Page 83 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
I moved around our makeshift dance floor with flowing motions, moving my arms as if I were standing on the bow of the Titanic. As I moved, I spotted the two dancers listening to the awful song I just finished since their faces held a mixture of revulsion and anger.
I needed to determine who was on the same channel as me. I ruled out the two with pained expressions and Emma, which meant I’d narrowed it to eight. My concentration shifted to the others as I watched them, while I continued to float around the clearing, feeling a sense of freedom that surprised me.
When the song switched, I smiled asDefying GravityfromWickedbegan to play. With the first notes sung, I recognized Cynthia Erivo’s voice. I glanced over at Emma, assuming this was the song playing when she ran across the clearing earlier. I flashed back to Robyn’s tear-stained face at the play on Saturday and let the powerful music wash over me.
Five songs in, I could feel the mood shift from apprehension and self-consciousness to unbridled joy. Smiles shone on everyone’s faces, except the ones I suspected were listening to the headache-inducing song.
I danced toward Annie, who sported a pained expression and mouthed,hang in there, it’s almost over.
She put her hands against her chest and mouthed,thank god.
I laughed as I continued to move, defying gravity as I went.
What the hell?The next song wasn’t in English as the singer chanted, with drums playing behind him. Soon, more singers joined him in his chanting. I had no idea what he was saying, but I moved in rhythm with the chants.God, this was freeing.I closed my eyes and lifted my face to the sun as I danced to the unfamiliar words. It didn’t matter what the language was since I felt the emotions behind the word.
A Latin beat, which jolted me from my trance, replaced the chanting.Shit.I still hadn’t identified my channel partner. AsHips Don’t Lieheated up, I figured this was my best chance to figure it out. I loved this song. It had so much energy.
Emma danced up to me, laughing. “Go, Shakira,” she said. Obviously, she’d already had the song.
For her amusement, I moved my hips so dramatically I’d make a Flamenco dancer envious. I had no clue what she was listening to as she skipped off. What she lacked in rhythm, she made up for in enthusiasm.
I focused on the rest of the dancers. My gaze landed on Helena, who continued to dance along with everyone, despite her health issues. She didn’t move as much, but her serene expression made me smile. Because of her lesser movements, I couldn’t rule her out as my dance partner. On this round, I’d narrowed my choices to four: Helena, two women I didn’t know, and Robyn. If I’d counted right, I had three more songs to figure it out.
Disappointment flooded through me when the song switched. My hips were so loose that I didn’t want to stop. A vision of Jennifer Beals replaced my displeasure asWhat a Feeling(Flashdance)played.
The music started slowly, and I channeled my childhood dance class. I’d never been one for ballet moves, but I waved my arms as I spun. Then the music picked up. I strutted across the clearing, kicking out my leg as I did, dancing with pure joy, justas Jennifer Beals’s character had done in the movie. I stopped short of dropping to the ground and doing a breakdance move.
When I noticed several women staring, I realized I’d been lost in my own world. My face heated, and I stopped dancing, wanting to find somewhere to hide.
Robyn was dancing five yards in front of me and called out, “Don’t stop, Blake. Don’t lose the spirit of the music.”
Emma moved up beside me and poked me in the side. “You go, girl.”
I smiled at her, but I still felt self-conscious. The music switched, and in Emma fashion, she shook her hips like a demented penguin and broke my embarrassment.
“You’re supposed to be dancing, not having a seizure,” I called.
“Then dance,” she said.
I tuned back to the music playing for me.Damn.How could I not dance to this song? Miley Cyrus’sFlowersfilled my ears, and I threw my arms over my head and bounced from side to side with reckless abandon, emulating her moves in her music video.
When I glanced around the circle of dancers, my eyes widened when they fell on Robyn, who was mirroring my dance moves. I met her gaze, knowing I’d found my dance partner. Robyn exaggerated her movements, and I followed suit, letting myself go.
“We’ve got one more song left,” Robyn called out. “If you’ve identified your dance partner, I want you to dance with them for the final song.”
Soon Miley Cyrus gave way to Melissa Etheridge. I swallowed hard asI’m the Only Oneplayed. Many times, during my college days, I danced in the clubs to this song. As Robyn moved toward me, I wondered if she’d done the same.
The slow guitar rift filled my ears, followed by Melissa’s sultry voice. I tried to block out the lyrics as I moved toward Robyn. Was there a challenge in her eyes? Not one to back down, Imatched my body movements to hers as she closed the distance between us. Our eyes locked as we came together.
As she rolled her hips forward, I did the same, keeping my body in sync with her movements. Only inches from me, she ran her hands down the side of her body. I resisted putting my hands on top of hers. Instead, I put my hands on my stomach and then trailed them down my sides.
The playful smile on Robyn’s face intensified. I raised my eyebrows and smirked as I moved closer, so our bodies were mere centimeters apart. As I thrust my hips forward, she pulled hers back, only to thrust them out toward me. I moved with her and pulled back, so the tiny space between us remained. We continued to move our hips back and forth, never touching.
When Melissa sang about desire, Robyn kept her eyes focused on mine as she stepped back. Then she glanced at the ground. When she looked back at me, there was a twinkle in her eyes as she bent her knees and rolled her hips as she moved lower toward the ground.
Understanding what she was doing, I moved forward and put one foot on the ground between her legs and the other foot outside. I leaned back as I bent my knees and lowered myself toward the forest floor. We never broke eye contact as we moved closer to the ground.
We rocked together, never touching, as our hands brushed the leaves. In an unspoken agreement, we began our slow rise to a standing position, and we continued our seductive dance.
