Once a Fragile Design

By some sort of divine miracle, Roxii had persuaded me to join the dozens of other bodies in the living room and dance. 'Let loose', I recall her telling me. It took me two shots to finally agree, but here I was right smack dab in the middle of the 'dance floor' and I felt like a complete idiot. Roxii felt just as awkward, I could tell by her posture, but she was at least making an attempt to dance to the rhythm of the music. I, on the other hand, was standing like a frozen statue. Dear alcohol in my blood system, feel free to kick in at any time.

I felt two arms wrap around my waist and I turned around, ready to cuss whoever it was out for just coming up to me like that. What the hell did I look like? I sighed when I saw it was John.

"Can I help you, John?"

"Actually you can, Ace. Move those lovely hips of yours and dance with me."

I rolled my eyes and let out a small laugh, "With you? No, thanks."

The look in his eyes let me know that I had decreased the size of his ego for a split second, before he regained his confidence.

"Come on, Acey. Just one dance, please? After all, I did vote yes for you and Rox to come on tour with us," he smiled.

And it was for that reason only, that I felt like I owed him a dance. I let out a long, audible sigh and grabbed his hands, placing them back on my hips.

"Let's do this, O'Callaghan."

A sly smile adorned his face and he pressed his body as close to mines as was possible as 'Tik Tok' filled the speakers of the room and I moved my hips in sync with his - grinding, if you want to put a name to it. I could tell he was getting a little excited because his mouth was right by ear and I could hear his faint gasps of breath every time our lower bodies collided together. I smiled, knowing fully well of what I was doing to this boy.

My eyes diverted to the right of me and I saw Roxii still standing in her same position. Only, a look of some sort was poised on her face and I couldn't tell exactly what was going on with her. I gave her a look with my eyes and she just shrugged, sipping her beer that she had gotten from somewhere. As the song came to a finish, I quickly pulled my body away from John's and smiled.

"One dance."

"That's not even fair, Acey."

"Hey, you asked for one dance and I gave it to you, buddy."

He murmured some words under his breath before shaking his head and looking at me.

"You really know how to play hard to get, don't you?"

"Hard to get?" I snorted, "how am I playing hard to get?"

He smiled, "You just don't ever let up, do you?"

"It's part of my charm, babe."

"Babe? Have I earned that title, at last?"

I laughed, "John, shut up and make yourself useful; bring me another beer, will ya?"

He gave me a salute before placing a quick kiss on my cheek and walking away. I ignored the part of me that thought about going after him and walked over to Roxii instead.

"What's wrong, babe?"

She shook her head quickly, "Nothing. Why?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you're just kind of standing here like you're scared to death."

She laughed, "Well you got someone to ask you to dance. I feel like I'm right back at fucking prom, with no date and no one asking me to dance."

I rolled my eyes and placed my arm around her shoulders, "Rox, shut up. You did too have a date to prom."

She looked at me like I had just lost my mind, "Who?"

"Uh, hello - Kennedy!"

She shuddered, "Kenny only asked me the night of prom, because he didn't have a date either. AND, it was a friendship thing, anyways."

I laughed, "Rox, wake up and and smell the Jäger, hun! Kennedy is in love with you and you need to realize it."

I found myself almost wanting to take back those words. Yes, we were best friends, but I couldn't deny my feelings for Kennedy. I was practically in love with the boy, but he would never know it. He was too busy staring at Roxanne all the time to even notice me staring at him.

"Right, I'll do that as soon as you wake up and realize that John is in love with you."

The way she said 'you' gave me a mixed feeling, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it.

"ACEY!" John's voice called over the music and he pushed through the crowded room until he was standing in front of me, "Your beer."

I smiled and took the longneck from his hand, "Thank you, sir."

His smile fell, "What happened to babe?"

"Oh, you," I laughed and took a sip of the amber colored drink.

"Oh, Rox, I completely forgot about you. Did you want a beer too?"

Her expression became hard and she shook her head, holding up her left hand which was firmly grasping her bottle.

"I've got one, already. Thanks for the offer, I guess. Acey, I'm gunna go find Kennedy." She brushed past me and nearly knocked John over before disappearing into a sea of bodies.

"What's her deal?" John asked before taking a sip of his own drink.

"What's your deal?" I asked, poking his chest with my right index finger.

"Whatever you want my deal to be, love."

I rolled my eyes, "Get some better lines than that, John, please. You're killing me here."

He laughed and took my hand in his, "And you're killing me by wearing that outfit, Ace."

I looked down at my black leggings and solid yellow tube dress. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at him.

"Is it the boobs?"

He laughed and pulled me close to him, "It's so much more than the boobs."

He inched his face near mines and even though I knew this meant more to him than it ever would to me, I let him kiss me. John O'Callaghan would never take no for an answer, and I, Acey Jayne, am probably the only girl who would ever tell him no. And with my luck, that's just the thing he liked.