Page 69 of Dungeons and Drama

Lucas leaves at the same time, and I assume he’s going to get drinks as well, but he heads in the opposite direction.

I turn to Hoshiko. “Are you having a good time with Lucas? You two look cute together.”

Her eyes shine as brightly as stage lights on the opening night of a new show. She glances around, checking to make sure he isn’t back yet, and leans in. “Riley, I like him. Like,reallylike him.”

My heart fills at her words. There’s nothing more wonderful than seeing your best friend happy. “Well, clearly the feeling is mutual. He couldn’t take his eyes off you back there.”

“Do you think? I—” She breaks off and sits up straight.

I look around in confusion. “What’s wrong?”

“This song…”

Lucas jogs across the floor toward us, his hand outstretched. He stops in front of Hoshiko. “Shall we?”

She squeals—literally squeals—and flies out of her chair. “Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent sure.”

They run back onto the gym floor, and I look at Anthony, but he shrugs in confusion. I have no idea what’s going on.

“Am I hallucinating right now?” Nathan asks me as hecomes back to my side. He hands me a bottle of water without pulling his eyes from the dance floor.

And then I see what he’s staring at.

“Are you seeing Lucas and Hoshiko doing a choreographed dance number to ‘Uptown Funk’?”

“Yep.”

I start laughing. “Then your vision and sense of reality are intact.”

I can’t stop staring. They’re doing grapevines, kicks, jazz hands, the whole thing. Lucas is clearly not a dancer—he can barely keep up with Hoshiko’s easy grace—but he’s so enthusiastic it doesn’t matter.

“Whoa, this boy must really be in love to make a fool of himself in front of the whole school,” Anthony says from my other side.

I bring a hand to my mouth. He’s right. I don’t think anyone would do that unless they were desperate to impress the person they’re dancing with.

Nathan’s shoulder brushes mine and I lean into him. “Wow…,” I whisper.

“Yeah…he’s ahorribledancer.”

I look over at Nathan and we both crack up. He really is. But he’s also adorable and suddenly I’m intensely grateful I took Mom’s car, worked at the game store, got pulled into D&D, and pulled Hoshiko in with me. Because if that led to her finding someone who looks at her with such adoration while doing a very wonky Charleston step, it was worth every moment.

Nathan is still laughing and puts a hand on my arm tosteady himself. Heat flares through me at his touch. It was worth it for multiple reasons.

The song fades into a slow one. I expect Hoshiko and Lucas to come back to us so we can hear every detail of how this happened, but Lucas wraps his arms around her waist and they start slow dancing, oblivious to the rest of the world.

Nathan and I glance at each other and then look away. I cross my arms in front of my chest. Dancing with the rest of the group is one thing, but slow dancing feels really intimate.

He bumps his shoulder with mine. “Want to?”

I expected him to be resistant to all forms of dance, but he’s smiling warmly. He holds out his hand.

“Um…okay.”

I swallow and follow him out onto the floor. After a moment of awkwardness, I put my hands on his shoulders and his go to my hips. I take a shallow breath.

“So, you had no idea that was going to happen?” he asks.

---