The Opposite of Prudence (A/N: Argh! Title WILL change!)

1: -To Dance with a Flower

“You dyed your hair! I never thought you would actually dye your hair!”

A former brunette, with hair that was now completely black, gave a bashful smile. Sadie Hall wasn’t really one who made extreme changes – not that dying your hair from a dark brown to black is extreme – but her best friend still never expected it.

Sadie and Elana were polar opposites. While the former was usually quiet, shy and harmless, Elana was outgoing to the point of being outrageous. She reveled in attention while the other avoided it like the plague. But the two were the best of friends and they kept no secrets from each other.

“I did tell you that I was going to, didn’t I?” Sadie said in her meek voice. Looking around her anxiously, she added, “They’re all staring.”

Elana resisted the urge to laugh out loud. Sadie was just too cute. She had the innocent image going and it was all too close to the truth. Being an only child, her parents were extremely protective, resulting in a sheltered Sadie. Elana knew the reason for all the stares. Sadie’s innocent demeanor would always catch attention, which was one of the reasons why Elana took up self-defense lessons years ago. But those who knew Sadie probably noticed the dyed hair, despite the close color change.

“Ignore them,” Elana advised, grabbing her friend’s hand and tugging. “Come on. I need you to meet people.”

It was the very first time Elana took her best friend to one of her night parties. Despite being best friends, Elana never took Sadie with her to the parties she went to (in order to preserve her best friend’s purity). Sadie never urged Elana to go with the library or book shops with her as well. But they would meet every day in Sadie’s home and just talk. They didn’t go to the same school anymore as Elana went to a co-ed public school while Sadie went to an all-girls private school.

But Elana actually took a risk and decided to invite Sadie to one of her parties. To say that the other girl (who was actually older by four months) was surprised was mild. But she agreed to come anyway…

Which the girl was regretting at the moment…

“E-Elana,” she stuttered, sticking closer to her best friend as she stared at what looked like chaos in her eyes. “I don’t think I-“ She yelped when a bigger guy bumped into them hard.

“Careful!” Elana hollered over the music. The guy, much like many of the boys who have come across the fiery blonde, backed away, intimidated. Turning to Sadie, she asked, “Are you all right?”

Sadie looked around her before shouting, “I’m fine! Now who did you want me to meet?”

Elana grinned. “That’s my girl! Now follow me!”

Sadie wanted to say that she would rather follow Elana everywhere – including the toilet – rather than be swarmed over by such primitive creatures. She looked around her with great apprehension as she saw people who danced to the music press close to each other, almost molding together. Sadie may be sheltered but she knew what many of those dancers would be doing later in the night. Being the good Catholic girl that she was, she lightly shuddered before sticking much closer to Elana as possible.

Elana noticed her friend’s actions. She sighed mentally. She should’ve known that her prudent friend wouldn’t blend well with these people. But she really wanted Sadie to come out of her shell. Unfortunately, years of being raised in the conservative way weren’t easy to shake off.

Finally spotting her friends, she pulled Sadie towards them, expertly avoiding the moving bodies. Three guys and three girls smiled once they spotted her before giving Sadie curious looks.

“Don’t scare her,” Elana warned as she stood in front of them, Sadie slightly behind her. Pulling her friend to present her, she added, “This is Sadie.”

“We finally meet the infamous Sadie,” one of the guys said, blue eyes friendly. Sadie relaxed, seeing him as ‘safe’. He seemed to notice and his eyes filled with amusement. “My name is Sean.”

“Elana talks about you non-stop,” one of the girls – a blonde – piped in. “I’m Julia by the way.”

Sadie was introduced to the others. Sean and Julia were siblings – twins. The female redhead was named Christina and the black-haired one Justine. The two guys – who made Sadie nervous until they smiled at her – were brown-eyed Brett and green-eyed Nathan.

Elana’s friends were obviously being cautious in dealing with her. But when Brett cracked a green joke, all attention turned on her before glares were directed at the sheepish male. Sadie, however, only smiled, giving the ‘ok’ signal. The six instantly relaxed and became more like themselves. Elana grinned happily. She just knew that Sadie would get along with the others.

“Fiore’s here by the way,” Christina told Elana excitedly. Elana’s eyes lit up.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” the more laid back Justine confirmed. “Arrived at the same time as us, right Nathan?” The guy nodded absently as he watched a girl walk over to him. After a few whispers, the two went off to the dance floor.

“What about we follow their example?” Brett asked, turning to the girls with a rakish grin. “Which of you would want to dance with a dashing specimen like me?”

“Dashing specimen like you?” Julia echoed, an eyebrow raised. “Maybe you haven’t seen the hunks around here…” She stuck her tongue out when Brett gave her a mock frown. But she, along with Christina and Justine, pulled him to the dance floor.

Their numbers dwindling, a dark-haired boy – Italian by his looks – approached Elana and asked for a dance.

“You can go and dance,” Sadie reassured her with a big smile. “I don’t want to ruin your night!”

“Are you sure?” Elana asked, worry in her face.

“Of course,” Sadie replied calmly. “Now go.”

She left Sadie and Sean as she went off to dance with the hot boy.

“You’re not really fond of such functions, are you?” Sean asked her. In the conversations the group had, Sadie came to the conclusion that Sean was a smart person… and quick.

“I’m not used to it,” Sadie answered with a helpless shrug. “Maybe I will one day.” She looked around her, confused and somewhat afraid. “Elana likes these things and I want to like the things she likes.”

“You don’t have to,” Sean said almost immediately. “If you’re really friends, you don’t have to… And Elana is a very good friend.”

Sadie smiled and nodded. “Yeah, she is. You’re probably right. I would never force Elana to like the things I like so she probably would feel the same.”

Sean nodded. “That’s right.”

They were silent but the speakers continued to blare around them until finally, a slow song played.

Sadie watched as the couples began swaying to the music, arms wrapped around each other. She had seen this in movies but she never really saw one big mass move from fast and wild moves to something slow and more sensual before.

“Sadie?” The girl looked at her companion, who wore an apologetic expression. “Someone wants me… Are you all right by yourself here? Just for a few minutes?”

Sadie resisted the urge to bite her lip as she fought her panic. She would be fine… What could happen?

“Go ahead,” she told him, not wanting him to have to baby sit her.

“Sure?”

“Yup!”

Sean gave her a look of relief. “Just holler if you need anything and tell anyone who comes near you, who you don’t want to talk to, to piss off.”

Sadie doubted she could do that but she nodded. Sean smiled before leaving her alone in the dark corner.

She was just starting to get anxious from being left alone when a voice interrupted her thoughts.

“I’ve never seen you before.”

Sadie looked up and almost sighed in absolute relief when she saw that it was only a girl… a very pretty girl. She had brown hair that fell past her shoulders. Sadie couldn’t tell what her eye color was as the gigantic room darkened for the slow dance. But she was beautiful and Sadie couldn’t help but stare at her in awe.

“This is my first time here,” she finally said, snapping out of her admiration after seeing the amusement in those eyes.

The girl held her hand out. “Want to dance?”

Sadie stared up at her, confused. The last time she danced was for ballroom dancing lessons she took with her mother. Then she realized that this wasn’t ballroom and anyone could dance without necessarily having a partner of the opposite sex.

The innocent girl hesitantly placed her hand in the other’s before she was pulled up from her seat. She followed somewhat self-consciously as the other girl led her among the dancing couples. Sadie hesitantly placed her hands on the girl’s shoulders, not quite sure what to do, after the unknown female placed her own hands on Sadie’s hips. But the black-haired girl gasped unconsciously when the other pulled her closer by wrapping her arms around Sadie’s waist.

“You can wrap your arms around my neck,” she told Sadie with a teasing grin. They were almost the same height with the other girl probably being an inch or two taller. Blushing with embarrassment at her own ignorance, Sadie obeyed.

For some reason, Sadie could not look into her dance partner’s eyes. She would look at everything else except for the girl in front of her. She failed to see the amusement grow in the other’s eyes as she observed the slightly shorter girl with a secretive smile.

When the dance ended, the music started to pick up in pace again. Sadie tried to step away from the girl but she kept her hold.

“What’s your name?” she asked in a voice just loud and soft enough for Sadie to hear.

“S-Sadie,” she answered, wondering why the other girl wasn’t letting her go.

“What a pretty name,” the brown-haired girl complimented, her eyes shining with something… As the light became slightly brighter, Sadie saw that the girl’s eyes were blue…

Sadie, stunned and confused – a blush adorning her cheeks – was pulled much closer until the other girl’s lips lightly brushed over her ear, making her shiver.

“My name is Fiore.”

With that, she was released and the girl strode away. Sadie stared after her.

Fiore… The name sounded so familiar…

But back then…

Sadie Hall did not know what it meant to dance with Fiore Zadel.