“Oh that’s probably just my extreme velour allergy. It makes my face look like its full of horror.”
She wasn’t sure what was better. The easewith which she cracked the joke, or his reaction. Breath huffed out of him; his mouth quirked on one side.
It was almost a laugh, if you tilted your head and squinted.
“Thereisa lot of velour in there,” he said.“A lot of velour, and almost zero self-defense tips.”
“Well actually, if you look close you can see that one girl is trying to maneuver that other girl carefully around her mat.”
He followed her pointing finger. “Oh you mean the two who are teaching each other how to waltz?”
“That isnota waltz, come on. It’s clearly a modified Charleston.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I missed the jerky thing she’s doing with her foot.”
“I think she’s trying to sweep the leg, like inKarate Kid.”
His eyes rolled up to the heavens.“Deargod. Forgive me, for sending you to this fresh hell.”
“Hey, you had the best of intentions.”
“Yeah, and I hear they were last used to pave a particular road.”
“You know, I’vealways fuckinghatedthat saying. Your idea pays off, you’re a hero. Your idea goes wrong, every fucker in the world is suddenly a smug smugerton telling youhow awful you were all along for ever trying at all,” she said, then had to stop. Mostly because she knew he was looking at her, curiously. But also, because there was more to be said. And those words took some building up to.They took some guarding of herself, so tears didn’t come with them.“I know…I knowI asked you for something crazy. Something so crazy I can’t even believe I did it. And you gave me perfectly reasonable advice, in response.”
“I basically told you to take a hike. I told you I couldn’t handle it.”
“Who wouldwantto handle a weirdo stranger asking for tips in being emotionally closed off?”
“A better person than the one I actually am.”
“You seem to be doing pretty good to me.”
“That just isn’t true. But I’m trying to make it be, starting right now. You still want me to show you? I can show you. I can show you whatever it is you think you need.”
Christ, he really knew how to dole out the worst possible answers.
Or at least, the worst in terms of her stupid eyes and how much they wanted to leak right now. She had to laugh, just to get them under some kind of control.“That’s really cool of you, but honestly I know I’ve already asked way too much. You just seem so strong and together and good at teaching that stuff—I think it did something to my brain. Or the parts of me that governs socially acceptable behavior.”
“It’s absolutely socially acceptable to ask a stranger for help, I promise you. In fact, I’ll do way better than that. I’ll prove it to you, beyond all doubt.”
“Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?”
“I need your help. I fucked up. Please let me make it right.”
She went to say yes, before she’deven considered his words.
Then they sank in, slow and sweet as warm syrup.
“Goddamn it, that was genius. That was stone cold fucking genius. I am in awe.”
“Doesn’t take a genius to know that most people consider help perfectly okay to ask for, when someone else is doing the asking. And if I was a betting man, I’d say that went double for you.”
She glanced back at the dancing girls, at that. She had to.
But he even turned that into something awesome.
“You don’t have to turn your face away. I know you just have something in your eye.”
