CHAPTER
5: The Dance
Isabel
sat at her kitchen table making a to do list for the week when the phone rang.
"Hello?" She said absently and wrote 'buy purple nail polish' on her list.
"Isabel?" Liz asked, "It's me!"
"Hey, Liz. What can I do for you?"
She crossed out 'buy conditioner' she could use Max's for a week or two and use
the money to buy the nail polish and a glitter topcoat.
"Do you still have some dance
tickets available?'
"Yea. Actually, I think we're
still selling them before homeroom, but I can get you one if you need it. Just
pay me the money back later."
"Thanks so much! I'm getting
into school late tomorrow and Friday; I'm working the early shift so I'll miss
homeroom."
"What's up? Didn't Brad already
buy you a ticket?'
"Yea, he's using it on
Kimberly."
"That jerk! Let me guess, she
agreed to take him back and he decided she would be a better date than you."
"Something like that."
"Which proves he's on drugs."
"Yea, um, thanks for hooking me
up with tickets."
"Not a problem, can I do
anything else for you?'
"Yea," Liz swallowed, "Put your
brother on."
Isabel left the phone and Liz
heard muffled rustling and voices on the other end. God, this was a bad idea!
Before she could change her mind, Liz heard Max's warm voice on the phone. "Liz?
What's up?"
"Hi, Max. How are you?"
"Um, ok. You?"
"Not so great. Brad is going
with Kimberly to the dance."
"Oh, then what are you going to
do?" Max asked, confused.
"That's my problem. I don't have
a date."
"Oh."
Liz cursed him silently. He
couldn't make this any easier? He couldn't understand where this was going and
ask her? Or at the very least send her
a hint? "So…would you maybe like to go with me?"
"Me?"
"Yea. And I don't want you to
think you're, like, my safety date or anything. I think we'd have fun. Um, do
you want to go?" Liz asked, nervously
"Sure!" Max replied excitedly
"Really?"
"Yea, it'll be fun."
"Oh, great! Great. Well, um,
we're all meeting at my house at 7:30, well, Isabel will fill you in."
"Yea, right." There was an
awkward pause.
"I'll see you Saturday." Liz
said.
"Yea, Saturday." Max repeated.
"Bye."
"Bye, Max." Liz hung up the
phone.
"Well? Isabel demanded, running
up to Max, "What happened?"
"She asked me to go with her to
the dance."
"Really?" Isabel screamed,
"That's so wonderful! Oh, this is so cool! My brother and my best friend are
going out—"
"We're not going out, Isabel," Max
said sternly "She asked me to a dance because her date dumped her. We're not
together or anything."
"Well, big brother," Isabel said
seriously. "You're just going to have to charm her out of her mind at the
dance. But don't worry, I'll be more than happy to help you out."
"Oh, God!" Max said. But really,
he was thrilled. He was going to the dance with Liz Parker!
Isabel looked at Max seriously,
"This is pretty great, huh?"
"Yea," Max smiled "This is
really great."
Isabel gave him a half hug and
smiled devilishly "Now, let's see if we can't find you something decent to
wear."
At 9:30 Liz was putting the
finishing touches on her make-up and giving her hair one more coat of hairspray
when the doorbell rang. She smiled and smoothed the wrinkles out of the long
ice blue dress she had bought. She loved the low dip in the front that showed
off the swell of her breasts. There was a high slit that Liz thought was a
little much, but it was a classy dress, it had long sleeves and a skirt that
grazed the floor.
She heard her mother downstairs,
letting everyone inside. Liz hurried down the stairs to meet her friends. She
reached the big group and jumped in with happy chatter and compliments. Mrs. Parker
lined the group up to snap a few pictures, which only fed the flurry of
activity. Liz hadn't even greeted Max properly; she felt a wave of guilt. He
was doing her a favor and she couldn't even say a decent hello. She leaned
against him a little, and turned to smile at him. She felt a little pressure on
her waist, where Mrs. Parker had placed Max's hand. For a moment everything was
ok.
Eventually
the initial excitement died down. The couples seemed to pair up and take a step
back, for a moment they were all lost in their own worlds. Max picked a small
box off the table. "This is for you," He said, handing her a wrist corsage.
"Oh,
it's beautiful!" It was a flower Liz didn't recognize, but it was almost the
exact same color of her dress.
"Isabel
helped me pick it out."
"It's
perfect." She took it out of the box and slipped it onto her hand, "Thanks."
"No
problem,"
"And
thanks for coming with me, it's much more fun to go with someone, I appreciate
it." Liz said.
"You
look really nice," Max said, unsure how to respond.
"Thank
you," Liz said, smiling broadly "You look great yourself."
"Thanks,"
Max said shyly. There was a moment of silence, which Liz gratefully accepted to
admire her friends more closely.
Isabel
had turned what was once a little back dress into a type of cocktail dress. It
was short and a little low cut, with three-quarter sleeves and a light film
covering it. Her hair was piled on top of her hear with butterfly clips
everywhere. It was a work of art. Her make-up was sparse, except for her eyes,
which looked dark and deep with a thick outline of mascara and dusty eye
shadow.
Maria was the opposite of her friend. Her
hair swung loose around her shoulders with fake flowers woven through it. She
had found the dress she liked so much in a light purple color that accented her
coloring. The dress was plain, but had dragonflies in glitter all over. She
looked like a doll, her lips were a deep cranberry color, outlined in mauve and
her eyes were colored with a light purple that was the same shade as her dress.
She, too, was beautiful.
The
guys all looked dashing in their suits. Max was dressed up in a dark blue suit
with a pale blue shirt and a tie with swirls in every shade of blue. Alex was a
bit more casual, he had black pants and white button down shirt and a black
blazer. Michael was clad in black pants a gray shirt and black jacket. They all
looked great. Liz smiled at her picture perfect friends.
"All
right, lovebirds!" Isabel called "If we don't get going soon we'll be late."
"Yea,"
Maria agreed, "Let's get going."
"How
many cars are we taking?" Liz asked.
"Maria
and I are going in my car," Michael said "I guess the rest of you," nodding to Alex,
Maria, Liz and Max "are going in another car."
"We
can take my mom's car," Liz offered, "Apparently Michael's car is for serious
couples only." Maria blushed and Isabel
laughed, even Alex and Max chuckled.
"Whatever,
let's go" Maria said.
"Bye,
Mom," Liz said, giving her mother a kiss on the cheek, "Tell Daddy I said
good-bye. I'll be home by 1:30." She followed everyone out the door and piled
into the cars. She got in the drivers seat and Max sat in the passenger seat. Isabel
and Alex sat together in the backseat laughing over something Liz and Max
couldn't hear. Liz looked over at Max, and smiled. This felt right, the six of
them together. They all made each other a little better.
"This
is nice, huh?" Liz asked Max.
"What?"
Max questioned, smiling
"This!"
Liz took her hand off the steering wheel long enough to wave her hand around
the car "You and me going to a dance together! Our two best friends in the
backseat laughing. Our other best friends off somewhere doing God-knows-what
before they meet us at the dance. It's great! Young adulthood at it's best.
It's like, I don't know, like a commercial or something. Everything's great for
a few minutes. If this was a commercial I guess I would reach into my purse and
pull out a coke or something. It's nice, huh?"
"Yea,"
Max agreed, "It's real nice." They shared a secretive smile and drove on to the
dance.
When
they arrived at the hall that the school rented out everyone eagerly hurried
out. They opened the double doors and rock music blared out. "Party!" Isabel
cried
Liz
laughed, and pointed to a long row of tables along the back wall "Let's put our
stuff down, that was we won't have to worry about it." Liz called to be heard
over the music. The quartet walked through the thick crowd of dancers to the
wall where everyone set down tickets and the girls deposited their purses. Isabel
and Liz sat down on the chairs and to the guy's amazement, started taking off
their shoes.
"What
are you doing?" Alex asked, stunned
"I
am not dancing in these horrid shoes all night! That would make my poor
little feet sore for days." In her stocking feet she slid towards him
"See? This is much better. Come on!" She grabbed Alex's hand and pulled him
toward the dance floor. She turned to Liz and her brother "We'll stay close and
we'll check by here every few songs. Look for us when Maria and Michael finally
drag their asses in here, OK?"
"Yea,
sounds good. Have fun!" Liz yelled. "Later!" She turned to Max "And then there
were two! You wanna dance?"
"I'm
not really good at dancing," Max hedged.
"Well, you have to at least
try!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him out to the dance floor, moving in
time to the beat of the music that practically made the building shake. When she found a space on the dance floor
big enough for two people to comfortably move she stopped and started dancing.
For a moment Max just stood staring at her. She really got into the
music! Liz seemed to have forgotten everything and was doing what the music
told her, every inhibition was gone and she was just moving. She stopped for a moment and looked at Max,
who was still staring. Her face was already slightly flushed with a healthy
pink glow.
"What's up Max?" She asked
breathlessly
"I can not do that." Max
responded. Liz laughed.
"Ok," She instructed, "I'll help
you through it." She put her hands on his waist and showed him how to move.
"See?" She asked, forcing his hips to move to the rhythm. "This isn't so bad,
right?" She clasped his hands and danced, holding onto him, guiding him.
"I guess not."
Maria came up behind Liz just
then. "Hey! You two look like you're having fun!"
"Hi, Maria! Yea, we are. I love
dances." Liz said
"Yea, I know. Max, good luck." Maria
teased.
"Thanks, I guess" Max said.
"So you're looking a little less
than perfect." Liz noted, taking in the wrinkles on Maria's dress and the
slight disarray of her hair. "Did you and Michael have a nice trip?"
"That, my dear, is none of your
business." Maria replied primly.
"Whatever. You know I'll get the
details out of you." Liz laughed
Michael came up to them, "All
right, Isabel showed me where to put our stuff. Let's dance." He grabbed Maria's
arm and pulled her softly.
"Ok, I'm there." Maria waved and
followed Michael.
"Meet us at the table in a few
songs." Liz called after them
"Right, Parker," Michael replied
and winked "We might join you."
Liz smiled and turned back to Max
"I'm glad there here, now we can relax and—"
"Party!" Someone yelled from
across the room.
"Yea," Liz said, "Party!" She
and Max laughed and continued to dance.
About
5 songs later Liz declared breathlessly, "I need to sit down." She waved her
hand in front of her face to cool off. Sweat glistened on her forehead and her
breathing was slightly labored.
"Yea, you were really dancing." Max
noted. Liz hadn't stopped moving in 20 minutes. "Let's find everyone and get a
drink and maybe some food."
"Ok!" She grabbed Max's hand and
wove her way through the crowd that had become even denser since when they
first arrived. They finally got to the table and found Michael, Maria, Alex and
Isabel sitting there with drinks and talking.
"Finally!" Isabel said when her
brother and friend came into view "We've been wondering when you would show
up!"
"Liz couldn't stop dancing" Max
explained.
"Yea, I know. She's like that," Maria
explained.
"I am right here!" Liz exclaimed
"Oh, don't worry, Parker," Michael
chimed in "We're even worse when we talk behind your back."
"Goody." She said sarcastically.
She sat down heavily, "I am in desperate need of refreshment. I need something
to drink!"
"I'll get it," Max offered.
"What do you want?"
"Whatever," Liz shrugged "As
long as it's cold."
"Coming up!" Max left to get her
a drink.
"So, how's it going, you guys?" Liz
asked.
"Great" Alex said, "Isabel is
doing a good job keeping up with me!"
"Excuse me!" Isabel said, "I
happen to be a great dancer!"
All
for you
by Janet Jackson came on. "I love this song!" Liz cried. She looked over at Max
talking to some guy by the drinks. "When's Max getting back?"
"I'll
dance with you," Alex offered. Liz looked at Isabel for approval
"Go
for it!" Isabel said, "Show him I'm a better dancer than you."
"All
right, let's do this!" She stood up and held her hand out to Alex who took it
and they made their way to the dance floor. Alex was a great dancer and Liz was
thrilled to tear it up with someone who mirrored her passion for dancing.
"They're
really good!" Maria commented.
"Yea,"
Isabel agreed, "Liz can dance!"
Max
walked up with two drinks and a plate of snacks. "Where's Liz?" Isabel pointed
to where Alex and Liz were mildly grinding on the dance floor. "Oh."
Liz
and Alex ended up dancing for 3 songs while their friends rested. They got more
comfortable with each other after every song. They seemed to know how to move so that they looked good together.
Max watched his best friend bitterly. He should be out there with Liz. Maria
seemed to understand Max's discomfort and after a questioning glance at Michael
asked Max to dance. Michael and Isabel watched their friends for a moment
before smiling and going out to the dance floor together.
The six friends danced in a
group for a long time. They danced in a circle, sometimes by themselves, and
every combination possible, but everyone agreed that Liz and Alex were the
best. There were some slow songs where
the couples held each other close and swayed to the music and some fast songs
where everything disappeared except each other.
Before they knew it, the DJ was
announcing the last song of the night and never had a dream come true by
S Club 7 came on. "I can't believe it's midnight already!" Liz said, slipping
into Max's arms for the last dance of the night. She rested her head on his
broad shoulder and looked at her friends. Maria had buried her head in Michael's
chest and was smiling happily; he rested his head in her hair and looked
peaceful. Isabel and Alex were staring into each other's eyes, smiling
knowingly. Liz looked up at Max, he took her hand that he was holding and put
it on his shoulder and wrapped his free hand around her waist. Liz shivered in
delight; she loved when guys did that. She knew something was happening to all
of them. Their lives were changing; they were making room for each other.
"Max?" Liz whispered.
"Yea?"
"I just wanted you to know that
I will remember tonight for the rest of my life." Liz admitted
"Me, too."
Liz yawned and slowly opened the
door to the apartment. She was beyond tired. She was still carrying her shoes
and her hair was a mess, it felt gross from all the salt air blowing at her.
Her dress was becoming very uncomfortable and she had a run in her stockings,
on the bottom of her feet from walking around so much without shoes. It was
just before 1:30. The dance had ended over an hour ago, but no one could bear
to leave. They went to the beach and they sat on the hood of the cars and
talked and admired the moon over the ocean. Alex even found some diner that was
still open and bought ice cream from everyone. But at 1:00 everyone admitted it
was finally time to let the night end. Maria
and Michael drove off and Alex drove the Parker's car, dropping off Max and Isabel,
then pulled up to his house and said goodbye to Liz. She drove home, trying
desperately not to fall asleep at the wheel. She sighed in relief when she saw
the familiar bookstore ahead.
Her mom and dad were waiting up
for her. They tried to make it look like they just happened to be awake, but Liz
knew it was for her benefit. If her parent's had their way they would be in bed
by 7:30 most nights. "Did you have fun, Darling?" Her dad asked, putting down
his newspaper.
"Yea, Dad. I had a lot of fun."
"Good, Sweetheart." Her mom
said, "I know you were looking forward to this dance."
"Yes, and it's just the first
month of school!" It would be a good year, Liz knew. It would be hard, with a
lot of drama; there were SATs and college applications ahead. But she had the
strangest feeling that as long as she was with her friends it would all be okay
somehow.
She made her way to her room slowly,
fighting back exhaustion. Liz had plenty of energy with her friends, but as
soon as she stopped the fact that she was tired caught up with her. She took
off her dress, reverently hanging it up in her closet and depositing her shoes
carefully on their shelf. Then she collapsed into bed, clad in a bra and
underwear, without bothering to wash off her makeup, just dreaming of her
wonderful night.
Sunday was very anticlimactic.
It was silly, Liz knew, to think that everything would be different after a
dance. Just because you dressed up and danced and everything was magical for 3
hours did not mean your life had changed. But Liz was always a little
disappointed when she woke up the morning after a dance and found that
everything was once again boring and plain and the magic had escaped overnight.
She got up and stumbled to the
full-length mirror on her closet door. She had black rings under her eyes from
mascara and her lips were chapped from the lipstick that never got washed off.
"Great." She muttered. "I'm so not a morning person." She showered, ridding
herself of the horrible raccoon eyes and dressed in old clothes. She grudgingly
pulled out her books and did the homework that was due on Monday and cleaned
her room, as her dad demanded it was clean at least one day a week. When she was done with chores she pulled out
some old movies and relaxed into pretend romance. But instead of putting one in
the VCR, she turned on her Footloose CD, she put the last song on repeat
and sang along to the familiar words about a dance. "Feels so strange, my life
is about to change," Liz sang softly, "I know just how she feels. It's what
happens when you're wearing heels!"
Monday Liz and Maria walked into
school brightly. School was a drag, but after a good weekend it seemed more bearable.
The day was uneventful, classes were brutal, but in most cases interesting.
When school ended Liz decided to stay after and do some of her homework on the
bleachers overlooking the football field. She had lived in New Mexico for
forever, but some days the beauty astounded her. It would be nice to spend an
hour or two in the sunshine before she had to go to work.
Maria and Michael were waiting
by her locker. "Hey, Liz!" Maria said as Liz approached them.
"Hey, what's up?"
"I forgot if I was working the 5
to 7 shift or the 7 to 9, I figured you would remember, cuz we're working the
same one."
"The 5 to 7. I'm glad you'll be
there too, you liven things up." Liz smiled
"You mean I cover for you and
you can go off doing your own thing." Maria corrected
"That too." Liz winked. "I was
going to hang out for an hour or so and do some homework on the bleachers, want
to join me? It's such a beautiful day?"
"Sounds good." Michael said "I
even have a some baseballs and a glove or two in my locker from gym, I did
baseball last semester."
"Honestly, you're the only
person I know who didn't get his gym credits out of the way freshman year." Liz
teased.
"Bite me, Parker." Michael
responded
"Isn't that Maria's job?" Liz
responded
"Hey!" Maria cried "Don't bring
me into your insults." She punched Liz in the arm softly.
Isabel came up to them. "Hey,
all."
"Hi, Isabel." Liz responded.
"What's going on?"
"Liz, can I borrow your notes
from science? I spaced a little and I need them." Isabel asked.
"Um, yea, just be careful and
get them back to me before class tomorrow." Liz responded
"No, sweat."
"Hey, Isabel," Maria said,
"We're all gonna hang out at the football field for an hour or so. Why don't
you join us? The more the merrier!"
"Sounds good. Can Alex and Max
join us? I need to run errands with the car and Max needs to be dropped off for
work at 5. And Alex has nothing better to do."
"Yea," Michael said, "Bring 'em
on! Otherwise it's me and the girls."
"Great! I'll go tell them! I'll
meet you in the bleachers in 5 minutes." Isabel said, hurrying away to get her
brother and his friend.
They all met up on the highest
bleacher a few minutes later after putting books away and doing their last
minute things. There was a platform above the highest balcony that they could
rest their books on while sitting backwards on the uncomfortable metal benches.
After a few minutes the guys gave up any pretense of studying and were throwing
around a baseball on the spacious field. The girls chatted about nothing and
worked on their homework. But after 20 minutes they got envious of the guys
laughing and messing around the closed their textbooks and joined them on the
field.
The guys put down the baseball at
their arrival and went to greet them as the girls made their way to the field.
"Hey," Alex greeted them, "Come with us! We want to show your something." Alex,
Michael and Max ushered the unsuspecting girls to the edge of the building. The
ground had been torn up exposing rows of pipes.
"That's the sprinkler system," Alex
explained, "One of the pipes burst and the school has to replace it. They had
to dig this up to put in a new pipe."
"Fascinating," Maria commented.
"Why did you want to show up this?"
"Look closer," Alex instructed,
"There are snails and worms and Michael even saw a snake."
"Gross!" Isabel said, "In case
you forgot, we're girls. Girls don't like that."
Liz grinned, "Where's a snail?"
She didn't mind snails or slugs, her cousins had been throwing worms at her for
years. She wouldn't mind picking one up to gross out her friends. Liz scanned
the wet dirt eagerly. She didn't notice Max coming up behind her. He grabbed
her around the waist and pushed her forward. She screamed loudly, not realizing
that he was holding onto her, keeping her from falling.
"Oh my God!" Liz cried when she
realized she was safe. She grabbed his hands that still held her waist and
clutched them fiercely. She realized her friends were laughing and teasing her.
She smiled too, but for a moment she had been sure she was going to fall. She
loosened the pressure of her hands on Max's, still needing them there for a
moment to ensure her that it was ok.
Liz moved to let his hands go,
she was Ok now, she only needed them for a moment. But then she felt the heat
of them through her clothes, she felt his fingers pressed into her hips. She
felt how strong his hands were and she felt how nice it was for her back to be
against his chest. She felt him and realized he felt nice.
Max couldn't believe how hard Liz
screamed when he tipped her forward. Really, it was a good joke, anything that
got such a reaction was a good joke. He knew it was a little mean, but he
couldn't help it! She was leaning over, unsteady on her feet and right in front
of him. He had pushed her forward before he knew what he was doing. The only
thing he was thinking if when he grabbed her waist and pushed her was freaking
her out. And it had worked surprisingly well. Of course Max lifted her back up
and held onto her for a minute while she calmed herself down. She reached her
hands back and held tightly onto his for a minute, still a little wigged out.
He fought back the urge to laugh; she took it a little too seriously. He
noticed that she relaxed, her grip loosened and she was a more steady on her
feet. But she still held onto him. Then, her grip changed. It was softer,
lighter, it was a touch for the simple joy of touching. She held onto him
because she wanted to, not to assure herself that she wasn't going to hit
water. Funny how his heart sped up just as her heart slowed down. Her hand
rested lightly on his for one more second and she let go and started to move
away. He grabbed her hand, again an action he hadn't thought about. He pulled
her to him, her back against his chest. What had happened in the space of a few
seconds?
"Liz?" He whispered "Go out with
me?"
"Yes." She replied simply. So, she thought, maybe there is a little magic left over from the dance!