Slowdance

Halley hugged herself tight, trying to alleviate her nerves. "Be-Besides," she said, "you're definitely way better than me."

"Come on, it's not hard." Curtis held his hand out in front of her. She stared at it, the dread of knowing she couldn't back out swelling in her. The only way out of this now was to indulge him. She put an apprehensive hand on his cool fingers and he closed his hand, dragging her out to a more open spot on the carpet.

Curtis released her a metre apart from himself. He took his opposite hand out of his pocket and began to sway to the steady, rhythmic beats surrounding them. Halley crossed her arms tight. It felt like a hundred pairs of eyes had appeared out of thin air, criticising her every move.

"Don't be nervous. Just let go. That's the whole point." Curtis had to speak above the music from this spot.

"I just don't feel right," Halley shouted, trying to get her quiet voice to be heard. "Dancing is embarrassing, anyway. Especially when I do it." He didn't respond.

"Did you hear me?" she yelled again. "I'm not dancing!"

Curtis was moving this way and that as he danced, paying zero attention to Halley. It was like he kept dismissing what she had to say, and shockingly, it was evident he had enough defiance to match Halley's. She grew more and more frustrated before finally giving in.

"Fine. I'll dance with you, okay?" Halley said, and Curtis seemed to approve of that response.

"Sounds great," he nodded.

Her cheeks lifted all on their own. She couldn't stay annoyed at him for very long.

"But you have to help me," she told him firmly. "A-And don't laugh, or I swear to God."

"Alright, I promise."

Curtis took her graciously by the hand again and began to lead her through the music. He tugged her arms around to match each of the beats. Once she'd started moving, Halley admitted she felt better already. But she still felt stiff. She tried to breathe, relaxation making a home in her. Her joints loosened and her heart began to slow. Continuing to follow Curtis' guidance, she attempted to fall into the music's pattern.

Halley tried her best but couldn't think of how to match what she was hearing. When she observed Curtis in front of her, his whole body looked unrestricted. She couldn't understand what the difference between the two of them was. He glided back and forth, matching in time effortlessly while leaving her to try to clumsily follow along.

Slowly his grip relaxed and his fingers started to fall away. Panicking, she grabbed at his hands, worried she'd lose her rhythm without him, but his arms fell away regardless. She focused. She tried to keep her timing, copying his movements while focusing on the music.

"You're trying too hard," Curtis said loudly without pausing as if he just read her thoughts. He'd obviously been watching her. "The point of dancing is to let go."

Her face flushed with frustration. She felt ready to give up. Halley stopped and brushed her fringe off her forehead, then started up again. She attempted to repeat what she was doing before, to not much success. Then, she rocked her hips on time and she started to get it. Everything else seemed to fall into place, almost like when you get a piece of a jigsaw correct and the rest follow afterwards.

"There you go." Curtis smiled as soon as he saw what she was doing. Halley laughed in relief. She didn't want to admit he'd been right.

The two of them danced together. Halley was still using a lot of energy on concentrating, but she'd gotten the hang of it. Her arms swung and her hair bounced. Her whole family could've been staring at Halley at that moment and she wouldn't have cared in the slightest.

They danced through a few different tracks, and each time they used a slightly different arrangement of moves -- or rather, Halley took inspiration after Curtis. A few times during their moment together, when she felt the most relaxed, Halley would sneak glances at Curtis' face just to memorise his features. His angular nose; his soft cheeks. She noticed he had a freckle right under his jaw that she saw every time he turned his head away.

A new track came on that sounded much more calm than any of the ones before it. Curtis started dancing straight away while Halley had to adapt, taking in the soft synth that pulsed overhead a few times. Halley dropped into the music at her own pace. This time she felt different. She was looser, more connected.

Without trying, she had gradually inched a few steps closer to Curtis. Barely half an arm apart they locked eyes, and Curtis just gave her a friendly smile. Then, her breath was snatched by something, forcing her to gasp for air. Her chest went tight, and she had to push herself away to calm down again.

She continued to dance after that, and eventually didn't know how much time had passed. During a later song, Curtis spun one too many times while trying to be funny and almost fell over. She laughed her head off, drunk on the atmosphere. As soon as Halley stopped moving, though, the fatigue hit her all at once and they both decided to take a breather.

Curtis slumped down onto one of the chairs along the back wall of the room. He gazed at the white ceiling high above them with his head resting against the wall.

"I told you dancing is fun," Curtis said.

"Whatever," Halley grinned. "Maybe because this music is better than everything I've heard."

He shook his head in disagreement. "Nah. This music is pretty boring, actually."

"You didn't seem to care a few minutes ago." Halley's whole body at that moment felt incredibly light. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had so much fun at once. Not since she became a teenager, she reckoned.

He shrugged. "I take whatever I get given. Dancing is easy, anyway, I told you that before. Don't worry though -- the next time we dance, we'll have good music. Then I can teach you properly."

Halley turned to him. "Next time?"

Curtis looked at her, then shrugged his shoulders. "Sure. We'll still be friends then."

She smiled at the notion. She then stared at him for a few seconds, scanning his white dress shirt and trousers. "Aren't you hot in those clothes?"

He looked down at himself. "Yeah, a little." He undid the top button of his shirt and fiddled with the knot of his tie, slipping the silky blue fabric out from his collar. "I don't even really like ties," he said, looking down at it in the palm of his hand. "I only left it on because Maria said it looked good on me."

Halley chuckled. "They look uncomfortable." She suddenly remembered the headband that was starting to dig into the side of her head and yanked it out of her thin hair, dropping it in her lap.

Halley stared at the ceiling. She watched as the spectacular green, blue and purple light danced across the surface, the colours shifting back and forth in an almost harmonious pattern. Even though there was nothing special at all about it, she somehow felt so entranced by the beauty of it.

"What should we do now?" she said, not looking away.

"What do you mean?" Curtis said back.

"There's nothing to do in here except for eating and talking. We've already done all that," she explained.

"I wasn't planning on doing anything else. They're probably gonna cut the cake soon. Then we can have some of that," Curtis suggested.

Halley sat up straight again, looking over at him. "I don't like cake that much," she said.

"What?" he said, his face full of disbelief. "I love cake."

"Sorry," she shrugged. "It's kind of boring. Besides, I don't wanna be around any of my relatives when that happens. They'll all start giving speeches, then we'll never get away."

Curtis looked at her for a moment as if tossing up what to do in his mind. Finally, he said, "Alright then. How about a walk?"

It was perfect. She nodded. "Okay then. Let's do that."

He smiled, pleased to have been able to satisfy her.

Curtis pushed himself up from the chair and stretched. Halley left her headband behind on the seat cushion, and the two of them managed to get to the venue doors without drawing any attention. They emerged from the dim space into the brightly lit hallway, forcing Halley to squint for the first few seconds.

Curtis walked beside her in strides with his hands in his pockets. When she looked at him underneath proper lighting, she was able to see his face much clearer. Everything about him was so much more elegant. The fluorescent lights bounced off his coppery hair and his skin looked lighter than it did before underneath his crisp white shirt.

She looked down at her own plain black dress that she wore, which draped over her knees and was loose under the armpits -- evidence that she'd barely grown in three years.

Halley had always been slender, and so she accepted it already. She was never conscious about it, but she supposed it made her feel a little less girly than all the people around her, who always expected more out of her in that regard. But somehow, just being with Curtis that night made her feel like a real girl.

He noticed her staring and she quickly looked away.

"What's up?" he questioned. She was hoping he would've ignored her.

"Nothing," she replied hastily. "Just -- you look different out here."

He looked surprised. "Really? You look the same to me. Your hair's not as dark as I thought, though. That colour is nice, I think."

She blushed. Curtis felt like someone who always said the first thing that came to his head without thinking about it first. Halley had never been like that, so she was a bit envious. It sounded nice not having to worry about what everyone thought of her all the time.

"Do you live around here?" asked Curtis suddenly.

"No," Halley answered. "I live about an hour and a half away. We had to leave before dinner just to get here on time."

"Oh, really? That's pretty far. You probably don't drive, do you?"

Again, Halley had to say no. "It's a lot of work, and... it freaks me out, to be honest. My mum nags me about it all the time. She thinks it will solve all my problems or something. When I get a job I can just use the train."

She kept her gaze at the floor.

"Why, do you?" she inquired. Something like that would only add to the list of things he could do that she couldn't.

Curtis scratched the side of his head. "Actually, no. I did try when I was sixteen, but I messed up my mum's car pretty bad. She told me to wait until I was older. I still haven't driven it since then."

Halley laughed in surprise, then felt bad. "Really? You seem way too perfect to ever do that," she said. "I wonder what your parents are like."

"They're normal," Curtis replied with a shrug. "They've wanted me to do something since I left school, so they're probably happy I finally got here. But it's weird being away from them, you know?"

"Yeah. It would be weird. Even though I wish I could get away from my parents all the time, I would probably miss them if I ever left." Halley snickered. She shook her head. "What am I even saying? That makes no sense."

"It makes sense to me." She met Curtis' blue eyes again as he smiled warmly. "I knew you didn't hate them."

"Don't be so sure," Halley threw back. "You've met my aunt and uncle, but you haven't met them yet."

Curtis laughed. "Alright, I believe you."

The two of them had made their way around the entire U-shaped hallway until they met a dead end, where just beyond the wall to their the thumping party room where all of Halley's relatives currently were. Around this part of the building, there was only a storage cupboard, and a set of closed doors that she guessed connected to another vacant venue room.

"You wanna turn back now?" Curtis asked. Halley nodded reluctantly.

She'd rather have spent a bit longer than sixty seconds with Curtis in such a perfect spot, but she knew there wasn't any more to do in this part of the building than where the actual party was happening. She was perfectly aware it was just an excuse to get away from her daily life.

Ready to return, Halley stepped off. As she started to walk back down the hallway she looked at the wall to her right. She liked to observe things, often for no reason. One of the two ugly brown-painted doors, she noticed, looked slightly ajar. Slowing down she leaned over and pushed it, and shockingly enough it gave way.

"This door's open," she called out to Curtis, who'd gotten a few metres away from her and had to walk back up to where she was.

"Whoa, weird," he said. "Let's check it out."

"Wait, are you sure?" Halley said back. "Won't we get in trouble?"

"It'll be fine," he answered her. "We'll just let them know they left it open if they catch us. Besides, we're not committing a crime or anything."

He stepped inside first, pushing the door open for Halley to slip inside after. The room past the threshold was completely blackened by darkness, the only thing lighting her way being the crack of stale white light from the hallway. Curtis had disappeared completely, despite Halley's best efforts to squint through the darkness.

She waved around in front of her to make sure there wasn't anything in her path as she stepped. A minute passed with no sign of Curtis. Her heart was beginning to thump with worry, and just as she was about to call out for him, the ceiling lights all flicked on spontaneously, forcing her to cover her eyes. After blinking them open, she could see Curtis standing at the far back wall of the room next to what looked like an electrical box.

"Ta-da!" he shouted out. "Is that better?"

"You scared me," Halley shouted back, voice trembling. She clutched her chest with her hand angrily. "I didn't know where you went. And no, that isn't better. That almost blinded me."

Snapping the box shut, he met her in the middle of the room again. "Ah, you're right. I'm really sorry. I probably should've warned you first," he apologised sincerely.

No kidding. Heartbeat steady once again, Halley had a chance to take a proper look at her surroundings. Not very surprisingly, the room was almost identical to the party room, except for the fact that it was totally empty. It had the same wall lights, the same ceiling bar, the same shallow wooden stage at the far opposite end. A wall of stacked chairs lined one side of the room that she thought looked dangerously close to toppling over.

"This is cool," said Curtis, gazing around.

"Yeah. It's so quiet in here. I'm whispering and it feels too loud," Halley chuckled.

"Be as loud as you want, no-one will care." He looked down at her with a mischievous grin and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Hello!" he bellowed, voice echoing off every surface at once.

Halley's heart jumped and she clapped her mouth. "What are you doing!?" she scolded. "We're gonna get caught!"

"There's nobody on this floor," he responded. "Just relax."

Halley punched him in the arm, a grin spreading across her face. "You really suck, you know that?"

"Aw, that's mean."

Curtis took a deep breath. The air was frankly a bit musty, so Halley kept her breathing shallow. He then went over to the closest wall and sat himself down against it, stretching one of his long legs out. Halley followed, brushing her skirt down as she sat beside him. She looked at him as he dropped the tie he had scrunched in his hand on the carpet. While Halley had the chance, she also quickly slipped off her party shoes, taking a sigh of relief. There was a red mark where the small buckle had been.

The atmosphere was completely still. The only thing she heard now was the sound of her own breathing. She wondered what Curtis was thinking about. He seemed so calm when he was in his own mind. Not even a single hair was out of place as he contemplated. Sometimes she wished she could be as easy-going as him, but somehow his collected appearance was what contributed to his calm demeanour.

As she found herself staring at him yet again, Halley got a strange feeling inside her that told her she was completely content, yet at the same time begged selfishly for something more. More of whatever she was feeling right now.

Curtis looked over at her, snatching her with his watery blue eyes. She lost what she'd been just thinking about. He didn't give Halley one of his friendly smiles, and he didn't make a witty remark. He was simply staring. Then, Curtis leaned over and kissed her lips.

She couldn't say anything. She gawked at him for a few seconds, stunned.

"Wh-What was that?" she squeaked. All of a sudden her world became surreal, like one big, swirly dream.

"I like you," was all he said back to her.

Curtis shuffled closer and leaned in again. This time Halley's body moved before her mind and she rested her hand on his leg. They kissed, and it felt wonderful. Her eyes fell closed, bursts of colour going off in her mind. Halley was a complete noob, though, and so her mouth was frozen apart while Curtis did most of the actual work.

When he let go, the relief that came over her was indescribable. It was like the sneeze she'd been waiting all night for. The warmth left her lips and she reopened her eyes.

"Sorry," Halley apologised. "That was probably terrible. I've never kissed anyone before..."

"Don't worry about it," he smiled, his voice utterly soothing.

She wasted no time and turned back to Curtis. He seemed to scoop her up with his arm, pulling her close for another kiss until they were tight enough together for Halley to feel his chest expanding against her ribs with every breath he took. She realised Curtis might not have been as entranced by the experience as she was, but she didn't care. She only cared about how much longer he would hold her like this before she had to return to her bleak life.

Halley decided to shift herself slightly while they kissed, making a bold choice to snake her arms past Curtis' collarbone. As if by reflex he hugged her tighter. They began to peck each other's lips in bursts and she thought she was going to faint. Curtis tipped her up onto his lap in a straddle-like position, her knees to the floor and ankles on his knees. At some point she'd stopped worrying so much about how new this was to her and instead started enjoying everything about the experience: from the way his hands were clasped together at the base of her spine, as if to support her, to the way she was able to lean into him without hurting him at all.

Their kisses got longer and deeper until they barely felt separate anymore. She'd accidentally kept her breath held and exhaled deeply when she noticed, overwhelmed by the emotions popping like bubbles all inside her.

Curtis' hands slid down from Halley's shoulders to her back. They got lower, and slightly lower still. His fingers brushed her hips. Alarmed, she stirred, but solemnly hoped he didn't notice out of fear it would bring all of this to an end. But if it was going where she thought it was, then she realised the two were on a very slippery slope. As much as she wanted this -- wanted him -- she wasn't sure she was ready to face the next step. She didn't not want it, though. In fact she'd given it quite a bit of thought in the past. But now, being in the moment made it feel more daunting than anything she'd ever done.

She halted. "Curtis..." she whispered, lifting her head.

He opened his eyes. "Yeah?"

"I--" Halley stumbled over what she wanted to say, the thoughts not translating into words. "I-I'm nervous," she said.

Curtis gulped. "Um... Th-That's okay. We don't have to do anything," he whispered back, voice faltering. "We can go back to the party and just hang out."

"No--" Halley said, then started cursing at herself in her mind. She didn't know what she really wanted. The pressure was too much to handle. "I-I really like you. I want something to happen, b-but..."

"I'm here for you," Curtis said. "It's not like I know what I'm doing either."