, but keeping her hands on Edmund's shoulders.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Edmund was relieved that Analei was enjoying the dance, meeting her eyes again for a moment to give her a small, nervous smile. That relief was short lived though, as Analei looked away and spoke again. Edmund felt his throat twist and his happiness sink away to nothing as he realised at once who would be glaring at him. He had never actually met Diana's friends, (something, he realised, that made her indignation at him never introducing her to Theodore all the more frustrating,) but glancing in the direction Analei was looking, he recognised Diana and her posse at once. This was the worst possible turn the evening could have taken, and his shoulders hunched slightly, looking around for escapes. "We should go..." Edmund said nervously, trying to lead their dance further into the crowd, away from where Diana could see them, though he knew it was already likely too late.

 

[Analei Westwick]

Upon seeing his reaction, Analei regretted telling Edmund they were being watched immediately. She should have just kept it to herself. Analei thought that enough time had passed between the two since they had broken up, but she supposed the first love was always the worst. She knew she'd hate to run into Simon. Analei had hated seeing Diana upset, and she didn't regret comforting her, or trying to find someone to help when it had all happened, but it didn't mean she was going to give up her happiness - or could be happiness, over a girl she barely knew; a girl that had never been friendly or tried to have any sort of relationship with her; though she did hope it didn't ruin any kind of friendship with Winnie, who was watching them too. Still, Edmund seemed upset, and Analei followed him as they went further into the dance floor, until she couldn't see the sight of the girls anymore. "Are you okay?" Analei asked Edmund gently.

 

[Edmund Westwick]

Every ounce of happiness Edmund had managed to scrape from tonight had come crashing down around him. His mind was a swirl of pain, lingering feelings for Diana, new feelings for Analei, fear of what Diana might do to them. It was all too much. Getting out of sight of Diana helped somewhat, but he was still miserable, all the magic of the moment washed away. It was almost impossible to gather himself when Analei asked if he was alright, and to Edmund's great embarrassment, he felt almost as though he might cry. Wiping his eyes covertly, Edmund tried to find the words to say. Keeping things from Diana and Theodore had ended in disaster, so it seemed only sensible to give Analei the truth. That would hopefully protect her from the poisonous people Edmund had surrounded himself with. "Diana... and I used to date." He said slowly, embarrassed at the waver in his voice. "We were... together rather a long time, but my brother... pretended to be me, and broke up with her. Apparently he was... horrible about it. And she blames me for the whole thing, even though Theodore was the one at fault. And she didn't even... realise it wasn't me, that I wouldn't say that kind of thing." Thinking about the betrayal made Edmund's chest ache again, the memories still painful to relive.

 

[Analei Westwick]

Analei watched Edmund, concerned. She wondered if maybe he wasn't over Diana, whether Analei was just a rebound, or perhaps he didn't even feel anything towards her, and she had been reading the whole situation wrong. As he began to speak, Analei nodded her head, knowing that they had dated, but she was surprised when he said they were together a long time. She hadn't realized that. His next sentence shocked Analei. Her mouth dropped open slightly as he explained what happened. That was a terrible thing to have happened, but Analei wasn't surprised that Diana blamed Edmund. She seemed like the type of person that would blame others for her own misfortune or mistakes. Analei wasn't sure what to say, so instead she moved closer and wrapped her arms around Edmund in a hug. Even if he didn't like her the way she liked him, she wasn't hugging him for that reason. Analei was more than happy to be just his friend.