Dancing Queen

Wow. That girl really knew how to skate.

How did she do that? How did she know where she was going? The lights were all off except for the spots reflecting off the disco ball twirling around the room.

She was older than us, and had black, curly hair held out of her eyes by a headband. She wore a tight Jaws t-shirt over a pair of really high, red satin shorts. She was very skinny, with long, pale legs. Tall socks stuck out over the tops of her skates. Small fuzzy dice dangled from the laces. She darted in between the couples on the floor, twisting and turning, spinning around and going backward, and the whole while dancing to the Abba song on the speakers.

A sharp whistle next to me made me jump. Looking up, I saw the old man who ran the place standing next to me at the rail. He was staring out at the floor, two fingers that he used to make the whistle still in his mouth. At the desk behind him, his gray-haired wife watched with a sour look on her face.

He gestured to someone out on the floor, and I saw her coming. She swung both arms like a speed skater, and darted between couples with only inches to spare as they turned around the loop. She had a big grin, and no fear.

She spun in a tight circle and stopped in front of him.

He frowned. "Whatcha doin' out there, Julie? You know that's for couples."

She smiled at him, her braces gleaming. "Aw, c'mon. There's loads of room out there."

"No," he said. "I let you out there like that, next thing I know, there's a whole gang of kids out there causin' trouble. You wanna go out there, get yourself a date or wait for the free skate."

He went back to spraying deodorant into skates behind the desk.

She pouted and I studied the floor.

"Hey you," she said. "How old are you?"

I looked around. "Who, me?"

"Yeah, you."

"Twelve."

She thought for a minute. "That's old enough. Wanna?" She jabbed her thumb toward the spinning disco ball.

"Uh…" I swallowed hard. "I don't know. I was, um, waiting for the snack bar. Get some, you know, stuff. Wacky Wafers candy and a Coke maybe."

She glanced at the clock on the wall over the desk. "It won't be open for another ten minutes."

"Oh? Uh, really?"

There was an uncomfortable pause.

She slid over and took hold of my hand. My throat went dry, and it got really hot in the room.

"C'mon," she said, tugging me toward the floor.

I rolled forward until I would have had to let go of the rail. My other hand held fast.

"Whassamatter?"

I said in a really tiny voice, "I can't skate. I don't know how."

She looked at me sideways. "Are you kidding?"

I couldn't look her in the eye. "No."

She stepped in close to me until she was cheek to cheek. I had trouble breathing. No girl had ever wanted to be this close to me before.

"Trust me," Julie whispered in my ear. I didn't even realize at first that she had my other hand in hers.

She stepped back. "Just look into my eyes."

They were big, soft brown pools that seemed bigger the longer I peered into them. I saw a couple pass by behind her, then another, and realized it was us passing them. I hadn't known we were moving. I couldn't even feel the floor under my skates. She never looked away or checked behind her, yet she was weaving us in and out of the people on the rink effortlessly. I didn't want the moment to end.

Then I heard it. "Hey, look at fatty! He's out here with his girlfriend, the skate nerd."

I looked. We were passing Mike, the jerk, with Marie, little miss popularity. They laughed at us.

Marie jeered, "Even she's out of his league."

I didn't want to look at Julie's face. I didn't want to see her agree with them. I looked at the floor instead.

"Hey," Julie said. "I'm not like that."

She was smiling. "Don't mind them. They never amount to anything. Just keep shifting your weight. This side... now the other. Good. Now turn your foot a little when you push."

Her eyes sparkled. "You're almost there."

I spied Mike and Marie behind her, making faces at us. We must have been a sight: hand-in-hand, me staring into the eyes of this older girl who normally wouldn't even have acknowledged my existence.

"Julie, why are you doing this? Everyone else just makes fun of me."

"You're not so bad." She smiled, steering us back toward the rail. "Besides, there won't be music this good for another thousand years."

I stumbled as we crossed over the edge where the carpeting started, and she caught me in a hug and let me down on one of the benches. "I just love coming back here to skate." She kissed my cheek. "Remember me this way."

She turned to the old lady behind the desk. "Gotta go. I'll stop by next time I'm in the neighborhood."

The lady waved, and Julie skated out the doors to the parking lot. I tried to follow, but fell right down.

Mike bellowed, "Look at the loser!"

The old guy helped me up and luckily the crowd didn't laugh as long as they normally did.

"You'll get it, kid," he said. "The whole planet will catch on, someday."

"Thanks."

I looked out the doors. I could see the whole parking lot, but she was gone, like she'd vanished off the face of the Earth. As I rolled back to the benches, thinking about her, I realized I was skating. I was finally doing it!

Grin on my face, I headed out for the free skate.

Thanks, Julie, wherever you are.

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