Lover's Dance

I’d never really wanted to be in a band. When Mrs. Williams asked what I wanted to be I’d simply answered ’an astronaut’. It wasn’t till high school I realized at least being able to run more than a mile for that to really work.
It was also in high school that I met Kayla Reynolds. She’d had a reputation for her fast mouth and dangerous wit, and I’d tried to avoid her. Personally I didn’t think we would mesh very well –what with her necessity to be right and my necessity to be heard. It wasn’t until we’d both ended up in detention –I was five minutes late, it was all too ridiculous- that we actually had our first conversation. Surprisingly enough, it hadn’t ended it screaming, it ended in me asking her if she’d like to hang out sometimes. After that we were pretty much inseparable. It went from Delaney –freshmen extraordinaire- and Kayla –badass extraordinaire- to Kayla and Delaney –badass freshmen extraordinaire.
We’d been hanging out around the movies when we heard it- the distinct sound of a guitar being tuned. Immediately, we sought out the source. We’d both found an interest in the alternative music, and a cute boy with a guitar was incentive enough scope it out.
Of course, we weren’t disappointed. He was certainly attractive- shaggy brown hair, piercing green eyes, and a soft smile that made your knees go weak. His name was Ethan, and he was a sophomore in high school looking for a band to play in. At that time though, we didn’t know this. All we knew was that he was playing one of our favorite New Found Glory songs, and he was pretty cool. Automatically I’d begun to sing along, doing a little dance around his guitar as Kayla laughed and clapped to the beat. Singing had been something I’d done pretty much all my life, my mother had been featured in a Mariachi band in her youth and always kept music in the house. While my brothers had been taught various instruments, she focused on my voice. I think she always dreamed we’d start our own family band, like in Selena. We didn’t, of course. I couldn’t stand to be in the same room with my brothers for very long.
Instead of stopping and looking at us questionably, like a normal person probably would’ve, Ethan kept playing and smiling until we finished the song. And then he played another song. And another, and another. We’d been performing for about fifteen minutes and a few people had even stopped to watch for small periods of time, when we finally asked each other for names. Numbers were exchanged and soon Ethan was regularly stopping by my house, where the three of us would just hang out and play music. Kayla had been playing the bass for awhile, an instrument she preferred because everyone played the guitar these days, so it seemed to work out well.
We’d met Matt at a concert for one of our favorite bands. He’d been the lucky one to catch a drumstick thrown in the air, and afterwards Kayla had gone to see if she could charm it away from him. Instead of caving in, he showed off some of his tricks and explained he’d been playing the drums for most of his life and had always wanted one from a concert. Since he seemed cool –and Kayla thought he was hot- she invited the blonde over to play with us one day. It went extremely well, we sounded pretty decent considering none of us had any real experience. We decided to start a band, and I was recruited to learn guitar to help Ethan out, since we’d need a rhythm guitar. Coincidentally, though, after checking out a local show in the area, we were headed home behind the venue when we heard some yelling. Bursting out of the back door came a cute ginger, followed by a brunette. We recognized them after a moment, the ginger was the second guitarist in one of the bans, and the brunette was the lead singer. They yelled back and forth for a few minutes, the Ginger complaining about the bands attitude and refusal to cooperate. When things settled down and the brunette had stormed back inside, the four of us looked at each other. Without a sound, I headed towards the ginger, placing my hand comfortingly on his shoulder. He turned to look at me, surprised I was there. Immediately he went into formalities, asking if I’d liked the show and apologizing for the scene he’d just put on. Smiling, I pulled him off the curb he sat on and told him I was starting a band, and we were looking for a second guitarist. I promised we were different, and would treat him better than his last band. After some hesitation, he told me his name was Jacob and agreed to at least hear us play. Though after spending an hour with us it wouldn’t have mattered if we were good or not, he had fit perfectly with the whole gang.
And so we played together. Every day, except for Thursdays, five o’clock at my house. It was more fun than anything, we laughed and talked so much we barely noticed when we started getting better, good even.
We were watching Casper the Friendly Ghost one night -the one with Hilary Duff- when we came up with our band name. Hilary had just asked Casper to go to the dance with her when Ethan stood up, throwing his arms around and shaking his hips like a madman. “I bet this is Casper’s dance!” He exclaimed. It sort of went on from there.
We played for small venues around town. We played schools, fairs, conventions, you name it. Anything to get our name out there. We had a good following in our state when we got a call, the call. The call that ended with a contract signing you to a label, and a thousand wishes answered.
I could tell you the rest of our journey, but mostly that consisted of us recording EPs and opening for other bands around the country until we could headline our own tour and release our first record. It’s no mystery what happened, but it was a miracle. I hadn’t set out to be in a band, but in reality it was the best thing that could’ve ever happened to me.

We were exhausted. We’d been out all day sightseeing. We stopped by Hollywood BLVD, had a hotdog at the famous Pink’s, and of course stopped by the Hollywood sign and took hundreds of pictures. Matt had suggested trying to find celebrities houses, but we declined. It was weird, and it was time to head home anyways.
Kayla and Jacob had settled down to watch some movie while Matt went to take a shower and Ethan just went to bed. I’d thrown on a hoodie from a few years ago and grabbed some ice cream. Like I said before, no one really paid attention to my lack of pants. No one really cared anymore. I sat on my hotel bed, cross legged while surfing the internet with my ice cream. I was reading a nice article about the population in India when there was a knock on the door. Knowing Kayla and Jacob were closest, I didn’t bother. But when there was another knock a minute later, I got off my bed to investigate.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” I asked, seeing the two still on the couch. They shrugged.
“No.”
Rolling my eyes, I went to the door myself and opened it with a simple, “hello?” It took me a second to really grasp that Josh was at my door, dressed in a nice shirt and some pants, with some flowers before I let out a surprised squeak.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my mind scrambling to figure out if I should try to cover up that I’m not wearing pants.
“I’m here for our date, remember?”