Jessi pulled her Corvette into the Beechwood High parking lot. The evening was cool and pleasant. Other students were getting out of their cars and heading toward the dance. She looked over at Kyle, smiled happily, then opened the door and got out. Kyle got out as well. They stood on opposite sides of the car looking at each other. Jessi was wearing the red top that she had bought shopping with Lori.

As I looked at Jessi, I realized that I had never been on a date with anyone except Amanda. I knew what it was like to be on a date with Amanda, we had a pattern. I felt protective and enjoyed being close to her. Human beings are comfortable with patterns. They are what we use to go through the day, how we deal with both routine and novel situations. We try to find the pattern to let us know what to do. I had no idea what pattern a date with Jessi would take. I had been close to Jessi in many situations, working, fighting, crying but it had always been about something else other than the two of us. Tonight was just about us and I had no pattern to follow.

Jessi's eyes twinkled, "Let's go inside." She walked around to the front of the car, reaching her hand out toward him. He smiled and moved to meet her, reaching out to take her hand. They walked toward the dance hand in hand.

As they walked into the dance, Jessi suggested, "Let's get something to drink first, then we can watch the others dance until we are ready."

"Good idea," Kyle said.

They got soft drinks and stood side by side, watching. Jessi stood close to Kyle, touching his shoulder with hers.

Across the dance floor, Josh was dancing with Katie. He was trying to temper his enthusiasm for wild moves in deference to Katie who had a hard time keeping up.

"It's fun to be out dancing again," Katie said.

"I'm having a good time too," Josh agreed.

The song came to an end and in the short pause, Josh asked, "Are you up for another one?"

"I think that dancing with you is increasing my stamina," Katie smiled. "I can do another one."

Back where Kyle and Jessi were standing, as the next song started, Kyle looked at Jessi and suggested, "I think we should dance this time."

Jessi followed him onto the floor and they began to dance. At first, their style was stiffer than the other dancers but they came up to speed as they each looked past the other for guidance from nearby dancers. As a result, while they were dancing reasonably well, they didn't quite seem to be dancing with each other.

Kyle noticed this, "We aren't dancing together. Maybe one of us should pick up a pattern and the other one follow."

"I'll follow you, Kyle," Jessi said. "At least for this dance," she added mischievously.

"We can trade off," Kyle agreed. He watched a couple a few feet behind Jessi and picked the style from them and Jessi copied him. They followed this pattern for the rest of the dance.

The music ended and Jessi stepped closer to Kyle. She said, smiling, "Follow me for the next one."

"Ok," Kyle said with a smile at Jessi's competitiveness. The music started and Jessi picked up a pattern with Kyle following her. They had just gotten started when Kyle suddenly stopped. Jessi stopped in reaction. Kyle pointed "Look, there's Josh and Katie, I have an idea. Come with me." He took Jessi's hand and quickly led her between the couples to where Josh was dancing with Katie.

Josh was enjoying the song and getting into the spirit of the dance with Katie valiantly trying to keep up. As they got close, Kyle said to Jessi, "Follow Josh" and guided her between them. Suddenly Josh, Jessi and Kyle were all dancing in sync following Josh's lead. "Josh and I did this at the alternative dance last spring," Kyle explained over the music.

Josh, getting a rush from having Jessi and Kyle dancing with him, went into more enthusiastic moves, challenging them to follow. Their reaction time was fast enough that an observer couldn't tell they were following his moves. They looked like a precision dance team moving in increasingly complex choreography. Katie's movements slowed to a halt and she stood swaying, watching them in amazement. Couples around them stopped dancing as well to watch. The music came to an end and they stopped and looked at each other. The surrounding group applauded. Josh turned to Kyle and offered him a 'high five' which he returned; they both exchanged them with Jessi as well.

Kyle smiled at Josh and took Jessi's hand, leading her away.

"I thought we weren't supposed to call attention to ourselves with our abilities," Jessi teased him, obviously enjoying the attention.

"They'll just think we practice together," Kyle said. "It was fun, wasn't it?" Jessi smiled. "Let's get another soda before the next dance," he added.

Josh and Katie stood, side by side, watching them go. Katie said, "That was amazing. Who was she?"

Josh said, "Jessi is my si… she lives at our house." He shifted in mid sentence. "We practice dancing together."

"Well, you're all really good," Katie said. "I don't think I could do that no matter how much I practiced.

"They have a lot of natural talent," Josh agreed.

The next dance was a slow dance. Back on their own side of the floor, Kyle put his arms around Jessi and she put her arms around him, pulling him close. As they danced, Jessi rested her cheek against his shoulder.

When I had danced a slow dance with Amanda, I had held her as she relaxed, comfortable in my arms. Jessi didn't relax in my arms but held me as firmly as I held her. I could feel her heart beating against my chest. Our embrace was charged with energy – that electricity again.

At the end of the dance, when the music stopped, Jessi turned her face toward Kyle and they kissed, after a moment, Kyle pulled back hesitant.

Jessi frowned, "You're thinking about Amanda."

Kyle said, "I'm sorry, Jessi. I'm just torn in two directions. I don't know what to do."

Jessi protested, "I know Amanda is coming back at Christmas. Tonight is my night. Tonight you're with me."

Kyle smiled, "You're right." He kissed her more firmly.

On the other side of the dance floor, Josh was also having problems with divided interests. At the end of the dance, Katie had tried to kiss him and he had given her an abbreviated kiss in response. Katie frowned and said, "I know I'm not Andy."

"I'm sorry, Katie," Josh said. "I know it isn't fair to you."

Katie shrugged, "Let's get something to drink. I don't feel like dancing the next dance." They headed off toward the refreshments. As they walked, Josh reached out and took her hand.

As the night wore on, Kyle and Jessi became more comfortable with dancing and became less reliant on following the moves of the other dancers and began to be comfortable making their own moves, driven by the energy between them and their reactions to each other. They took turns challenging each other to keep up, laughing at the sometimes absurd levels to which they went.

The last dance of the night was a slow dance. Kyle and Jessi held each other closely. At the end of the dance, they kissed and Kyle didn't hold back. They walked out of the dance with their arms around each other, Jessi's head on his shoulder.

On the other side of the room, Josh and Katie had not fared as well. After taking a break for refreshments, they had danced together but seemed more out of sync than usual. Josh had not had the enthusiasm for some of his exhibitionist style and Katie had a harder time staying with him. As they danced the last dance, her eyes glistened slightly. When it came to an end she turned her face to him and he kissed her gently but pulled away as she started to respond.

"Katie, I just can't," Josh admitted.

Katie nodded, sadly. She said, "I just keep hanging on, hoping that you'll like me, instead of looking at me as 'not Andy'. This isn't going to work. I can't do it anymore." She had tears in her eyes now.

Josh tried to kiss her and she turned her head away, "No," she said, "you don't really mean it. You want me to be Andy and I can't. Andy's in Cleveland." She looked at him and took a deep breath, "I think you better take me home."

Returning home, Jessi pulled up in front of the Trager house. She and Kyle got out. They walked, holding hands up the sidewalk. As they reached the door, Jessi turned to Kyle and said, "According to what I've read, when you get your date to her front door, it's traditional to have a good night kiss."

Kyle looked puzzled, "But this is my front door too."

"Yes, but once we go inside, we are 'under Nicole's roof' and she wants us to be discreet," Jessi said. She added in a slightly subdued voice, "and our date will be over."

Kyle looked into her eyes and said, "I don't want it to be our last one." He took her in his arms and they kissed.

I had wondered what a date with Jessi would be like. What type of pattern we would have. Our date had been like much of our other experiences together, full of energy, a chance to explore what we could do with a hint of competition, and a strong feeling of connection. When Jessi had run away from Emily and I had left to find her I had told Nicole that we were the same. Tonight made that even more obvious. Was Jessi my soul mate? It certainly felt like it. My energy had resonated with hers all evening as if we were in a magnetic field. But as I looked at Jessi, I could see the Bloom house over her shoulder. Amanda was coming back. Would she be bringing the butterflies back with her?