"It was Saturday night and Mia was alone in her room again. She danced in front of her mirror like she did every Saturday night. Sweat beaded on her forehead and chest with every perfectly-executed move, her breath was hard but steady, her moves a perfect flow. Mia felt free when she danced-- it was just her and the music. Just her and the rhythm flowing through her body. She was truly happy when she danced.
"Why don't you take that show on the road?" Her older sister, Bryna, asked from the doorway.
Mia stumbled and quickly stopped dancing. She shut the music off with a quickness.
"What's wrong with you?" She snapped, "Don't you know how to knock?"
"I've BEEN knocking", her sister retorted, "Mom says to turn that music down. But, seriously, why don't you go to a party or something and show off those moves? You can really dance."
"I'm fifteen and I need privacy", Mia said, ignoring her sister's suggestion and closing her bedroom door.
She collapsed on her bed, dejected. She did want to go out and dance, show off her moves and dance with other people. "But she just locked up when anyone was watching. Stage fright? Shyness? Whatever it was, it annoyed the crap out of Mia. She knew she could dance, and she felt amazing doing it.
So why did she have to do it on her own?
"Pleease come with me!" Mia's best friend, Paige, begged her during lunch time. She was making big puppy eyes and a sad face. "I was the only Sophomore invited to this party, and I don't want to go by myself."
Mia knew that if she accepted the invitation, Paige would walk in with her, only to disappear seconds later. That was the usual routine. Mia always ended up being a wallflower at parties while Paige ran off to socialize.
"I don't know, Paige", Mia started, but Paige started making little puppy whimpering noises.
"Pleeeease".
"Oh, alright", Mia finally caved in. Paige squealed in glee and Mia rolled her eyes.
"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Paige hugged her tightly.
Mia didn't plan on being a wallflower this time, though. She had a different plan in mind."
"On Saturday night, Mia sat in her sister's car with Paige, determined to dance in public. As her older sister drove them to the party, she could feel butterflies in her stomach. Make that automatic weapons, actually. She wore her best skinny jeans and a tank top that showed just a strip of her midriff. She hoped no one she knew would be at the party. She figured she'd feel more relaxed dancing with a group of strangers.
"Have fun!" Bryna called out as the girls exited the car. Mia shot her a look.
"This is so exciting!" Paige said as they walked up to the door. "It's nothing but Juniors and Seniors from school. We're the only Sophomores! The girls are going to be sooo jealous!"
Paige kept gushing about the party until they stepped inside the house. The music was already blasting, and the living room was full of older kids she had seen around school. She knew nobody, though.
"Remember what we talked about", Mia said to Paige, "Don't run off and just leave me again."
"I won't. Oh! But there's Sonya!" Paige waved at a girl standing in the kitchen, "I do have to go say hi to her. She's the one that invited me. I'll be right back, I promise."
Mia watched as her friend made her way to the kitchen, laughing and saying hi to everyone on the way. Mia knew she'd be alone the rest of the night. She took a seat at the edge of a white couch and watched everyone.
She was almost into full wallflower mode when she heard her favorite song come on. It was upbeat and a little dubstep, just like she liked it.
This is it, she thought as she shyly stood from the couch and approached the dancing crowd. She wiped her sweaty palms on her jeans and started to move. The song was amazing, but she felt like she could hardly hear it because of her shaky nerves. As she moved, a couple of people who danced around her glanced over her, and smiled. She wondered if they were laughing at her as her knees locked up. She felt her limbs tense up as she tried to move them." "Just feel the music, she told herself, but it didn't help.
With each step, she felt more like a robot. She suddenly felt clammy and cold, and accidentally bumped into an older girl who gave her a dirty look. Mia tried to keep dancing, but she couldn't feel the rhythm. She only felt all eyes looking at her. Though the music was loud, she could swear she heard snickering over the sound.
She tried to find a mirror, that way she could look at herself and see her dance steps, like she did at home. She glanced at the far wall of the living room. There was a huge mirror there, but dancers and partygoers were in the way. She noticed a particularly cute guy leaning against the mirror, watching her dance-- or rather, flail. He had a devilish smirk on his face and intense blue eyes.
Mia couldn't take it anymore. She felt stupid. By then, people around her were giving her strange looks and openly laughing at her. Mia stopped dancing and made a beeline for the house's bathroom. When she couldn't find it or her friend Paige, she snuck out the front door and started walking home."
"It wasn't that bad", Paige comforted her over the phone. "Please come back." Mia had walked half a mile before calling Paige on her cell phone out of anger. She sat on the sidewalk, feeling stupid and spiteful.
"Everyone was laughing, and I couldn't find you!" Mia said. "You ditched me again!" "Mia, please come back", her friend insisted, "I was going to come sit with you, but then you got up and started...dancing. Then you disappeared!" Mia thought about her options. She could call her sister to pick her up and have to explain why she left the party. Then her mom would ask, then her mom would tell her dad. Then her dad would want to talk to the girl's parents to see who was making fun of his little girl...
"Fine", Mia spat as she shoved her cell phone back in her sock and started walking back to the house.""When she got there, the music was still going, and the place was even more packed than before. She definitely got some looks, laughs, and snickers when she walked in.
"Great", she muttered to herself as she scanned the room for Paige. Of course, she was nowhere to be seen. Mia took the place on the couch where she had been before.
She spotted the cute guy that had been looking at her when she made a fool of herself earlier. He was sitting on the couch across from her, alone, just checking out the scenery. He smiled, and she tried her best to smile back. She wasn't sure if people were now smiling at her to be nice, or having a quick laugh at her. Embarrassment made her cheeks blush.
Then another dubstep song came on. She tapped her feet to the rhythm and watched everyone dance-- so relaxed, just having fun. Why couldn't she do that?
"Hey, you wanna dance?"
Mia looked up to see the cute guy with intense blue eyes.
"Um..." She didn't know what to say, "I don't know... I might just embarrass you."
"Nah, come on", he insisted with a friendly smile, "It won't be so bad."
Mia got up and wiped her palms on her jeans again. He took her sweaty hand and led her to where everyone was dancing. He was just as tall as her, so they were face-to-face as they started dancing.
He was smooth, quick, and knew how to move. She was instantly impressed by the way he moved his entire body. Then she felt her own start to tense. She nervously looked around for a mirror."
"Hey, look at me", he said to her, "It's just you and I dancing. No one else. Just feel the rhythm. Just dance."
Mia relaxed a little, then a little more. She looked at his smile and thought about his encouraging words. She looked at no one else in the room, and just listened to the music. Mia felt her body melting from frigid ice to flowing water. She started to move.
He noticed right away.
"There you go", he said to her, "Now check this out."
He busted a move, and Mia laughed out loud. "Oh yeah?" she said, and mimicked his steps perfectly.
"Not bad! But can you do this?"
Again, he busted a move, getting the attention of those dancing around them. Mia flashed a sly smile and matched his steps once more. "They did this back and forth a few times, until Mia was dizzy with laughter and out of breath from so much dancing. She hadn't realized a lot of people had stopped dancing just to watch them.
At the end of the song, they got some applause and a few "woo hoo's!"
Mia could still feel the beat all over her body as she laid in bed that night. She pressed her smile against the pillow, "feeling better than she had in a while. The comments she got after that dance echoed in her ears.
That was great!
You're amazing!
You should join the dance team!
On Monday, I will join the dance team, she thought. And on Saturdays, I will go out and dance.
She looked at the little piece of paper she held in her hand. It was her mysterious dance partner's name and phone number. The guy with the intense blue eyes was impressed with her, and wanted to get to know her better. He was also in the school's dance team.
Mia sighed. She was so glad she finally just danced."
THE END
