The Boy in the Woods (2014 Wattys Winner, Wattpad Version)

Chapter 41 - The Twist

"You two should come eat," Annie said worriedly.  "Your dad won't want dinner to be cold."

"We'll come as soon as it's finished," Doug assured her, and she left them alone.

When the song ended, Jess was breathless and giddy. 

"I loved that!" she said as they walked back to the dining room.

"I know!  As soon as I saw my friends doing it, I had to learn.  I bet everyone at State will be doing it!" he said happily.

"You're probably right," she agreed, smiling up at him.  In just a week, he was leaving for college and Jess knew his excitement was growing by how much he'd been bringing it up.  "Do you want to dance again after dinner?"

"Sure!  That'd be swell!"

~

The next afternoon, Jess and Marty were relaxing under the willow tree in their swimsuits after eating lunch.  Marty was lying down and Jess could tell he was drifting off, but she wasn't tired.  Most days she'd been able to combat the monotony and boredom of summer by swimming until she was exhausted and reading late into the night until she fell asleep, but today the restlessness was worse than normal.  Remembering how much fun she'd had dancing with Doug, she got an idea.

"Hey," she said, putting her hand on Marty's shoulder to jiggle him.

"Yeah," he said, opening his eyes and squinting at her.

"Get up.  I want to show you a new dance."

"I don't dance," he said, closing his eyes.

 "Come on, Marty!" she prodded, jumping up.  "It's real fun.  Everyone's doing it."

"Not everyone," he replied dryly.  She could tell he was trying not to smile and she felt frustrated, knowing he'd now turned it into a game.  Looking down at him, she decided on a different tactic.

"Come on baby," she sang slowly, reaching down to take his hand, and Marty opened his eyes with surprise.  "Let's do the twist."  While she gently pulled, his expression changed and his face lit up.  "Come on bay-bee, let's do the twist."  He allowed her to pull him to a standing position and from the way his brown eyes were glowing when he looked down at her, she knew she had him.  "Take me by my little hand, and go like this."

Dropping his hand, she continued singing the lyrics and began swiveling her hips, her bare feet pivoting on the grass.  Marty gazed at her with wonder, but after a few minutes he still hadn't started dancing and she stopped singing.

"Try it.  Move your hips," she urged, continuing to dance.

"They don't move like that," he said, slowly shaking his head while he continued to watch her.

"Try, Marty!" she said, and she reached over with exasperation, putting her hands on his hips in an attempt to move them, but he immediately barked out a laugh and jumped backwards.

"You're tickling me!"

"If you don't do it, I'm going to tickle you for real!" she warned angrily.

"Okay, okay!" he laughed, putting his hands up.  "But I need music."

From the wily grin in his face, she knew he was being difficult on purpose, but she was determined to get him to dance with her.  Starting the song at the beginning, she danced and Marty began making jerky motions with his body as if he was having a difficult time figuring out how to move.  It was clear he was no natural dancer like Doug, and Jess tried hard not to laugh, not wanting to discourage him, but then he seemed to put it together and began swiveling his hips, although somewhat jerkily.