Classics in Summertime

By the time we arrived at the barn dance, my palms were so sweaty that I had to wipe them against the seat of Dylan’s new truck just so they weren’t dripping. I didn’t know why I was all of the sudden so nervous, but I assumed it had something to do with the fact that I hadn’t been on a date with anyone but Wyatt, and Dylan had called it a date the day before. That, and the fact that Dylan insisted on telling me how beautiful I was every chance he could made me a nervous wreck.

When we pulled up to the barn, there were several vehicles parked outside, and I was willing to bet that everyone in Noxon between fifteen and twenty was at the barn dance. Two teenagers stood out of the barn to take people’s money, and they gave Dylan and I a strange look as we walked up.

I recognized the two of them as being two years younger than Wyatt and I, and it was safe to say that they were shocked to see me there with a new guy. It was probably a good thing I had told Wyatt myself that I was going with Dylan, because he was going to find out no matter what.

Dylan paid the two of them a few dollars over the cover price and they let us in, happily taking the extra money.

There was Brad Paisley playing out of some old speakers in the corner, and everyone was either dancing, chatting on the sidelines or drinking punch on the other side of the room. Chances were the punch was spiked, because it had been nearly every year before, but I didn’t plan on drinking it anyway.

“So, is this the kind of music you listen to?” Dylan asked as we walked in, heading off to the left so we could get settled in.

I shrugged my shoulders and stood next to him against the wall, pushing my curled hair behind my ears. “Sometimes. It depends, really.” I paused before laughing softly. “I’d say most of the time, yeah. Is that a bad thing?”

Dylan shook his head quickly as he flashed me a bright smile. “No not at all. I was just wondering so I’d know whether or not to ask you to dance.”

It wasn’t even a moment later that the song changed into something a little slower, and Dylan reached down for my hand with a mischievous grin on his face. Before I could say anything, he was dragging me out to the center of the barn, where it was darkest and had the most people.

There were young couples all around us, swaying back and forth to the song as they looked happily into one another’s eyes. If they weren’t looking at one another, the girl had her head rested on the boy’s shoulder while he rested his chin on her head.

Everyone looked so happy and in love, and then there was Dylan and I standing awkwardly in the middle, not quite sure where to touch one another. His cheeks were bright red as he rested his hands gently on my waist and I wrapped my hands around his neck. It was like we were in some awful ‘80’s movie, and it was impossible for me to look at him as we swayed back and forth.

“I don’t understand how you make me so nervous all the time,” Dylan said, chuckling while he lowered his head.

“I make you nervous? You’re insane.”

“I swear it.” Dylan quickly moved his hand from my hip and put it on top of mine. His fingers gripped around my hand as he slowly moved them down, stopping when my hand was pressed right over his heart. “Feel how fast it’s beating?”

I closed my eyes, drowning out everything else around us, and just felt his heart pumping beneath my fingers, realizing just how fast it was. When I opened my eyes, he still didn’t move his hand off of mine. He was just looking at me with the faintest smile on his face while his eyes locked with mine.

“Dylan, I –” I stopped, taking a deep breath while I shut my eyes. Still, all I could feel was Dylan’s heart racing beneath my fingers.

“What is it?”

“I – I don’t know if I can do this.”

Dylan’s hand finally dropped from mine, and both of our arms fell to our sides. When I finally opened my eyes, Dylan was looking at me with his eyebrows furrowed, and he sounded breathless when he spoke. “Do what?”

“You.”

Dylan paused, biting his lip gently. His eyes circled around the room once before they landed on me again, and he let out a long breath. “Why not?”

“This,” I said, pointing between the two of us. “This would never work.”

Dylan sighed as he shook his head. “You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

“How?” Dylan asked quickly, tilting his head to the side. He let out a deep breath. “How do you know, Ev?”

“I just do.”

Dylan paused for a long moment – so long I wasn’t sure if he was ever going to speak. His hands reached out for mine, and he used them to pull me closer to him, not dropping them even when he was done pulling.

“I’m not Wyatt, Everly,” he said, his voice cracking as he spoke. “I’m not going to leave you.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Ev, you promised you’d give me a chance to prove it to you, remember?” Dylan pressed his lips together and waited a moment before continuing. “All I want is a chance. Please, just give me a chance. I’m not him, Ev.”

“But what if –”

“No,” he said, shaking his head quickly. “No buts, no what ifs, no what happens when. Just one chance. That’s it. That’s all that I want.”

My heart was racing even more quickly than Dylan’s had been. It was all getting so crazy that my throat was tightening up and I could barely breathe, let alone speak.

It only took Dylan a few moments before he was speaking again, his eyes looking down at me so softly. It was obvious he wasn’t going to speak again before I did, so the standing still and doing nothing option was out of the question, though it sounded rather nice.

All I could do was think about Dylan’s heart beating in his chest, and how easily mine was doing the same. It was strange how in the most important moments we could think about so little.

“I – I’m nervous too,” I said simply, my mouth growing dry as I kept looking at Dylan.

A small smile rose to Dylan’s face, and he reached his hand to my cheek with a deep breath. His thumb ran against the side of my face as he let out a long breath, and his smile deepened.

“That’s okay, Ev,” he whispered, his body leaning closer to mine. “We can be nervous together.”

He said nothing more before he was leaning again, getting so close to me that our chest’s were touching. If either one of us moved our heads even an inch, we would be on top of each other, and I could feel the warm rise and fall of Dylan’s breaths against my skin.

His fingers ran over my cheek one last time, dipping right underneath my eye and forcing it shut. My body froze completely, aside from my too quickly beating heart, and I wasn’t able to move again until I felt Dylan’s gentle lips against mine.

It was the first time I had ever kissed anyone that wasn’t Wyatt, and it felt like absolute heaven. The way that Dylan moved his lips against me was like he would never be able to get enough, and it made me melt against him. Luckily, his hands wrapped around my waist to pull me against him, while I pulled my arms around his neck.

I completely forgot that Dylan and I were in a crowded barn full of people until I felt a teen girl’s elbow accidentally rub against my back, and it caused me to pull away from Dylan slowly.

When we pulled apart, our eyes met again, and he was smiling so brightly beneath his rosy red cheeks. I looked back at him, and all I could do was smile.