Was this really the time to have an earnest dialogue?
If not now, then when?
“Come on, the boys are waiting for us,” Hailey said. “Really. Talk to him, Melissa. Just say what’s on your mind.”
Hailey didn’t give me much choice about leaving the bathroom. She took my hand and walked me out, not letting go until we’d gotten all the way back to the booth, which looked like it had paused all action from the time we left until now.
Sam and Corey looked like they were refusing to talk to each other, or if they had, it had been very brief. The mood certainly wasn’t any lighter. And I was supposed to try and break through and talk to Corey about that?
“Well, aren’t we a lively bunch,” Hailey said with a forced bemused look on her face. “Come on, let’s go dance.”
“Oh, Christ, make me look like a fucking moron,” Sam said.
“Come on!”
Hailey looked at me and nodded her head over. I really didn’t want to dance. I especially didn’t want to dance with Corey. I remembered him being a good dancer, but that was exactly the issue. I didn’twantto dance with someone good who could get me swept up in the moment and make me forget that, hey, it wasn’t a great idea if I kept going through with this.
But Corey had no such reservations. When Hailey and Sam stood up, he pushed me out to continue, taking my hand in the process. It was a bold and aggressive move, considering I think I’d said all of a couple words to him all night.
And yet…
It felt good. It got me excited. Anxious, still, but excited.
We moved to the dance floor, and Sam and Hailey became wrapped in their own world. The two of them were free to express their love and affection for each other, while Corey and I kind of shifted in between dancing with each other some, dancing from a distance, and half-nodding toward moving together, half-ignoring each other.
It was awkward.
Probably three or four songs in, I heard Hailey scream in excitement. I looked over and recognized her friend, Leigh, who was with some guy I’d never seen before. I only knew Leigh in passing, but Hailey had told me she certainly…liked to try new flavors of the month. But here, I was grateful for her presence—it allowed me to slip to the bar without my sister knowing.
I ordered a beer, just something that I could sip at the bar and try and quiet myself. I had no interest in going back to that dance floor. I—
“Hey.”
I turned. Corey stood before me, appearing to tower over me.
“Can we go talk outside?”
I grimaced. This was what Hailey had said would be good. I just hated that it was coming from Corey and not from me. But I nevertheless nodded in agreement and followed him outside.
The porch was actually warmer than inside, probably because of the Phoenix heat. It wasn’t nearly as crowded as some of the bar porches that I remembered, but then again, it was early enough in the night that that made sense. Corey stood to my side, and we leaned over the railing. He rested his arms forward and sighed.
“I know you’re not saying something. Now that we’re alone, can you tell me what it is?”
