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Awkward
She went there 30 minutes late.
She was in a hurry and panicking, for her hair wasn't as sleek as it should be and there was no time to start over and she hadn't even got her makeup done; but her friend was running late too so in the end they helped each other get ready and arrived at the dance half an hour late (after tripping and falling down the stairs in stilettos).
She never was one to dress up and "be a girl", as they liked to call it; but once in a while it was nice to do so. And Zelo was going to be there.
They meet up with the rest of their friends, take pictures in front of the Christmas tree. Her dress is strapless, a deep burgundy with an off-centre rose on the waist and layers of flowing tulle down the front like a waterfall. A few people tell her she looks pretty (one of them a girl she doesn't know) and awkwardly accepts these rare compliments.
The dance is more of a party than the dances you see on tv, she discovers, and while her friends all blend into the crowd quickly, she stands at the side, shifting her weight from leg to leg and pretending to dance. She's starting to regret going to the dance.
Then Zelo and his friends come over, six or seven of them all clad in tailored black suits. One of them spots a Japanese girl, calls her hot, and is promptly next to the unsuspecting girl. They dance, and he looks thrilled and pleased with himself. She laughs, snaps a blurry photo; turns to Zelo and says, "it's your turn to get a girl!" She wishes she can keep shut.
She follows her friends to the middle of the crowd, but then everyone starts jumping up and down to Can't Hold Us so she squeezes her way back out. Zelo is there.
"You don't mind me dancing with you, right?" he asks (a smile playing on his lips).
"Of course not," she replies (his smile is contagious). They dance (or at least, he dances; she pretends to). After a while he invites her to walk around.
They wander around the edges of the dance floor. They don't actually talk unless they're pointing out someone being stupid or a funny couple and laughing at them. It's the first time she's at a loss of what to say and it makes her feel all the more awkward. Then they both see their respective group of friends at the same time and they wander off to them.
She goes to one friend and his date just to piss him off, and when he steps threateningly towards her she skips merrily out of the way, laughing. She does this a few more times before she tires of it. She joins two other friends in buying a drink. Out of the corner of her eye she sees Zelo taking pictures with some girls (he looks as if he'd rather throw up than be there; his smile is almost non-existent.) She wished she could take a photo with him but she doesn't dare ask and look stupid and desperate. Afterwards she goes to the bathroom in the brightly-lit corridor.
On her way to the bathroom she sees him also walking into that same corridor, and not wanting to seem like she's following him, she whips out her phone and pretends to be busy texting (when all she's doing is repeatedly swiping left and right on her home screens). When she's close enough she looks up and pretends to have just seen him.
"You're leaving already?" he asks incredulously.
"Oh no I'm just going to the bathroom," she assures him. Out of the corner of her eye she thinks she sees a look of relief on his face as she's pushing open the door. But she's not sure.
When she comes back out he's still standing outside. She asks why he's standing there. He tells her the music is too loud and his ears hurt. So they stand in the corridor and talk, but she's running out of things to say and she starts to worry she'll say something she'll regret. Fortunately he offers to dance with her again and she gratefully accepts. On their way in she reaches behind a bench and takes out the bottle of iced tea she's hidden there. He takes a step towards her, looks at her sheepishly. She understands, grins, and hands him the bottle. After they've both had a drink she hides the bottle again and they start dancing (awkwardly).
Her feet are sore and aching from moving around in stilettos, so they sit down on a bench too far apart from each other (in her opinion). They take their phones out. They're not talking. She wants to sit closer to him but she doesn't dare. An idea occurs to her. It's stupid and cliched but she feels a bit reckless all of a sudden so she continues to browse aimlessly on her phone with one hand and puts her other hand on the bench instead of on her lap and waits. And waits. It feels like an eternity (probably five minutes at most) and he still hasn't done anything so her hand retreats awkwardly back onto her lap. Her face is burning and she's so glad it's dark. Her friends come over to her to tell her they're leaving, and if she's coming or not. She tells them to leave without her.
It's nearing the end of the dance. 30 minutes. She hopes there'll be a slow song. There probably will. They always do, on TV. He asks her if she wants to return to the dance floor and she agrees. They stand a few feet away from the main crowd and move around awkwardly pretending to dance. She likes looking at his face a lot, and since they're dancing together she finally has a legitimate excuse to look and look. And also because he's doing the same. And when their eyes meet they both grin bashfully and look away.
His friend runs over to them, yells something in his ear (loud enough for him to be heard over the thumping music but not loud enough for her to hear), exchanges a few words with him, claps him on the shoulder and leaves. She wonders what he just said but decides against asking.
20 minutes. They're walking around again, moving to the music, smiles on their faces. He leans closer to her and says, "hey, did we get our photo taken?" She shakes her head no. "Let's go somewhere less dark," he suggests. She shrugs ("ok") feigning nonchalance. (Internally she's screaming because he just offered to take a photo.) They wind up at the brightly-lit corridor near the bathrooms. He looks at her expectantly, she looks back at him, confused; mumbles, "I'll- I'll get someone to take it for us?" Looks around frantically, tries asking someone, fails; tries again, fails again. Sees a girl that looks nice, asks her with a stammer; fumbles with her phone and almost dropping it in the process.
They stand at a respectable distance and she smiles awkwardly at the camera, but then he takes a step closer and wraps his arm around her waist and she blushes and her heart falters, stops, picks up again at an impossible rate, the camera flashes; he takes his arm away and the moment is over. She takes her phone, thanks the girl, who says "no problem" and leaves. They return to the dance floor.
15 minutes. They're laughing at a girl who's wiggling horribly with no one. The girl disappears and reappears behind them, who wiggles in front of her. She tries to get away without being impolite, but all the other girl does is get closer and grind against her obscenely. She looks at Zelo helplessly, but all he's doing is laugh his head off. The girl leaves soon enough (thankfully).
10 minutes. The slow song should be up any moment, there's only enough time for, what, two, three songs at most? He starts dancing like a middle-aged man trying to be hip (with a sheepish grin), and she thinks, why the hell not, and does the same. She feels self-conscious, but it's surprisingly fun, so she goes along with it. A light flashes and they see that girl standing some distance away with a camera in her hands. She cackles like a witch and forces them to take a picture together. "Closer!" she demands, and they comply awkwardly, and spring apart the moment the photo is taken. The girl cackles again and waltzes off (hopefully for good).
"Alright, this is the last song," the DJ announces. She holds her breath. What song will it be? It obviously won't be her favourite song, but that doesn't matter as long as it's a slow song. The music starts and-
It's Harlem Shake. What.
Her heart sinks down to her shoes, but she dances with him anyway. Their last dance together and it's the goddamn Harlem Shake. She acts like she isn't disappointed. (She is.) (She had hoped that they could dance to a slow song like they do on tv.)
In no time, the dance is over. The lights are turned back on, everybody heads towards the exit. She tells him "I'm gonna grab my iced tea" and goes off to get it, but when she turns around he's already almost at the exit. Maybe he didn't hear her? She shakes off her second wave of disappointment. When she sees him again he's within speaking distance and she wants to say goodnight (or for him to say goodnight), but he's talking with someone else so she just leaves. Third disappointment. All she knows is that her feet hurt so much she wants to chop them off. What she doesn't know is if he likes her or not. He seems like it but then she can't say because she has no experience whatsoever. This has never, ever happened to her before and it's so new and scary but so thrilling at the same time (and somewhat disappointing, but not). She's confused.
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