IT WAS the summer of 1964, my fingers tapping against my knee as I nodded my head to the Beatles song playing on the radio. My sister was beside me, singing to the song as our dad tried making small talk.
"Going to be a wonderful summer, aye, girls?" He asked, smiling as he looking back for a second and then returned his eyes to the road. My sister, Lisa, bounced in her seat.
"Yes, daddy! I finally get to prove my singing skills to everyone on campus," She looked at me, dropping her smile,"I wish baby had skills." A smirk danced on her lips as she turned back to the window, making me look up at my father's eyes through the rear-view mirror, giving him pleading eyes.
"That's not very nice, Lisa. You're sister has many skills." I smiled, quickly glancing over towards Lisa before looking out of my window, my father pulling up to Kellerman's. I could see a crowd of people, dancing, playing around and sitting in the grass conversating with others.
We got out of the car, my sister gasping as she pointed to one of the boys caring about 10 boxes of shoes,"I could've brought all my shoes but you only made me bring 7 pair!" She whined to mom, mom rolling her eyes as she patted Lisa on the back,"You'll be okay, sweetheart."
I looked around at all the people, my eyes landing on a man who was below us, yelling into a white megaphone. "Welcome to Kellermans! We have games, food, drinks and ladies!" He yelled, making me laugh and shake my head as I turned my attention back to my family, my father shaking hands with the guy who I presumed was my father's old best friend he talked about the whole car ride up.
"Mack!" My dad smiled, looking at boy behind him and nodding,"Frankie, I'm so glad you came." Mack beamed at my dad,"Your father saved my life, girls." He said, looking between me and my sister before turning his head towards the boy behind him,"Niall, go get the bags!" He semi-whispered.
"Right away, sir." Niall said curtly, grabbing the keys from my father's hand. I decided to follow him, knowing my sister packed a lot more than what she needed to bring. I watched him unlock the trunk of the car, pulling it up as he gripped onto the luggages, my own hand coming down to help grip onto them and bring them out as well.
"Thanks." He smiled at me, a smile sneaking onto my face as well,"You wanna job here?" He asked, watching my face for my next expression.
♡ ♡ ♡
I was currently in my first dancing lesson, my family deciding it would be the best thing to do first while we were here. "1, 2, 3, and 4, move those legs!" The dance teacher yelled, everyone following her move. I tried, stepping on the person besides me foot,"Sorry," I whispered, looking down before quickly looking back up to see her next moves. She moved so smooth, her red dress reminding me of the flames of a campfire we would have during the summer nights.
I had got so lost, I didn't know what was going on, everyone forming into a train and some woman behind me pushing me to go next,"Come on, sweetie, we don't have all day!" She said hoarsely, making me blush and put my hands onto the shoulders of the person in front of me.
The dance teacher kept encouraging us. "Come on, no slouching! You can do better than that!" She smirked, dancing around in a circle as everyone went around her. "Now when I count to three, you ladies are going to find the man of your dreams! 1, 2, 3!" She yelled, everyone breaking from the train to go find a partner. I was too slow and instead got partnered up with an old woman who was shorter than me. I smiled down at her as we danced slowly, looking toward the dance teacher who was now dancing with my father. An embarrassing blush crept on my cheeks as I shook my head, making eye contact with my sister who was beside me. I couldn't wait until it was over.
♡ ♡ ♡
"I'm going to the main house!" I yelled out, leaving the log cabin we were staying in before going down the steps and following the pebbles on the ground with my black ballet flats. Once I got to the main house, I could hear a faint talking. Mack. I immediately recognized his voice. I peered in the window, making sure I made myself unnoticeable before eavesdropping.
"You!" He pointed to a guy, wearing black shades, a Rolling Stones t-shirt and a smirk on his lips as he tilted his head to the side, a lollipop stick hanging out the side of his mouth. His facial features were beyond beautiful. "No funny business. You're here to teach others to dance, teach them the mamba, any dance they pay for. No funny business!" He repeated again, the boy's smirk growing as he tilted his head upright. Mack then shook his head, leaving the boy with the other half of the staff as he went to talk to another man. I bit my lip as I continued to stare at the boy who's sunglasses covered his eyes. Mysterious.
I watched as he talked to a guy with dark hair, a gold tie matching with his white suit. He must have said something the mysterious boy didn't like because he reached his hand out to knock over all the napkins the boy had spent time folding. I lightly giggled, causing both of the boys to look up, my eyes widening as I stepped back from the window and ran all the way back to the log cabin.
♡ ♡ ♡
"All this leftover food," My mom frowned,"Are there still starving kids in Europe?"
"Try Southeast Asia, mom." I laughed as my dad smiled over at me and then back to Mack, who was standing beside the boy who got his napkins knocked over, who we learned had a name, Robbie. "My girl's very caring for the world." He said, triggering something in Lisa before she huffed.
"You too, Lis." He smiled. Mack nodded, looking towards her,"What do you plan to do for the world?"
"Oh, show off her vocal skills." I say for her, a smirk on my face as I watched her squint her eyes at me,"Why you little-"
"There's someone I want you guys to meet," Mack interrupted, a boy beside him who kind of resembled him,"My grandson, Louis. He'll be attending Harvard in the fall." He says, patting Louis on the back, Louis smiling over at me. My dad looked over to me, before looking back to Louis,"My daughter's going to be attending Yale." He says, a proud smile on his face.
♡ ♡ ♡
I was now dancing on the dance floor with Louis as he asked me about my future. I told him things here and there but it wasn't long until something else on the dance floor caught my attention. It was the mysterious boy from earlier. He didn't have any shades on and you could see his whole face. He was dancing alongside the woman who had danced with my dad earlier today.
"Who are they?" I asked, my eyes not leaving them as I watched them move, feeling jealousy as I wished I could move like that, alongside the boy.
"Ugh," Louis rolled his eyes, making me look at him,"Dance people who want to show off to guests." He answered plainly, his eyes still on them also.
"They do this all the time?"
"Not all the time. S'not like they'll get people from here who want to take lessons from them." He laughed, although it sounded like a cough. I wanted to take lessons. Was I a prude?
I watched as their bodies moved to the music, wishing I could do what the girl, who was now dressed in pink, could do. The pretty color of her dress making me more envy. No doubt they were a couple, making me frown a bit. I watched as her leg went up in the air, him spinning her around and smiling. They suddenly stop after a while, their eyes coming at something near us, I look around and see Mack, waving his hands in the air as to stop them. I'm kinda glad he did, although I couldn't keep my eyes off of him. As I continued looking, even though he stopped and picked a random girl to dance with, my father came into my vision.
"Having fun, kiddo?" He asked. I pulled a fake smile, shrugging."Yeah,"
Louis, pulled away from me and looked towards my father,"I'm sorry, Mr. Butera, but I'm gonna have to excuse myself. Magician show is in ten minutes and I have to set up. Baby, do you want to come with?" He asked, and I was about to reject his answer until my father spoke up for me.
"She'd love to."
