There was a tense silence in the giant marquee. The dance floor was packed with all the pupils, some parents, and teachers who attended the event.
It had been just over an hour since Jamie last had a drink of alcohol, she and her friends were so busy dancing, having a good time, they forgot to top up.
As a result of this Jamie began to feel tired, to the point of wanting to sit down. She wasn't sure if it was the effects of the alcohol, her period, or her normal vision coming back to her.
Looking on stage she could only make out the outline of people there. It was like her eyes were filled with tears, but none had formed. She was seeing blurry figures and it made her feel very uneasy.
The music had stopped, the light's within the huge event marquee were turned up. Within the next ten minutes the winners of the king and queen of the prom were going to be announced.
Already the crowd was going wild with the special announcement of the mystery DJ. It was none other than the famous celebrity presenter Noel Edmunds, who had now appeared on stage to much applause from the crowd.
The TV star was in full spirits, cracking jokes, and remarking on what a great night it had been so far. What he didn't mention was the £50, 000 he was being paid for, two hours of work. 90 minutes on the DJ decks, which was second nature to him, and 30 minutes announcing the winners.
The bearded Noel was in full swing and was reading out the six names of the young men and women who were in the final.
Jamie so desperately wanted to watch it, despite feeling sick, because William was there. She rubbed her eyes frantically in the vain hope they would clear up. Since the altercation with his friend, she hadn't seen him, and she cherished the kiss and dance they had together.
Now, standing there with the other's on stage, for Jamie, he stood out. He towered about the other two male finalist's, and looked dashing in his suit. Noel gave a quick 30 second interview as to why each male finalist should be awarded the prize.
The candidates said they would give the £20,000 prize to a national charity, except William, who was asked last. He said his family would match the money and would pay for a two year's scholarship at Wood Hill Grammar, for a less privileged child from the Richstead council estate, six miles away.
This was met with a thunderous applause. Fresh faced, with a full set of teeth, manicured hair, William certainly looked the part and knew how to win an audience over. He was charming, polite, and very gratuitous towards the other finalists.
As the school was steeped in tradition the staff there decided it was best left to the king of the prom to make the decision on where the prize fund would go too. The queen was purely for ceremonial purposes.
Surely he would win, Jamie thought. Although the votes were cast when all the pupils entered the castle. She couldn't recall if William did the rounds of canvassing to other pupils to vote for him or not.
There was a sturdy looking metal post on the outskirts of the dance floor. Jamie desperately needed to rest, but she also wanted to see who would win King and Queen of the prom.
She slid away from her friends, and thankfully leant against the strong metal white post. Jamie felt drained of energy, it was like the alcohol and sucked the life out of her. Plus she was hungry, really hungry, but knew the buffet style banquet was in another tent.
With hunger pangs like a hollow 100 foot sinkhole Jamie told herself to focus on the event ahead. Feeling sober now she made a mental note to not drink, whilst being so active, or at least have access to food. Another lesson in how best to manage herself.
As she was feeling more grounded, clear headed, her unique gift began to come back to her. Jamie better recognised what was going on within herself, when her synesthesia came back.
Just like the feeling she got from Christine who earlier electrified the dance floor. Jamie sensed a slight vibration from those individuals who were getting excited. It radiated out of them, like a shock wave. She could see it was that person's unique energy field. It was quite beautiful to see, she thought. It didn't happen to everyone, just those who had a strong desire. A stronger desire to win, than those around them. It was almost like a precognition of things to come.
Slowly, ever so slowly, as soon as the vibrations disappeared she got that familiar gut feeling of something about to happen. Her vision morphed into three dimensional. This was the first time she had become aware of the process. Prior to this she was so in awe of what was going on in front of her, she forgot to check in on herself.
It was like she was getting the tell tale signs from someone before they even displayed desire. Looking ahead she soon forgot about her hunger and watched the event unfold.
She could see the flames on all the finalists burning brightly, except one. William. His flame didn't burn, at all. Which seemed to be a complete mystery to Jamie as it was clear her vision was back. It couldn't have been the effects of the alcohol as she was seeing the flames inside of the other's.
Looking at his face she could see he was smiling, engaging, and looking at the crowd. But his insides suggested he wasn't excited, at all. She actually didn't know him that well, so couldn't make a judgment call about his personality. Clearly, they had an animal-like attraction to one another judging by the way they kissed earlier. From what she did know, he was polite, charming, and very down to earth.
Suddenly she got shocked out of her internal dialogue.
"And now the winner of the 1994 famous Wood Hill Grammar School King & Queen prom is".
Noel was dressed in a tuxedo too, he seemed totally at ease being on stage, in the centre of all the attention. Right there and then there must have been around 1500 expectant eyes on him. It was as if he took it all in his stride.
He paused for effect, a few screeches could be heard from the audience, Jamie could have sworn she heard Christine say 'Go William', which was met with a few laughs in the audience.
"The Queen of the prom goes to Martyna Salisbury."
The crowd erupted, and began clapping widely. Jamie knew of Martyna. A keen tennis player, head of her house. Her father was a politician, her mother a barrister. She was of Spanish descent, her grandfather moved to the UK during the Spanish civil war. She was gorgeous, around 5"10 tall, slim, typical latina with dark olive skin, a long mane of black hair. Jamie thought she looked gorgeous in her white satin ball gown.
It was a good choice. Everyone in the audience watched how Mr Gardner directed Martyna to the mock ceremonial throne also on stage. She graciously sat down, her flame was burning brightly. It was clear to Jamie, she had her heart desire set on winning the prom. Symbolically it meant a lot to some pupils.
Noel walked over with the Wood Hill Queen crown. It was silver and gold plated. It had an array of sequins around its base. The light was dazzling. As Noel placed the crown on top of Martyna's head everyone in the audience let out a thunderous applause.
"Now, for the announcement everyone has been waiting for. Who is going to be crowned king. The mighty King of Wood Hill Grammar. The one who gets to decide where the school previous year fund raising activities go. The one who says he is the man for the night. The one.......well you know what I mean."
Noel waved his hand away when saying the last part. People in the audience let out cries of laughter. He certainly knew how to create tension. He was the master of this ceremony after all.
Mr Gardener, who looked very smart in a long looking tuxedo suit, passed Noel a golden envelope. The teacher towered over the celebrity. Who in turn exaggerated the gesture by looking up to the sky, mocking the teacher for his height. Again, laughter could be heard from the audience.
Suddenly,
"And this is the moment. . . "
Jamie, once again looked at William and the other two finalists. She didn't know who they were but they were certainly excited. Their flames were burning brightly within them. Swirls of orange and yellow were spinning around inside their chest. Jamie even noticed a shot of yellow shoot down the spine of one contestant, it quickly flowed through his nervous system to his arms.
She saw his arm spasm, despite not meaning too. A result of the energy flowing around his body. She thought this guy was really trying hard to contain himself. It was pleasurable and hilarious to watch at the same time.
"The 1994 Wood Hill Grammar King of the prom goes to. . . William Loxley."
Huge screams went out from the audience, Jamie let out a shriek herself. She watched Jamie's hands lift aloft his head, he was beaming, and shook the other two contestants' hands, even hugging one.
Despite the other two contestants' flames dying down, she could still see they were in awe of the event itself. Whereas William didn't seem to show one flicker of emotion. It was like he was lifeless, despite appearing he was lapping up all the praise.
She didn't get it.
William confidently made his way over to the mock throne next to Matryna Salisbury. She stood up, his back was now to the audience, she could see the Queen of the prom fling her arms around the winner and gave him a huge cuddle, laughing her head off. She gave him a big kiss on the cheek, and another one on the lips.
As William turned round those close to the front of the stage could see she had a mark of lipstick on his cheek from Martyna. He held her arm up and the crowd let out a huge roar of applause. He was laughing and smiling.
Suddenly, Jamie felt a little upset. She didn't want to see what she was seeing, but she knew this was the downside of her gift. She regretted staying in the room now, she wished she went and got something to eat.
In full effect, in full view of her. She could see a huge flame inside William. Jamie only saw it after Martyna had kissed him. She was a stunning looking young lady after all, she got that. She didn't understand why he got so excited by it. Was she not enough, she thought to herself.
Jamie didn't know what to make of it all. After all, they weren't boyfriend or girlfriend. They'd chatted many times, and only kissed tonight. This didn't make them relationship material, she wasn't that naive to think this.
Yet she did feel hurt. He didn't seem that bothered about winning the event, clearly that wasn't what got him going. Martyna did. Before she could jump to any further conclusion Jamie decided having a bite to eat, and a warm cup of hot chocolate would make her feel better. She could always speak to William after. She knew it would be some time before he had some time to himself.
Once again she looked at the stage. The King & Queen of the prom were stood up now. The local press were busy taking pictures of them, with Noel Edmunds, and the teachers. Individually they were asked to give a variety of different poses. She could see it was their moment. Only this time, she noticed William's flame disappeared.
She chose not to think about it and headed for the marquee where the food was. Walking away from the shouts, screams, laughter of the main tent. Away from the mysterious young man that was William Loxley.