Page 62 of January

“No way,” Melinda replied. “It works?”

Kyle nodded and walked over to the corner where a very old record player sat beneath clear plastic in order to tell others not to touch it.

“I tried it out the first time I was here. There’s a record on it still.”

“Play it,” Melinda suggested.

Kyle went to pull back the plastic shield before she maneuvered everything into place, and a second later, there was a sudden scratch. Then, an old, slow song, with static in the background, started playing. Melinda listened for a moment, but she didn’t recognize the song. The label on the record had long ago worn away, so she waited for words, but they never came.

“Want to…” Kyle began and faded, clearing her throat.

“What?”

“It’s stupid.”

“Kyle, what?”

“Do you maybe want to dance?”

Melinda smiled and said, “Yes, I do.”

Kyle looked surprised at first, but then she held out her hand for Melinda to take. She did, but only temporarily before she pulled Kyle against herself and wrapped her arms around Kyle’s shoulders, letting Kyle wrap her own around her waist.

“I thought about this last night,” Melinda offered a few moments later.

“Dancing?”

“Dancing with you.”

“Why?”

“At the reception, there were couples dancing together, and it made me think of you.”

“You didn’t dance with Bridgette?”

“To a few fast songs, yes, but not like this,” she replied, resting her head on Kyle’s shoulder. “Definitelynot like this.”

“Why did you two never date? You’ve known each other forever, right?”

“I don’t know. It just never happened. It wasn’t what either of us wanted. Bridgette is a couple of years older than me, so it wasn’t going to happen when we were younger, and then, it never did.”

“But you’re… good with that?”

“Yes. Why?” she asked.

“And with Jill?”

“Why are you asking me why I’ve never dated my friends?”

“I don’t know. I guess I’ve been burned before,” Kyle replied.

“Someone told you they were just friends with another woman, and that turned out not to be true?”

“I liked her for a long time before I finally asked her out. She assured me that she and her best friend were only friends and weren’t interested in each other in that way. But then, a few months later, I walked in on them doing something I don’t think best friends do.”

“No… Really?” She pulled back to look at Kyle. “I’m sorry.”

“It was a long time ago, but I wanted to check.”

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