Dancing in the Moonlight

I sit there as the world passes by. The buzzing of people talking, laughing, and moving about creates a blanket of white noise that surrounds me. My mind is focused on a thought. Time slows, bringing busy shoppers to a standstill as I make up my mind.

"What do I do?" I wonder. "Kaitlyn is waiting for an answer." I look up and see the excitement in her eyes. The usually dark-brown eyes are shining with anticipation.

"Well?" she asks. Her smile shrinks a little, as she grows impatient.

"There's so many people," I say. "What will they think of me? I don't want to look like some stupid teen running through a shopping centre."

"Well, first of all, you're not a teenager remember?" she responds, keeping her composure.

"Yes, but two 20-year-olds running through a store definitely look like stupid teenagers."

"And second of all," she continued, ignoring my anxious rebuttals, "it will be super fun. Sometimes, you just gotta have fun and not care what people think. I know deep-down there is a child inside you just waiting to burst out."

I sighed as I watched her tilt her head to the side like a puppy wanting food. Her now-faded red hair fell gently down her face and onto her front. She brushed it away, exposing her blonde roots, and placed the unruly strands behind her ear.

"Why argue at this point?" I reason with myself, "She always gets what she wants, one way or another. We'll just run to the nearest exit and I'll try not to make too much of a scene."

"Fine. I'll do it," I say, defeated. "But here are my conditions..."

"Yay!" she says, cutting me off. "Let's go!"

My eyes widen and fear grows in me as she rises sharply out of her chair and starts to run. Panic takes hold of me as I realise, if I don't chase after her, I'll be running on my own. Running alone is 1000 times more embarrassing than running with her, and people are less likely to question two people running together than one guy running on his own.

"Wait!" I call out, louder than I initially intended.

I get up out of my seat and realise I'll have to leave our rubbish on the food court table. "Sorry," I internally apologize to the world as I begin running. "I don't have time to put it in the bin! I need to catch up!" I sprint after her, much faster than I ever planned to run.

Ahead of me, I see her blue denim jacket forming a cape behind her as she zig-zags between the crowd. People stare at her as she passes by. Her shoes squeak with each sharp change in direction as she dodges the onlookers. She turns to look back at me and beams a beautiful smile. The sight of me desperately trying to catch up to her makes her giggle as she runs as fast as she can through the army of shoppers.

I catch myself enjoying the experience and immediately remind myself that I didn't want to do this. I can't help but laugh as I feel the anxiety leave my body and let the feeling of excitement take over. The cool airconditioned air creates a pleasant breeze on my face as I dash through the centre. Now all I can think about is how to overtake Kaitlyn and which line between the crowd will be the most efficient.

"Gotcha," I say as I run past her. I stretch out a hand to tag her on the back but miss due to our combined erratic movements. My hand hits lower than expected on the small of her back and slides down to slap her ass.

Laughing, she says, "Hey! Look who's enjoying themselves," not seeming to be bothered by the mistake.

"Shut up," I childishly retort, as I take the lead. "Looks who's losing," I say behind me, as I race through the crowd, leaving her far behind.

I make it to the parking lot and wait for her around the corner of the building--away from anyone who may judge us for running. She rushes at me and hugs me hard enough to knock some air out of me.

"Oof!" I say as she hits. She spins me around in her arms squealing with excitement.

"That was so fun! I felt like a kid again. Aren't you glad you ran, too? I know you enjoyed yourself!" she said, speaking at a million words per minute.

I awkwardly release the hug but my hands are trapped firmly within hers. I've never been much of a hugger and almost always stand there gawkily with my arms draped robotically around whoever has decided to hug me. The only person besides close family who ever hugs me is Kaitlyn. It is still very robotic--often ending with a double-pat on the back--but I still allow her to. It just feels different when she hugs me. Always uncomfortable, but different from everyone else. Kaitlyn is my closest, and oldest, friend. It's simply better when she is hugging me. Or maybe, she has just earned the privilege after all these years.

Kaitlyn slows the swinging of our arms as her heavy breathing becomes steady. For a second, we stand together holding hands before she remembers my discomfort with physical interaction. With an acknowledging nod, she releases my hands.

"So?" she says with fulfilment.

"It was not so bad, after all," I say humbly, accepting her gloating smile.

"Of course, it was," I think to myself "She always convinces me to do stuff I don't want to do. It very rarely goes wrong and I almost always enjoy the thrill of being outside of my comfort zone."

"All my ideas are good ones. You should know that by now, Jake." She slapped me on the ass. Hard. On the ass.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. "What was that for?"

"Nothing. You started it, you big teenager you."

"I did not hit you that hard," I replied. "Besides, my hand slipped."

"Oh, your hand slipped?" she mocked. "You sure you just didn't want to feel all...this?" she said, as she grasped her ass with both hands. She squeezed each cheek and shook her ass at me.

I knew better than to think she was doing anything flirtatious. In fact, I barely noticed the apparent sexual nature of her actions. This is just what Kaitlyn was like. The entire time I've known her she has been outgoing, overconfident, and never thought twice about what she said or did. We make such good friends because I am exactly the opposite. I overthink everything and have very little social confidence. Most of the trouble we find ourselves in is due to her getting some crazy idea from me.

I'll watch some strangers playing volleyball at the beach and ask her who she thinks is the better player and she will decide she wants to join in and play them to see. We will be engaging in thoughtful discussion about a hypothetical situation and she will suggest we just try it out. Sometimes, she'll just make something up on the spot with her own crazy imagination and I just have to deal with it. If you spend any time with her, you've probably had to sit and watch her dance to absolute silence as she expresses her emotions, ranging from happiness, excitement, dance emotion (which I, to no avail, insist is not an emotion) thoughtfulness and even boredom. Kaitlyn is a free spirit and seeks anything that will bring her enjoyment.

Because we are so different, my thoughtfulness often gives her ideas she could never come up with on her own. She loves that more than any of her own ideas. Whenever I give her a novel idea, she loves it because she believes that she "would absolutely, never ever ever have come up with that idea" herself. And very rarely, on the bluest of moons, my hesitancy and tendency to think things through does stop her from following through with her harebrained idea. Which is a good thing, because on those occasions, I keep us from getting into situations we can't come back from. I swear, we would have been expelled from school had I once let us "just sneak down to the shops". Or allowed her to think that she "can totally climb in through that window up there" into the classroom.

*****

Later that day, I find myself lying lazily on the living room couch. Kaitlyn is on the couch beside me--upside-down, of course--swinging her legs in the air.

"I'm...kinda bored," she sighed.

"I can tell," I said, without looking up. "Put the TV on, or something, to entertain yourself."

"There's nothing on. Besides, I can watch TV at home. I'm here to hang with you."

"Is that why you're upside-down?" I quip.

"Ha ha," she says sarcastically. "It's why you should stop scrolling through Facebook and start engaging me in conversation."

"Oh, but this is so interesting," I say, knowing that this is frustrating her. "I love reading these super exciting ads on my feed." I search for the most menial posts I can find. "Oh look!" I say with fake enthusiasm. "There is currently a 2-for-1 sale at Jack's Hardware! And, damn, our old English teacher just posted a motivational quote. Hey, look, a university we don't even go to is throwing a party this weekend. Woah! Pool noodles that are twice as long as normal..."

"What's that about a party?" she chimed in.

With a sigh, I muttered, "Ah, shit."

"Jacob," she said sternly, "tell me about the party."

"It's at a uni we don't go to, with people we don't know, and I'm not going."

"But I'm going..."

"No, you're not," I interrupt.

Unphased, she continued, "...and we do everything together. You can't expect me to go alone, can you?" Out came the puppy eyes again.

"You know nothing about this party. You don't even know anyone who might be going," I reasoned.

"That's the best part," she beamed as she spoke. "We can be anyone." I didn't reply. "What day is it? What time?"

"You are busy that day," I replied.

"No, I'm not."

"No, you're not."

"What day?" she asked, as if she was coaxing the truth out of a stubborn child.

"I'm busy that day." I couldn't help but smile as I said that. That was an outrageous lie, even when compared to the obvious lies from earlier.

"Yeah, right!" she exclaimed.

*****

It was now Saturday evening, the night of the party. I had stayed in the lounge room all day, refusing to get ready, whilst being fully aware that Kaitlyn would make me come to the party no matter how much I resisted.

My phone chimed with a text. "Open the door, Jake. It's PARTY TIME" followed by several emojis.

"Nice hair," I said as I opened the door, to see her giddy with excitement. She wore a multicoloured, long-sleeved crop-top and a high-waisted plaid skirt which clashed with every inch of the top's design. She'd donned her favourite chequered gumshoes with mismatched socks. The busy clothing patterns and fluoro-green hair somehow all came together to make an outfit that actually looked good. Her outfit drew attention to, and accentuated, her flamboyant nature.

"Thanks!" she said, flicking her hair as if she were a shampoo model. "It took forever to dye." She noticed my dishevelled state, "Wow, I'm shocked to see you haven't started getting ready yet." Her sarcasm went unacknowledged. "Good thing I came here early," she said cheerily. She grabbed my hand, and led me to my room.

Knowing her way around as if it were her room, she starts picking out my clothes for me. I know at this point that I cannot get out of going to the party and that there is no use in arguing about it. Which is why I sit there silently and let her do all the work, as a form of pathetic protest.

She throws a pair of navy jeans and a nice collared shirt onto the bed. "Put these on, along with your good pair of shoes," she commands, heading for the door.

I respond with an eye roll and a loud puff of air. "Sure thing," I say, as I splay out onto my bed.

As I stare at my ceiling, thinking about how tonight is going to turn out, my body lurches.

"Hey!" Kaitlyn says, as she runs her hands up my legs and grabs hold of the bottom of my shorts. "Get dressed!" she strains. Her hands are fully inside my pants with her palms facing upwards. She stops at her thumbs and pulls down sharply making me hastily grab for my pants and try to cover myself.

"Ok, ok!" I yell, as I look down to see half of my underwear exposed.

"You'd better, or so help me, Jacob, I will change you myself!" she said with a parental tone.

"Message received. Just let me cover up! Get out. You can go now!" I snapped. With a satisfied smile, she spun around and skipped out the door.

I looked down again to see just how much of my dignity was left. She hadn't exposed too much of me. Luckily my underwear doesn't ride so tight that there is a clear outline of my dick. However, the left side was pulled down a lot further than the right and some pubes were sticking out.

"Great." I thought to myself, "Just great. This is what happens when you say 'no' too much; she finds new ways to make you say 'yes'! Well, lesson learned." I breathed a deep breath.

As I got changed, I couldn't help but think about the brief, but rather intimate, skin-to-skin contact she had initiated. It was obvious that she had no intention other than making me uncomfortable, but I couldn't help but feel the tingling sensations running through my legs caused by her touch.

"I don't have any romantic interest in Kaitlyn," I rationalised. "Getting exposed like that by anyone would make me a little sensitive." I looked in the mirror at my final appearance. I looked good. Although, I could see a small bulge in my jeans. Sighing, I adjusted myself. "This is why I don't wear jeans. I don't even have a semi, but it is still enough to make a noticeable bump in my pants," I complained to myself.

I exited the room. "Happy?" I asked.

"Yes. Now we can go," she said with a smile. "And...nice dick, Jake," she said with a light punch on the arm.

"Kaitlyn!" I snapped back at her. I couldn't believe she said that. I felt so exposed. But before I could experience too much distress, she spoke.

"Woah, calm down, Jake. I was only kidding, okay?" she reassured. It didn't do a good job of calming me down.

"Imagine if I pulled your pants down and said, 'Nice vag, Kaitlyn.' Wouldn't you react similarly?"

She put her arms on my shoulders and turned me to face her. She looked me right in the eye and said, "Jacob, I saw nothing and did not try to see anything. I just wanted you to get dressed and only meant to tease." She had a tone of seriousness that told me she was telling the truth.

"That's what I thought. It's just when you said that, I got all self-conscious," I said timidly.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry." She gave me a quick hug, "Here. All better."

It was easy to forgive her. So, I did. It wasn't that out of character for her, anyway. I just felt insecure about it and got defensive. I know she didn't mean to upset me.

*****

I spent most of the drive over to the party thinking about the exchange from earlier. I knew I was embarrassed about the whole incident and a little upset, but couldn't quite figure out why. I know she meant no harm, so I didn't mind what happened. But then, in contradiction to that, I still felt embarrassed at the same time. I don't really want to admit it to myself, but I think the reason I feel that way is not because of what she did, but because I wish she liked what she saw. Or at least, that she didn't think my dick was small or unkempt. I tried not to think about it too much. Like I said to myself earlier, having a girl's hands in that area will make you a little sensitive and the feelings will pass. I don't want to be thinking weirdly sexual thoughts about my best friend.

As we walked down the unfamiliar pathways of the university, Kaitlyn turned to me and says, "Ah, look at us. A matching pair." I give her a quizzical look. She is brightly-coloured and beaming, while I am wearing plain, dark clothes and an even plainer expression. We both look great, however; no one ever said that jeans and a collared shirt looked bad on me. And Kaitlyn radiated cuteness in her outfit.

"I guess my brown hair looks exceptionally green today. And look at that! My legs look great in this skirt," I sarcastically joked, while striking a pose with my right leg in front of me.

"Ever the comedian, Jake. Let's see you keep that energy when we get inside, huh? Or are you all bark and no bite?" she asked, as the large hall loomed over us. The sound of music and people grew louder with each step.

"Oh, I'll be the life of the party," I replied, with a deadpan voice.

We stepped into the large hall and were immediately bathed in the radiance of Kaitlyn's outfit. The room had several black lights that made every bit of her shine brighter than anyone else in the room. Immediately dancing, her face came alive with a green glow as her hair moved and simultaneously cast colour and shadow over her. She was a walking, talking strobe light, beaming her excited energy to everyone in the room.

I, on the other hand, immediately felt anxious. The room was huge and filled with people I'd never met. The music was louder than was really necessary, and I realised I had no idea where to get drinks or where the toilets were.

"Kaitlyn!" I yelled, barely louder than the surrounding noise.

"What's up, Jake?" she replied, as she swayed her hips in time with the music.

"I don't know anyone here..."

"That's the point," she interrupted, stopping to face me better.

"I don't even know where the toilets are, or who to talk to. And you know I can't just dance with everyone watching me!"

She reassuringly placed a hand on my shoulder. "That's okay, I'll stay with you all night. You can talk to me, and I'll find out what's what." I smiled at her, feeling less anxious about the situation. "Here, let's ask them. They look like they're having fun." She skipped away, pulling me with her, towards a group of people before I had a chance to oppose.

"Hi!" She beamed at the crowd while titling her head to the side. Our hands were still interlocked.

"Hey."

"Hi." Two members of the group answered.

"I like your style, girl," said the woman who turned to face us. She didn't seem to mind that Kaitlyn had just approached them out of the blue.

"Yeah! Your hair looks so cool in this light," added the man she was with.

"We don't go here and Jacob is very shy. What's the info on this place?" Kaitlyn asked them, while gesturing to me. I tried to not look so awkward and smiled, mouthing a silent, "Hello."

"We're Jess and Jesse," Jess said, while gesturing to her partner.

"There's food over there, a bar at that end and toilets somewhere in the corner over there," Jesse added, while pointing around the hall.

As I looked around the building, searching for the highlighted locations, Jess pointed at Kaitlyn, "So are you..."

"Kaitlyn."

"...and Jacob dating? Or..." she asked innocently.

Kaitlyn, while still holding my hand, put her other hand on my bicep and hugged my arm tight. "We sure are!" she said, before I had a chance to say otherwise.

"Oh, that's great," Jess replied.

I stared at Kaitlyn and began a telepathic discussion with her. I furrowed my brow and showed her I was unhappy. She replied with smugness and stuck her tongue in and out quickly, followed by a cheeky grin.

"How long have you been dating for?" asked Jesse.

"Um, about a month now." Kaitlyn replied sounding like a love-struck teen. She pulled me in closer as I tried to subtly move out of her grip. "Isn't that right, sweetie?" she added and gave me a loud kiss on the cheek.

This surprised the crap out of me. I wasn't so shocked when she decided to play couple--just another one of her antics getting me into uncomfortable social situations--but this was further than I thought she would go. Realising I was trapped within the lie, I gathered all the confidence I had, to get the better of the situation and one-up her.

With a deep breath, and a fake bravado, I replied, "That's right, babe. Celebrating our one-month next weekend." As I said weekend, I slapped her hard on the butt, gripped an ass cheek fully into my hand and squeezed. "By the way guys, I hope you don't mind PTA, because she is a little deviant." My confidence had worked. I had now turned the tables on her and she was beginning to be embarrassed. I kept squeezing her butt and used the grip to keep her in close to me as she tried to leave.