The Spring Dance

I woke up looking forward to the day because I had to attend a spring dance at my high school later that evening. My mom who was a waitress wondered out loud if I would make it on time since my brother was supposed to pick her up from work first, before letting me use the car which we all shared. It was an old Mazda that our dad left us with, when he decided to jump bail and leave us hanging and dry. Not only did we not have anywhere to go, my mom had been a home maker since she graduated from high school. Our dad was the only source of income. There were three of us kids and we all needed to be fed.

When push came to shove, my brother who was older than me had to find a job at a nearby factory. I, on the other hand was not allowed to find employment. According to my mother, I was just too pretty to be out there alone without her watchful eye. My older sister was in college and she stayed home with us because we could not afford to pay for her to stay in the dorms. Sometimes she spent time with her friends so she was not a reliable cop to monitor me. That disappointed my mother who so desperately did not want me to stray and be like her friends who barely made it to high school.

Luckily, I had saved my pocket money and I was able to buy myself a nice brand new dress which was on sale. Otherwise I never could have afforded such a dress. I had my friendly neighbor perm my hair and she let me wear her earrings. I wore my shoes which I bought hoping to be picked for a play at a nearby theatre. I had to audition and the part required that I wear fancy shoes. I did not get the part and the shoes were put at the back of the closet. It was only with the spring dance that the shoes came in handy. I looked different unlike the high school girl that everyone was used to, who roamed the halls on week days. I must say that I looked shall we say, beautiful, well put together like a real estate agent.

I walked into the gym with a group of girls that I did not know very well. We happened to park our cars at the parking lot at the same time. They were giggling. I was serious. I looked around not expecting to be recognized because I did not have a stream of regular friends. Only one boy had accidentally sat on the same table with me at lunch, had asked me if I was going to be at the dance. I told him that I would attend the dance. He promised to say hi to me if he saw me. I was anxious because I knew that I might have to spend most of the time at the dance by myself.

So, when he walked across the dance floor and asked me to dance after the teacher had welcomed us, I was stunned. "What is about to happen?" I asked myself silently. I had never danced with anyone before. I remembered that I had danced at home and noone had given me a bad feedback. I probably could pull it off. He grabed my hand and told me that I looked and smelled nice. I had never touch a hand of a boy before. I only held my brother's hand when we were young when we were rushing to the toy store.

His hand was large compared to mine. It felt like a worn out pack of skin under my soft moisturized hands. He grabbed my waistline and we started to dance. The girls that I entered the gym with, stared at me with their mouths wide open. I looked around and everyone was eyeing us because we were the only ones who were dancing cheeck to cheeck. Was that a crime? I guess not, because the teacher did not complain. It was the first time that I ever danced in public. My dress made me forget how frightened I was and could have been had I been aware of where I was.

When the song was over, he asked me if I wanted a soda. I did. He asked me to sit down and he approached one of the teachers who was serving students catered food, and asked for two sodas. We sat down and watched all the other students on the dance floor. We talked about our classes and how annoying our parents were. He lived not very far from where I lived. He and his family had just moved to the neighborhood and he was glad that he accidentally sat at my table during lunch at school, otherwise he never would have come to the spring dance. He asked for my phone number. I gave him my number and my email address. We were going to be friends, I suppose. As the night wore on, girls started approaching me, wanting to get to know me. I realized that I was going to have friends who will be in my life for a long time. I was happy for once to have been able to correctly predict the outcome of my first spring dance.

When I drove home. My mother would probably be worried by then. It was the latest that I had ever been away from home by myself. We generally went to the movies as a family on fridays. It was nothing like having a night by myself and having to drive by myself at night, by then it was early morning! Other students returned home with their parents who drove to the school gym to pick them up. Others were in groups in vans with friends laughing and carrying on about the dance. I drove alone.

I looked forward to a new chapter of my life which I hoped was about to unravel.