The Matchmaker of Decaydance

Alana’s P.O.V.

“Come on. It’s just a card game, Gabe.”

“Don’t do it!” Pete interjected. “She can kick your ass.”

He thought for a minute. I was poised and ready to deal out a game of Speed, my favorite card game. Gabe’s eyes locked with mine again and I was immediately hypnotized. He smirked.

“Bring it, Alana.”

I couldn’t help but grin. Even though we were pretty liquored up, I knew what I was doing in this game. Gabe came to sit across from me at the small coffee table on the floor. Without breaking my gaze, I started to deal. 4 spots: five on both the far right and left, and one each in the two middle spots. I split the rest of the deck in half and let Gabe choose which pile he wanted.

“This one.”

I slid it over to his side of the table, tossing my bangs out of my face. Once I got my first five drawn and organized, I looked back up at Gabe. “You ready?”

He was still looking at his cards, trying to figure them in the right way. I suddenly felt a tap on my bare foot, not hard, but enough to feel. My eyebrows raised a little and I watched Gabe smile the teeniest bit. I rolled my eyes, but still couldn’t shake the butterflies in my stomach.

Jeez, Alana, no one’s played footsie with you since 9th grade. Why are you all jittery?

I said shut up.

“Ready,” Gabe said. His fingers were on the single card to his right, while mine were on the one to my right.

“Go,” I said simply, and it was on. Cards were flipping everywhere, and Gabe was still playing footsie with me. Alex Suarez, the only non-resident left in our house besides Gabe, William, Travie and Tyga, was now watching us.

“Go, Gabe, go!” Alex almost shouted in my ear.

We tied.

“Shit, Gabe, that was too close to you losing,” Alex mentioned as he checked his phone. “I missed 17 calls. All of them were from Ryland…oh shit, what time is it?”

“Officially 1:30 in the A.M.”

“Gabe! We missed our flight back to New York!” Alex screeched.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Gabe shouted back. He jumped up, and his hat fell off his head.

“Don’t worry about it, guys. You were just going to hang out up there, right?” Pete asked.

“Well, yeah…”

“You wanna stay here for a few days?”

I looked directly at Pete. He knew full well what he was doing: tempting me. He didn’t even glance my way.

Alex looked at Gabe, and he shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

“Let me show you the rooms, then.” Pete got up and led the two upstairs. Ashlee dove to my side.

“He so did that on purpose!” I whispered loudly.

“Did what?” Travie asked from over by the mini-bar.

“Nothing, Trav -”

“You like Gabe, don’t you?”

I could feel my face go bright red. “What? No, Travie, I -”

“Do too.” His phone started ringing. I leaned back against the couch, grumbling.

“That was Katy. We’re outta here, guys. Come give me a hug, Alana.”

I stood and wrapped my arms around his long torso.

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret, okay?” he said quietly, so no one else would hear.

“Yes, Trav.”

“All right. Ty, let’s go.”

“See you guys.”

“Bye, Tyga.”

Now it was just William, Ashlee, and me.

“He did, Ashlee. That was totally on purpose.”

“Well, maybe it was, but you’ll be okay. So what if Gabe stays over for a few nights?”

“So you do like him,” William said, sitting next to me on the floor. “I knew it.”

“Shush, Bill. This is going to suck.”

Then Pete came back down the stairs without Alex and Gabe. I glared at him.

“Don’t worry, Alana. I told Gabe he was sharing a room with you.”

My eyes widened. For a second, I believed it, until Pete burst out laughing.

“I’m kidding. He got the room next to yours.”

“You’re dead, Peter Wentz.”

“Oh, this box came while we were in the pool,” he said, completely ignoring my statement. “It was addressed to you. I put it upstairs.”

I sat there for a second, confused. Then I remembered.

“My new dress!” I jumped up.

“The one you ordered? I want to see!” Ashlee said excitedly.

“Then let’s go!” I started off towards the stairs.

“Wait, Alana, I’m leaving.”

“Aw, William!” I tackled him in a hug. “Bye, kiddo.”

“Since when do you get to call me kiddo, love?”

“Since I’m me.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. See you guys later.”

“Bye, Will. Alana, let’s go!”

Ashlee and I took off up the stairs to my room. There was a big FedEx box sitting on my bed. I took a pen off my dresser and stabbed the tape, cutting it down its length.

I pulled the Latin dancing dress out of the box. It was black, mostly lace, with black tassels at the hips covering a few inches down my legs. The back was completely open, with just a swimsuit-like piece covering my stomach. Jewels accentuated certain spots that brought out my dancer’s figure.

“Alana, you have to try it on.”

“Okay, turn around.” I slipped off my sarong and the tank top I had on. First came the small-holed fishnets that came with the dress. Then the actual dress went on, and then the necklace.

“Can you zip me?” I asked as I pulled on the arm-length lace gloves.

Ashlee did so, and I turned around to show her. She gaped.

“Oh my God, Alana, that’s gorgeous!” Ashlee squealed.

“And I was thinking these shoes,” I said, pulling a simple pair of dancing heels out of my closet and strapping them on.

“Holy shit, Alana, you’re hot!” Ashlee exclaimed. “In a totally non-lesbian sort of way, though. From me, anyways.”

“Yeah, I know. Wow, I love how comfortable this is,” I said, making my way to the full-body mirror.

“Move a little.”

“What?”

“Do some moves,” Ashlee insisted.

I went towards the middle of my spacious room. I started with my right foot forward, doing a bit of solo tango. I twisted my hips perfectly with each step, with the right pivot and leg movements. I felt the tassels flying around my legs and wished I could see the visual effect.

“Alana, it’s fantastic. I’m going to have to see you dance in this. You know that, right?”

“What, you like this?” I asked, pulling the fringe to the side a bit and exposing my thigh. I made my best ‘Derek Zoolander’ face too, as cheesy as I could muster. I only held the face for a second before both of us burst out laughing.

Then, at the best possible time (sarcasm…), the door opened and in the doorway stood Gabe. I froze, my fingers still holding the fringe away from my leg. Gabe’s eyes went straight to the exposed spot and then went up, though not past my shoulders.

“Um…I was looking for the b-bathroom,” he stuttered.

Ashlee giggled, and I elbowed her in the side. “Second door down, right side.” I added a playful ‘bite my lip like a little kid’ thing in there too.

He grinned and looked me over one more time. “Thanks.” He left, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Ashlee and I fell into a fit of giggles the second that he was out of earshot.

“Did you see the way he just looked at you?”

“You mean the way he looked at my body?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Yes! And you know what? I don’t really mind it.”

“Okay, so I’ll watch for you guys to hook up soon. He wants you, Alana.”

“Does he?” I thought for a second about that. It captivated me, and it still triggered the butterflies in my stomach.

Ashlee giggled once again. “Beware of him jumping you, because he’s been known to -”

“Ash?” Pete stuck his head in my room. “Oh, wow, Alana. Looks good. Except for the fact that it’s a little skimpy.”

“Oh, shut the big brother up and let the advisor side kick in”

“Fine. It looks great. I’m going to bed, Ash, are you coming?”

“Yeah,” Ashlee responded. “Night, Alana.” She winked at me. “Think about it. You know he does.”

“Yeah, yeah. Goodnight, guys.”