It felt like having a dance abandoned the end of the dance a bit, though he got the immediate point when he saw Gabe and Livingston facing off, and he even started over when Heather grabbed him by the arm with a smile, "Let them figure it out, this is between those three and you've been getting dragged in a lot already. All you'll do is make it worse."

He wasn't sure what Heather's angle was anymore but that did sound right; Livingston and he were on a collision course more than once over a relationship he wasn't even a part of. In a sense, a part of him also knew that getting overly involved in something not his own business would only lead to more. And while Gabe was a teammate, it also seemed like he and Carl, at least as of tonight Carl, were always the ones kind of getting in the way of punches that Gabe should take because of shit they weren't settling. It was an unkind thought, but it had an element of truth to it.

It didn't change that Heather had an angle and so her advice was suspect, and he glanced over toward the brewing potential fracas once more. But just as quickly, Heather got him onto the dance floor and moving again, and he figured, [i]why the hell not? It needs to stop being my problem anyway.[/i]

In any case, it was keeping in with his strategy for getting through the night without getting in trouble-- stay on the dance floor, don't leave it. He'd established early in the night that he was going to do that. Of course, when Heather went to the restroom, he was left with Emily Godwin as a partner, and that was strange, especially when she asked, "How can you put up with her?"

Jared thought about the response for a moment, "Well, I suppose it's like this. I'm a guy that's only recently gotten here, and much as certain people," David, "try to get on me, I really don't want to spend the last year getting involved in grudges that you guys have. To be honest, where I come from, the nuns and the fathers would already be rulers out, and I guess Catholic school just has me conditioned." It was a lame joke, but it beat the other reason he was dating Heather Voss; she was available and it was his senior year and he felt entitled to enjoy some of his time. He certainly hadn't seen her coming in terms of the whole can of worms she opened up on everyone around him. 

Of course, there was a slight suspicion that dating him was a revenge thing now, but at the same time, he couldn't break things off on a suspicion and it seemed...well, it wasn't something he could do right now anyway. 

He did feel for the girl, because she seemed dragged into this out of nowhere, and Livingston had spent so much time getting pissed off that he left his girl on the floor. At the same time, Livingston was psychotic, so Jared Landry dancing with a girl, even though he wasn't the one with the history of screwing them, regardless of the circumstances, was bound to provoke a reaction.

"Anyway, Emily, you might want to switch partners after the dance, I'm probably not a guy that you want to do too much dancing with in public, otherwise the talks will start," he advised. And on that count, Jared was right. This place was all about who you spoke to and the eyes were really watching. It was like being in a giant fishbowl and every little swish of the fin was scrutinized, as was every step on the ballroom floor, with the lights dimmed and the music thumping along.  "Just watch out for Hector South," he lowered his voice as he said so, "Dude tries, but he's two left feet." 

Perhaps it was the skating lessons from a young age, but Jared had the necessary coordination and balance to dance well; practice and more practice, like anything else, but it gave him the perfect excuse to avoid the little scenes brewing. 

Of course, he also had to survive the afterparty. And if things kept going like this, he'd be able to let Heather go quietly and without much fanfare.

What he didn't realize, but should have, of course, is that it wasn't acceptable to dump Heather Voss.