The after-party at Thornhill was loud and dimly lit, the tension from the dance following them straight into the massive living room.
Cheryl, still in her extravagant crimson gown, clapped her hands together to get everyone’s attention.
She was practically buzzing with the need to cause trouble.
“It’s game time at Chez Blossom, kiddies,” Cheryl announced with a wicked smile.
“We’re going old-school tonight.
Seven Minutes in Heaven.”
Veronica and Betty exchanged a quick look, sharing a small, supportive smile to assure each other they had each other’s backs.
Aleksander stood casually beside Veronica, his dark eyes calmly scanning the room, already figuring out exactly what Cheryl was trying to do.
“Who wants to tryst in the Closet of Love first?” Cheryl asked, pacing around the large mahogany coffee table.
“My vote is ‘A’ for Archie.
Anyone care to second it?”
Both Veronica and Betty looked over at Archie.
He was standing off to the side, looking completely stressed and definitely not in the mood for games.
“Uh, actually—” Archie started to protest.
“Yes!
Andrews!
YES!” Reggie suddenly yelled, throwing his hand in the air.
He was swaying slightly, clearly already drunk, and laughing loudly.
“Huh hah, cool!”
Cheryl smirked, completely ignoring Archie’s discomfort.
“All right, gather ’round, kids.
Let’s see who’s riding the Ginger Stallion tonight.”
She knelt by the table and gave the empty glass bottle a hard spin.
All eyes locked onto the bottle as it blurred in a circle.
Cheryl moved around slyly, her amber eyes darting between the spinning glass and her two main targets: Veronica and Betty.
She was entirely focused on creating maximum heartbreak.
But from where he stood, Aleksander watched the bottle’s momentum.
His mind rapidly calculated the friction and the angle, and with a subtle shift of his weight, he prepared to ruin Cheryl’s perfect plan before it even started.
He subtly tapped the edge of the heavy wooden table with his foot.
The microscopic vibration disrupted the bottle’s path just enough.
It skipped slightly on the wood and kept turning, finally coming to a dead stop pointing directly at Kevin Keller.
Kevin blinked, pointing at himself.
“Wait, me?
I’m flattered, Cheryl, but I really don’t think we’re each other’s type.”
Cheryl’s wicked smile completely vanished.
She glared at the bottle in pure annoyance, her grand plan for chaos entirely ruined by a piece of glass.
She let out a frustrated huff and stood up.
“Fine.
Whatever.
Next.”
But no matter how many times she spun the bottle, it ended up with Reggie, Moose or other male students.
The game continued.
When it was Aleksander’s turn, he stepped up to the table.
He gave the bottle a smooth, effortless spin.
He didn’t need to bump the table this time; his control over the force and angle was mathematically perfect.
The bottle spun rapidly, slowing down to a smooth halt until it pointed directly at Veronica.
Veronica’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, but a slow, confident smirk quickly spread across her face.
She stood up, smoothing down her dark dress.
“Well.
The universe has spoken.”
”Into the closet.
Both of you,” Cheryl commanded, clearly annoyed that her party wasn’t going the way she wanted.
“Seven minutes starts when the door shuts.”
Aleksander and Veronica walked down the hallway and stepped into the cramped, dark coat closet.
The heavy wooden door clicked shut behind them, plunging them into total darkness.
For a second, it was perfectly quiet.
Then, without a single word of hesitation, Veronica reached out in the dark.
She grabbed the lapels of Aleksander’s jacket, pulled him down slightly, and pressed her lips against his.
It wasn’t a nervous, high school party kiss.
It was fiery, confident, and extremely intense.
All the adrenaline from the day, the stress of her family’s downfall, and the undeniable magnetic pull she felt toward the calm, untouchable billionaire poured into it.
Aleksander wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer and easily matching her intensity.
His hands rested firmly on the curve of her back as she tangled her fingers into his dark hair, her breathing hitching slightly as the kiss deepened.
The chemistry between them was electric, heating up the small, enclosed space in a matter of seconds.
But as Veronica’s hands started to slide under his jacket, Aleksander gently caught her wrists.
He slowly pulled back, breaking the kiss.
Veronica let out a soft, frustrated breath, her dark eyes looking up at him in the dim sliver of light coming from under the door.
“Was I moving too fast?”
”Not at all,” Aleksander answered, his voice low and remarkably steady despite the heavy tension in the air.
He let go of her wrists and gently brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear.
“But a cramped, dusty coat closet with Cheryl Blossom eagerly listening on the other side of the door is not the place for this to continue.
You deserve a much better setting than this.”
Veronica stared at him, her heart hammering against her ribs.
Most teenage boys would have lost their minds in a dark closet with her, completely abandoning all common sense.
But Aleksander was entirely in control, effortlessly respectful, and fiercely protective of her dignity.
It made him infinitely more attractive.
A soft, genuine smile touched Veronica’s lips.
“You really are something else, Aleksander.”
”I try,” he murmured with a faint smirk.
They spent the remaining few minutes standing close together in the quiet dark, letting their heart rates settle.
When Cheryl finally threw the closet door open, expecting to catch them completely flustered, Aleksander and Veronica simply stepped out, looking perfectly calm and entirely unbothered, leaving Cheryl more frustrated than ever.
The after-party didn’t last much longer.
Frustrated that her game had been completely derailed, Cheryl threw a minor fit and abruptly declared the party over.
As the students spilled out of Thornhill and onto the dark, foggy grounds, Aleksander and Veronica hung back near the driveway.
That was when they saw them.
Standing a few yards away, near the edge of the trees, were Archie and Betty.
Even from a distance, the heartbreak was painfully obvious.
“I just need to know, Archie,” Betty’s voice wavered, carrying through the quiet night air.
“Do you love me?”
Archie looked down, his face twisted in guilt.
“Of course I love you, Betty.
But…
I can’t give you the answer you want.
You are so perfect.
I’m just…
I’m not good enough for you, Betty.
And I feel like I never will be.”
A tear slipped down Betty’s cheek.
She didn’t argue.
She just gave a sharp, broken nod, turned on her heel, and walked away into the dark street, wiping her face.
Veronica’s eyes flared with absolute fury.
She handed her small clutch purse to Aleksander.
“Go after her,” Veronica commanded, her voice dropping into a deadly whisper.
“Make sure she’s safe.
I am going to give Archie Andrews a real earful.”
Aleksander nodded, watching Veronica march over to Archie like a hurricane about to make landfall.
Turning his attention to the road, Aleksander slipped his hands into his pockets and followed Betty’s path.
She was sitting on the curb under a flickering yellow streetlight, her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
Aleksander didn’t say a word at first.
He simply walked over, completely ignoring the dirt on the roadside, and sat down on the concrete right next to her in his expensive tailored suit.
Betty sniffled, looking up at him with red, tear-streaked eyes.
“I’m so stupid,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“I did exactly what you said I would do.
I just handed him my heart so he could crush it.”
“You aren’t stupid, Betty,” Aleksander said gently, offering her a pristine white handkerchief from his jacket pocket.
“You were honest.
There is a very big difference.”
Betty took the handkerchief and dabbed her eyes.
“He said I’m perfect, but he still doesn’t want me.
What is wrong with me, Aleksander?
Why am I never enough?”
“There is absolutely nothing wrong with you,” Aleksander replied, his voice firm and completely certain.
“You are intelligent, kind, and genuinely beautiful.
Archie is just a teenage boy who is entirely overwhelmed by his own chaos right now.
He didn’t reject you because you lack anything.
He rejected you because he is too blind and too cowardly to realize what he just lost out on.”
Betty let out a watery sigh, resting her chin on her knees.
“It still hurts.”
“I know,” Aleksander said.
He held up his right hand.
“Look here.”
Betty blinked, watching him.
Aleksander reached up into the empty air, and with a smooth, effortless flick of his wrist, a shiny silver half-dollar suddenly materialized in his fingertips.
He rolled the coin expertly across his knuckles, making it dance over his hand before he closed his fist around it.
He tapped the back of his hand.
When he opened his fingers, the coin was completely gone.
Betty’s eyes widened slightly in surprise, looking around to see where he dropped it.
“The thing about illusions,” Aleksander said smoothly, reaching out and gently pulling the silver coin right out from behind Betty’s ear, “is that people only see what they are trained to look at.
Right now, you are only looking at the heartbreak.
But if you shift your focus…”
He flipped the coin into the air.
When he caught it, it wasn’t a coin anymore.
It was a perfectly folded, delicate pink origami rose.
He offered it to her.
“You realize that you are completely free to stop waiting for someone who doesn’t see your worth.”
Betty stared at the little paper rose, completely amazed.
A tiny, genuine laugh escaped her lips, breaking through the tears.
“Okay, how did you even do that?
You were holding a coin a second ago.”
“A magician never reveals his secrets,” Aleksander deadpanned, his expression entirely serious.
“If I explained the mechanics to you, I would be legally obligated to make you sign a highly restrictive non-disclosure agreement.
And neither of us has a pen.”
That earned a real, bright laugh from Betty.
She took the paper rose, carefully holding it in her hands.
The heavy, suffocating weight in her chest finally started to lift.
She looked at Aleksander, a warm, incredibly grateful smile spreading across her face.
“Thank you, Aleksander.
Truly.
For coming to find me, and…
for everything.”
“Anytime, Betty,” Aleksander smiled back, standing up and offering her his hand to pull her up from the curb.
“Now, let’s go find Veronica before she actually murders Archie.”