Chapter 17: I Could Have Danced All Night

I turned the page and pushed a wisp of hair back behind my ear. A light breeze rippled across the bare skin of my back and I wriggled in delight on my blanket. Then I focused back on my book. It was a romance novel, a real page-turner. It was all about a girl living in suburban America – a life so very different from living on a farm. In this current chapter she was at a wedding reception and she’d had her very first kiss with a handsome young guy. It was all very romantic.

I dived back into her story as her friend grabbed her and turned her around so she couldn’t see the painting. The story felt so real, the words simply jumped off the page and brought the characters to life. I felt like I was right inside the skin of the main character. It was almost as if I were her – living her life.

“Bec! Bec you should come back inside. It’s nearly time for Dad to do his speech.”

Liz shook me a bit and I jumped back into my own body. I shivered for a moment and blushed as I remembered imagining myself lying out in the sun wearing only a very brief pair of shorts like the girl in the painting.

I allowed myself to be led back into the room and back to my seat.

“What did Lance say to you? You look a bit dazed. I saw him come back in. He bolted straight for the bathroom. But when you didn’t come back, I figured I should come looking for you. Did he upset you? I’ll skin him alive if he upset you.”

By this time I was sitting down in my chair. Liz was waiting for an answer.

I opened my mouth but it closed again. I put my fingers up to my lips and a memory of Lance’s lips pressed against mine came flooding back.

“No!” I whispered through my fingers. “He didn’t upset me. He kissed me.”

Liz’s jaw dropped and she stared at me in surprise. She didn’t say anything out loud but I saw her mouthing the words “Oh My God!”

“Did you slap him?” she asked. “Did you knee him in the balls?”

“No, I ... I kind of ... I kind of liked it.”

Her mouth silently formed the same three words again. “Oh My God!”

Her mouth closed and then widened into a smile.

“You’re smiling,” she said.

I wondered why she said that about me when she was the one who was smiling. Then I put my fingers back on my mouth and realized that she was right. I was smiling.

“You like him? You like Lance? I thought you said you hated him.”

“I said that, didn’t I? Maybe I was wrong. He is very cute. I’m feeling so confused.”

“He’s exactly your type.”

“I didn’t know I had a type. I’ve never even had one boyfriend. How can I have a type?”

“Big solid football players. They’re the ones you always check out.”

“Oh!”

I thought about that. Then I figured out why. I blushed.

“Oh!” I said again.

I looked down at my hands.

“He’s exactly my type,” I whispered even more quietly.

We were already whispering quietly. It’s hard to whisper even more quietly but somehow I managed it.

“Was there any tongue?” asked Liz.

I frowned. “No. I was kind of surprised and not thinking clearly. I kind of forgot I was supposed to open my mouth and let him do that. Maybe right at the end I felt him open his mouth a bit and try but then we stopped.”

We both giggled about that. Then one of the men on our table had a question for Liz so she turned away and spoke to him.

My brain was kind of busy for the next little while.

The speeches all happened. Mr Davidson made his speech and people laughed a few times so I guess it went well but I couldn’t tell you a word he said.

There was more food. I think it tasted nice but I couldn’t tell you what I ate.

Like I said, my brain was kind of busy.

At one point, Liz nudged me and asked me if I’d finished my drawing of the bride and groom on the steps of the church. That was something my brain could cope with. I pulled out my pad and looked at it. It was my small pad so the drawing was small and detailed with lots of fine fiddly bits rather than anything big and dramatic. It wasn’t quite finished so I took out my pencil and did some more work on it.

I felt more connected to the drawing now. The newlyweds were in love. When they looked at each other, sparks flew between their eyes. I put more of that into the drawing. Not actual sparks, but the suggestion that sparks were there. I didn’t draw any tingling lips but I hinted that lips still tingled from a recent kiss. I implied that hearts thumped and raced with excitement within their chests.

Just like mine.

Liz nudged me and I looked up. Annabeth and Carlo were standing beside our table. They were saying hi to their friends and thanking them for coming. I guess you could say they were being generally friendly. Annabeth thanked Liz for coming and told her the dancing would start soon. Liz introduced me and Annabeth smiled and shook my hand.

I looked down at my sketchpad and said “Wait!”

Carefully, I detached the page from my sketchpad. I flattened it with my hand and presented it to Annabeth.

“Thank you for letting me come and be with Liz. I drew this for you.”

Annabeth looked at my picture and her breath let out in a long sigh. Then she called Carlo over and they looked at it together. Liz clung onto my arm and leaned against me with a little smile on her face.

Annabeth and Carlo said all the things people usually say about my drawings. Apparently they really liked my drawing. It’s embarrassing so I’m not going to write it all out but they said nice things. Naturally, I blushed and didn’t know how to answer.

One of these days I should figure out what to say when people talk like that about my pictures. Anything would be better than me blushing and mumbling down at my feet. Maybe if I had it figured out in advance and practiced it like a little speech I wouldn’t end up looking like a total moron so often.

Once they were gone I pushed my head sideways until it bumped against Liz’s head.

“You knew I was doing that picture for them, didn’t you?” I whispered.

“I hoped. Yeah, I knew. That’s why I reminded you to make sure it was finished.”

“You’re a good friend, Elizabeth Davidson.”

“So are you, Rebecca Freeman. A very good friend.”

We shared a little moment of quiet.

Then the DJ announced Annabeth and Carlo and we all watched and clapped as the couple walked into the center of the dance floor. Then the music started and they began to dance. Liz whispered in my ear that she should find her dad. She slipped out of her chair and ducked around behind the tables towards where I could see her dad standing.

After Annabeth and Carlo had danced solo for a bit, the bridesmaids and groomsmen teamed up and started dancing too – except that Mr Davidson was dancing with Liz instead of the Maid of Honor. Like I said, the Maid of Honor was in a wheelchair so Liz was filling in to do the dance. She looked like she fitted, too, because her dress was like the other bridesmaids’ dresses. And she was dancing as well as any of the others. This wasn’t the sideways shuffle that people sometimes do. They were all doing something that looked a little bit fancy with proper steps and everything. I don’t know what the dance was called but it looked impressive. Liz fitted right in with everybody else – all that practising really paid off. Liz was looking up into her dad’s face with a tight little smile on her face. I knew she was nervous but most people wouldn’t have been able to tell. After a bit, I could see her start to relax and enjoy herself.

I picked up my phone and zoomed in on them for a couple of quick snapshots. I curled my lip up because the lighting was all wrong. The windows were directly behind them so the daylight washed out their faces. I ducked out of my chair and scurried around to find a better position and took some more photos. I was the only one taking photos of Liz and her dad; everybody else was taking photos of the bride and groom. I thought that was funny.

At the end of that dance, everybody on the dance floor split up and walked to somebody in the crowd and asked them to dance. It was obviously arranged that way because they all did it at once without any discussion. I was amazed to see Mr Davidson come right up to me and ask me to dance. I was a bit stunned and I was afraid because I didn’t want people looking at me but then I realized the dance floor was now pretty crowded so I went with Mr Davidson. It was a slow waltz which is about the only proper dance I know how to do so I hugged myself up against him and looked up into his face as we swung around the floor. It was so much fun. I think I was still a bit buzzed from Lance kissing me, too, because apart from that brief moment at the start, I didn’t care about how people might be watching me.

During the dance, Mr Davidson chatted to me about how everything was going. I think he was worried that I might get bored or something because I didn’t know anybody. I told him I was having fun. He said some nice things about how pretty I looked and how grown-up I looked. I told him he looked nice in his tux. I told him that my dad wanted to see photos of him dressed up like that. He rolled his eyes at me. It was kind of funny. Towards the end of the dance I put my head against his chest and hugged him. I really like Mr Davidson. He is such a sweet guy. Liz sometimes says that he’s like a big teddy-bear. I know exactly what she means. I think he probably looks scary to some people but I don’t see that part of him.

At the end of the song, Mr Davidson led me back to my table but before we got there, Al Jenkins came up and asked me to dance. This was a faster sort of dance so we couldn’t talk as much but he was nice to me, too. He said I looked really beautiful and if he was five years younger he’d be asking me out in a flash. I told him I wouldn’t mind that at all but I kind of blushed and looked down when I said it so he might not have heard me. I was secretly thinking I wanted Lance to ask me out, but I would happily settle for Al as a second choice – forget about him being younger, he was fine the way he was. Al told me not to let his little brother hassle me or anything and I told him not to worry.

After Al, Lance came up and told me it was his turn to have a dance. The music was fast but he hugged me to him anyway. I didn’t mind. I looked up into his eyes and I fell right in. My brain went fizzle again. My memory started playing back the kiss we’d had and my lips started wanting that to happen again. I wasn’t sure if I should kiss him again so quickly after last time because I didn’t want him to think I was easy or anything like that but my lips didn’t listen. They went ahead and kissed him anyway.