Episode 929: Dance With Somebody

Jesse stood across the hotel ballroom, sharply dressed in a dark navy blue tux, his hair kind of a mess, it always was. His date, Mary Jane, looked the prettiest Caroline had ever seen her, as every girl hoped to on prom night. Since they’d been shopping at the same time and Mary Jane had insisted, Caroline had helped Mary Jane decide on a red dress with a sweetheart neckline and a skirt that twirled.

Caroline couldn’t tell if Jesse was dazzled by Mary Jane in the dress Caroline had chosen or not.

He definitely didn’t push Mary Jane’s hand away when she pressed a palm to his chest and crooked a finger on her other hand, beckoning him out onto the dance floor.

“Caroline,” her date, Charlie, bellowed into her ear, louder than seemed necessary. Yeah, the volume on the sound system had been cranked fairly high, but not that high. That was the type of loudness that came with having not been heard the first two or three times.

“Sorry.” She turned to Charlie. “I couldn’t hear you. It’s so loud in here.”

“You’ve been staring at him a lot.”

“Jesse?”

“Yeah.”

“I just… it’s habit. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that he’s better now. I know it’s been months, but it’s difficult to kick the habit of thinking I need to watch him in case he needs help. I’d rather stare at you.”

Charlie did look so handsome in his tux, not a hair out of place, he would make a rock star president someday.

He bent a little touching his forehead to hers. He said, “okay.” He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he said, “if you want to dance with him, I- I understand. It’s prom, you probably always thought you’d dance with-”

“You’re my date.”

“You keep looking at him like you think he should be your date.”

“It’s not like that, I promise. I just, between him and home, I’ve become such a worrywart. I know I should just forget all that and have fun with you. I want to forget all that and have fun with you. It has been way too long.” She’d been staying home a lot for Abby’s sake. “Dance with me?”

Charlie smiled, nodded and took her hand. She placed her partially drunk punch on the table and then, with her arms looped up around Charlie’s neck, she enjoyed slow dancing in his arms for nearly one full song before she felt her phone in his breast pocket vibrate against her arm. He’d offered to carry it for her so she wouldn’t have to worry all night about where she’d put her purse. She truly had been a worrywart of late. Now she was worried about who might be trying to reach her. She looked past Charlie’s shoulder and saw Jesse with his hand on one ear and his phone pressed to the other ear.

Episode 930: Drive My Car