Page 32 of Latte Girl
“So are we dancing?” he asks. I blink at him and then nodvigorously.
“Let’s do this!” exclaims one of the guys, slapping his palms on the table beforestandingup.
The rest of us follow suit and we lurch towards the dance floor, knocking into each other like bumper cars. We clear a space for ourselves amongst the churning bodies. The music is thumping inside my chest like a second heartbeat. I throw my hands up in the air and start to sway my hips to the rhythm of the deep and pounding bass. Everything is moving in slowmotion.
Steve’s face swims into focus in front of me. He’s smiling, his teeth tinted purple under the coloured lights. My lips have gone tingly and smiling back at him seems to take forever. I push the corners of my mouth up with my index fingers to make them movefaster.
Steve starts laughing. I like making Stevelaugh.
He puts his hand on my shoulder and moves his lips to my ear. Now all of me feelstingly.
“You okay?” he asks, loud enough that I can hear him over themusic.
As an answer, I pull away from him and throw back my head to shout, “Woooooo!”
I start dancing again, smiling at Steve until he joins in. The swaying people around us push us closer and closer together until we’re pressed up against each other. I throw my arms around his neck and I feel his hands take hold of my hips as we keep moving to the rhythm of themusic.
I breathe in the smell of his shirt. Steve is so comfy. He was always socomfy.
“I missed you Hailey,” I hear him say, almost shouting it into my ear to make up for the noisearoundus.
I look up at his face and focus my gaze on his mouth. I remember what it felt like to kiss him, to have those lips travel down my neck, up the insides of mythighs...
Liar, thinks the very small part of my brain that’s still sober.Steve only went down on you twice the entire time you weretogether.
I tell that part of my braintohush.
We’ve been jostled to the edge of the dance floor by now. Steve leans against the railing that runs along the edge of the platform. I move one of my hands down to his chest. His grip on me slides from my hips to my lower back. We’re not dancinganymore.
I lean my head against his chest, closing my eyes to block out everything around us. He really is so comfy. Maybe I could just have a little nap right now. I feel him stroking my hair and I tell myself not to start purring. That would beweird.
I decide to ask Steve if we can go sit down. Opening my eyes, I catch a glimpse of one of the white couches a few feet from the dancefloor.
Jordan is there. There’s a girl in a green dress with thick black hair sitting next to him, her entire body leaning towards him, but he’s not looking at her. He’s lookingatme.
Everything seems to speed up as the realization of what I’m doing right now sinks in. The music morphs from a dull throb at the back of my mind to an obnoxious pop anthem blaring at migraine-inducing volume from the speakers right above our heads. Strobe lights are pulsing everywhere I look, flickering so fast my headspins.
I look up at Steve. He’s staring down at me with a hazy expression, fingers digging into my back as he presses my body even harder against him. His face is far too closetomine.
“I have to go to the bathroom!” I yell over the sound of a bass dropbuildingup.
“What?” heshouts.
“Bathroom!”
I break away from his grasp and head towards the bathrooms without looking back. I have to pass right in front of Jordan’s table, but I don’t stop and he doesn’t call outtome.
There are a few women standing in the bathroom chatting, but I don’t care. I walk right up to the sink and start splashing water on my face and neck, trying to shock myself out of the sluggishness that still fills mybrain.
Straightening up, I stare into the mirror. A girl with runny mascara and smeared lipstick stares back. Grabbing a paper towel, I dampen it under the sink and clean myself up as best asIcan.
I still stumble a bit in my heels when heading back to the dance floor, but my thoughts are clear. I’ll find Brittney and Trisha and tell them I want to leave. The fact that I was just grinding up against my ex-boyfriend’s crotch in full view of the entire room before trying to take a nap on his chest is a clear sign that it’s time togohome.
I approach the edge of the dance floor and glance over to Jordan’s couch, but neither he nor the girl in the green dress arethere.
Probably took her out back to kiss her against the wall and then never speak to heragain.
“Hailey!” I hear someoneshout.
