Dance With Me
*Bang, Bang, Bang*
I looked up as the knock came at my door, knowing who it would be. Knowing who it was didn't help much though, because even if I didn't know, my heart would still be beating as crazily as it was now.
But at least it was Evan at the door.
He was the only person who would come to my room at this time of day so I knew automatically that it would be him there.
I stood up from my seat on the couch, brushing my hands off on my pants.
It was now that I started to realize how nervous I was. I had never really been to parties before, sure a few back when I was in high school but not many. So going to one now, with the boy that happened to make all my necessary body features stop working, made me quite nervous.
I went over and opened the door, seeing of course, Evan standing there.
“Hey,” he smiled, running his finger through his hair.
He wasn’t wearing anything crazy, just ripped blue jeans and a green t-shirt but it made me want to kiss him more than I already had before. His smile was as beautiful as ever, his hair as messy but as perfect as it has always been.
“Hi,” I smiled back, meeting his beautiful eyes that were now a greenish color for a second before my legs threatened to give out.
“You ready to meet some slightly insane people?” he asked, leaning against the doorway.
“No, probably not,” I shrugged. The way I said it made it seem like a joke but I was in fact, not ready at all.
He laughed, shaking his head slightly at my words.
“You know, I like you, you’re funny,” he said, his eyes twinkling in the dull hallway light.
“Thanks,” I whispered, arching my eyebrows slightly.
I like you.
Those words ingrained themselves in my brain. He liked me. I know he didn’t mean it any sort of way but just him liking me as a friend was great enough for me.
“Now come on,” He exclaimed, clapping his hands, “we have a party to attend!”
—---------------------------------------------------------
“Guys, this is Barty,” Evan said, gesturing towards me.
There were plenty of people at this party but in front of me sat only three. They were the three that Evan knew from college, the insane ones.
“Hi,” I said, trying to smile.
I wasn’t great with people but one thing I was great at was faking emotions.
“This is Dorcas, Pandora and Reggie,” Evan said to me, gesturing to each person as he said their name.
“My name is Regulus not Reggie,” the boy sighed, rolling his eyes.
He had short black hair and piercing grey eyes. Unlike Evans, Regulus’ were more stormy, more intense while Evans were mixed with blue and green and sparkled like crystals.
I laughed as Evan dramatically rolled his eyes, mocking the boy.
“Don’t worry, he’s less grumpy once you get to know him,” he leaned in and whispered in my ear yet it was anything but quiet.
“Yeah, he’ll warm up to you,” the girl named Dorcas shrugged.
“You guys know I'm sitting right here right? I can talk for myself,” Regulus sighed.
“No Reggie, you can’t,” Evan said, smiling slightly.
“You shouldn’t be allowed to have friends Evan,”
“I strongly disagree with you Reggie,”
I bit my lip, listening to them go back and forth. I wasn’t really listening to what they were saying because I couldn't keep my eyes off Evan’s lips. Of course, I was expecting this to happen so my heart beat started to quickly rise and I started to block out most of what they were saying.
“I’m going to go find James,” Regulus muttered, “You guys have fun. And Barty, nice to meet you.”
He flashed what must have been his equivalent of a smile at me before turning away and wandering out of the room.
“He’s….interesting,” I said slowly after he had left, raising my eyebrows slightly as I turned back to Evan.
“Yeah, that’s Reggie for you,” he laughed, shrugging slightly.
“Why do you call him that?” I asked, running my fingers through my hair.
“To mess with him mostly,” he smiled, making my lungs stop working. That stupidly beautiful smile.
“I see,” I nodded, smiling not at his words but rather at him.
“I’m going to go get drinks, do you want something?”
“Yeah, sure, thanks,”
“Alright, Pandora, keep him company, will you?”
It was at that moment that I remembered that there were two other people with us or there should have been. Dorcas seemed to have disappeared so Pandora was the only one left standing there.
“Of course,” she smiled, turning back to me.
Something about her seemed off compared to the rest of the group. She seemed a lot more gentle than the rest of the group. Still as insane as everyone else yet more welcoming. And there was something else but I couldn’t quite place what it was.
“Great, I'll be right back!” Evan said, then quickly turned and walked away.
I watched him as he left then turned my focus back to Pandora. It was then that I noticed the striking resemblance between her and Evan. They didn’t look identical but they were definitely related.
She had the same dirty blonde hair and the same soft eyes like Evan that seemed to be a mixture of green, grey and blue all at once. Her smile was bright and something about it just made me feel at home.
“You two seem close,” she smiled, taking a sip from a water bottle she had in her hand for whatever reason.
“We met a couple weeks ago,” I said, avoiding her eyes that reminded me so much of Evans, “I just moved into the apartment next to his.”
“Oh is that so?”
Something about the way she spoke and the way she looked at me made me feel as though I was being….interrogated. Not in a bad way, it just felt like every question she asked had meaning behind it rather than just making small talk. It also felt as though she would remember every answer I gave to these said questions.
“Yup,” I nodded, “and what about you? How do you know Evan?”
“We’re actually cousins, believe it or not,” she laughed.
“Oh really? Well that explains the looks,” I noted, nodding slightly.
Before she had time to answer, Evan walked back up to us. He had two cups in his hands, one holding one out towards me.
“Well it was nice to meet you Barty, I hope Regulus’ bad mood doesn’t scare you away. Or Dorcas’ random disappearance,” Pandora smiled.
I smiled back, nodding slightly. I wasn’t quite sure what to say so I hoped those actions would get across the message I was trying to send.
Honestly, I didn't really even know what that message was. I hoped that I hadn't been awful company to her and that she didn’t have a bad first impression of me.
“You should’ve told me you guys were cousins,” I said to Evan once Pandora had left.
“Well I figured you’d find that out,” he smiled, the sparkle in his eyes sending a shiver down my spine, “and you did.”
I took a sip of my drink, welcoming the bitter taste of alcohol. If I was going to survive this night, alcohol might be the only thing that could help. Or harm.
“Well I did,” I shrugged, “why do you guys live so close?”
I watched something flash across his face but I wasn't quite sure what it was but I could tell that it wasn’t good. Pain maybe.
“Sorry, i didn’t mean to-” I started but he interrupted me.
“Don’t, it's fine,” he said quickly, taking a sip from his drink, “she’s like a sister to me and our family isn’t the best you know? So we decided to stick together.”
As he spoke I felt a pang of jealousy. I wish I had some sort of sibling or cousin like that.
But no. I was an only child and my family was pretty small so I didn’t have anyone like that growing up or even now.
So when I moved, getting away from that awful place, I had done it alone with no one by my side.
“Are you okay?” Evan asked, his eyebrows knit together as he must have noticed whatever emotion was now displayed on my face.
“Yeah, no, I'm fine,” I lied, shaking my head, “It's nothing.”
“Okay,” he said slowly but the concern didn’t leave his eyes.
I took the last swig of my drink then placed my cup on the table.
I wasn’t going to let that ruin the mood of the night. Sure, it was early but hey, maybe I could try to at least enjoy this night.
“Do you dance?” I asked, tilting my head slightly.
“Why? Do you want me to ask you to dance?” He laughed.
“Maybe,” I smiled. I knew these words would probably come back to haunt me once i was sober but i didn’t care.
“Alright,” he said, smiling back at me, “will you dance with me?”