Moments

Moments II: The Dance

Lily arrived late at the dance that evening, due to a bout of fresh tears which were quelled by Emily’s strong arms and soft shoulder, as well as some extra time spent making her up and assuring that everything looked perfect. For Lily, she wanted to look perfect so that no one suspected anything was wrong, least of all Alex, and Emily wanted her to look perfect because she wanted John to regret the day he had ever chosen someone over her sister.

            “All dolled up and no one here with me,” thought Lily as she handed the guard her ticket and entered the gymnasium of her school by herself. It had been done in all the accoutrements of winter glory that their school could accommodate, from snow to tinsel to ornaments (but nothing religious, of course. Think of the lawsuits!) hanging from the walls. Aside from the glimmer, it was extremely dark, but immediately she saw Alex and John, dancing to the first slow song of the evening, gazing at each other so intently that one would think they had been together forever. Her arms were around his neck and his hands were on her waist, hooking at the back, and Lily realized this was the very vision she had seen, but with the wrong girl. She felt constricted, hot, and unable to breathe. She hurried out of the gym into the lit lobby of the school. She stood there, leaning against a railing and regretting her decision to come when she heard footsteps behind her.

            “Hey, you showed!” It was Jake, standing before her with laughing eyes and true pleasure at her presence.

            “What do you mean?” She averted her eyes and pulled out a mirror to check that her makeup was still covering the bags she had developed from crying.

            “Well, you love these things. But you weren’t here earlier, right? I was worried I’d have to actually go inside.”

            “Traditionally, you would. You did buy a ticket. And dress up.” She appraised his appearance, deciding that it was certainly not something to scoff at. He was wearing black slacks with a white oxford shirt, which was cleanly pressed but rolled up at the sleeves, typical of his casual and comfortable manner. They had been friends for so long, seeing each other every day and always in close proximity, that she hadn’t realized how much he had grown over the years. Now, to look into his ever-changing blue eyes, she had to tilt her head all the way back, even in her three-inch heels. Her eye level went from being at his chin to in the center of his lean torso, so that now they automatically stood an awkwardly large distance away from each other for conversation to not cause neck strain; not too far away, just enough to notice the difference.

            “So…” Jake began. Lily waited for him to continue, but he stood there slowly rocking back and forth and shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. The silence stretched on as they stared into each other’s eyes and they had the first of many moments that would make Lily’s entire body flutter with the power of a thousand butterflies. She felt her cheeks burn until both of them realized what was happening.

            “Wha-”

            “I w-”

            Both broke into embarassed laughter, realizing this was the first time they had ever felt shy around the other. They both motioned for the other to continue their sentence. After another minute of that and more laughter, this time both embarassed and curious, Lily took charge.

            “What were you going to say?” 

            “Um, there’s something I wanted to show you. If you’re not planning on going in, that is.” He looked at his feet and his shoulders hunched ever so slightly.

            Lily had not planned on witnessing the scene in the gym again, and Jake was certainly taking her mind off of what was bothering her, so her reply was completely honest.