In the Palm of My Hand

Chapter 7

October 29, 2011

"What are you doing here, Devin?" I asked cautiously.

"I came to look for Skylar." he said as he looked around the room.

"....She's not here." I replied.

He looked into my eyes, as if to see if I was lying.

"I'm here." called Skylar as she emerged from the living room. "What do you want?"

"I came to your house looking for you. They said you were here... I want you to come with me to homecoming." Devin said quietly as he walked towards her. "You look beautiful."

"I'm not coming with you." she replied as she took a step back. "Please leave." he took a step forward and grabbed her hand.

"Please." He looked into her eyes, and she looked back, and for a moment, just a moment, it seemed as if she would say yes. But she didn't.

"No. Please. Leave." she answered slowly and directed him to the door.

"So I guess it wasn't him, huh?" she asked with a small and forced laugh.

"Nope. Not him." I agreed.

It was about 5:15 when Tyler arrived. I'll admit it, he looked nice. Skylar must've thought so too, because when she finally saw him, her eyes grew wide and she wouldn't close her mouth. When he wasn't looking, she stared at me and gave me a wink.

"So! Your name is... Tyler Malkovich?" Skylar asked as she examined him up and down. He nodded. "Alright! We're going to go change into our dresses and then we'll go!"

I walked down the stairs slowly, ready for any reaction that Tyler might have. He was emotionless.

"Pretty." he said quietly as he reached out his hand to hold mine and guide me the rest of the way. I took it.

In about 3 minutes, Skylar came down too, and she looked even more gorgeous than she did when she was trying on dresses. She looked... like... a barbie doll.

"GET INTO THE CAR!!" Skylar shouted excitedly. "No one get into the passenger's seat though! That's for my date."

So I went into the backseat, me on the right, Tyler on the left. We left the middle seat empty. Skylar's "date" turned out to be some guy I'd never even seen before, but he seemed friendly enough.

"Seatbelts?" Skylar called out as she looked into the rearview mirror at Tyler. Then we started to go.

The school was already packed by the time we arrived. 5:53.

7 more minutes. I thought to myself. 6, 5, 4, 3, 2.

The music they played was loud, and lights were shining everywhere. Inside, there were beautiful designs on the wall. I was examining each one carefully but then I noticed Tyler was standing behind me. They started playing "Come In With the Rain" by Taylor Swift. He reached out his hand shyly. I grabbed it reluctantly.

I don't know how to dance... I'm going to fail at this.

"I... can't dance." I said embarrassed. He nodded and placed a hand on my back.

"Forward right. Forward to the side left. Right foot to left. Backwards left. Side with the right." he said while guiding me.

"We're ballroom dancing." I said. "We're BALLROOM dancing." I said again, not believing it.

I'm slow dancing with him...

"Sorry!" I apologized guiltily as I took my foot off of his. "I'm still getting used to it."