They swayed rhythmically. Then the dance slowed and another fast song came and they parted and smiled and went back to their friends. Evelyn and Sarah danced some more and about halfway through the dance, there was another slow song and she hoped that he would ask her to dance again but another boy did and he smelled like pine and his shoulders were hard and bony, not like Jason. He talked to her while they danced and asked what school she went to and her name. He was nice.
Then she and Sarah took a break and went to sit down. Jason came with his friends Chuck and David and they all sat together and she smiled at him and Sarah talked with David and Chuck and then they all talked together about silly things.
Sarah looked at her and she knew that this was a cue to return to the dance floor so they excused themselves from the boys and went back to dance. They found a different spot that was more quiet and Sarah asked, “Jason totally likes you.”
“He does not. David likes you.”
“You think?”
“Yeah he was like drooling while he talked to you.”
“What about Chuck?”
“Do you like him?”
“No.”
“I dunno. He probably likes you too.”
“David’s cute. Kinda.”
“Yeah.”
“But Jason likes you, I can totally tell.”
“I think I like him too.”
“Ohmygod. You guys should hook up.”
“No.”
“Yeah, I’ll tell David and he’ll tell Jason.”
“No, don’t tell him.”
“Don’t worry. It’ll be fine.”
“Okay.”
The next slow dance played at 10:45ish and Jason asked to dance with her. The whole time she thought that he was going to kiss her but he didn’t. When the song ended she began to feel disappointed but there was another slow song and he asked, do you wanna dance again and she said yes and smiled.
About halfway through the song he leaned down and kissed her on the mouth. She had never been kissed and their teeth bumped at first which scared her and then he french kissed her and she didn’t know what to do so she didn’t move her tongue anywhere and then she was afraid that he would think she was a bad kisser, especially when he pulled back but he was smiling. Then the lights started to go on and they were the same lights as in the area where they sold the popcorn.
Jason said thanks for the dance and the kiss and she felt guilty for a second like she had given him something she shouldn’t have. He went to find his friends and Sarah came over to her and said, did he kiss you?
“Yeah.”
“Was it good?”
“It was…weird…Did you dance with David?”
“Yeah.”
“Was it good?”
“Yeah, he’s a really good kisser.”
They walked out the rear entrance with all the other kids.There were even a couple of boys and girls still hooking up. They waited outside and she hoped that she wouldn’t see Jason and his friends. Jessica arrived and rolled down her window and said, come on girls, let’s go party.
The whole car ride on the way to the party they listened to a woman singing on the radio really loudly so that when she got out of the car, the stillness of the night and the crickets made her ears ring, and she felt bad for her ears and said to herself it’s just a tingle.
Inside she had a beer and watched the older kids drink and make out and a couple of boys tried talking to Sarah and her but Jessica came over with her boyfriend and said that’s my sister Josh she’s a freshman and then asked the girls if they wanted to leave. They said yeah.
In bed later that night with Sarah next to her she felt her face burn really red and she thought about how she wished she was a better kisser and puckered her lips without realizing it and then she felt kinda sad but before she went to sleep she thought to herself that Jason liked kissing her and she felt happy.
Daniel the Writer 