Michelle-Note: I think I gave up on the present tense thing.
Weaving between people and tables, I tried to get to where I could see, and get away from Mark, who didn't amuse me or intrigue me enough to even look at him. Louis was discussing something with Ruby, and then Jason approached. He stood with his hands in his pockets, and his jacket under one arm, a few feet from the table. Everyone looked at him, except Louis who nodded to Tom.
I looked toward Tom, who strutted forward, holding out his drink. He stumbled before he was even five feet away, and spilled the drink, but not on anyone at all, just the floor. I don't think that was what was supposed to happen. Everyone looked at him, and Ren was the first to get up and approach him. She helped him up, and said something to him, then I looked back at Louis, who was saying something as well. There was too much going on for me to properly absorb it.
Everyone looked from Tom to Louis, and then Louis left, followed by Tom. Everyone then looked at Jason. As Louis passed by me, he grabbed my arm and took me away from my observation area.
"It didn't work." He grumbled, "Tom tripped way before he was supposed to trip."
"I'm sorry..." Tom apologized, "There was a balloon on the floor in my path of travel."
"That's no excuse, Tom!" Louis yelled and let go of me.
"Louis, I'm really sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you." Tom pleaded, he was extremely upset that Louis was unhappy with him.
"Quiet, you two...let's go sit down." I walked back to our table, and they followed quietly and sat down on opposite sides from each other. Louis with his arms crossed, and Tom sulking. "So...what was going on over there?"
"Ren's just upset about something...her and Jason got into a fight finally, after four years...and she was blaming me for her crappy love life."
"She was upset and you were planning on having Tom spill something on her three-hundred dollar dress?" I asked, unamused.
"No, I actually planned on Tom spilling it on Jason, and her dress wasn't three hundred dollars." He snapped.
I sighed, and we sat there quietly. I could see nothing from where we were, but I noticed Jason storm out quickly. I was puzzled. Random other people had decided to take breaks from dancing and sit around. It was a good time to listen to girls gossip. I tuned into some at the table to my left upon hearing Ren's name.
"Did you hear about Ren and her Jason?" It was one of the girls from when we were eating.
"No, what now?"
"They got into a fight. When I was dancing I heard them yelling."
"What was it about?" Some other girl asked, curiously.
"It was about sex. I knew that hot chunk of man couldn't take four years of no sex."
"I was over there too, and I overheard them." Yet another girl stated, "Jason ran off, and said he needed some time to think. They didn't break up yet, surprisingly."
"If they do break up," The first girl started, "Someone tell me cus I'll do Jason. I'd do him tonight if he wanted me to."
"Not if I get to him first." Someone else said.
I'd heard enough of that. The problem with my listening to others' conversations was that I often heard things that I didn't care to hear. I turned my attention to Louis, "What time is it?"
"Going on 11." He said with no enthusiasm.
Only a little over and hour left of this crap. They had started playing rap music, but I figured that they'd play slow songs at the end. Slow songs were depressing, and I was somewhat glad that Ren and Jason got into a fight because then I wouldn't be seeing them slow dancing together. I was tired of sitting already, and came up with a plan of my own in about two seconds, far different from Louis'.
I took my shoes off, left the table, and padded quietly over to Ren who was now sitting just with Monique and Bobby. I stood back for a little while and waited for some kind of opening. Ren had taken her shoes off and put her feet in her chair, pulling her knees to her chest.
"Ren?" I said, rather unsurely.
She looked up, "Oh, hi Tawny."
"Got a little time for me?"
She smiled a little, "Of course."
"I was wondering if you'd come dance with me."
"Tawny, I...I dunno..." Her voice trailed off and her thoughts seemed distant.
"I heard about you and Jason..."
"Go on Ren, it'll get your mind off of things, and I'll be able to go dance with Bobby without being afraid to leave you alone." Monique said, eyeing Bobby, who appeared to be dozing off at this point.
She took a deep breath, "I don't know if I really feel like it..."
"Ren, you owe me for saving your life remember?"
"And you want me to dance with you?" She seemed surprised, as I thought she would be.
I nodded.
"I guess...I could manage to dance with you for a little while." She got up and didn't bother to put her shoes on.
I put my hand out, hoping she'd take it.
She tilted her head and looked at it for a moment before slowly reaching out for it. She put her palm in mine and wrapped her fingers around my hand very softly like she was afraid to touch me. I smiled and did the same to hers, then lead her out to the dance floor, where I released her, though I didn't want to because I thought I may never get that chance again.
At first she didn't seem too into the music and this somewhat made me a little less into it as well. I think she saw that I was having little fun with her being as glum as she was. She turned around and leaned her back up against me. I froze, unsure of what to do with her in such a position. She leaned her head back and looked at my face, "Give me your hands." I said nothing, and looked down to find her hands waiting for mine. She took them and placed them on her hips, "Just do what you feel like...pretend I'm a guy or whatever."
If she knew what I felt like doing she wouldn't have wanted me to do it, and I didn't need to pretend she was a guy. She was still so totally clueless, and it saddened me, momentarily, but then she began to move herself up and down against me. I was glad she didn't know how I felt about her because if she did what she was doing would have been a really evil, heartless thing to do. I ran my hands up and down her thighs, and forced our bodies substantially closer. The song ended and she turned to face me.
"Thanks..." I whispered, breathlessly, and wanting badly to be alone right then. I started to walk away without letting her speak
She grabbed onto my hand and jerked me back, then looked down at me, "We're not done yet."
"We're not?" I blinked.
She shook her head, as another song started, and she began to dance on me as she had been doing Jason earlier. I carefully put my hands on her hips and brought our bodies together in sync with the pulsating music. I was overwhelmed with impulses and my breath was caught in my throat. I don't know how exactly I kept moving as the world swirled around me at a dizzying pace, but then it stopped suddenly as my eyes drifted beyond Ren and to someone standing behind her. I stopped dancing and let her go, reluctantly.
"Why'd you stop?" She asked me, confused.
I didn't say anything. I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face Jason.
"Ren...I'm sorry..." He said, looking down at his feet, unable to look her in the face, "I didn't mean to pressure you to do anything, but seriously, I have been doing everything your way for almost four years and I thought it was time that I get something I want for once."
"I thought you were happy with just having me..."
"I am, but-"
"No. No, Jason, just leave me alone for a little while. I need to think about this." She said and walked around him.
He turned as she passed and said, "I don't want us to break up, Ren."
She didn't turn back or respond, and she walked out of the big double doors and toward the bathroom. I followed quickly, "Ren!" No response. She kept walking down the hall. "Ren!"
"Tawny, no!" She yelled back, without turning.
I stopped in my place, and stood there as she walked into the bathroom. I didn't know why I was following her anyway or what I planned to do. People walked past me in both directions, and I just stood in the middle of the hall. The carpet wasn't very soft, it felt more like Astroturf than carpet. Some nice soft carpet under my feet would have been comforting.
"Tawny," I heard Twitty's voice, and turned to find him standing behind me. I said nothing. "Go after her."
"Why? What good would it do?"
"Don't be so fucking cynical, and go after her."
"No." He used an awfully big word, and I wondered if he knew what it meant.
"Tawny, it was you that made me do a lot of things that I never would have been able to do had you not told me to. It was always you telling me when I was wrong. Now it's my turn, and you're wrong by standing here." He started walking back before I could argue with him.
He wanted me to take advantage of her in her damaged state. While she was confused, he wanted me to make some kind of move. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he just wanted me to do something instead of sitting around and waiting for something to happen to me. Some people looked at me as they passed by and I stared ahead of me, one of them was giggling and talking. I could tell it was the girl I had listened to two times previously. She was coming toward me and talking to some other girl.
"Ren's scared of penises." She said and laughed as she neared me more.
"Shut the fuck up." I said without much feeling.
"What?" She asked, looking at me.
"You, you're always talking about Ren. What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have such an insignificant life that you have to make fun of someone because they're a virgin?"
"She's a penis-phobe , and just asking to be made fun of. She's so perfect and so afraid of a wang."
"Penis-phobe isn't a word, and just because she doesn't want to have sex doesn't mean she's scared of dicks."
"What is she then, a closet lesbian?"
I laughed inside. I wished she was. "No, she's just not a slut."
"Are you saying I'm a slut?"
"Well...judging you from what you said earlier about how you would have sex with Jason tonight if he wanted you to...um...yeah, I think you are."
"Ugh!" She searched for words, but found none, so she rolled her eyes, and stomped off with the other girl she had been walking with.
I smiled, and a couple people laughed and clapped, as I proceeded toward the bathroom. I was getting clapped for a lot. It was making my ego quite large, larger than it already was. I still disliked most people though, no matter how much they clapped for me. I opened up the big wooden door once more, and found that this time, there were only a few people in the bathroom staring at themselves in the mirror, and none of them were Ren.
Looking toward the stalls I noticed that several were closed, people actually using the bathroom in a bathroom was a fascinating thing to me. I ducked down and started searching for Ren's feet under the doors. I found her at the very end in the handicapped stall, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. I pushed the door a little and it was locked, "Ren?"
Weaving between people and tables, I tried to get to where I could see, and get away from Mark, who didn't amuse me or intrigue me enough to even look at him. Louis was discussing something with Ruby, and then Jason approached. He stood with his hands in his pockets, and his jacket under one arm, a few feet from the table. Everyone looked at him, except Louis who nodded to Tom.
I looked toward Tom, who strutted forward, holding out his drink. He stumbled before he was even five feet away, and spilled the drink, but not on anyone at all, just the floor. I don't think that was what was supposed to happen. Everyone looked at him, and Ren was the first to get up and approach him. She helped him up, and said something to him, then I looked back at Louis, who was saying something as well. There was too much going on for me to properly absorb it.
Everyone looked from Tom to Louis, and then Louis left, followed by Tom. Everyone then looked at Jason. As Louis passed by me, he grabbed my arm and took me away from my observation area.
"It didn't work." He grumbled, "Tom tripped way before he was supposed to trip."
"I'm sorry..." Tom apologized, "There was a balloon on the floor in my path of travel."
"That's no excuse, Tom!" Louis yelled and let go of me.
"Louis, I'm really sorry. I'll do anything to make it up to you." Tom pleaded, he was extremely upset that Louis was unhappy with him.
"Quiet, you two...let's go sit down." I walked back to our table, and they followed quietly and sat down on opposite sides from each other. Louis with his arms crossed, and Tom sulking. "So...what was going on over there?"
"Ren's just upset about something...her and Jason got into a fight finally, after four years...and she was blaming me for her crappy love life."
"She was upset and you were planning on having Tom spill something on her three-hundred dollar dress?" I asked, unamused.
"No, I actually planned on Tom spilling it on Jason, and her dress wasn't three hundred dollars." He snapped.
I sighed, and we sat there quietly. I could see nothing from where we were, but I noticed Jason storm out quickly. I was puzzled. Random other people had decided to take breaks from dancing and sit around. It was a good time to listen to girls gossip. I tuned into some at the table to my left upon hearing Ren's name.
"Did you hear about Ren and her Jason?" It was one of the girls from when we were eating.
"No, what now?"
"They got into a fight. When I was dancing I heard them yelling."
"What was it about?" Some other girl asked, curiously.
"It was about sex. I knew that hot chunk of man couldn't take four years of no sex."
"I was over there too, and I overheard them." Yet another girl stated, "Jason ran off, and said he needed some time to think. They didn't break up yet, surprisingly."
"If they do break up," The first girl started, "Someone tell me cus I'll do Jason. I'd do him tonight if he wanted me to."
"Not if I get to him first." Someone else said.
I'd heard enough of that. The problem with my listening to others' conversations was that I often heard things that I didn't care to hear. I turned my attention to Louis, "What time is it?"
"Going on 11." He said with no enthusiasm.
Only a little over and hour left of this crap. They had started playing rap music, but I figured that they'd play slow songs at the end. Slow songs were depressing, and I was somewhat glad that Ren and Jason got into a fight because then I wouldn't be seeing them slow dancing together. I was tired of sitting already, and came up with a plan of my own in about two seconds, far different from Louis'.
I took my shoes off, left the table, and padded quietly over to Ren who was now sitting just with Monique and Bobby. I stood back for a little while and waited for some kind of opening. Ren had taken her shoes off and put her feet in her chair, pulling her knees to her chest.
"Ren?" I said, rather unsurely.
She looked up, "Oh, hi Tawny."
"Got a little time for me?"
She smiled a little, "Of course."
"I was wondering if you'd come dance with me."
"Tawny, I...I dunno..." Her voice trailed off and her thoughts seemed distant.
"I heard about you and Jason..."
"Go on Ren, it'll get your mind off of things, and I'll be able to go dance with Bobby without being afraid to leave you alone." Monique said, eyeing Bobby, who appeared to be dozing off at this point.
She took a deep breath, "I don't know if I really feel like it..."
"Ren, you owe me for saving your life remember?"
"And you want me to dance with you?" She seemed surprised, as I thought she would be.
I nodded.
"I guess...I could manage to dance with you for a little while." She got up and didn't bother to put her shoes on.
I put my hand out, hoping she'd take it.
She tilted her head and looked at it for a moment before slowly reaching out for it. She put her palm in mine and wrapped her fingers around my hand very softly like she was afraid to touch me. I smiled and did the same to hers, then lead her out to the dance floor, where I released her, though I didn't want to because I thought I may never get that chance again.
At first she didn't seem too into the music and this somewhat made me a little less into it as well. I think she saw that I was having little fun with her being as glum as she was. She turned around and leaned her back up against me. I froze, unsure of what to do with her in such a position. She leaned her head back and looked at my face, "Give me your hands." I said nothing, and looked down to find her hands waiting for mine. She took them and placed them on her hips, "Just do what you feel like...pretend I'm a guy or whatever."
If she knew what I felt like doing she wouldn't have wanted me to do it, and I didn't need to pretend she was a guy. She was still so totally clueless, and it saddened me, momentarily, but then she began to move herself up and down against me. I was glad she didn't know how I felt about her because if she did what she was doing would have been a really evil, heartless thing to do. I ran my hands up and down her thighs, and forced our bodies substantially closer. The song ended and she turned to face me.
"Thanks..." I whispered, breathlessly, and wanting badly to be alone right then. I started to walk away without letting her speak
She grabbed onto my hand and jerked me back, then looked down at me, "We're not done yet."
"We're not?" I blinked.
She shook her head, as another song started, and she began to dance on me as she had been doing Jason earlier. I carefully put my hands on her hips and brought our bodies together in sync with the pulsating music. I was overwhelmed with impulses and my breath was caught in my throat. I don't know how exactly I kept moving as the world swirled around me at a dizzying pace, but then it stopped suddenly as my eyes drifted beyond Ren and to someone standing behind her. I stopped dancing and let her go, reluctantly.
"Why'd you stop?" She asked me, confused.
I didn't say anything. I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face Jason.
"Ren...I'm sorry..." He said, looking down at his feet, unable to look her in the face, "I didn't mean to pressure you to do anything, but seriously, I have been doing everything your way for almost four years and I thought it was time that I get something I want for once."
"I thought you were happy with just having me..."
"I am, but-"
"No. No, Jason, just leave me alone for a little while. I need to think about this." She said and walked around him.
He turned as she passed and said, "I don't want us to break up, Ren."
She didn't turn back or respond, and she walked out of the big double doors and toward the bathroom. I followed quickly, "Ren!" No response. She kept walking down the hall. "Ren!"
"Tawny, no!" She yelled back, without turning.
I stopped in my place, and stood there as she walked into the bathroom. I didn't know why I was following her anyway or what I planned to do. People walked past me in both directions, and I just stood in the middle of the hall. The carpet wasn't very soft, it felt more like Astroturf than carpet. Some nice soft carpet under my feet would have been comforting.
"Tawny," I heard Twitty's voice, and turned to find him standing behind me. I said nothing. "Go after her."
"Why? What good would it do?"
"Don't be so fucking cynical, and go after her."
"No." He used an awfully big word, and I wondered if he knew what it meant.
"Tawny, it was you that made me do a lot of things that I never would have been able to do had you not told me to. It was always you telling me when I was wrong. Now it's my turn, and you're wrong by standing here." He started walking back before I could argue with him.
He wanted me to take advantage of her in her damaged state. While she was confused, he wanted me to make some kind of move. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he just wanted me to do something instead of sitting around and waiting for something to happen to me. Some people looked at me as they passed by and I stared ahead of me, one of them was giggling and talking. I could tell it was the girl I had listened to two times previously. She was coming toward me and talking to some other girl.
"Ren's scared of penises." She said and laughed as she neared me more.
"Shut the fuck up." I said without much feeling.
"What?" She asked, looking at me.
"You, you're always talking about Ren. What the hell is wrong with you? Do you have such an insignificant life that you have to make fun of someone because they're a virgin?"
"She's a penis-phobe , and just asking to be made fun of. She's so perfect and so afraid of a wang."
"Penis-phobe isn't a word, and just because she doesn't want to have sex doesn't mean she's scared of dicks."
"What is she then, a closet lesbian?"
I laughed inside. I wished she was. "No, she's just not a slut."
"Are you saying I'm a slut?"
"Well...judging you from what you said earlier about how you would have sex with Jason tonight if he wanted you to...um...yeah, I think you are."
"Ugh!" She searched for words, but found none, so she rolled her eyes, and stomped off with the other girl she had been walking with.
I smiled, and a couple people laughed and clapped, as I proceeded toward the bathroom. I was getting clapped for a lot. It was making my ego quite large, larger than it already was. I still disliked most people though, no matter how much they clapped for me. I opened up the big wooden door once more, and found that this time, there were only a few people in the bathroom staring at themselves in the mirror, and none of them were Ren.
Looking toward the stalls I noticed that several were closed, people actually using the bathroom in a bathroom was a fascinating thing to me. I ducked down and started searching for Ren's feet under the doors. I found her at the very end in the handicapped stall, sitting on the floor with her back against the wall. I pushed the door a little and it was locked, "Ren?"