Spring Blush

It was that time of the year again. It never piqued his interest during his past 2 years of high school. Skyler never felt bad for turning down anyone who asked him to go. This year, however, was proving to be different. He was sitting at the mercy of his best friend he met at the end of last year. He could have been getting some running in this evening, but she was against it. He continued to wear his pout as he looked in the mirror. She was trying her all to fix his unruly hair. That hand full of hair just refused to stay down.

“I guess, that’s the best it’s going to get.” She sighed, finally giving up.

Relief fell over his face. The smell of hair product was starting to get to his head. She continued to fix his hair with her hands. He swatted her hands away to just redirect them to his clothes. She was stressing too much.

“Silvi, you don’t need to fuss so much.” He tried to convince her.

“No, we are going to show him what he didn’t ask to his first spring dance.” She grunted as she fixed his collar for the 7th time.

“You can’t really get mad at him. Having the head cheerleader would have gotten him majority of the school to vote for him.” He defended.

“Don’t you dare defend him.” She scolded.

Her brows were furrowed in frustration. He knew she was getting mad for his sake, but he just didn’t feel mad. A bit sad, but it couldn’t be helped. He moved his hand to her face to smooth her eyebrows. She flinched because of her makeup. He stuck his tongue at playfully before she rolls her eyes and goes to fix her makeup. He goes downstairs to grab his keys before standing before the mirror near the door.

He still didn’t want to go. He didn’t want to show his face there. He had confidence when it came to his track meets, but at a social gathering he lost it. He ran his hand through his hair to hopefully ease the nerves he was feeling.

“After all the work I put into that hair, there you go messing it up.” Silvi sighs at the top of the stairs.

She walked down with her pastel dress that fell to a bit below her knees. The only details were the little lace flowers on the bottom of her skirt. It was the dress that he forced her into when they went shopping. She thought it wouldn’t suit her. Then she fell in love with it when she tried it on.

“I need to mess it up a bit to make you look even more breathtaking.” He smirked at her.

“Aren’t you the sweetest date?” She giggled.

“For the best date I could ever ask for? Of course.” He bowed as he extended his hand to her.

They broke into a fit of laughter. She took his hand and they walked out to his car, still laughing. By the time they started the drive the laughter died down to chuckles and snickers. When they finally got to the school the good parking was full. They parked in the back and watched as their peers flooded the school gym. 

When they parked she reached for her door handle.

“Wait.” He stopped her. 

She looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. He just smiled and held up his index finger for her to wait. He got out of the car and ran to her side of the door. He extravagantly bowed as he opened her door. She couldn’t fight her laugh at his behavior. She extended her hand with her fingers dipped down. He helped her out of the car as he tried to fight his laugh from erupting. He offered his elbow when she got out of the car. She slipped her arm in his and they walked in with the rest.

He knew it was her first dance, too. He wanted to at least make it memorable for her. It will most likely be memorable for him since she is with him. They walked into the gym. Some heads turned. Some of them were those who he rejected to previous dances. They were surprised to see him of all people there. The loner track star of the school.

She snuggled closer into his side with a smug look. He just smiled down at her. She was having fun. Assumed as the girl to finally make the introverted runner notice someone. Little did they know, she wasn’t the first one he noticed.

“I thought you guys were going to stay home and binge anime?” The voice he missed questioned.

They turned to see the social butterfly of the school. He pushed his identical blonde hair to Sylvi’s back with his hand. He was not expecting them here.

“It’s my first Spring Dance here after transferring here. Of course I wasn’t going to stay home, especially with the one selfless friend I have.” She answered with her voice laced is subtle attitude.

Sterling shook his head at his twin sister. He knew how she felt. He knew she didn’t like him too much right now. He peeked to her date. He cleared his throat.

“You look nice, Sky.” He complimented. “The color scheme does wonders with your eyes.” He muttered.

He felt his cheeks heat up. He hoped that nobody noticed.

“You don’t have the right to compliment him.” Silvi scoffed.

Sterling raised his hands in surrender. He was a goner if her glare got more intense. He looked back at Skyler.

“You’re right. He’s your date tonight.” He surrendered.

Silvi crossed her arms in front of her as she stared daggers at her brother. Skyler was not used to seeing them like this. Silvi loved her brother the most and he did her. Then they met him and it changed. Before Skyler could tell them to stop the nonsense, a girl comes gliding over. She was wearing a nice floral dress that hugged her perfect petite figure. She was the head cheerleader, but the sight of her always made Skyler sick. She was too skinny. She looked malnourished most of the time.

The cheerleader snaked her arm around Sterling’s arm. Silvi looked like she was ready to choke her. To avoid an incident, Skyler put his arm around her waist to have a secure hold on her. Sterling gave him an apologetic lopsided smile. He just nodded and tried to guide Silvi away from them. The cheerleader had an irritating smirk on her face.

“Don’t you have a date with the toilet soon?” Skyler couldn’t help but ask.

Sterling immediately clasped his hand to his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Silvi didn’t have the reservation. She belted out in laughter. It was easier for Skyler to move her so they left in haste. When he looked back, he saw Sterling getting a glare from his date.

Half of the night passed them. They were full on food and glued to their seats. Silvi refused to dance because she didn’t want to ruin Sterling’s shoes. The dance was not getting anymore exciting so Skyler made his move. He took off his shoes and socks. He tucked his shoes under the table.

“Take your heels off.” He instructed Silvi.

She flashed him a confused look. Then she saw his exposed feet.

“We are going to dance the boredom away. Even if I have to go barefoot to protect my shoes.” He proclaims before extending his hand.

A smile graced her face and she grabbed his hand. They ran to the dancefloor and stood close. The song playing was a good song to salsa to so he led Silvi as slow as he could. She did step on his feet more than a dozen times and messed up some turns. But by the end of song she seemed to get a hang of it. Then another song that they could use the dance style in played. She did much better. He threw in some things to throw her off, but she conquered them. They had so much fun dancing that they forgot that they were with other people.

They went back to their table and chugged their water bottles. Their faces were red from moving so quick and laughing so much. Before they could completely catch their breaths, they heard someone fiddling with the microphone.

“One of our candidates for school president has something he would like to say.” Someone announced.

Everyone turned their attention to the dancefloor. Sterling took the microphone with a nod. He tested the microphone before speaking.

“Hi everyone. Is everyone having a good night?” He asked.

The room filled with cheers to answer his question. Silvi and Skyler just sat there as people howled.

“Well, I wanted to do my speech a little early.” He started. “As you know I was elected as the president for my class and was written in to be the school president. I thought it would be a good way to get recognized by my first choice university. So I fell victim to trying to get all the votes I could get. Everything I promised at the pep rally was true and obtainable if you do vote for me.” He ensured.

“I just want to set something straight. I am not the nice and charismatic guy you believe me to be. I am surrounded by a lot of the popular jocks, scholars, and other types. However, I am easily beat in academics and I don’t know anything about any sports.” He confessed. “The only things I know are some stuff about track.” He adds.

He then turned to the jock tables near the front.

“I ask that if you are going to vote for me, to vote because you want to see my changes. Not because of who I bring to spring dance. If you vote for me due to the latter, then I don’t need to work for your vote. I am pretty stupid for going for it to begin with it.” He rubbed the back if his neck in embarrassment.

“Sorry to ruin the mood, but I just needed to get this off of my chest. And adults think that we don’t have anything to worry about.” He joked with a chuckle.

Some of the room laughed at his joke. 

“Thank you for your attention and listening. Now I have been dying to dance with somebody for the entire time and I am wasting no more time.” He smirked as he looked straight at Skyler.

The room erupted in claps and cheers. He gave the microphone to the DJ and talked to him for a bit. As he made his way past the dancefloor the song came on. Skyler threw his head back with a laugh at the song choice. ‘The Twist’ by Chubby Checker was the song Sterling and Silvi would play when they pissed the other off. The offender would blast the song and dance to get a reaction out of the other party. It would always end with the both of them laughing. It wasn’t that long ago that they started to involve Skyler in the ritual. He was too busy reminiscing that he didn’t notice Silvi putting his shoes back on. Just when she tied his laces, he was pulled up by a smiling Sterling. 

“Hey track star, sorry I didn’t ask you sooner.” He apologized.

Skyler shook his head. He was just happy that he asked.

“Better late than never.” He shrugged.

They took to the dance floor as Silvi hollered after them. They started to dance and respected the ritual. Sterling made a fool of himself. He pulled every bad dance move out of his repertoire. Skyler joined the dancing fool and they laughed together as the dance floor filled. After half of the song Silvi comes in and starts dancing next to them.

“What took you so long?” Skyler bumped her.

“Needed to record the apology.” She yelled over the commotion. “He looked like he was having a seizure.” She laughed.

“I want to watch ‘8 Crazy Nights’ now!” Sterling yelled over.

“Shouldn’t you be thinking about something else?” Silvi reminds her brother.

“Oh yeah. Might not be the best place though.” Sterling rejects.

“I will choke you!” She threatened him.

His face pales a bit. It was a definite result if he didn't go through with it. He then turns to Skyler with a nervous smile.

“Hey track star, will you go on a date with me tomorrow night?” He asked.

He bit his lip in anticipation. They were still dancing and twisting, but Sterling seemed to focused on Skyler’s answers. His movements were slowing. Skyler thought he would make him wait for the answer. The end of the song was coming up anyway. He turned and started to dance with Silvi. He could tell Sterling’s expression fell because Silvi choked on a laugh with he turned to her. She gave him a thumbs up as the song finished.

The song changed and Skyler turned to a petrified Sterling. He took his hand and guided him to their table. They sat down and Skyler finally locked eyes with Sterling.

“I would love to go on a date with you.” He innocently smiled.

Sterling’s face brightened. He palmed his forehead with a sigh from hearing those palliative words.

“You have learned too much from my sister.” He complained.

Skyler just continued to smile. Sterling couldn’t fight the grin forming on his face. His hand slowly inched closer to Skyler’s. Their fingers intertwined, making their faces heat up. Nothing like a spring blush at a spring dance.