Darcy and her father return back to their old stomping grounds of New York City. With her, Darcy brings habits of being reclusive. She is perfectly content spending most of her time within the walls of her father's café and sees nothing wrong with t...
Marissa nodded slowly. Something I've learned about Marissa is that she was a very open book. I could see her sifting through ideas in her mind as she stared at the boys in the distance, as well as the moment a lightbulb went off in her head.
"Right. Got it. I know what you need!" After plugging her laptop into the rusty outdoor outlet, she pulled up a music playlist and began to play a song. I recognized it as Wouldn't It Be Nice by The Beach Boys and smiled. She took my hands and I let her pull me off the bench towards the boys, who turned to look at us as the music played from the speaker. "Who said Chris and Darcy are the only ones who can have fun?" she asked them, raising our conjoined hands in the air as we approached them. "It's finally the weekend, we got some good food, let's fucking dance!"
To no surprise, Cooper and Bryson were the first to move into motion as they raised their soda cans into the air and began to move their hips and body. Philip tried to slip away but was coaxed by his electric girlfriend into staying with us. I was happily surprised that Chris didn't try to slip away, either. On the contrary, he even put a song into que and danced with us, breaking out all the moves that made me laugh and shake my head.
All this felt reminiscent of the winter dance. The energy in this friend group was so contagious. My insecurities melted away, my stiff limbs thawed, and then I was moving right alongside them, twirling, shimmying, jumping, and body rolling. From band bangers to old gems, country singers to mainstream pop, we danced, sang, and fooled around for a full half hour. At one point, I found myself back in Chris's arms, twirled in by Cooper. I was so taken by the energy and the music that I didn't care. I stayed and moved with him until Marissa pulled me away to dance to a Brittney Spears song.
When the current song ended on a beat of drums and guitar, the strums of a banjo replaced it. It was Rainbow Connection. Marissa smiled at Chris and I as the other boys took their cue and retreated to the bench. "Now that you're all warmed up, let's start dance practice, shall we?"
At Marissa's words, Chris seemed to straighten, a look of determination sobering the easy smile he had moments ago. He nodded at her, then looked at me. Seeing the resolve on his face was enough for me to steel against my previous discomfort and anxiety. Chris was just as awkward and just as inexperienced at dancing as I was, and yet he was here, willing to learn for my sake. If he was taking this seriously, I had to, too. Feelings aside, I had a mission: learn Papa's dance and perform it with Chris at the party. This was the goal, and I couldn't compromise it over some silly crush.
"Right," I said, nodding at Marissa. "Let's get to work."
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I never knew what the new year would bring, but I could safely say that being in Christopher Radley's arms on a regular basis was not something I ever expected to happen within these twelve months – or ever, for that matter.
Before the day of my flight arrived, Chris and I were able to fit four dance practices in. Marissa decided that jumping headfirst into Evellyn's choreography wasn't the best strategy and instead decided to teach us the basics of the waltz first. She insisted that tackling these components would be beneficial before we attempt something so advanced. So, Chris and I started with learning the basic walking step, the side to side step, and the box step. The three-count box step seemed easy enough until we had to start doing a "quarter turn at each half of the box," as Marissa put it. Chris and I may have had to practice that one by ourselves in my room one night after a dance practice, as well rewatch a few videos, to really get it. Posture was another thing. I didn't realize how much of a sloucher I was before Marissa pointed out I looked like a question mark.
