Chapter 6: The Dance

That night, my cabin mates and I stayed up late talking. They grilled me on Erik, and knew that I liked him. It wasn't until very early we got to sleep, we had become so tired we didn't feel tired anymore. But Meg said "Squirrel butt," to me and I had broken down laughing, along with most of the other girls. We were delirious with much needed sleep, but it wasn't possible.

"Doesn't his mask make you feel a little intimidated?" Alena asked me on Friday, the day of the dance.

"No. Why would it?" I asked her.

"I don't know. It's sort of scary, like what is he trying to hide?"

"Who cares? I don't think it has anything to do with who he is. I mean its part of his physical identity, but nothing more." I replied. "Besides, it makes him look a little sexier."

Elena poked me with her bow and we laughed. Mr. Reyer gave us a look, and we quieted down, shaking with the effort of not laughing aloud. Erik looked back, and I met his eyes. He looked away quickly, instead turning his attention to Mr. Reyer. I in turn took a deep breath and went to concentrate on the corniest piece I had ever played, Light the Fire Within. It wasn't that hard to play, but I just didn't know how else to respond to Erik.

My mind wandered to him, thinking of the moment in the pool where we were touching, how strong and handsome he looked, his mask. I began to daydream about dancing with him, his hands on my hips, and arms around his neck. Just looking into those eyes.

I guess I was pretty into my day dream, for I didn't hear when Mr. Firmin excused us. Meg had to come and tap my shoulder rather hard until I responded.

"Come on! It's free time!" I got up and quickly put away my violin. As much as music mattered, time to play with my friends was more important. Ha!

That evening I really stressed what I could wear. As we were in the mountains, it was not practical for me to wear a dress and heels. Well, I was only in junior high, a freshman, still just a high school baby. There was much I didn't know about liking someone yet. So the girls in my cabin put make-up on me, made me put on my favorite pair of jeans and a clean, red t-shirt. Not very dressy for someone who was about to tell someone they liked them, but it would have to do. I never was one to dress up. But I was ready. Face made-up, hair done up, and clothes that smelled nice, I was ready.

Or not. I begged with them to let me not go. To just sit wherever those who didn't want to go could be. But they insisted, I had to go; this was my one chance to tell Erik how I felt, and to find out if he could possibly like me back that very same way.
So I took a deep breath and walked out the cabin doors with the rest of the girls. Well, they might have dragged me a little bit…

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When I got there, I sat around with some of the other guys talking. Then I saw her. Christine. She looked like she didn't want to be there, almost anxious. Was it because of me?

"I need to talk to you." Raoul came up to me and said. A slow song was coming on, but I nodded and followed him. He took me down to the boy's bathroom and we stood there.

"Well? Why have you brought me here?" I asked.

"I want to talk to you about Christine." He replied.

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I went down the stairs to see where Raoul and Erik had gone. When I saw them emerging from the boys bathroom, I ran into the girl's. Then when I came out, they were gone. I went upstairs, and they were not there. I went downstairs, they were in the bathroom. I did this several times, going down to the girl's bathroom. I just told myself I had to wash my hands…again.

Not much later, I just sulked. I sat on the steps outside Judson Lodge, and sulked. Another girl in my cabin was also out there, not just to comfort me, but to sulk with me.

"Guys suck." She decided for us. I mutely nodded.

"You know, Erik wants to dance with you." A guy said. He had come up behind us without either of us realizing it.

"Yeah." One of the bassists in our group, Brian, also came up and confirmed it. "He likes you."

"Erik and Raoul are in the bathroom, fighting over you." The guy said. Brian agreed.

"Shut up. And go away." I said moodily. He shrugged and only repeated what he had said. I didn't want to hear it from them. I wanted to hear it from Erik. As if fate itself was out to get me, who should turn up but the bane of my existence, Raoul, and the light of my week, Erik.

"Christine, can we talk to you?" Erik asked. I just turned a shoulder away from them. They ignored me, why should I listen to them? After getting no response from me, Raoul told Erik to go inside, he would talk to me.

"Christine…" he said, bending down to talk to me. "I know you like him, s

dance with him."
"Why?" I asked. "You've kept him from me all night."

"I just wanted to make sure he was ok for you…" Raoul said, hurt.

"But I can take care of myself!" I snapped. I got up and left Raoul. I went inside, I knew what I wanted to do, whether or not Raoul approved. Another slow song came on, as fate would have it with me. Erik was slouching against a wall with Brian and Nadir. Without a second look to either of the other boys, I went up to Erik and asked him if he would like to dance with me.

"Yes." He said and led me over to the dance floor.

It was as I had imagined, though I tried hard not to look at him all the time. It was the closest I had ever dance with another guy, Erik had pulled me very close to him.

"Do you want to dance with Raoul?" He asked me. I shook my head, and we bashed Raoul for a little while. As I look back, I feel a little bad, but not all that much. "Alright folks, last song of the night." The deejay said.

"Will you dance with me again?" Erik asked me.

"Yes." I said. He wrapped him arms around my waist again. The light in the room made his mask stand out more in the dark.

I didn't want the song to end. It was so beautiful, being in his arms. I probably sound like a silly high schooler, but it was Erik. I had waited for a week, which seemed so long, with all the time we took staring at each other. And now he was really dancing with me, which must have meant he liked me too. Brian and the nameless boy wouldn't lie to me. As the song ended, Erik hugged me and thanked me for the dances. I almost melted as I said thanked him in return.

That night, we left the lodge together, walking with our friends and laughing. I decided to change into my pajamas and head outside for Village Time, a time when we could say goodnight to our friends. Erik was with a group of other people, and I didn't want to disturb him. Raoul came and found me and we talked for a while.

"I'm stealing her." A girl from orchestra said, and her and her friend took me away from Raoul and swept me over to Erik's group.

"We rescued her from Raoul!" They informed the group. Erik came over to me.

"Will you go out with me?" He asked.

It felt like there was no one else in the universe except for us. Time stopped as soon as he asked that question. The girls and guys around us seemed to stop and fade away. I didn't know what to say. I had only known him a week. But this is what I'd dreamed of wasn't it? Then again, I thought, feeling really embarrassed, he's asking me out in my pajamas. Of all the things I had to do, it was change into my ratty pajama bottoms and a sweatshirt.

"Ok." I said, somewhat unsure of the answer. How do you say 'I don't know you well enough' without making it seem like a 'no'? Alana jabbed me and hissed, "Say yes!"

"Yes." I said, feeling slightly flustered. He smiled. It is something I will never forget, that smile.

"Go to bed folks!" Ray yelled. My luck with fate had run out. What a time for fate to decide to hate me! Alena pushed us together, and we shared an awkward hug. Yet, I could not feel better about myself. I walked on air back to my cabin, and climbed on top of my bunk.
"He asked me out Meg" I said. She congratulated me, as did all the girls in my group when they heard. I did sleep fitfully that night, probably due to the previous night's lack of sleep. But dreaming came as sweetness to me. I dreamed of that dance over and over again. And Erik asking me out. I was his girlfriend!

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She was his. Not mine. How I loved Christine! For four years, since the day we met, I had loved her. Erik had boasted about her, as if she was some sort of prize. Oh Christine…can't you see that he's not your Angel? I am! Tears began to fall as I lay in my bed that night. Erik was too happy to sleep, and I was going to cry myself to sleep. Because of my silence, I had given up Christine. She would never be mine.

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Have you ever woken up, knowing what had happened the previous night and then realized the bad things that might be there with it? I did that morning, Saturday morning.

The day was just rehearsals. No time to play, it was the final day and the day to go home. As I packed I thought about Erik. When I walked into rehearsal and got my violin ready, I thought of Erik. He acted the same as the previous days, like nothing had happened.

As if the drama wasn't bad enough, people were talking about how Erik and Raoul had fought over me. I found that the source of the gossip was none other than Andre. When I confronted him, he laughed it off, like it was a joke. He told me not to worry, it was a nice story, how Erik and I got together.

That was how it was for the entire day. Erik rarely talked to me. I was confused. I then realized that maybe we would leave camp and it would be over. It was just a fling, a couple of dances and that was it. I felt so stupid and angry with myself.

Erik did approach me later on, to say goodbye. We sat by the creek and talked. Not about anything in particular, we just talked. When I tried to get closer, he just moved away. I felt my heart begin to hurt, knowing what I had thought was true.

"Well there's Nadir's mom. I gotta go." He said. I moved forward to hug him, but he moved back. So I waved goodbye, my heart breaking all the while.

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So there you have it! has anyone figured out who the mystery person is?

Hope you like it! R and R ok? -

AOD