Noah has some explaining to do

"What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?" Noah repeated in a panicked mutter as he exited the girl's bathroom.

His heart thundered as he scanned the gymnasium, transformed into a glittering wonderland of streamers, twinkling lights, and beach-themed decorations. Through the sea of dancing couples, he spotted Jacob standing near the punch bowl, absently swirling a paper cup as Courtney rubbed his shoulder. The guilt Noah had been feeling intensified.

Taking small steps to maintain balance in the unfamiliar red heels, Noah approached his friend. Noah could just barely hear Courtney talking to Jacob reminiscing about the spring musical they were in. Jacob's eyes lit up when he noticed "Noelle" returning though his expression remained fairly neutral. Courtney's face was of mildly hidden judgment, her displeasure on display.

"Oh, hey..." Jacob trailed off, scratching his neck.

"Sorry, I just... needed a moment," Noah said in his unpracticed higher pitch.

Courtney lowered an eyebrow and glanced up and to the right, and Noah's eyes instinctually followed. He saw she was looking at an analog clock hanging on the wall, which had a single blue balloon attached to its protective cage. Noah frowned seeing he had been hiding in the bathroom for only forty minutes, though it felt more like years to him.

"Some moment," Courtney said under her breath.

Jacob's face softened. "No worries. Want some punch?"

As Jacob poured a cup, the opening notes of a slower song filled the gym while also filling Noah with dread. A girl wearing a lavender dress and violet corsage on her wrist came bounding towards them, grabbing a **** Courney's wrist and dragging her to the mass of dancing students. Couples gravitated toward each other, awkwardly swaying to the melody.

Noah cringed, waiting for Jacob to ask him to dance with him but the question never came. Instead, he was just handed a cup of punch. Noah stood there, sipping the way too sweet-tasting punch, as Jacob did the same. Gone were the continued questions Jacob had been asking "Noelle" to get to know "her", replaced with anxious drumming of fingers on a paper cup. Noah looked up at his friend's face looking to see if he was mad or something but his expression continued to remain neutral. Jacob had always been a good actor, so if he was upset he wasn't showing it.

"So...good music?" Noah didn't know what to say but knew he had to at least try to pretend that he wanted to be there.

Jacob nodded, "Yep, I'd say so."

Noah winced, he knew Jacob well and he could tell what was going on. "Noelle" had given all the signs of disinterest and now Jacob had successfully taken the hint and was leaving Noah be. That would have been great news when Noah just wanted to get through the night but his mission had changed after hearing Sarah's friends making fun of Jacob.

Noah took a breath, "Hey, Jacob."

Jacob bowed his head for a moment, reading himself for what must have sounded like an incoming rejection, "Yeah."

"...Would you like to dance?" Noah asked.

The words took a second to enter Jacob's ears, "Oh, uh, Sure!"