Unpredictable (A Dance Story)

Epilogue

"At least Ella's nice to you," Tristan remarked to Holden, pointing at me. He turned to Abbie: "Maybe you should take lessons sometime."

Abbie scrunched up her nose and made a cute face. "But you loooooove meeeeeee."

"You knowwww I doooooo."

I peered over Abbie's head, mild amusement seeping into my features. A couple feet away, Logan had been staring at me. My old BFF! I caught his eye and he looked away quickly, his face turning awkward. Some girl standing farther away from him was obviously his date, but she was flirting excessively with a tall blonde football player. Logan held the girl's purse in one hand and her corsage in the other. I turned my head and felt his gaze return to me. But then Holden pulled me by the hand to the dance floor and I forgot all about the dejected boy in the corner.

"How about some swing dancing?" I suggested, tuning out the people surrounding us.

He took both of my hands in his. "You're totally gonna embarrass me, aren't you?" But his tone was light-hearted and playful. He didn't care.

I let him lead my dancing, twirling and twisting me. He never let go of the right hand, whether we were jumping around aimlessly or doing an improvised cha-cha. Holden stopped at one point, though, glancing down. "I think someone's trying to call me."

The upbeat song we'd been listening to came to an end and there was a pause as the DJ grabbed his microphone.

"Oh well," I shrugged, "If they need you, they'll leave a message."

"Now we're gonna slow things down a bit..." The DJ announced, and the intro to Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 started to play.

I almost squealed, opening my mouth to say I love this song!!!

"No, I felt my pocket buzzing a bunch times," Holden said, already reaching into the pocket to grab his phone. He looked at the screen and his eyes grew wide, muttering profanities under his breath.

"What!?" I demanded, kind of aggravated that we were missing the slow dance. To one of my favorite songs.

"We have to go now!" He exclaimed, pulling me by the wrist.

He spotted Abbie and Tristan by the food table and pulled them away too, making Abbie accidentally stuff a whole cookie in her mouth, startled.

I halted when we reached the door, stomping my foot angrily. "HOLDEN ANDERSON WILL YOU PLEASE TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW."

"It's Miss Sarah," he said, his eyes wide, "She's going into labor."

***

I'd always been close with my dance teacher, but lately she'd become like a second mother. So when we rushed into the hospital, out of breath, they'd already been expecting us. And Miss Sarah had requested me specifically. So that's how I ended up in hospital scrubs over my cupcake dress, holding her hand and whispering assurances into her ear.

"Who went through 8 hours of Russian ballet training with an evil retired ballerina every day for months on end? Who danced the second half of Giselle with a sprained ankle? Tell me who then joined a street dance crew to get a more diverse experience? And most importantly...Who convinced a crazy depressed girl to keep dancing despite her paralyzed arm?"

She let out a laugh-cry and squeezed my hand.

Before I knew it, everyone had relaxed. Miss Sarah looked up at her husband on one side, smiling. "You did it," he whispered, "We've got a beautiful baby girl."

And when I got a chance to see that beautiful baby girl later, I noticed something amazing. She had a large red splotch on her upper right arm that reached up into her shoulder. A strawberry birthmark, one that would likely be with her throughout her entire childhood, if not most of her life. Even more miraculous was the name printed on that beautiful baby girl's incubator in the nursery. I pressed my nose harder against the glass, hardly believing what I saw.

Mary Ella Larkin.

***

Holden snuck up on me from behind, wrapping his arms around me tight.

"I'm so sorry we had to leave before we could slow dance."

I turned myself around, still staying in his grip. "I'm sorry I flipped out on you a little before you told me what was happening."

"I probably could've handled that better," he said with a laugh.

We were quiet for a moment, Holden smoothing the hair away from my forehead and playing with my curls.

"We're probably a really weird sight," I remarked. "It's 3AM and we're in a hospital with a tux and a cupcake dress on."

"Cupcake dress?" Holden asked. I ignored him and changed the topic to something I hadn't been able to stop thinking about.

"Did you see Miss Sarah's baby?"

Holden trailed a finger down my cheek. "Mmhm. Mary Ella. After you."

I sucked in a deep breath. "But why would she do that? I'm just another student..."

"Well personally, I think Mary Ford sounds better," he said, smirking. "And it's definitely more of a tribute to my favorite dork."

I rolled my eyes. "We've been dating for 5 months and I still can't drop that nickname?"

He twirled me around and then dipped me, lunging to hold me there. His face was inches from mine. "The only way you'll drop that nickname is if your last name changes."

"And only if it changes to Anderson?" I whispered.

He winked. A promise.

Holden let me stand up, taking the elbow of my right arm and draping it around his neck. I snaked my other arm around his neck too, clasping onto the limp hand. His hands circled my waist, pulling me closer and I rested my head against his chest as we swayed back and forth gently. It was the slow dance we'd missed, in the lobby of a hospital at 3 in the morning, with only the dull hum of technology and elevator buttons for music . For some reason, it was so much better than being in the crowded school cafeteria dancing to some overplayed pop song. It was just us and the warmth of our bodies pressed together, memories and promises soaking into each step.

***

Sorry it took me so long to give you guys an epilogue. If you haven't noticed yet, I've got a new story up, The Breakup Trial.

I hope you all really enjoyed Unpredictable; I'm so glad anybody read it in the first place! It was tons of fun to work with these characters and see them change as my writing became more mature and as I started figuring things out. Your comments and feedback mean the world to me. Without my readers, I definitely wouldn't have come this far. So, for the last time, I love you guys so so much! Thank you for everything :)

~Halle