Six Ways to One Day

Chapter 14

Another hour passes without anything noteworthy happening. The dance is supposed to go on until 10:00 PM and your phone says it's only 8:30. You must have walked around the place fifty times already, and tell yourself, "At least I'm getting in my steps."

About half an hour ago, the DJ started to crank up the music, in an effort to get the kids to start dancing. It was a little slow going at first, but when one brave couple got out in the middle of the room, the rest seemed to get the cue and followed suit. And now, the gym is filled with teenagers dancing to the music. You stand by the folded-up bleachers and watch. You think, "What I wouldn't give to have stamina like that, now. Just watching them exhausts me."

You haven't seen Tae or Jenna for the past forty minutes. You peruse the room and don't see them anywhere. You have spotted, however, the rest of the dance committee members, looking just as tired as you feel. On your second visual scan of the room, you make eye contact with Nico, who seems to be watching you. When you happen upon him gazing at you, you give him a small smile and a wave and move on. Then you think, "Why is he looking at me so intently? I'm not entirely comfortable with that."

Nonchalantly, you start walking away from the spot you were standing in and flick a glance over at your student's direction and see his eyes following your movement. You think, "Oh good Lord, this definitely is my J.T. moment. Wait until I tell the girls about this."

Making your way over to where Tom and Scott are standing, you ask, "Hey, how are you two doing?"

Tom replies, "I would sell one of my kidneys right now if it meant I can have some peace and quiet."

Scott asks, "Are we allowed to sit down?"

Chuckling at Scott's innocent question, you say, "C'mon, boys. Let's go sit at our table. If Jenna yells at us, you can throw me under the bus. Tell her that I threatened bodily harm if you two didn't come join me."

The two men laugh and follow behind you. When the three of you arrive at the chaperone table, all of you sit simultaneously, letting out a sound of strain. You look over at the other two and say, "I'm tired. I'm so tired that I want to run away."

Tom replies, "I haven't seen Jenna in almost an hour. I bet we can ditch the place and she won't know until it's too late."

You say, "Don't tempt me. I'm going to get a drink. You boys want anything?"

They both say simultaneously, "Water, please."

"Okay. Two bottles of water, coming up."

You grab three bottles of water from one of the PTA moms that are manning the beverage station and take another scan of the room. When your eyes land on Nico, he is no longer watching you. Instead, he is engaged in a conversation with one of the varsity head cheerleaders.

Wiping off the sweat from your mental brow and letting out a quiet sigh of relief, you return to the table and hand out the bottles of water. Sitting back down in your seat, you turn your back towards the dance floor, and take off your heels to massage your aching feet.

Scott asks, "I bet your feet are crying, right about now."

"Yea... These shoes are pretty, but they weren't meant for the kind of walking that I've been doing. My feet are going to be very angry at me tomorrow morning."

Scott looks out into the dancing students and asks, "Where's your date?"

"My date?"

"T. He's been on you like white on rice earlier but haven't seen him with you since."

Giving him your most threatening narrow-eyed death stare, you reply, "He is not my date. We're chaperones, not the party goers. We don't get to have dates. Besides, the last time I saw him, he was laughing it up with Jenna on his arm."