This Is Not an After School Special

I hadn't spent any time with Matt at all in weeks. It wasn't my fault, though. I'd been trying to help Josh with his sister's wedding as much as I could, and it was taking up nearly all of my spare time. I never knew a guy who was so worried about his suit fitting perfectly. It seemed that he had to go for more fittings than was normally necessary, yet every single time more adjustments had to be made. I couldn't quite figure it out.

But it was all worth it when the day came. Sara looked absolutely stunning; I'd never seen her happier. Josh arranged for me to sit with him and his family during the ceremony, as well as the dinner. I was glad that he did; I didn't really know anyone else there.

Josh had somehow managed to sneak us both a few drinks before the reception had even started. Everyone was now gathered in a ballroom on the main floor of a fancy hotel, waiting for the happy couple to arrive and share their first dance. Josh and I were sitting on the edge of the stage together, looking out at the people that were occupying the rest of the room.

"I don't know if I told you this earlier, but you look really pretty," Josh complimented me.

I blushed. "Thanks. You look really handsome. I'm glad that you got the tux to fit right. It looks good."

"You think?" He glanced down at his clothing, playing with the lapels on his jacket. "I feel weird. I don't think I've ever been this dressed up before."

"I've seen you wear ties before."

"Yeah, but that's just a tie. Not a whole getup like this."

"Well I like it," I reached over and smoothed his collar.

"Hey, guys! I didn't see you over here!"

We both looked up to see Josh's friend Andrew rushing over. I smiled and waved at him.

"Hey, Andrew, what's up?"

"I just got here a minute ago. Thanks for inviting me, man," he nodded to Josh.

Josh grinned at him. "Of course. Sara let me invite a few friends to the reception, so you were one of the first names I picked."

"Who else did you invite? Chris?"

Josh nodded. "Yeah, Chris and Matt."

I looked back at him suddenly. "Matt's coming? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you knew. I just assumed that he would tell you himself."

"I've been spending all of my time with you and your sisters lately. I haven't really had a chance to talk to him much."

"Well you can talk to him tonight, I guess. Just don't ignore me too much. I already told you that I don't want to be alone."

"It's not like I'll abandon you, don't worry."

Andrew sat with us and we chatted for awhile before the happy couple arrived. Suddenly, the whole room turned toward the door and was trying to catch another glimpse of them. The three of us stayed where we were, watching from a distance as they entwined themselves together and began to sway to the soft music that the band was playing behind us. The MC for the night announced the couple and encouraged the audience to take pictures during their first dance together. As soon as the formal dances were over, the music took on a more upbeat tempo, and the dance floor cleared.

"I don't get why people never want to dance right away," Josh observed. "They always have to wait until they've got enough liquor in them. But little kids don't care, so why should adults? I mean, look at that little girl," he gestured to a girl with wildly curly hair who was spinning around across the polished floor. "She's having a blast, and she doesn't care who's watching. Why do we grow out of that?"

I laughed once at the absurdity of his words. "We haven't outgrown that. You're almost always the loudest guy in the room, and I had an entire cafeteria stare at me while I stood on a chair and belted out 'I Will Survive.' I think we actually have too little shame."

Josh chuckled. "You have a point. I'm going to go and get a drink, do you want one?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure."

"How are you getting a drink? You're seventeen," Andrew argued suddenly. "I'm coming with you. Maybe you can score me one, too."

I watched them walk away, then began to scan the rest of the room. I recognised a few faces, mostly from Josh introducing me to various family members earlier that day. But I still didn't see Matt, which was who I was really looking for.

"Hey, Becky. Where's Josh?"

I jumped as the voice reached me, then turned to find Chris grinning at me. "Oh, hey. He went with Andrew to try and get drinks. Where's Matt? Wasn't he coming with you?"

"He went to the bathroom. He said he'd catch up with all of us in a minute. How have you been? I haven't talked to you in a long time, and Matt doesn't seem to have any updates," Chris sat down next to me as he spoke.

"I've just been helping with the wedding. Well, as much as I could. Mostly I was there to tell Josh how good he looked during his suit fittings. I didn't actually get involved in the planning of the wedding. I would have ruined something, I'm sure."

"I don't think you would have. But it looks like they got everything together without any help. This place looks awesome."

I looked around at the decorations. "Yeah, it really does, doesn't it?"

"Chris! You made it! Aw, shit, I should have gotten you a drink," Josh returned to the stage and handed me a plastic glass.

"Don't worry about it. I can get one later. Matt will need one when he shows up, too."

Josh glanced around us as he sat down on my other side. "Where is he? I'd have thought the two of you would have carpooled or something crazy like that."

"We did. He's around here somewhere."

"Cool. You ready to forget our shame and go dance, Becky?"

I pressed my cup to my lips and drank the entire contents. "Yup. Let's bust a move."

I could hear Andrew and Chris laughing as Josh took me by the hand and led me to the dance floor. There were still a few children dancing off to one side, but Josh took me right to the center of the floor. I couldn't focus on the movement of my own feet as Josh began to pull out his best moves. I simply stood there like an idiot, unable to tear my eyes from his fast-moving feet. I started to giggle at his disjointed movements.

"Don't make me dance alone," he said, stopping whatever move he was trying to pull off before.

"Then do a dance that I can follow," I replied, still giggling.

The music slowed and Josh pulled me close to him. "Better?"

"Absolutely."

Slowly, the dance floor began to fill. By the end of the song, we were lost in the middle of a mass of other couples as they moved to the rhythm. Another slow song followed, and people continued to stream onto the dance floor. I felt a sudden tap on my shoulder, and spun around. Matt was standing with his hands shoved awkwardly in his pockets. This was the most dressed up I'd ever seen him. As much as I tried to distance myself from anything that made us seem like we were dating, I had to admit that he looked hot.

"Mind if I cut in?" He asked, his gaze moving swiftly from me to Josh.

"By all means," Josh dropped his hands from my waist and stepped back. "Have fun, guys. I'll be back over there with Andrew and Chris, okay?"

Both Matt and I nodded in response, and then faced one another. I carefully placed my arms around his neck as he did the same with my waist. There was a large gap between our stomachs; neither of us wanted to get too close. I could only imagine how stressed and stiff we must have looked.

"It's been awhile, Matt," I began conversationally. "I'm sorry that I haven't been around the past few weeks."

"I didn't meant to interrupt you guys," he sounded apologetic, but I didn't think that there was any reason for it.

"I'm glad you did. I feel like we need to have some time to talk."

His eyes burned, and I felt a little scared. He seemed torn, as if he didn't know whether or not to tell me something. I was instantly worried about him.

"We do need to talk." Matt agreed, tightening his hold on my waist and closing a large portion of the space between us. "Just promise you'll hear me out and you won't get mad."

"Matt, what-"

"Please, Becky? I'm really worried about you, and I need you to know."

"Seriously, you're freaking me out. What is it? I won't lose it, just tell me," I pleaded, feeling anxious.

"I know that you don't think you'll get mad at me, but you will. Just remember that I'm only saying this because I want you to be happy, okay?"

"Spit it out, Matt. What are you talking about?"

Matt's lips pursed and his eyes stared over my head. He seemed to be deciding how to start, so I waited impatiently. Finally, he sighed.

"It's about Josh."