Four Weeks before Prom, Wednesday
Nazz took the "don't tell anyone" request a bit too seriously, so needless to say, Edd was thrown for a loop when he walked into the small dance room and saw Kevin. His heart was beating out of his chest, and he quickly forgot how to function. Kevin. He's here. But why is he here? Did Nazz tell him about the senior center? But what on earth would possess him to come? Edd's frozen trance of questioning the reality of this situation was broken when he finally noticed that Kevin and the instructor of the class were arguing while the instructor was trying to edge him out the other door to the class. Edd regained his senses and decided to intervene.
Edd jogged to the other side of the room. "Hello, Kevin!"
"Hey, dork," Kevin said casually while giving him a quick nod, before turning back to the instructor.
He… he didn't seem at all surprised to see me… Nazz must have told him, after all.
The instructor turned to Edd, "Do you know him?"
"Yes. He's a, um, a f-friend from school and-"
"-and a friend of my granddaughter, Nazz, who should be here any minute."
The group turned to the voice, Nazz's grandmother.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Fitzgerald, but unless he's your grandchild, like Nazz, he just can't…" The instructor trailed off when Mrs. Fitzgerald glared at him. They stared at each other for quite some time, unnerving Edd, until finally the instructor sighed and broke eye contact, to look back at Kevin.
"For today, and today only, you may stay. But like I said, you can't be here unless you have a family member here also taking the class."
"Whatever, dude. That's fine by me."
Mrs. Fitzgerald once again had a smug look on her face, then went up to Kevin to ask a barrage of questions. Edd tried to start setting up for the class, but he couldn't help but eavesdrop, especially for one particular set of questions.
"So, does this mean you're back together with Nazz?"
Kevin laughed nervously. "Uh, no ma'am. Sorry."
Mrs. Fitzgerald tsk-tsked. "Well, that's a shame. But didn't you say you were here because of Nazz."
"Yes, ma'am. She wanted me to take a few dance lessons before prom, so we don't look foolish on the dancefloor. And before you give me that look, we are just going as friends."
Ah, of course he's only here for Nazz. And it's good to see that they are still close enough to go to prom together. Though, judging by her face, I too don't think they're going just as friends. Why would you go through the trouble of taking lessons for someone if you just wanted to go as friends. Makes no sense.
Later on, after Nazz shows up and attempts to save Kevin from the Grandma Inquisition, they begin the lesson. The instructor announced that the day's lesson will be the ballroom tango, to most everyone's delight. However, Kevin and Nazz just looked confused. Everyone paired off, and the lesson began, with the instructor giving short step by step instructions, and Edd going around correcting people individually.
About halfway through, Nazz convinced a couple near them to switch partners, to stop her grandmother's snide comments about her dancing with Kevin.
Maybe I was reading too far into this too, if Nazz is wanting Kevin to learn to dance… but not with her… or maybe Mrs. Fitzgerald just pushed her buttons too many times… who knows?
Though this partner change did ease some of the discomfort in Edd's heart, it ended up being disastrous when they began the full dance.
Within moment, Kevin's dance partner, Ms. Nile, started to complain about his lack of coordination, and quite loudly at that. It quickly escalated to her calling for Edd to come help, from across the room. When Edd arrived, Kevin dropped his arms, and Ms. Nile stepped back, gesturing for Edd to take her place.
"Could you be a dear and please show him how to move before he breaks something, like me?"
Edd started to say something, but Ms. Nile turned on her heels and headed towards the back of the class.
"Dude. I really don't know what I did wrong."
"You danced with Ms. Nile. That's what you did wrong. She can be a bit… strong-willed in her ways… and besides, this is more like a social hall for her." Edd nods towards the back of the room, and they both saw Ms. Nile chatting up with three other people, with one person looking gloomily from the side, apparently upset about this disruption to the lesson. "So, you probably didn't do anything wrong but get in the way of her gossip. But just in case, let's see what you got."
Edd held out his hand, which Kevin hesitantly took, and stepped closer. There was an awkward moment when they both tried to put the other arm around each other's waist, before Edd placed his arm around Kevin's shoulder, mumbling, "Sorry about that, I usually get asked to dance by the women in here."
"They ask you to dance?"
"Yes, it's common curtesy to ask for a dance first. Remember, we're starting with the left foot."
Kevin halts, switching feet, before asking, "So, should I have asked for a dance first?"
Edd just knew he was blushing and wish he could remove himself from Kevin's hold so he can pull his hat down over his face. Instead, he tried to keep up with Kevin's jerky motions. "Typically, yes, but I'll let you off with just a warning… for today, and today only," Edd said in a mocking tone.
They both laughed at Edd's impersonation of the instructor.
"Dude, I felt so bad! When he said why I couldn't be here, I suddenly remembered Nazz saying she could come if her grams was here… did not occur to either of us that it implies I could NOT come. But I promised her I would give it a shot today."
"Well, I find it commendable you're doing so much for Nazz to make prom more enjoyable."
"Psh. Whatever. This isn't really for Nazz… and it's not like we're going to be doing the tango there."
"Which is good, because Ms. Nile was right about you."
Kevin stopped in his tracks, and dropped his arms, and Edd just laughed. "I'm sorry! The set-up was just too good! But in all seriousness, you are… decent… but seem indecisive at times, like you lost your steps or counts. Maybe we should cut the chatter…"
"Fine! No talking, just tango." Kevin made motions to start dancing again, before stopping and saying, "May I have this dance… just to prove you wrong?"
Edd laughed, feeling his blush deepen. "Certainly, but you won't be proving me wrong."
Edd doesn't know if Kevin succeeded in proving him wrong, because he was too distracted himself. When they started dancing again, Kevin pulled him much closer than before, possibly even closer than when he was learning the steps with Nazz. Edd could see the freckles scattered across Kevin's cheeks and nose. He could feel the warmth from him. He could smell his cologne. He felt his own heart rate increase, with every subtle move Kevin made trying to steer Edd, and with every misstep Kevin took that had their legs brush together.
Edd was at his wits end, ready to stop the dance and run out of the room, just so he can catch his breath and regain his bearings. However, before he could start sliding his hand from Kevin's, Mrs. Fitzgerald came up and asked to cut in. Edd took a step back, allowing for her to step in and dance with Kevin, who looked confused at this recent development.
Maybe he wasn't expecting someone to cut in. Or maybe he assumed she was asking for me.
Edd went back to making his rounds, encouraging people and correcting them when needed, but he kept glancing over at Kevin, who seemed to be doing the same thing, catching his eye on numerous occasions.
Probably nerves. He is dancing with his prom date's grandmother after all.
After class, Edd sees Kevin leave with Nazz and Mrs. Fitzgerald, so he was surprised to see Kevin loitering about outside almost 10 minutes later.
"I though you went home with Nazz."
Kevin spun around. "Ah, yeah, she had to take her grandma home, and I brought my bike so I couldn't exactly go with."
"Ah, indeed."
"Yup… besides… I wanted to see if you wanted to go home together."
"I'm sorry Kevin, I will not get on that deathtrap of-"
"Dude. No. My bike," Kevin said, pointing to the end of the walkway. "As in bicycle. Not motorcycle. Decided to go old school today."
"Oh? Well… then that's okay."
"Choice!"
As they walked home together, Kevin asks Edd about his involvement with the senior center, what other classes he helps with, and how well he knows Mrs. Fitzgerald. They joke about how she seems like the most well mannered and proper-but-not-uptight of the persons there, then every once in a while she'll just say something casual like, "This was worse when I dropped more acid, after forgetting I had already dropped acid twice that night. You know the trip is bad when you forget you're even tripping."
"Did she really say that?"
"Yes! Then she played dumb, as if she didn't say anything at all!"
Kevin laughed loudly. "Yup. That sounds like Nazz's grandma alright."
"The acid overdose or the denial of admitting vices?"
Kevin stopped walking his bike and pondered for a moment. When Edd looked back, Kevin nodded fervently, and started walking again, saying, "Both. Definitely both."
Edd shook his head but gave a slight laugh. "So, did you enjoy class today?"
"Yeah, it was pretty fun… I do want to take more lessons though. I know the dances are not like the dancing at prom-"
"Unfortunately, no."
"-but I feel like it would be good to know. And to help me get more comfortable with moving my body. I'm usually okay with that, but tonight I realized how badly my nerves can get to me, and I don't wanna freeze up at prom. Man, Nazz got me all paranoid now."
"Well, me and Nazz are taking classes at the community center on Mondays immediately after school, if you want to join us."
"Can't. Got practice."
"I see… well… how badly do you want to learn how to dance?"
"I just considered skipping practice on Monday."
Edd stopped and turned to Kevin, realizing they were already at the entrance to the cul-de-sac. "Oh my. That serious, huh?"
"Quite."
"Well… if you don't mind using a living room instead of a dance studio, you can come over to my place to practice. I'll help you out!"
"Seriously? You'd do that for me?"
"Of course."
Edd hated the way his heart lurched when Kevin sighed and smiled at him.
"Dude. That's-that's fantastic! Thanks! So, um, so when do you wanna do this?"
"How about Mondays and Wednesdays, after my dance classes, so maybe around 6? I can just go over the lesson with you, one-on-one."
"One-on-one. Choice. But hey, can you do me a favor, besides this one?"
"What's that?"
"Can you please, please, please keep this a secret?"
"I understand. I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks man. And I'll see you Monday," Kevin said, with a wink, before hopping on his bike, and riding across the street towards his home.