Double Date Dare -12- Melanie E. (Patreon)

12.

Despite my efforts to train him and all the progress we had made, getting Ted to dance at my house and getting him to dance in front of nearly the entire junior and senior classes and a fair few sophomores proved to be a different issue entirely.

We were two of the first couples to arrive at prom, as per Sandy’s plan. With the crowds light and the music starting low, I managed to get him out and loosened up early on. Still, as more people arrived and the volume and body heat levels grew, Ted turned more and more into himself, especially when his friends from the basketball or golf teams would come over and compliment him.

They meant well, but it was more than he could handle.

On the downside, that meant that we wound up leaving the floor earlier than I really wanted to so that Ted could sit and get his bearings, aided by the joys of finger foods and punch that I was thankful the chaperones were keeping under very close watch.

On the plus side, this was something that I had fully expected, and Sandy had fully expected as well. So, when she arrived at the table some ten minutes later with a somewhat bedraggled-looking Butch in tow, I already knew the drill.

“Hey, sis! You two called it quits awful early,” Sandy said peppily while Butch collapsed into one of the empty chairs, loosening his tie.

“It was getting a bit busy on the floor,” I offered by way of explanation. “I wanted to sit out for a bit until folks start calming down some.”

That was a lie. I wanted to dance.

“Oh! Well, I think I’ve just about got Butch worn down and could use a new partner,” Sandy said, giving Ted a Look. “So, how about it?”

Ted very carefully gulped down the mouthful of punch he had been in mid-sip of. “Uhh, me?”

“Yeah! Give these two a chance to rest while we have some fun.”

“Ummm….”

Bless his heart. Ted gave me a look that told me everything it needed to.

“Go on. She won’t stop nagging until you do,” I told him with a smile.

“She’s right,” Sandy said, giggling gleefully as she pulled Ted to his feet. “So come on, Supes, they’re playin’ our song.”

I just heard Ted ask, “Supes?” in a small voice as Sandy led him away, to what was inevitably his doom, but hopefully a pleasant one at least.

I glanced across the table to where Butch sprawled, fanning himself with his prom program and watching his girlfriend walk off with the boy he’d set her best friend up with.

“I thought you were an athlete?” I teased him, taking a careful sip of my own fizzy punch and looking away. I was determined to enjoy it since I was only allowing myself one cup all night to avoid any bathroom debacles.

“Pssht,” Butch scoffed, and I heard his program hit the table. “Basketball is easy: you run a few laps, toss a ball a bit, nothing to it,” he said with the kind of casual dismissal of the game that only came with being the unquestioned best player on our team. “But dancing with Sandy?”

I nodded. I loved my sister, but she could be pretty intense about dancing and had left me a ragged mess myself at more than one other school dance.

“So, how’re you holding up?”

“Me?” I asked, giving Butch a curious look.

He laughed. “Yeah! I’ll be honest, when Sandy said you’d agreed to come… like that,” he said, waving toward my dress. “I’d figured there was a catch somewhere.”

I shrugged. “I lost the bet,” I said, like that explained everything.

“If that’s losing,” he said in an entirely different tone, giving my dress an entirely more appraising look. “Then we all won.”

I looked away, trying my best to hide the blush I was sure would have made my face match my dress if not for the foot of defensive foundation.

“So, what are you and Sandy up to tonight anyway?” He asked me, giving me a less nerve-inducing but still very friendly smile when I turned his way again.

“Aaah--”

“THERE you are!” A loud voice chimed in, thankfully interrupting whatever lie I was about to botch. Both of us turned to see a red-haired vision in lavender practically frog-marching her date our way. “We’ve been looking for you!”

“Hi Ronnie,” I said, standing up and giving my friend a very sincere hug. “Isn’t this great?”

“I know right?” She almost squealed. “When I heard the seniors had picked ‘Voyage in the Stars’ for their theme, I was expecting Vulcans or something, not this!”

I nodded in agreement. The gym had been decked out to look like the deck of a cruise ship, but with themes of swirling galaxies and sparkling stars all about. “Yeah, I bet Charlie is disappointed, though.”

Ronnie laughed. “I’m sure!”

I looked around, seeing if I could spot Emily and her beau in the room, and unsurprisingly saw them sitting with several of his other gaming friends and their dates at another table. When she saw me looking her way, she raised her cup of punch and gave me a wide, happy grin, matched by Charlie’s when he saw where she was looking as well.

“So,” Ronnie said, catching my attention again. “I thought you were here with Ted? He bail on you?”

“Nope,” I said, pointing out to the dance floor. “He’s dancing with Sandy, giving Butch a break.”

“No!”

“Mm-hmm!” I crowed like a proud momma.

“Think he’d dance with me too?” She asked me, causing Luke to stop chatting with Butch about something basketball-related and give her a disbelieving look. “Just once, to say I had,” she assured him, sealing it with a kiss on the nose.

“I don’t know?” I said honestly, wondering whether Ted’s bravery could withstand the whirlwind that was Tropical Storm Ronnie. “Maybe next year would be better?”

“Hmmm. Maybe,” she agreed, then frowned as she looked out at the floor. “Besides, he looks kinda occupied.”

“What do you… oh,” I said, following her eyeline and seeing Sandy dancing a good deal closer to Ted than I had during our lessons. I couldn’t tell whether the look on his face was sheer terror or unbridled joy as she did her bump and grind, but whichever it was, he was making no move to stop it.

“Welp,” Ronnie said, giving me another quick hug and Butch an awkward glance. “I think that’s our cue to go dance some more ourselves, right Luke?”

“Hmm? Right!”

“Catch y’all later!” She said, dragging the poor boy back out to the dance floor and leaving me there with Butch, who was watching Sandy and Ted with just as disbelieving a look as the one Ronnie had worn earlier.

“Umm,” I said, intelligently.

Butch looked at me, then at the floor again.

“Wanna get some fresh air?” I asked him, looking toward the doors where the chaperones kept a careful eye out for hand stamps and even the slightest whiff of booze.

“Yeah, I think I do,” he agreed, standing up without taking his eyes off the floor.

“Great.”

I started heading toward the chaperones, watching to make sure Butch was following me. Thankfully he was.

Thankfully he didn’t look angry or upset either. Just confused.

‘Please,’ I prayed to myself, ‘don’t let this be the day one of Sandy’s plans goes wrong.’