Chapter 36: Dance to a Different Tune


Karen, Popuri, and Claire easily launched into a playful dance to Lanna's song. Despite her orders, Karen seemed unaware that no one else followed after them. Rather, the three were quickly wrapped up in the music. Popuri didn't even set her beer down before she started bouncing to the song and alternating between dancing partners.

"I forgot how annoying this song was!" Ann laughed, but I noticed she was swaying her shoulders and bouncing her knees.

"Are you going to join them?" I asked.

"Maybe later!"

"I'm just happy Popuri's having a good time," Rick said before taking a drink. "I was worried about her when that guy left."

"You have a funny way of showing it," Ann shrugged before shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth.

"Hey, give me some of that," Gray demanded with an outstretched hand. Mary didn't bother to correct his manners as she sipped at her wine.

Ann flippantly tossed a piece of popcorn at Gray and let out an impressed "Oh!" when he caught it on his tongue.

"Don't look so surprised," he scoffed. "I once caught twenty-seven pieces in a row."

"Big deal—I can eat twenty-seven pieces at once!" Ann laughed before she began rapid-firing popcorn at him. Several pieces bounced off the brim of his cap and fell to the table and floor. "So much for catching them!"

"Bad throws!" Gray retorted as he pulled his cap off. He threw his head back and Mary tossed a kernel into the air. It arced gracefully into Gray's mouth. "See?" he said as crunched down on the popcorn.

"Whatever!" Ann laughed before a handful of popcorn rained down over the couple.

"You're the one who has to clean it up," Gray shrugged as he threw a kernel back at Ann. Before long, popcorn was being pelted across the table in all directions. Rick and I were caught in the crossfire and joined the fight ourselves.

"Stop, they're going down my overalls!" Ann cried out in laughter after the four of us threw popcorn at her at once. She countered, sending kernels sticking in Mary's hair, floating in my drink, and bouncing off Rick's glasses. I fished the popcorn from my glass before taking another drink of my dark cocktail.

A squeal coming from the dance floor revealed we weren't the only ones making a mess. Popuri's beer foamed and overflowed onto the floor, which caused all three of the girls to jump back and laugh at the mess. The spill didn't slow them down, however. Instead, Popuri set her drink on the jukebox, wiped her hands on her red skirt, and launched herself at Claire. The girls laughed and stumbled together as Popuri pulled her friend into an off-balance spin.

I quietly laughed against the cool rim of my glass and watched Claire dance. She smiled widely at her partners and laughed as she twisted and bounced around them. Each simple motion set her hair fanning around her and shining under the bar lights. Her fun, distant dance was more endearing than enticing, and yet I couldn't look away.

My eyes stayed on Claire, but my thoughts wandered to the dances we had shared in summer. As she playfully spun, I recalled flowing skirts, laughter against my shoulder, and flowers in her hair. Without warning, the dull and steady heartache I'd nearly learned to ignore sharpened to a point.

My hands felt empty despite growing cold from my drink.

Knock it off, I warned myself. It doesn't do any good to get this way.

Determined to ignore the feeling, I took another cold drink. Just as I was about to return my attention to the lively chatter around me, Claire's eyes met mine. I felt a rush of excitement at being caught staring and Claire's grin softened as she kept dancing to Lanna's song.

Neither of us dropped our eyes.

Her movements relaxed so delicately I knew I wouldn't have noticed if I wasn't already watching her so intently. Even then, I wasn't sure if I had imagined it or not, but I was too lost in the moment to try and convince myself I was wrong. She continued to subtly curve her body with the music, her hair shimmering and flowing around her.

I knew I should look away, but why wasn't she looking away either?

What are you thinking? I wanted to ask her as I stared back at her and felt my face growing hot. It was an earnest question with a hint of incredulity. Surely, she had to know what she was doing, right?

But I didn't brood on the situation much longer. Maybe it was the alcohol lowering my guard, but my imagination began to take over my thoughts. I had been following her around all night, but now all I wanted was for her to dance over to me, holding her eyes on me the entire way.

"I see you, Cliff!" Karen laughed.

I felt my attention snap from my hazy daydream and the song ended. I looked away from Claire to see everyone looking at me in confusion as Karen playfully danced towards the table.

"You were watching me!" she teased. "Are you secretly in love with me?"

I felt my face burn even hotter as faster music filled the dining room. I panicked, looking at Karen and the group seated around me.

"I wasn't—!" I stammered, nearly spilling my forgotten drink in my hands. Rick raised an eyebrow.

"You think everyone is in love with you when you're drunk!" Ann laughed and rolled her eyes before she leaned in to whisper in my ear. "She likes trying to make Rick jealous!"

"I'm not drunk, not really," Karen claimed before grabbing my arm. "C'mon, let's dance."

"Karen—!"

"It'll be my birthday present!" she urged, saying the exact right thing to guilt me into it.

"I've never seen you dance before," Ann shared and Karen smirked at me.

"C'mon, Cliff!" she insisted as she tried to pull me out of my chair.

My eyes flickered over to Claire again. After another gulp of my drink, I licked the tasteless alcohol from my buzzing lips and found myself surprisingly light as I joined Karen.

"That's the spirit!" she cheered and led me closer to where Claire and Popuri danced together. The music grew louder and the air grew warmer as Karen pulled me closer to the jukebox and gradually slipped into an effortless dance to the rhythm of the new song. I had no idea what to do, but Karen didn't seem to mind showing me.

"Loosen up!" she yelled as she raised my hand over her head and did an alluring turn under it. "Everything's going to be okay!"

Gray let out a mock wolf whistle, taunting us from the table as Karen tried to ease me into her dance. I glanced over to find Ann grinning broadly as she watched me. A blend of relief and disappointment swept through me when I saw that Rick didn't appear jealous in the slightest.

I couldn't help but laugh at how foolish I was as I tried moving with Karen. Unlike the last time I had danced, there weren't any steps to guide me through the music. Feeling lost, I found my eyes searching for Claire's again, and quickly found them. She flashed me a bright smile as we each danced with our partners.

"There you go!" Karen laughed. "Let that drink work its magic!"

Everything felt strangely smooth as I danced with Karen and stole glances at Claire. I was hopelessly aware of how close she was on the improvised dancefloor. As much as I wanted to completely relax, the maddening hope that we would bump into one another was one strain of tension I couldn't let go of.

The song ended far too quickly and was followed by a slower, calmer tune. Karen gave me an appreciative slap on the shoulder.

"Thanks for the dance! You know, you're a nice, slightly underwhelming guy."

"Thank you?" I was unsure if that was a compliment or not.

"Okay Ann, your turn!" Karen shouted to the table, and Ann jumped out of her seat.

"Somehow I knew you'd pick me next!" Ann laughed as rushed to her friend and put an arm around Karen's waist. I turned to sit back down and felt a sudden jerk as Karen caught the sleeve of my tunic.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked as she pushed Ann my way.

Ann and I realized that Karen wasn't picking her next partner, but mine.

"What? No! I don't do…this kind of stuff!" Ann protested.

"What are you talking about? You were so excited to dance just a second ago!"

"Karen, I told you…!" Ann said with a meaningful stare.

"We don't need to dance if you don't want to," I said, slightly embarrassed the idea was so contentious.

"No, that's not it," Ann sheepishly explained.

"See? It's fine! Now get to it before the song ends!" Karen demanded before summoning Rick over to dance with her.

Ann and I stepped closer together and I could smell a faint trace of citrus—Ann was wearing perfume. I tried to put my hand around her waist, but our hands knocked together. She had been trying to do the same to me.

"Sorry," she said before she lightly rested her hand on my shoulder instead. "Karen always makes me be the guy," she nervously laughed.

"It's okay," I chuckled and pulled her a small step closer by her waist. Ann stiffened at the contact. It was strange to feel her so unusually tense.

"You sure you want to dance?" I confirmed.

"Yeah," she nodded, though she kept her face turned away from mine.

I followed her gaze to see Karen on her tiptoes, her arms stretched around Rick's neck as they danced together with no distance between them. I quickly looked away, not quite able to look Ann in the eyes either. I had no idea where to look. I glanced over at Mary and Gray at the table, half-expecting Gray to be laughing at me. Instead, the couple was too focused on each other to mind the rest of us. Over Ann's shoulder, I saw Popuri and Claire picking out songs on the jukebox. I hoped the next song they picked wasn't so slow—I missed the freedom of a faster rhythm.

I wondered if Ann felt the same way. She was surprisingly still under my touch, like she was trapped in my arms. The thought sent a flicker of guilt through me. Karen had put me at ease—shouldn't I do the same for Ann? But there was no way for us to be comfortable with just the slow music to listen to.

"Hey, I have something to tell you," I began, a smile spreading on my face before I told her the good news.

"Yeah?" Ann said again as if it were the only word she could manage.

I had barely let the news of my new job escape my lips before Ann crashed into me with enough force to nearly knock me backward. Her arms squeezed tightly around my neck.

"A-Ann!" I managed to say in a strangled voice. She loosened her hold and beamed up at me, her cheeks flushed and her eyes shining. I felt myself smiling back at her, relieved that my words had done the trick. The excitement in her eyes momentarily softened as she looked up at me.

"What is it?" I wondered.

Ann just shook her head. "Nothing, I'm just so happy!" she explained before leaping into another crushing hug. I laughed and hugged her back, feeling that wave of happiness again. It was as if Ann was expressing it for me. Over Ann's shoulder, Claire smiled at me before darting her eyes back to the song lists. Ann abruptly pushed away from me and gave me a scolding look that couldn't mask her delight.

"Why didn't you tell me right away?"

"This is Karen's party, not mine," I admitted, embarrassed.

"She has a birthday every year!" Ann dismissed with another cheerful shove. "This is great! And you're so close to the inn too! Oh!" she gasped and covered her mouth but her hands couldn't hide the smile in her eyes. "I can probably yell at you from the window!"

"Please don't."

"Oh, I'm going to!" she vowed as she took my hands in hers and began to bounce too fast for the slow beat of the song. "This is so great! Wait until I tell Dad! Ugh, I wish Duke were here! I need to thank him!" Ann swung my arms with hers as if her energy simply couldn't be contained in her body alone.

Karen laughed nearby, and I realized Ann's enthusiasm had attracted a few curious stares.

"Slow down," I laughed and twisted with her as she began to jump around me, her long red braid bouncing heavily against her shoulders.

"I can't!" she bubbled as she danced to the tempo of her growing excitement. "How are you just standing there? Aren't you happy?"

"Yeah," I laughed and felt my grin grow wider from her infectious smile. It was true. The job, my future, being drunk and full of food—all of it was overwhelming. I could feel happiness squeezing me just as tight as Ann had and wondered how I had ever fought it off before.

"Then prove it!"

I grasped Ann's hands tightly and, with a quiet laugh, began to move with her.

"Yes!" she cheered and shot our arms up in the air.

The sound of Ann's sneakers squeaking and stamping against the wooden floor joined the music that suddenly seemed sluggish. I could feel the warm air spinning around us as we tore through it, silly and wild. We jumped like kids and crashed into each other when our senseless rhythms mismatched. If I managed to dodge her in those clumsy moments, her braid usually whipped me instead. When we collided, we simply caught each other before hurtling forward, carefree and playful again.

"What the hell are you guys doing?" Gray called from the table, but Ann and I didn't care to explain between the laughs we shared. Karen ordered him to leave us alone, though she sounded equally confused.

I wasn't sure how many songs had passed when we both collapsed down into our chairs, hearts pounding, dizzy, breathless, and shining with sweat. I grabbed my cool drink and easily drained it.

"How much of that have you two had?" Rick teased as he and Karen joined us at the table. A touch of genuine concern was in his voice.

"Not enough!" Karen declared. "Everyone come here and sit down! I've picked our next activity!" With one swift motion, she grabbed the whiskey bottle and refilled one of her empty shot glasses. "We're going to play my favorite drinking game!"

Rick groaned. "Not the one where I always end up stuck under the table?"

"No, Paranoia!" Karen announced. "We're going to need…" She moved her finger in a squiggle between each person. "…seven more shot glasses."

"More shots?" Ann confirmed between breaths.

"Please? It's my—"

"Birthday, I know." Ann rolled her eyes and headed to the bar.

"What is this game?" Claire asked as she sat down beside me.

"Oh, you're going to love it!" Karen assured her. "Here are the rules: someone whispers a 'who' question into the ear of the person on their right. So…" Karen turned to Rick. "Who has the worst job here?" she asked loudly before turning her attention back to the table. "Then Rick would say the name of someone in the circle out loud."

"Gray," Rick shrugged.

"Can't argue with that!" Gray laughed.

Karen continued her explanation. "If we were playing for real, Gray wouldn't have heard the question. But he can either take a shot to find out what the question was, or he can play on and ask the person to his right a new question. Get it?"

We nodded as Ann returned and began to pour small shots and hand them around the table.

"Let's say Gray didn't want to take the shot, but we wanted to know the question," Karen continued. "If over half of us take a shot, the question is said out loud anyway. Isn't that great?"

"I reserve the right to cut anyone off at any moment," Ann interjected as she passed Popuri a practically empty shot glass.

"How do you win?" Claire asked Karen.

"No one wins. You just have fun!"

"If no one wins, is it even a game?" Gray questioned.

"You two need to expand your horizons! Don't you want to know what everyone thinks about you? So," Karen said as her mischievous green eyes searched the table. "…who's asking the first question?"


Take inspiration from four of my favorite movie dance scenes for one chapter? Don't mind if I do! I like writing Cliff dancing scenes as a chance for him to express the emotions he's holding in. Yeah, it's corny and honestly pretty challenging for me to write, but I dig it and hope you do too! I promise I won't ever make Cliff do an angry Footloose dance though. But if he did, it'd have to be in the wine cellar, and yup, I'm choreographing it in my head right now.

If anyone is curious, I listened to "Always Forever" by Cults when writing Claire's dance (some think it sounds creepy, but Cliff was being a little creepy) a bunch of different ones for Karen's dance (anything that sounded fun), and "Turn Into" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs when writing Ann's dance. I think "Turn Into" is a very Ann song. The music is so upbeat you hardly notice how sad the lyrics are. The acoustic, slow version makes the feeling much clearer. I love and listened to both for the scene! Their dance was one of those moments I really wanted to write.

As for the drinking game, do you have any questions you'd like any of the characters to be asked? Yes, some of them are going to get ~spicy~ as krose13 would put it! 😉 If it helps, based on seating arrangements: Ann asks Cliff, Cliff asks Claire, Claire asks Popuri, Popuri asks Gray, Gray asks Mary, Mary asks Karen, Karen asks Rick, and Rick asks Ann. Phew.

On a side note, I came to a very amusing revelation about my doubt problem. Fair warning, this may be too much information, but I realized that it seems to happen about every 28 days. It's PMS! Now that I understand this, I'm at peace with it! haha