A Dance with Destiny

It was always such a hassle to fix my necklace. No matter how hard I tried, the clasp was determined not to cooperate. My eyes fell upon the wall clock reminding me that I didn’t have time to waste battling my necklace. I snatched my phone from the duchess and called Hannah. To my surprise, it went to message bank;

“Hey, sorry I’m not available to take your call at the moment. Please leave a message!”

A loud beep prompted me to speak, “Are you coming tonight? Just wanted to know if you needed a lift.”

I returned to my struggle with my necklace and finally forced it into submission. My eyes trailed up and down my reflection, judging my style and scrutinising anything that happened to be out of order. Lee is going to be there. You’d better make a good impression. I sucked my tummy in and stood as tall and confidently as I could. Much better. Butterflies began swarming my insides. What if another girl catches his eye before you do? I ignored my anxious mind and returned to the duchess. Highlighting my cheekbones with a slightly shimmering powder, I imagined Lee being captivated by my beauty. Shame there’s acne underneath all that.

“Oh, shut up.”

It’s true, though.

I audibly sighed and carried on making up my face. There was no way I was going out with that kind of negative self-talk. Lee was a hard-to-find kind of guy and I wasn’t about to let self-sabotage ruin my chances of wooing him. A thunderously loud vibration from my phone caused me to jolt in my chair. Hannah was calling back.

“Hey,” I said, casually, “you coming?”

“Yeah, I’ll pick you up though…” Hannah replied, with a hint of playfulness in her tone.

“Okay, sweet, thanks. See you in ten.”

“Cool, see ya.”

I grasped my perfume bottle and began spraying it on my wrists and neck. Great, now when he kisses you on the neck, he’ll get a foul taste of perfume.

“Oh, please. As if that’s going to happen.”

I fumbled around with my hair and checked to ensure everything I needed was packed into my handbag. Passing the mirror one last time I felt joyous of the look I had pulled together. A message on my phone popped up alerting me that Hannah had arrived and was waiting outside. It was go time.

I slipped into the passenger seat and was immediately greeted with a raised brow and sly grin, “Ooh la la.”

Warmth spread across my cheeks, “Oh cut it out.”

Hannah let out a chuckle and pushed the gear stick into drive. An electrifying excitement washed over me as we took off into the night.

“Lee’s going to flip when he sees you,” Hannah carried on, “You look way too damn good.”

A smirk pushed its way onto my face.

“Are you nervous?” She teased.

“Of course I am,” I laughed.

She giggled as she turned the last corner to Matt’s house.

“I can’t wait to see his face,” she whispered as we stepped out of the car. My heels clacked along the cement as we approached the front door. The bass of loud music thundered through the ground growing louder as the door swung open.

“Hey girls!” Matt said, with excessive enthusiasm, “Welcome to the party house!”

He howled like a wolf rousing a crowd of laughter and cheer from a bunch of people inside. I felt a pinch of nervousness in my stomach. Hannah howled with him. You’re so much fun. I bet Lee is dying to be with someone as fun as you.

I hushed my inner voice and forced myself to laugh and clap at their howling.

“This is a massive crowd, you did well!” I congratulated Matt.

He snapped into his over-confident self and leaned upon the doorframe with gusto, “Ah, it must be my charm and charisma.”

Hannah giggled before slapping him on the shoulder and stepping past. I followed closely behind. Matt was an odd character but a good friend to have for the sake of connections. Everyone knew Matt. I was, however, more interested in getting to know Lee.

Hannah guided us to the punch bowl and filled two cups, placing one into my hand with a wide grin, “Don’t worry, I’ll watch over you tonight.”

I smiled with gratitude; thankful I was with a party veteran. I took a sip of the punch and could immediately taste the vodka. It was potent. My eyes scanned the room, excitedly searching for the one and then like a beacon of light amongst the shadows of figures, I spotted him. The only problem was the gorgeous woman hanging off his arm.

"Oh no..." Hannah said in a whisper. Her hand fell softly on my shoulder but there was little comfort from it. I could feel my world breaking. I had never seen Lee with anyone before, why did I have to now?

“What’s the matter?” Matt asked, closing in like a hawk.

“Nothing,” Hannah reassured, “Not to do with your party anyway….”

Matt pinched his lips together and following my line of sight.

“Ah, that’s unfortunate.”

Both Hannah and I snapped our heads in his direction with disdain. He raised his hands slightly in a playful surrender.

“Hey, you know what could work as a great power move? Latching onto someone else for a dance to make him jealous!” Matt suggested. Hannah rolled her eyes and folded her arms. She argued that I wasn’t in the mood.

“Oh, come on, she got all dolled up for a party, might as well dance… even if it’s not with –”

Hannah promptly punched Matt’s arm to hush him. He rubbed his bicep hard and glared at Hannah with surprise. Her strength was underestimated despite her petite size.

“Well, whaddya say?” Matt asked, offering his hand to me, “Worth a shot?”

My heart sunk heavily at the thought of Lee dancing with that beautiful girl, but Matt was right.

With a strange gusto, Matt hauled me in and led me to the floor. A few loud whistles echoed around the room – there was never a private moment with Matt. He threw his head back with laughter as his friends enthusiastically teased him. I discreetly searched for Lee as we headed to the makeshift dance area in what would have been a second dining room. Matt’s parents were extremely rich and his parties were guaranteed to bring return customers.

Lights flashed as the hired DJ switched up the music. Everything was moving incredibly fast, but Matt seemed to be enjoying himself. He wasn’t a bad dancer, unsurprisingly. I noticed Lee getting closer to his date as a more romantic and slow-paced song came on.

“Alright, you cuties, time to bring it in,” the DJ said, setting the mood. I glanced down as Matt moved in closer.

“You still want to dance?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I had a perfect line of sight on Lee and could see him smiling and giggling with his date. It shattered my heart. Matt turned us subtly, cutting Lee from my line of sight.

“There, now you don’t have to suffer.”

He delicately slipped one hand around mine and carried on guiding the dance. For once, it felt like no one was watching Matt. There were no wolf whistles or teasing. Just the music and a large crowd of slow dancers.

“I have to admit,” Matt whispered, bringing his face beside mine, “I feel pretty bad for Lee right now.”

My eyes widened, “Why?”

“Because he doesn’t get to dance with you.”