Dance, Spin, Trip

-or-

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly at my First Dance

"Your parents seem nice," Ben said as he opened his car door for me. I inspected his car as I waited for him to get in the driver's seat. His car was probably ten years old, clean but no where near as flashy as the brand new, sleek interior of Edward's volvo.

I liked Ben's car, though. It was comfortable, like the kind of car a high school kid should have.

"They're great," I agreed. After all, I hadn't really gotten in trouble for my foray into underage drinking the night before.

"I have to say I was a little bit nervous to meet the police chief. He wasn't as hard on me as I expected, though."

I laughed a little. I had never been on a date before, so I wasn't really sure what to expect from my dad. Overall, he wasn't so bad. I wonder if mom had coached him not to embarrass me.

Being with Ben was nice, and conversation flowed easily. I complimented him on his appearance in a suit and tie and he blushed a little and stuttered a thank-you, which made me giggle.

The ride in the car with Ben calmed me a little and I was having fun chatting with him, but once we got to the dance, my heart was beating a mile a minute. I don't know if he could sense my nerves, but after he gave our tickets, he put his hand on my back and smiled reassuringly at me.

The dance was in the gym. There were twinkle lights and crepe paper decorating the walls. Tables were set up with red and white table clothes around the edges of the gym and fire/ice themed center pieces. There was a d.j. in the corner playing music. The dance floor was mostly empty, though, only few girls were dancing close together in one corner of it.

Overall the decorations had a nice effect, probably due mostly to the dim lighting. I was still excited, though - my first dance.

"You want to get some punch?" Ben asked me and I nodded my ascent.

We headed over to the punch table and a freshman girl handed us plastic cups. There were some cookies laid out as well, but I didn't take any.

Ben seemed pretty relaxed, but I was stiff as a board. I could tell that I was, but I couldn't seem to get myself to calm down. Ben stuck close to me, like he knew I was nervous and was trying to calm me down.

"Hey, I see Kim and Jared. You wanna go say 'hi?'" he asked, nodding in a direction of a table in the back of the gym. I smiled and nodded.

Kim was wearing an artsy looking red and white dress and Jared had on a white suit jacket. "Bella, you look beautiful!" she gushed when she saw me.

"Thank you, so do you," I said. Kim hugged me in greeting, and I was grateful. It made me feel a little less out of place.

Ben surprised me by helping me out of my jacket and placing it on the chair next to Kim's. I also laid my purse down on the table and we chatted for a while.

"Come on, honey, let's dance," Kim said suddenly, grabbing Jared's hand and dragging him to the dance floor. Checking, I could see that it was a lot more crowded now.

"Do you want to dance?" Ben asked me.

I shook my head, "I can't dance," I insisted.

"I'll show you if you want," Ben said, "All you have to do is move your feet a little and shake your hips. Most people can't really dance either. See?" He said, nodding to the dance floor.

I inspected the moves people were throwing down to see if I could do them. Some girls were really dancing well, in sync to the music. I spotted Alice on the dance floor, and she looked like she knew what she was doing. There was no way I could do that. But a lot of other people were doing exactly what Ben said. Kim was dancing really goofy and laughing hysterically while Jared was smiling at her and barely moving at all.

"Maybe in a little bit," I said, still too nervous to give it a try.

"Sure," Ben said easily and started a light conversation about the theme of fire and ice. As he spoke, I glanced around the gym on the pretense of inspecting the decorations, but I was really looking to see who had come. Then my eyes met a pair of intense green ones. I found who I was looking for.

Edward was sitting on the opposite side of the gym, nearer the d.j. He was leaning back casually in his seat dressed in a white dress shirt and black jacket. Jasper and a couple other guys I knew Edward sometimes hung out with were sitting around the same table with their dates. Though Edward was included in the group, he seemed to instinctively distance himself. He wasn't talking to anyone. He just sat their staring at me.

I held his gaze for a moment, my heart beating erratically. The way he looked at me, it was like he knew he held such a power over me. I felt a twinge in my panties.

Edward grinned lazily and winked at me, and I turned away forcefully.

He didn't care.

I hadn't really realized it before, but part of the reason I had agreed to go to the dance with Ben was that I had hoped to make Edward jealous. I liked Ben, and was flattered that he asked me, and I knew I would have a good time with him, but there was another motivation there, deep down. I wanted to make Edward jealous.

I wanted to somehow prove to Edward that I didn't need him. If I could show him that I was desirable, that other boys were interested in me, then maybe he would want to work harder to keep me. Or maybe he would even think that I was good enough to date.

But that's not what that wink said. There was no jealousy in that grin, that lascivious wink. It said, "Date who you want, fuck-buddy. We'll have our fun later."

I don't know if Ben noticed the turmoil I was feeling, but I think he noticed that I was no longer listening to him. I think he assumed I was watching the dance floor because he asked, "You think you're ready to give it a try?"

My eyes flashed to his, confused as to what he was talking about for a second.

"Oh, yeah, okay," I agreed hurriedly, still flustered.

Ben held my hand as he led me to the dance floor.

Kim and Jared immediately came up and started dancing with us, which was nice because I didn't feel like I was such the center of attention. They also blocked my line of sight from Edward, and I hoped he was no longer watching me and wouldn't see me make a fool out of myself on the dance floor. I knew I wasn't a good dancer, but I watched Kim, who was so confident, and mostly tried to copy her moves.

After a while, I gotta say I was starting to have fun. Ben grabbed my hand and spun me around, making me laugh. I started to not care that I wasn't in time with the music.

"Bella!" Alice said suddenly, dancing up behind me and giving me a hug.

"Hi!" I greeted, hugging her back and laughing. She joined our group and easily started dancing with us. Somehow we had made it closer to the d.j. so the music was loud, and there were people all around us.

A slow song started to play then. Alice disappeared and Kim and Jared wrapped their arms around each other. Ben put his hands on my waist and met my eyes, silently questioning if I wanted to dance this song. I put my hands on his shoulders and we swayed easily to the music.

After all that dancing without any major calamities, I suddenly trip over my feet while barely moving. My knees sort of twisted and buckled. Ben managed to catch me before I landed completely on floor, but I was still a mess of arms and legs before he managed to pull me back onto my feet.

"You okay?" he asked, pulling me back into his arms. Though I was terribly embarrassed, I nodded quickly.

He chuckled lightly, dismissing it, "Come on," he said, putting his hands back on my waist and pulling me in closer to him. "Don't worry, no one saw," he said quietly in my ear and continued to sway us to the music.

But someone had seen. Over Ben's shoulder, I saw Jessica and Lauren and a couple other popular girls staring at me, not even trying to hide the fact that they were laughing at me. When I met their eyes, they turned away into a little huddle and giggled more. I realized that over the course of the night, I had forgotten to be self-conscious, but now it was back.

I sort of put my head in Ben's shoulder to hide my face from embarrassment. He held me a little tighter and we continued to sway. Ben was so nice and respectful and smart, and it certainly seemed like he liked me. Why did I waste my time thinking about Edward? I could make something work with Ben. I was more comfortable with him anyway, I felt more equal.

After the song was over, I asked Ben if he wanted to take a break and he nodded. We walked back over to where our jackets were. "I'm going to run to the restroom," I told him, and he nodded and took a seat.