It’s not that Mike was embarrassed to be where he was right now. In fact, it didn’t even occur to him that he should be embarrassed where he was. Sitting on an old folding chair, picking at his pants (unmatching to his blazer) and watching his friends dance around with their respective girls. Even Dustin, of all people, was dancing with Mike’s sister.

Maybe he was moping a little. He wouldn’t admit that.

You were eager. Not to say desperate, but just eager. You tended to skip out on dances. Your friends, namely Mike, Will, Dustin, and Lucas, all agreed that dances were a waste of time. Not that you would jump off a cliff if they did, like your dad put it crudely. No, you just weren’t interested in going alone if the majority (party rules) didn’t want to. It just made sense.

But now, you were here. It would be unsatisfactory to anyone else. Cheap lights, torn up tissue paper as “snow” confetti, and a single speaker being used to make a mediocre level of sound. And yet, you were sitting by Mike, eagerly building up the courage to ask him to dance. Not that you liked him… you just… you wanted to dance with him. Not anyone else.