Emma's First Dance

"W-Wa-Wanna Dance?"
Tim Benson had just asked Emma Taylor to dance.
"This has to be a joke," Emma thought to herself as she followed warily behind him.
"He's been dared or something" She scowled accusingly at the the crowd of faces leading to the dance floor but no one was even looking at her.
"Then again", she reasoned,"it IS the last song of the night. Don't they write romantic songs just for this dance?"
Tim turned to face her then, awkwardly holding his arms out in front of him. Emma took a calming breath before stretching her hands out to barely touch his shoulders. She felt his hands pull her in at the waist and immediately started sweating. Her heart was pounding in her ears; her knees wobbled and she wondered how she could possibly be expected to move.
"Here goes nothin'," she thought as she attempted to take her first dance step.
"Oh Sh..., I'm Sorry," she muttered, tripping on his shoe.
Tim smiled shyly at her and then quickly glanced away. Emma rolled her eyes, disgusted with herself. She took another deep breath and tried to focus on the task of moving her feet to the rhythm. She felt the room starting to sway and hoped it was them moving to the music.
"Oh my God, I can't breathe. I am dancing with the coolest guy at Leslie Thomas Junior High and I... can't... breathe."
She swallowed hard to stop her stomach from leaping onto Tim's shirt.
"Whaddo I do now?, she wondered. "Should I say something?"
She tried to peek up at his face but without moving her head but accomplished nothing but a headache from stretching her eyeballs so far.
"Is he bored of me? Am I doing this right?"
She caught a whiff of salty onion from somewhere in the crowd.
"Oh Jeez, did I put deodorant on? Can he smell my armpits from there?"
She thought back to earlier in the evening and heaved a giant sigh of relief. Yes, she'd applied the stick; she was sure! "Oh there's B.O Steve-O...that's what stinks. Phew"
"Are you okay?", he asked looking down at her.
"Oh yea man, I'm totally cool", she said as nonchalantly as she could.
"Did I just say totally cool? God, I'm such a loser"
"Cool dance huh?", she said. Oh shut-up Emma!
"WHAT?"he leaned his ear closer.
"I SAID, COOL DANCE HUH?"
Tim shrugged his shoulders and smiled slightly.
Emma couldn't think of anything else to say and was starting to think her breathe reeked anyway.
She silently cursed her mother's meatloaf and garlic mashed potatoes. She focused on the other girls who were also dancing this last dance. Some had their faces buried comfortably in their partner's necks (they were the ones going steady, of course); some towered over the boys they were dancing with; some looked so disgusted she wondered why they had agreed to the dance in the first place. She hoped people were noticing her and who she was dancing with. She couldn't stop the smile that spread on her face when she saw her best friends, Cynthia and Katie, watching her from the sidelines. They were bouncing up and down and giving her the thumbs-up. She quickly forced her face back into a neutral position before anyone could think she was enjoying herself. That would be so uncool.
"How long is this song anyway? We've been dancing here forever." It had been exactly 43 seconds.
The song ended after three more glorious minutes.
"It's over already? But, it just started!"
Emma reluctantly removed her sweaty palms from his shoulders and quickly stuck them in her pockets.
The lights switched on in the gymnasium, brightening the moment and making her nauseous.
She squinted up at Tim."Thanks Tim...for the dance...and..."
"Sure Emma, I'll see ya 'round...hopefully soon", he said.
Before Emma could digest what he'd said "wait-what was that... a compliment?", his friends started hooting for him from across the gym to hurry up.
She knew instinctively that Cynthia and Katie were right behind her, ready to burst with excitement. Tim waved slowly and walked to meet his friends. She watched until he was out the doors and then turned to her group of friends who were already bombarding her with questions.
"How was it?" "Oh my God, what'd he say to you?" " Was it totally dreamy?" "Oh Em, you're so lucky!"
Emma smiled. "It was okay. No big deal." But her insides were screaming with joy. She would remember this dance forever...and Tim Benson.
"It was so romantic."