Page 63 of You Started It

He doesn’t respond at first, only observes Axel dancing and how much joy it seems to be bringing the whole wedding. The bride and groom are clapping enthusiastically from their perch at the head table.

“Heisgood,” his father finally acknowledges. “Hey,” he calls out to the man in front of him. “That’s my son.”

The man gives him a thumbs-up. His father picks up his phone and snaps a bunch of photos, transforming before my eyes into a stage dad. Another drama averted.

Axel approaches us and, for a second, I think he’s going to pull one of his family members onto the dance floor, but instead he reaches his arm out to me. Surprising myself, I place my hand in his without hesitation.

He whispers. “You and me are going to start a dabke line. Ever been in one?”

“Um, no,” I say.

“Then I’ll go easy on you. Just follow the best you can. I’ve been doing it since I was five. I led a dabke for the first time when I was seven.”

“Seven?” I squeeze Axel’s hand tight. “We’re not all naturals. I don’t know how to dance,” I remind him.

“Everyone messes up. That’s how you learn. Just try to sync the beat of the music in your head and go with that.”

A part of me debates ripping my hand away from Axel’s, but all eyes are on us. He adjusts his grip, holding my hand, and says, “Always start with the left foot. Watch me: left, left, back, forward.”

I study his feet and follow, trying to ignore that the song is now on its second run and that there are hundreds of people observing this very public dance lesson.

“Okay, once you’ve got that down, pause, and move to the next level of dabke: forward, back, forward, back, tap, tap.”

“Wait, why am I pausing?”

“So the rest of the central train can catch on. Think of all of us as one big train. If one cart goes too fast, we crash.”

“Who’s all of us?” I watch as others begin walking toward Axel and me. An older man holds my right hand, and then Axel’s sisters join the line, along with their husbands and the bridal party. The train is literally going off the track and I’m second-in-command.

“Follow me,” he says, stroking my hand with his thumb before planting a kiss on my cheek.

I swallow and nod.Everyone makes mistakes.I guess I didn’t realize up until now that mistakes aren’t the end of the world. I tend to hold back on new experiences, afraid I’ll crash and burn,so what’s the point? But all that leads to is me missing out on fun things. Exciting things. Embarrassing things. Maybe there’s beauty in the process, in the mess.

The dabke line grows longer, and it starts off simple enough: left, left, back, forward. We do that for a while, until an older gentleman challenges Axel to do more complicated moves as the leader and passes him a napkin to twirl around. “Don’t let go,” he says to me as he starts to stomp and kick with more velocity than he had before, waving the napkin in the air with his free hand. Now he’s on the ground, one leg out, bouncing on the other, and everyone watches in awe. He rises, facing me now, and grins so wide, it melts me.

Axel passes the napkin, like a torch, to the man next to me and pulls me into the circle. “What do we do now?” I ask, almost breathless.

“Dance like no one’s watching.”

I nod and just let my body do whatever it wants. Axel laughs and mimics my moves. Soon we’re woo-hoo-ing along with the lyrics, moving closer and closer until we’re nose to nose, hand in hand. I could kiss him. Right here. I want to kiss him. He wants to kiss me too. I can see it in his eyes. Feel it in how he touches me.

The song comes to an end and we remain standing in the middle of the dance floor, still. The DJ plays an Arabic song that must be popular because everyone cheers. The dabke line continues to grow and encircle us.

“Want to get out of here?” he asks.

“Can you?”

“My job here is done. The dancing will go all night and I’d rather hang with you.”

“Really? Don’t you want to continue to be the star of the show?” I tease.

“I’ve made my point. They all know I’m amazing.” He smirks like it’s a joke, but it’s not. Heisamazing.

“Grab your things, I’ll grab mine and meet you in the foyer,” he says.

Thankfully, when I return to my table all of Axel’s family members are nowhere to be found. Probably lost in the horde of other dancers enjoying the party. I collect my belongings and race to meet Axel. I’m still on a high from that moment, dancing with him, in front of everyone, his family included. Lit from within, I decide that tonight there will be no more rules. No more thoughts of Ben Cameron.Whatever happens, happens. At least for one night.

Axel comes out of the hall. He cocks his head to the main door. We head toward it together.

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