My Best Friend's Best Friend

Chapter 1: Dance Partners

"We're not seriously going to the Flower Dance again, are we?" Sebastian tossed his game controller aside after another disappointing loss to Abigail.

"Of course we are." She kicked her feet up on the sofa. "Everyone goes."

Sam tossed them each a can of beer. "Yeah, man, you had a blast last year. It'll be great!"

Sebastian set the can aside and said snarkily, "No, actually I didn't. And since when have you been all about conformity, Abigail?"

She rolled her eyes at him.

"One day of sunshine won't kill us, Seb," Sam said. "I'll even let you have Abigail as your dance partner."

Abigail sat up and scoffed. "And since when is that up to you? Who says I'm dancing with either of you assholes? You haven't even asked."

Sam smiled mischievously. "And I'm not going to. And Sebastian's not going, so you'd better start looking for a partner."

"You think I need to worry about finding a partner? The only thing I'm worried about is not getting my toes stamped on if you're dancing next to us."

"That was one time, and it was because you and fancy feet Sebastian over here were standing in the wrong spot!"

Abigail was about to really dig into the argument when Sebastian interjected. His friends' fights were generally all in good fun, at least for the two of them, but Sebastian didn't enjoy them. Even if he had sort of started it.

"Alright, alright I'll go," Sebastian said, getting them to drop it. "Abby, would you please dance with me?"

She put on an intentionally fake smile while glaring at Sam with her arms crossed. "Why, yes, Sebastian, I will dance with you. Thank you for asking."

Sebastian grumbled and turned back to the TV. "You're incredibly welcome, now can we get back to the game?"

There was something about the Flower Dance that Sebastian couldn't stand. It wasn't just the dancing. Or that everyone from town was stuck hanging out together; all their festivals were like that. But the Flower Dance was particularly stuffy; maybe because they were crammed into such a confined area. It's not like he could walk down the pier or behind a building to get some alone time. Damn, he wanted a cigarette.

"You won't be able to dance over here in the corner." Sam walked over to the edge of the field where Abigail and Sebastian were keeping out of the way.

Sebastian ignored him and asked, "Found a partner yet?"

"What? Oh, right. I forgot." Sam looked around the field until he locked eyes with the red-head on the other side. He waved, and she waved back shyly.

"You're not dancing with Penny again," Sebastian said.

Sam shrugged. "Why not?"

"Uh, dude, she's a total square." Abby said.

Sam scoffed. "She happens to be a good friend of mine. It's just a dance, what's the big deal?"

Sebastian tried to broach the subject lightly. It didn't matter to him that she was a 'square', as Abigail put it, but there were other issues at hand. "It's not a big deal to you but it might be a big deal to her. Aren't you worried about leading her on?"

"What?" Sam looked at him like his face had morphed into a Squid Kid.

"She'll get the wrong idea if you dance with her every year," said Sebastian.

"She wouldn't," Sam reassured. "I know you two don't know Penny like I do, but I've known her for years. She's like family. And if she ever did get the wrong idea, I'd sort it out."

Sebastian held his hands up in surrender. He still thought he was right, but he didn't have the energy to argue his point. But he could see Penny, and she was glancing over at Sam way more often than he looked back at her.

The dreaded moment came and Mayor Lewis hit play on the ancient CD player that they'd been using as long as Sebastian had lived in Pelican Town. Sebastian did his little steps; walking forward and back like he was supposed to. He wanted to go home.

Abby would say that she didn't like to dance in front of everyone, but she always enjoyed it once they started. Sebastian admired that in his friend; she could always enjoy things to the fullest without worrying what people thought of her. She'd probably have to be six feet under before she considered herself too old for the egg hunt. Sebastian couldn't live like that; he found the watchful eyes of the other villagers oppressive.

Sebastian tried to keep his eyes on his feet, but he couldn't help glancing to the left, where Penny was almost directly across from him. She was beaming. She was totally focused on Sam, and she was looking at him like...

Like she was in love with him.

Sebastian fumbled his steps when he realized it. This was so much worse than what he'd been imagining a minute ago. This wasn't a crush or a little confusion, this girl was straight up in love with Sam and had been for who knows how long. And Sam had no idea.