Chapter Five
Allie shook her head and looked at Sandy. "No, I really don't think Lizzie's problem is Olivia, actually. I think she has attachment problems, really. Now she's out to get me, too. So, really, I just think it's the fact that she's afraid of people, in general, taking away the ones she loves..." she explained as she looked around the Beacon's dining hall. Cassie, Tammy, Edmund Winslow, and Nico Castaño had done a great job decorating the place. Bright, opalescent streamers hung from the rafters, while a giant banner reading 'Happy New Year -- 2004' hung on the wall. She smiled as she saw Cassie walk out of the back room.
Sandy looked at Allie, then realizing just how smart she was. "Yeah, but she doesn't realize that Philip and Beth would take on an army of a million if she was in danger..." he shrugged and took a look around the room himself. It was impressive. "I mean, I'm sure they'd do just about anything for her..."
Allie nodded as Cassie looked over in their direction, and walked over to welcome them. "Yeah, I know for a fact that they would..." she shrugged and smiled as Cassie got closer. "She's just got a lot of insecurities, and she needs to work through them. Hey, Cassie! The place looks amazing!" she directed to Cassie as she finally got to them. "I mean, this is completely gorgeous. And I LOVE that dress!"
Cassie looked down at her dress and flashed Allie a grin. "Thanks. Edmund got it for me. You look fantastic, Allie. You do too, Sandy," she smiled, recognizing Sandy from conversations with Marah and Reva. She was still getting used to the fact that he was her nephew, though.
Sandy smiled politely at her and blushed a little. "Thanks, Cassie..." he debated whether or not to correct himself, and call her Aunt Cassie. "...Aunt Cassie," he grinned. He still had to get used to the fact that he actually had a good family, who all cared about each other.
Cassie grinned back and looked back to Allie. "Allie, where'd you get that dress from?" she asked, looking Allie over and smiling at her dress. "I've never seen a dress like that. Who's the designer?" she lifted up a little of the lace from the bottom, admiring the design.
Allie grinned and shrugged. "Partially Adrian King, partially Marah Lewis. The lace was originally an overcoat, but Marah sewed it into the dress and put the studs on the bottom of the gloves. I love it..." she looked at Sandy, who looked thoroughly bored with all of the girl talk.
Cassie looked at Sandy as well, and laughed a little bit. "I won't keep you for too much longer, though. You guys have a good time, and be good...set an example for the younger kids..." she joked. "We'll talk tomorrow, okay, Allie?" she turned to Tammy, who was talking to Nico about something or another.
Sandy looked at Allie. "Cassie looks really good. Hey, I wonder what Marah is going to be wearing when she gets here..." he shrugged and looked at the door, just in time to see Reva and Josh enter the hall together, and see him arm in arm with Allie. Wonder what Reva is gonna think of me being here with a Spaulding...he thought to himself. Who cares? If the Spaulding is actually a normal human being, why not date her? He asked, flashing a smile and a wave in his mother's direction. Plus, she's Marah's best friend, so obviously Reva likes her.
Allie looked at Sandy, and saw that he was looking at the door. "Oh!" she smiled and waved at Reva. "Hey Reva, hey Josh!" she walked over to them, still arm in arm with Sandy. "What's up?"
Reva raised an eyebrow at her son with Allie. "Oh, you came together?" she asked, grinning a little. She'd never been a fan of many Spauldings, but Allie was charming, sweet and a good friend to Marah, so she'd taken a liking to her. "Allie, you look sensational!"
Allie smiled and looked down at her dress. "Thanks! Marah put a couple of finishing touches on it. She's awesome with a needle and thread!" she nodded, lifting the lace and showing Reva what Marah did. "She sewed this on, and cut it to fit and everything. So, Reva...how is Shayne doing, anyway? I went to see him yesterday and I was going to go today, too, but Marina said that he was sleeping."
Reva nodded and shrugged, a smile crossing both she and Josh's face. "He moved his arms today. Marina was in there with him, and she said that he hugged her..." she looked to Josh.
Josh nodded and looked over to Sandy. "He was typing, too, and he said to wish you good luck on your date...with her," he pointed to Allie. "So, good luck, although we're here..."
Sandy blushed and looked away from Allie for a second. "Thanks, Josh..." he pushed the redness from his face and turned his head back in the direction Reva, Josh and Allie were standing, just in time to see Reva and Josh walk away.
Allie grinned and laughed a little. "Sandy, are you nervous?" she asked, as she looked to the door. Her face went somber. In walked Lizzie, with Joey Luppo, and apparently, Lizzie had changed since they'd left the house, because now, she was dressed as slutty as she could possibly be, without getting thrown out of the party. Because I'm nervous now...she looked at her younger sister, who was giving the evil eye in her direction the whole time as she walked in. Then, she remembered what she'd just said, and saved her dignity a little bit. "Because you look it..." she flashed him a slight grin.
Sandy had been watching as Lizzie and Joey entered, and saw the reaction on Allie's face. "Nah, I'm not nervous. I mean, it's not like this will determine every little thing about my future..." he shrugged in explanation. "I mean, maybe this will determine what I do tomorrow..." he grinned a little, flashing a subtle wink in her direction. "But that's about it, really..."
She laughed and looked to the drink table, to see Lizzie and Tammy talking, while Nico and Joey glared at each other. At least someone else, other than she and Sandy, at the party saw how much trouble Lizzie and Joey were. It was amazing that they weren't locked away together. Who knew what damage they could have caused? There were very few people in Springfield that Allie didn't trust, and one of them was her own sister, one was Joey and the other was supposed to be Marah's close friend. She didn't trust Eden August as far as she could throw her. Something about her just made Allie nervous. Marah trusted her, but Allie had been burned so many times before, so when she saw someone who made her as uneasy as Eden did, her guard just flew up.
Sandy noticed the insecurity in Allie's eyes. "Allie, is everything okay? Do you want to just leave or something?" he looked to the door, to see Marah and Tony walk in, right ahead of Michelle and Danny Santos.
Allie shrugged and turned her head in the direction Sandy was looking. "Nah. Marah and Michelle are here, so I'll be okay. If Lizzie tries anything insane, at least I know that I have Marah, Michelle, Tony, Danny and you on my side..." she winked at Sandy, giving off a slight grin.
He returned her laugh and nodded. "Yeah, if Tony and Danny haven't killed me yet, anyway..." he joked, as Marah and Michelle practically dragged Tony and Danny in their direction.
Allie looked Marah over and let off a huge smile. "Marah! You look AMAZING! I mean...wow!" she looked at Marah's short, blue dress, blue lace-up shoes and diamond studded headband. "You too Michelle!" she looked to Michelle, who was in a long, black dress and black heels.
Michelle grinned and nodded a 'thanks' to Allie. "Thanks Allie. You look fantastic, too. Marah told me that she helped you put that together. She worked on mine too..." she pointed at her dress and looked across the room at Lizzie. "Oh my Gosh! What is she wearing..." she looked horrified at the fact that Philip would allow Lizzie out of the house in that dress.
Marah interjected and raised an eyebrow at Lizzie. "Or...not wearing. That girl is kind of touched in the head. Uh, Allie, what's your dad doing about her?" she asked, shaking her head and looking to Tony, who was simply standing a couple feet away, talking to Danny.
Allie shrugged and sighed, taking notice of the fact that Tony and Danny were ignoring Sandy and pretending that he wasn't even there. "Who knows? It's like he's too oblivious to see that his perfect little angel might not be as perfect as he thought she was!" she shook her head and looked at the door, just in time to see her mother and Jeffrey O'Neill walk in right in front of her father and Olivia Spencer.
Sandy felt as out of place as a left sock with no partner. He sighed, looked to Allie, then to Philip and Beth. He was there with their daughter...who was possibly the most popular girl in Springfield. He felt like he was in high school again, and he was at the prom with the most popular girl at school, although he didn't even go to his high school prom. He sighed and looked over at Allie, who looked in his direction and obviously sensed his sudden feeling of being left out. He watched her as she said her last couple words to Marah and Michelle, and then walked back over to him and put her arm in his. "You didn't have to do that, you know?" he grinned a little.
She shrugged and looked up into his blue eyes, almost drowning. "Of course I did," she paused, giving off a gentle grin. "I came here to hang out with you, not Marah and Michelle..." her grin remained as she turned to look into his eyes. "What do you say we make this party a party, and start dancing?" she asked, listening to the music and hearing the first slow song of the night come on.
He got slightly nervous, bit his lower lip and laughed a little. "Um, I don't dance..." he shook his head slightly. "I've never quite been a dancing person..." he watched Allie's reaction.
She could tell that this was all a cover up. "Sandy...you don't know how to dance, do you?" she asked with a small smile. "You can tell me...I won't laugh, I promise..." she sat down at a table, watching him and waiting for him to sit down with her.
Sandy gave off a nervous smile and shook his head, not at all planning to sit down. "No, I never learned how to dance. I never had a reason to, really. I never went to any of the school dances or anything, so I kind of kept away from all of that. But...I can try, if you really want to dance," he shrugged and reached his hand down. "You'll just have to teach me, if you can handle it."
Allie laughed and nodded, taking Sandy's hand and standing up. "Okay, come here..." she walked him to a secluded balcony, where they could be alone, so he didn't feel like an idiot. "You don't mind practicing alone, right? So you don't feel, you know..."
Sandy got the drift. "...Like an idiot?" he asked with a grin. "Thanks Allie, I don't mind. Okay, now what, exactly am I supposed to do?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders.
Allie took his hands and put them on her hips. "It's not complicated at all. I've only just learned myself, really. I'll teach you the way grandpa Alan taught me a few months ago..." she put her hand on his right shoulder and took his left hand in her right. "Now, we just move around, along with the beat of the music, if you want to..." she smiled and looked at the confused look on his face. "See? Not that hard, huh?" she asked.
Sandy shook his head and looked at her. "That's it? I always thought it took some kind of talent that I could never possess, or something like that!" he laughed and watched how gracefully Allie seemed to move. It was almost impossible to believe that she'd just learned to dance.
She laughed a little and shook her head. "Nope. Maybe we should make, like, a training video for people like you, who are paranoid to dance. Dancing for the Self-Esteem Challenged; Starring Alisha Spaulding and Sandy Foster. We could make big bucks!" she winked and stared into his eyes a little more.
He laughed a little bit. "Right, we'd be the greatest dance instructors I the world. What, other than this, do you know, Allie?" he asked, joking with her a bit.
She returned his laugh and shook her head. "Other than this, my slate about dancing is as blank as yours. What can I say? I...well, I haven't been a Spaulding for too long, just yet. I bet by the end of this year, I'll know all of the fancy ballroom dances...if grandpa Alan has his way, anyway..." she huffed out a fake laugh.
He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. "You seem to be doing fine with just this dance. It's not like this is one of those big old fancy galas...man, if it was, I'd be screwed. I know...nothing whatsoever...about fancy dancing. I'd still know nothing about any dancing at all if it wasn't for you."
She smiled coyly and stared deep into his eyes. "Hey, can I ask you a question and, if I do, will you promise to give me an honest answer?" she asked, wanting to ask about the Mole.
Sandy looked at her, curiously. He hoped that the question wasn't all too personal, but if anyone was to know anything about him, he supposed that Allie was the best person for the job. "Depending on what it's about, sure. What's up, Allie?" he asked with a slight smirk.
Allie shrugged and sighed. "Marah told me something about you and your Mole-ish counterpart, and I'm not sure if I want to believe it just yet. Not until you tell me yourself, anyway..." she looked at him. "Are you and the Mole...one in the same?" she asked with a slight shrug.
Sandy sighed. Marah wasn't supposed to tell anyone about that. But, since Allie deserved honesty, he bit his lower lip and nodded slightly. "Yeah. Moley is just a puppet. I do the voice on the air...which is why he never shows up at any of the functions that I'm at..." he shrugged.
She grinned and pursed her lips. "So...when it was the Mole asking me out...it was actually you?" she asked with a slight twinge of embarrassment in her voice. "I'm flattered...but, why did you have the Mole ask me, rather than just being good old Sandy? I like you better..."
He let off a slight grin. Allie was taking this far better than he thought she would. "I don't know. Moley does all of the bolder stuff for me. I only wished that I could have brought him along with me for that billboard thing. Did Marah tell you about that?" he asked her.
She nodded and smiled a little. "You see? You can be bold! I think you need to come out of your shell a little more often. I mean, you're a great guy, Sandy. I've never understood why the great guys are always nervous about everything and the jerks think they're God's gift to the Earth..." she rolled her eyes.
He laughed and shrugged. "Maybe you'll be the one to bring me out of my shell, Allie..." he thought aloud. Once it sank in that he'd actually spoke what he was thinking, his cheeks turned a deep crimson and he turned his face from Allie's. "I'm...so sorry..." he fumbled with his words.
She shook her head, released his hand, moved her hand from his shoulder and turned his face back to hers. "Don't be sorry. I'd be honored to help you come out of your shell. You don't need to be 'shy Sandy' around me. You can be a little Mole-ish. You just need a little confidence..." she told him.
He sighed and nodded in reply. "I've always had confidence issues. The ones that are supposed to fade after high school...didn't for me. They only got worse..." he explained. He couldn't believe what he was doing. He was talking to someone that he barely knew...but the best part was, she wasn't judging him. Something told him that his friendship with Allie Spaulding was going to be the best he'd ever have.