The sound of a soft love song filled the air, and couples found each other, wrapping their arms around each other and dancing slowly to the music.
Charlie wasn’t one of these people. She was leaning against the wall, looking at the couples with disgust, mixed with a bit of anger and sadness. Even all of her friends were on the dance floor, swaying with their partner. Unfortunately, for Charlie, she was never asked to dance. This was one of the reasons why she disliked dances, the slow dancing.
She dealt with enough romance in the school hallways, but this just summoned everyone who was in a relationship. Or people dancing with people they liked. No one liked her, which was a surprise, since she thought that she was pretty awesome. Even though she wasn’t into relationships, she still felt bad that no one showed interest in her.
Soon, the song ended, and she let out a sigh of relief as a faster song started to play. She heard footsteps, and someone lean against the wall next to her. She turned her head, glancing to see who this person was. It was Andrew, one of the kids in her physics class.
Well, he was specifically the one kid she was actually interested in. Charlie never admitted this to herself, of course. She always said it was a weird spasm she had when she talked to him and accidentally brushed his hand during experiments, saying that it means nothing. “Hey,” she said, folding her arms.
“Hello,” he replied, turning his head to look at her. “Having fun?”
She shook her head quickly, making a face. “It’s okay, I guess.”
They both fell silent, their eyes reverting back to the people, and Charlie laughed as she noticed Pinkie dancing like a maniac. “She sure looks like she’s having a blast.”
Andrew nodded, a small smile on his face. “Yeah, she does.”
The song went on for another two minutes, both of them watching Pinkie dance, laughing at her liveliness. Just as the song ended, the tune of a slow song took its place. Charlie groaned loudly.
“Great, another slow song. I hate slow songs,” she grumbled.
“Well, I guess this was a bad time to ask you to dance,” Andrew said.
This reply surprised her, and she jerked her head up, looking at him. “Wait, what?”
He sucked in a breath, repeating his words. “I said, I guess it’s a bad time to ask you to dance.”
Her face heated up, and butterflies filled her stomach. “Um, well, just this one time, I guess.”
A grin came on his face, but it quickly vanished as he tried to hide his happiness. The pair walked onto the dance floor, Andrew placing his hands on her hips, and Charlie placing her hands on his shoulders.
Is this how you do it? They swayed to the music, her eyes glued to the floor and his staring at the moon in the window nearby. She nervously looked up, both have eye contact with each other. Instantly, the two looked away, blushing furiously.
Her eyes scanned for something to distract herself, since she felt like she was going to faint. Her eyes landed on Pinkie, who noticed her, giving her a big thumbs up and a wide smile. Charlie smiled back, but not as enthusiastically.
The song went on, and as it did, Charlie and Andrew somehow drew in closer. They were pretty close together, and out of instinct, her arms snaked around his neck, and she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. It feels so…. Right.
Andrew went stiff, but after several seconds, he relaxed again, closing his eyes as well. During this moment, both of them got to hear and listen to the lyrics.
So close to reaching
That famous happy end.
Almost believing
This one’s not pretend.
And now you’re beside me,
And look how far we’ve come.
So far we are. So close…
The world faded away, and it felt like it was just the two of them. At one point in the song, Andrew spun Charlie around in a small circle, catching her in his arms, both seriously into the moment. They were so happy, when the song slowly ended. They came back to reality, noticing that they were in the middle of a large circle consisting of their friends and classmates, both releasing each other and backing away. They awkwardly smiled at each other, and both went back to their groups of friends, being told that they were meant for each other.
“It was just one dance,” they both thought.
