Chapter 12: Let's Dance

The glowing feeling from her date the night before was still with her when Amanda woke up late Saturday morning. After brushing her teeth and washing up, she floated out to the kitchen, wearing her nightgown.

At the table, she enthusiastically told her parents about the game, the radio, the band show contest, as well as Ken's friends and how nice they were to her, and the good time she'd had going out for ice cream with them. The way her eyes shone and the silly grin she wore on her face as she talked showed them more than her words did, about how she'd felt about her date. Her parents couldn't remember ever seeing her so exuberant, even before the car accident that blinded her two years before.

Weekend breakfast was an informal affair in the Jennings home. Kate made her daughter one of her favorites, two slices of toast with peanut butter and jelly and a cup of tea. As she ate, they went over the plans for the day. She was going to have her hair and nails done in the afternoon, but other than that and getting dressed, there wasn't much else, so she could just relax.

As she was eating her toast, she heard and felt her mom come up to her. "Here Honey, let me help you; there's a drip of jelly on the front of your nightgown," Kate said as she wiped up the spill with a wet cloth.

"Oh, god, Ken's supposed to take me out to dinner tonight before the dance. I've got to call him and cancel that! I can't go to a restaurant with him."

"You know... a lot of things you said you can't do have worked out very well this week."

"I guess that's true, but it's hard enough to eat at home and not make a mess. Restaurants are worse, and I don't want to go to a dance with spots of dinner on my dress. How can I expect Ken to understand that it's hard for me to be neat while I'm eating? I sure don't want to have to ask him to help me clean up."

"Okay Honey, you want to call him? You could invite him to have dinner with us at home and put your dance clothes on afterward."

Amanda called Ken to suggest a meal with her family. She felt comfortable enough with him now to explain that not being able to see her food or her utensils made eating in a restaurant a challenge. He was understanding and agreed to arrive at half past six for dinner with her family. Before they finished the call, she listened to him tell her how much he'd enjoyed being with her the previous evening and how much he was looking forward to seeing her again that evening. She hung up the phone, her glow recharged to an even higher level than before.

After her morning shower, she dressed and with her mom headed out for her appointments. The hair appointment was for a simple trim and styling. She and her mom wanted to leave her hair hanging loosely, just adding a little more curl and shape to it. The manicurist did her nails in a color that would complement her dress.

Saturday morning, Ken woke up feeling cheerful for the first time that week. Even with his date with Amanda to look forward to, he still couldn't help thinking about how Kelly had dumped him as he as he got up each morning, and feeling a loss because of it. This morning, however, after he'd been up for a while, he realized he was happy. He hadn't thought of Kelly at all, and he had only pleasurable memories of Friday night and Amanda.

To be honest, he'd had second thoughts about her. Considering how she'd acted during the reading sessions, how could he avoid them? In most of those sessions, she'd been abrasive and unpleasant to be with. He'd asked her out in a moment of anger but her reaction to the invitation had convinced him that inside that armored shell, there was someone with real feelings, a girl who might just be worth getting to know. Until Friday, when he'd finally seen her in more attractive clothing, he had only suspected that she could be a very pretty girl if she put a little effort into it. After Friday's reading session and the game, he no longer had any second thoughts. He knew he'd enjoy taking Amanda to the dance and be proud to be seen there with her. Her blindness wasn't going to be an obstacle if he had his way. She was simply fun to be with, and at times Friday night he'd nearly forgotten about her vision problem. In fact, they'd made a game of it and had real fun with the result, and her touching his face to "see" him had been one of the most arousing things anyone had ever done to him with his clothes on.

He thought about calling to tell her again how much he had enjoyed the evening, but felt like that might be pushing things a little over the top, so when she called him, he was both surprised and delighted to hear from her. Her invitation to dinner took him by surprise, but he understood her reasoning. His only hesitation was that he wasn't sure he was ready to spend that much time with her parents. It would save him some money, and it made the decision on what restaurant to go to unnecessary.

His truck wasn't really dirty, but he washed and waxed it anyway, then wiped out the inside to make sure it was as ready as possible for a fancy date. Maybe Amanda couldn't see how good it looked, but she would probably notice the nice, slick waxy surface, and her parents and everyone else would see that he cared enough to try to make everything just right.

After he finished with the truck, he drove to the florist to pick up the corsage he'd ordered. He'd told the florist that it had to be attractive to someone who couldn't see, and she had promised to do her best to make one that was pretty and would smell sweet. It was a small one with roses and a few other flowers, along with some ribbon on a wristband. When he looked in the fancy little box and gave it a quick sniff, he agreed that it was everything he'd asked for and he looked forward to seeing it on Amanda's wrist.

On the way back home, he filled up the gas tank. He didn't want to risk spilling gasoline on himself before the dance. That smell never goes away and it would not make a good cologne substitute.

Four o'clock in the afternoon and with more than two hours before he would leave for Amanda's, everything seemed ready. He tried to sit and read a book, but his attention kept wandering. He got on the web searching for information on dining or dancing with a blind person but didn't find much beside some weird stuff about a restaurant that had everyone eat in complete darkness. Two hours was a VERY long time when you were a little nervous, a lot anxious, and very full of anticipation.

Finally, one hour before he could leave for her house, he couldn't stand it any longer. He had to do something, so he decided to get dressed. He'd read books describing knights preparing for battle and felt a little like them as he showered, shaved, and layer by layer, put on his "armor" -- the underwear, the shirt and pants, the socks, the shoes, the tie, and the jacket. His hair was short, so no issues there, nothing he had to do to it. He examined his face in the mirror to make sure he looked good. No new zits. He checked his teeth -- it would be embarrassing to have something stuck in them, and he realized he hadn't brushed them yet. Off with the jacket, tuck the tie safely in the shirt, brush, then gargle with mouthwash. He checked his shirt and tie to make sure he hadn't dribbled toothpaste or mouthwash on them and then put his jacket back on. Finally, he came to the realization that there wasn't anything more to do and he should just sit down somewhere and calmly wait. Of course, "calmly waiting" was the one thing he found he couldn't do.

After what seemed like an eternity, six-ten eventually arrived and sitting in his truck he took inventory.

Tie on? Check. Jacket on? Check. Good shoes? Check. Corsage? Check. Dance tickets? Check. Money for after-dance refreshments? Check. Truck key? Where is the damn thing? Oh, in the ignition, that's why the truck is running. Deep breath, calm, now drive to Amanda's house without running any stop signs, getting lost, or hitting anything.

While driving, he thought about Amanda's "seeing" session the night before and felt an erection starting, so he switched his thoughts to her parents. Really, his only worry there was her father's concern over whether a school letter should be given to a non-athlete. They seemed like a nice, caring couple who were concerned about helping their daughter. He assumed they were interested in art, and although Ken didn't have any real aptitude in it, he still appreciated art. It sounded like Amanda had really enjoyed art before loosing her sight, and he felt bad that it was no longer something she could do. Their art supply store sounded like a fun business, especially the part about the eclectic mix of customers.

He pulled the truck up in front of the house and walked to the door, checking that his jacket hung just right one more time. Mrs. Jennings answered his knock and called out, "Amanda, Ken is here."

He was a more than a little surprised when she came down the hallway to greet him. While her hair was done up and fancy, she was wearing shorts and a sweatshirt. Definitely not dance attire. Her mom saw his puzzled look and said, "Amanda will put her dress on after dinner."

Amanda stopped walking and blushed, but he stepped close to her and took her hands and said, "Your hair looks beautiful."

"You're flattering me."

"What did I tell you yesterday? Accept complements when and where ever you get them."

"Okay, thank you kind sir," she said with a giggle.

"You're very welcome. But what's the story with the clothes?"

"Something you're going to have to get used to if we eat together. It's hard to be neat when you can't see, and as I said on the phone, I don't want to risk spilling on my dress, so I'll change after we have dinner."

She ran her hands up his arm and felt his jacket, and at the base of his neck, his tie. "Tell me what you're wearing. What colors?"

"My pants are grey wool. My shirt is white. I've got a wool tweed jacket that's a mix of green, brown, black, and tan. I've got black dress shoes and my tie is green with little flowers on it."

"Sounds pretty conservative... Mom, do you think Ken's outfit will look okay next to my dress?"

Kate watched the interaction in shock. This was something she'd never seen from her daughter, even before the accident. She couldn't believe this was the same girl she'd dealt with for the last two years. Could the football game date last night have had this much of an effect on Amanda?

"I think it will look just fine. You two hang out here in the living room while I get dinner on the table. Dave should be home in a few minutes."

"Where's your dad?"

"He had to work at the store until closing tonight."

Sure enough, Dave walked in the door as they were talking about him. After he washed up, the family and their guest sat at the dining room table for their meal.

Taking a cue from Amanda, Ken carefully put his napkin on his lap. He didn't want to spill on himself either. He noticed that Kate served Amanda a plate with everything already cut up into bite-sized pieces and separated into different sections of the plate. "As usual, Honey, vegetable upper left, meat upper right, fried potatoes lower right, and a roll lower left." Evidently they divided the plate into quadrants allowing her to know where to find the various foods. She used a fork and her fingers to locate the food and lift it to her mouth. He'd never even considered the difficulties of eating when you couldn't see the plate or even if the food was on the fork, and he was no longer surprised that she'd wanted to skip the restaurant.

After dinner, Amanda and Kate went back to Amanda's bedroom to finish her preparations for the dance while Ken and Dave worked on clearing the table.

"You know, Ken, I've been thinking about your comments on the computer competitions, and I find that I have to agree with you. You should be recognized for representing your school. I guess I'm a little behind the times and I need to get up to date."

Ken was surprised and pleased at this turnaround. He began to think he could like her dad, even if he'd shown some jock attitude before.

"Thanks, I appreciate that you took the time to think about it."

When they had moved the dishes to the sink and the leftovers were put away, they sat down in the living room to wait for the women.

A few minutes later, Kate came down the hallway and asked the men, "Are you ready?" Then she called back, "Come on out, Amanda."

Ken's breath caught in his throat as Amanda came into view. Even after Friday night, he couldn't believe he was seeing the same girl he'd met in that little room two weeks ago. Her dress was a blend of iridescent blue and green, drifting and bouncing, reflecting the light as she walked. Her brown hair fell down past her shoulders, bouncing and flowing with her as she moved. While she did not have large breasts, she was definitely a woman and showed respectable and attractive cleavage at the neckline of her dress. She wore cream-colored stockings that shimmered along with her dress as she walked down the hallway. Her makeup was tastefully applied and enhanced her facial features without hiding her or trying to change her. He was pleased to see that her low-healed shoes left her a little shorter than him.

He took her hand in his as she approached and whispered, "You're so beautiful tonight. You take my breath away."

She just smiled.

"You two move over in front of the fireplace, we need to take some pictures."

Ken paused and crinkled his face for a moment, thinking intently, "Oh... wait..." then rushed out the front door. He was back a minute later with a box in his hand. "I forgot to bring this in."

Her dad said drolly, "We thought maybe you had a sudden attack of cold feet," bringing a laugh to all.

He took the corsage out of the box, and picking up Amanda's arm, he slid the wristband portion onto her. "This has some roses and some other flowers the florist promised me look lovely together. She wasn't exaggerating when she said they'd smell as pretty as they looked either."

She carefully felt the cool, delicate flowers with her fingertips, then held the arrangement up to her face and took a deep breath to check the fragrance. She smiled broadly, then lifting her hand to Ken's face, leaned toward him and kissed him quickly on the cheek. "Thanks. Tonight is already feeling like a dream."