On a Friday night in March, Elise and Morgan were studying at the kitchen table again, papers and laptops spread across its surface. Sarah was gone again, out with friends. Elise pushed her glasses back up on her nose and looked at Morgan with a bemused expression.
“I’m bored,” she admitted sheepishly, grinning around her braces and pink twin blocks.
Morgan sat up and stretched her arms over her head. She leaned back, the headgear strap behind her neck compressing, and yawned as wide as her elastics would stretch. “Me too,” she agreed. “When wath the latht time we went out on a weekend?”
“Maybe...latht fall? Around Thankthgiving?” Elise tried to remember. She and Morgan laughed.
“Ok!” Morgan shut her laptop decisively. “Enough thtudying for today, we’re going out! What do you like to do, Elithe? Barth, rethtauranth?”
Elise blushed. “I’ve never really had a thothial life,” she confessed. “What do you like?”
“We’re going danthing, then!” Morgan stood up, feeling inspired. “Come on, get your booth! I’ll take you country danthing.” She began unfastening her headgear straps.
“What am I thuppothed to wear?” Elise asked, shyly.
–--
A hour later, Morgan led Elise across the parking lot to the Wild Horse Dancehall. Elise had on a borrowed pair of Morgan’s cowboy boots, jean shorts with the legs rolled up high enough that the very bottom of Elise’s butt cheeks peeked out as she walked, and a t-shirt with the Texas flag. Morgan was wearing her tightest jeans and a black halter top that amplified her chest and exposed her soft, chubby midsection that bulged over the waistband of her jeans.
Inside the large building, the dance floor crowd was sparse for a weekend night. Elise and Morgan ordered bottles of beer at the bar and sat along the dance floor’s railing sipping their drinks.
“I didn’t know you were a danther,” Elise said as they watched couples two-step past.
“My mom’th family ith big into danthing,” Morgan said, “tho I grew up with it. I came here a lot in college. Even on a bad date, the danthing wath fun,” she laughed.
“You’ll have to thow me how,” Elise admitted. “I’ve never danthed before.”
“I’d be happy to!” Morgan smiled. “Finith your drink and let’th go out!” She stood up and stepped onto the wood dance floor. Elise drained her beer bottle, the glass clinking against her twin blocks, then pushed her thick glasses back on her nose and followed Morgan.
“Hold my hand and copy me,” Morgan instructed. She stood to Elise’s left and held out her right hand. Elise lightly took Morgan’s hand and watched her intently.
“Feel the beat of the muthic,” Morgan said, moving her shoulders and hips in time with the beat, exaggerating her movements for Elise’s benefit. Elise nodded, her face serious. “Now, thtep back with your right foot like thith. Then left, then thorth-thtep,” Morgan said shuffling both feet in time with the song. Elise moved back with her, Elise’s feet mostly just shuffling.
“All right!” Morgan gave an encouraging smile. “Keep going. Right, left, thort-thtep,” she repeated. Elise began to move her feet in the correct order. They moved backward around the edge of the dance floor.
“Right, left, thort-thtep,” Elise muttered to herself. As they moved, Elise began to feel the beat. By the second song, she was mostly moving in time with the music. She smiled at Morgan. Still holding hands, they slowly two-stepped backwards around the floor a complete circuit.
On the next song, Morgan added a slow spin from time to time, and Elise started to move her shoulders and hips with the beat. Morgan turned to face Elise and switched her step to lead, loosely holding both of Elise’s hands between them. They laughed and moved toward the center of the floor to join the more confident couples.
As the evening went on, Elise loosened up. She tried improvising some spins, laughing loudly and giving Morgan a broad view of her pink plastic appliances when she tripped on her boots, grabbing Morgan’s shoulder for support.
Taking a breather, Morgan bought them both another beer. Standing along the railing, Elise leaned her back against the railing to face Morgan who was looking out at the dance floor.
“Thith ith tho fun!” Elise shouted over the music.
“I’m having a great time with you!” Morgan called back. They drank, smiling at each other and watching the dancers.
“Ready?” Elise asked as she finished her beer. She held out a hand to Morgan.
“Yeth!” Morgan took Elise’s hand and followed her out on the floor. Elise turned to face Morgan just as the music slowed and the lights dimmed for a love song. “May I have thith danthe?” Morgan asked Elise, jokingly.
“Of courthe,” Elise smiled at her, moving closer. Morgan stepped off, following the waltz beat, holding Elise against her body.
They circled the floor several times, moving in time with each other. Elise felt Morgan’s thighs, sliding forward with the waltz, gently nudging her through the unfamiliar step. She squeezed tighter on Morgan’s hand. When the song finished, they found themselves back where they’d started, blinking at each other as the lights came up.
Morgan, making eye contact with Elise, leaned forward, suddenly, impulsively, and kissed Elise. It wasn’t much of a kiss, just a quick peck on the lips that clattered against Elise’s braces. She backed up, blushing.
“I’m tho thorry, Elithe,” Morgan was mortified, her emotions roiling. “I don’t know why I did that,” she said near tears. Elise looked at Morgan, her eyes wide, nearly as shocked as Morgan. Then she smiled.
“Do it again,” she said, gently pushing Morgan a step back so that Morgan sat on the wooden railing. Elise stood between Morgan’s knees, her hands holding Morgan’s bare sides. Elise leaned forward slowly, expectantly, for a kiss.
Elise’s and Morgan’s lips met, softly. Morgan pulled Elise in gently. Their braces clicked together as they explored each other’s mouths with their tongues. Elise’s twin blocks and Morgan’s elastics restricted how far they could explore. After a long moment – very long – they straightened up and looked at each other. Morgan’s cheeks were flushed. Elise pushed her glasses back up her nose.
“I really like the way that felt,” Elise said, smiling at Morgan.
