The Good Hair Family Sitcom

S4 E8.3: Potty Training

Brayden's POV

The dance has finally gotten into the swing of consistency. People crowd in clusters, bopping to the rhythm of each tune that comes on. I take the song switching to a hip hop song as my cue to have a break from dancing with Kelsey and Linny for a bit.

"This song is too funky for me," I shout over the noise. "I'm going to obtain a beverage." 

I sever away from them and wind through the labyrinth of teenagers to the drink table. The options are limited to water and various sodas, all bottled to avoid spills. Aluminum cans would certainly be a more environmentally-conscious offering, but I settle and select a Mountain Dew. 

As I crack the seal and remove the cap to take a sip, a body approaches to my right, and I look over to see Joel floating nearer until he stops a couple feet from me. With his hands tucked in the pockets of his navy plaid trousers, he gazes at the busy gymnasium, only flicking his eyes to me once. But then another time, and on the third, I catch them. With a contained smile, he takes another step closer to me and stops pretending to be solely interested in the crowd. 

"Hey," he says. 

"Hello."

"How's the book?"

"S'well," I reply. "But you should read it yourself."

He gives me a smile and says, "I might just have to. Are you here alone?"

"No. I'm with my friends."

He nods and follows my eyes to where Kelsey and Linny are spinning together on the dance floor. 

"No date?" he wonders. 

"No date," I respond, giving him my eyes again, and as I do, I see the clockwork reeling in his mind as he has a thought. 

"Hey, would you like to dance with me?"

Although I guess the question certainly didn't come out of nowhere, part of me is still caught off guard. I suppose because the thought of dancing with a boy nowadays seems so abstract, more of a fairytale than a real possibility. But it's not exactly magic. It's entirely realistic. It's simple. It's just a dance. 

Eventually, I respond to his question. "I'm not much of a dancer, but thanks for the offer."

Joel nods, accepting my answer with tact. "All good. I'll see you around."

"Yeah."

My eyes stream after him like driftwood as he walks away, his red hair like a ruby among the other heads of coal. 

"Was that Joel?"

I snap my attention leftward, seeing Linny beside me now.

"Yeah," I reply. "He asked me to dance."

"And you said no?"

I nod. She doesn't say anything to that, and I can't tell whether she's judging me or not. It feels like she is. Or maybe she isn't, and that's just my own brain filling in the feelings. As I try to redirect my thoughts, I watch her standing alone, staring at the dancers, and I come to the epiphany that I don't know the answer to something yet.

"Who did you ask to the dance?" I wonder. 

Linny hesitates to answer, still contemplating as she says, "Oh, um, you don't know them."

I nod then add a second later, "You know I know you're lying, right?"

Her blue eyes flash wide on me in fear. "How?"

"I'm not impeccably observant, but you happen to be terrible at lying—and my best friend."

"Oh."