Much to his dismay, even with the end of the ceremony, the day was only beginning. After the ceremony, Jimmy’s mom and Sarah found him and ignored his requests to go back to the room and change.
“The reception’s next, Jimmy, and no one else is changing.”
“Don’t say my name too loud!”
“Whining and pouting only makes you look prettier.”
“Mom!”
“Hush. Sarah’s right though, Ji - sweetheart. You’re not going back to change. The flower girl’s still needed.”
“For more photos?” JImmy muttered. He pouted and he did not care if it made him look cute.
Dinner proved uneventful, though he soon discovered how tough it was to navigate between tables in the dress. Worse was how everyone seemed more than happy to stand up and move their chair for the flower girl. If he had had a nickel for every time some stranger – or even a relative who did not recognize him – called him ‘the flower girl’, he would have been the richest boy ever. He bristled when his mom tied a napkin around his neck to keep food off his, no, the dress.
With dinner done, Jimmy hoped that that meant they would be able to go back to the room and he would be able to finally return to normal clothes, but then one of the bridesmaids, whose name Jimmy thought might be Ashley, came over and knelt down beside him.
“Sweetie, time for you to come with me!” Jimmy stared at her.
“Uh, why?” He asked, too startled to even think about trying to sound like a little girl. The bridesmaid smiled.
“Well, after Lisa and Erick have their first dance, they want the entire bridal party to come dance for a few minutes. You’ll be dancing with Erick’s nephew Noah, who you walked down the aisle with.” Jimmy felt like his face was bright red, but no one seemed to notice. Thankfully his sister was in the bathroom.
The bridesmaid took his hand and pulled him over to the edge of the dance floor.
“Now you know Noah from earlier, Noah, here’s your dance partner. Do you two know what to do?”
It was difficult to say who was more shy, but with the help of a couple bridesmaids, Noah put his hands on Jimmy’s waist and Jimmy had his arms draped on Noah’s shoulders as the bridesmaids cooed and snapped photos with their phones.
“So precious. Just do that, kids, and sway.” One of the bridesmaids kneeled down and whispered something in Noah’s ear as the two pulled away from each other. He looked shyly at Jimmy and then nodded. Jimmy felt a chill run down his spine. What did that mean?
Jimmy found out a moment later when Noah held out his hand to escort him out to the dance floor. Painfully aware of everyone’s eyes on him, he took it and Noah led the way. Jimmy swore that even over the music, he could hear each and every click-clack of his shoes.
He took his position, hands on Noah’s shoulders, fully conscious of the fact that he was the girl in their couple. They began to dance, Noah standing close and smiling at him. He was enjoying this! Feeling every single eye on them, Jimmy hoped it would be over soon as they swayed and turned.
“You look like a princess.” Noah said kindly. Jimmy blushed, but tried to smile. “I think you’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever met.” This proved too much for Jimmy and he felt tears welling up. Noah seemed to sense that he had said something wrong, so he fell silent and they danced until finally, Noah released Jimmy’s waist and he ran as fast as he could in the dress, his awful shoes click-clacking with every step. He did not make it far before his mom intercepted him.
“Did I do something wrong?” Noah asked, almost panicked.
“No, sweetie. She… uh, she’s just shy and that was a lot of attention on her.” Jimmy’s mom said.
“Oh, ok. You wanna go sit for a while? My cousins are over there.” Rather than wait for an answer, Noah took JImmy’s hand and led him over to a few boys who were chatting.
“Is this your girlfriend, Noah?”
“No, she’s just a nice girl and we’re posta dance together.” Noah explained. Noah’s cousins leered at Jimmy, but then forgot about him as they fell into boyish conversation.
Normally, Jimmy would have relished the chance to chat with boys around his own age. Even Noah seemed more cool once he got talking, but he knew that being too knowledgeable about boy stuff, let alone his voice, would give away his secret. He remained silent, trying to enjoy their conversation and forget about his dress, his curly wig, his everything!
“Oh! It’s another couple song!” Noah exclaimed. He grabbed Jimmy’s hand, but then stopped. “Oops, sorry. May… May I have this dance?” He extended his hand as Jimmy felt his stomach twist, but he knew that saying no would only make more of a scene. He took Noah’s hand and allowed him to escort him to the dance floor. He tried to find a place to look, but every bit of his view not taken up by Noah’s bashful smile seemed to have some onlooker who thought the ring bearer and flower girl dancing together was too cute.
The DJ clearly hated Jimmy because there were three slow songs in a row before he was finally able to escape the ring bearer. Navigating his skirt through the crowded tables and chairs meant he was slower than Noah, so he had no choice. There was only one place he could go where Noah could not, did not dare to follow. He pushed on the wooden door, glaring up at the female silhouette that labeled it.
Topic: Twist and Shout (Read 13643 times)
