The Lavender Butterfly

Chapter 21

Meredith and I pressed through the crowd of people as we made our way to the ballroom. We both scanned outside the ballroom doors looking for Stella and Evan. We found both of them waiting opposite the ballroom doors. Stella excitedly charged at me. “Look at you, Livvy! You look absolutely dazzling!” she said to me. “Thanks,” I replied, laughing. “Let’s find our way to our seats before there aren’t any seats left,” Meredith said swiftly. Stella and Meredith marched ahead, while Evan hung back a bit, with his gaze fixed on me. I stopped in my tracks. “Yes?” I spoke. Evan looked absolutely dumbstruck. “I…..it’s just…..wow,” he stammered nervously. I chuckled under my breath. “You look…..just….amazing,” he continued, visibly blushing. “Thanks,” I replied, flattered. “You look pretty sharp tonight, too. You dressed to the nines tonight!” I continued. Evan laughed. “My mom made me wear this, I usually don’t dress up like this,” he said. I replied, “Let me guess, your mom picked out your outfit?” “Actually, yes,” he said, laughing. I laughed with him. “You know, she picked well. You look really nice.” I replied. Evan smiled. “Thanks,” he replied, blushing even more intensely. We made our way into the ballroom and found our seats next to Meredith and Stella. The dance showcase was the first event of the night, showcasing all the national champions from the competition. The showcase was ordered by age group, with the younger acts performing first. The first act was the kindergarten age group. This group was simply adorable. Typically, groups this age group aren’t necessarily critiqued on skill or technique as much as they were critiqued as far as the cute factor goes. The crowd awed in adoration, as two of the girls did cartwheels across the stage. These little kids were often one of the favorites in any dance showcase or competition. Chloe was in the second group. The emcee took the stage after the first group left the stage. “Those girls always bring a smile to my face! Next up, the national champions from the petite age group…...from Highland Park, Illinois, N10sity School of Dance!!!” The four of us threw our hands in the air as we cheered loudly. Chloe’s group was giving their all. They seemed very loose, and looked like they were just having a lot of fun up on the stage. After all, they weren’t being judged this time around. They were already national champions. After the performance, we cheered even louder than before. We all showed how proud we were of Chloe. As the third act progressed, I looked next to me at Evan. Unbeknownst to me, he had been staring at me almost the entire number, seemingly lost in thought, or daydreaming, perhaps. He started looking at the ground once I made eye contact. Stella leaned over and said, “Hey Evan, you’ve got a little drool up here,” as she jokingly wiped the side of his mouth off with her thumb. I tried to contain my laughter. I at least held it to a chuckle. I found it amusing, but I could tell he was embarrassed. “Hey Evan, don’t worry about it,” I said. He finally separated his affixed gaze with the floor and looked at me with a little smile. He looked away and then looked in my eyes and smiled even more. I returned the smile graciously. I turned my head forward to watch the rest of the performance, but Evan looked a bit distracted. I could tell he was trying to focus on the performance, but he was squirming, and his eyes were wandering. He turned to me, and his mouth was moving, like he was about to say something, but nothing came out. After what seemed like an eternity, he finally mustered up the courage to speak to me. “Hey Olivia,” he said. “Hmm?” I replied reflexively. “I just want to say……thanks, for being so cool. And sorry for being so weird. I just really….” Just then, the current routine finished up and his sentence was interrupted by thunderous cheering and applause. After the crowd noise died down, he never finished his sentence. I don’t think he really needed to. I could tell that he was falling head over heels for me. Ever since we talked back at the batting cage the other day, I got the feeling that he liked me, even if he was initially angry with me. That night on the boardwalk further confirmed it. Now, it was plain to see that ‘like’ clearly wasn’t a strong enough word. I thought about what must have been going through his head. Maybe it was just a crush? Maybe this would just pass. Either way, to be honest, it made me kind of nervous, and a little uncomfortable. I had always looked at him as a friend, someone that could look up to me, like I could be a role model for him. I always thought he was a good kid. I felt that he was smart, well mannered, and was going to have a good life ahead of him. I knew the girls would love a guy like him. Now I was a girl, a girl that was one year younger than him, and he is looking at me in a completely different way. I was confused as how I was supposed to feel. I didn’t even know if I was even into guys. I was obviously into girls when I was Chris, but I feel like physiologically I had changed, to a certain extent. I thought about what it would be like to be in a relationship with Evan. I knew the kind of person he was. I’m pretty sure he could take good care of me. Now look at me, now I was the one who was daydreaming! I quickly extinguished these thoughts. I would have to go on just being friends with Evan, and that’s it. I simply couldn't be anything more. I completely wasn’t paying attention to the final number as it finished up, and the audience gave another rousing round of cheers and applause. I blindly joined in with the applause, unaware of what I was applauding. I was so lost in thought that didn’t even know what song the group was performing to. The emcee strutted back onto the stage and addressed the crowd, “How’s everyone doing tonight?” The crowd cheered in response. “That concludes our performance, let’s give another round of applause for our dancers!” The crowd noise got even louder, so loud it was beginning to drown out the emcee. “Anyway….” The emcee hesitated, waiting for the crown noise to die down. “We’ve got a fun night planned for you all. Our dance floor is just about set up and we’ll get the party started in about half an hour. In the meantime, feel free to help yourself to our refreshment table over there. We’ll see you on the dance floor!” the emcee said, as he disappeared stage left. Stella and Meredith leaned in and Stella said, “We’re going to go backstage and meet up with Chloe. We’ll meet you out on the dance floor.” “Okay, see you there,” I replied. And just like that, Evan and I were alone together. “Here we go,” I thought to myself. I was just hoping that Evan wouldn’t use this lack of supervision as an excuse to put moves on me. I was nervous as to where this was going.