Sociopath? by Vicki Williams Page B

she’d given him that all he
had to do was beckon but before he did that, he’d look around a
little. The redhead would always be there when he was ready.
    * *
    “Rafe, will you do something for me?”
    “What’s that, Laney?”
    “Will you teach me how to dance? The seventh
grade is having a sock hop in the gym. I’m really looking forward
to going but I’m afraid I’ll feel stupid because I don’t know how
to dance.”
    “Well, sure, Honey. After lunch we’ll go down
to the basement and turn on the stereo and I’ll show you.”
    They started with slow dancing.
    “There’s two ways to put your arms, Lane.
Probably with most kids, you’ll put them around the boy’s neck,
like this.” He illustrated. “But if it’s a boy who has been to
dance class, like all our brothers, though thankfully, that’s
another thing Mom and Dad forgot with us, then you’ll put one hand
on his shoulder and he’ll hold your other hand, like this. Just
wait and see what he prefers.”
    He turned on a slow, romantic song.
    “Now, Lane, here’s the part that’s important
since you’re the girl. You just need to let yourself be loose and
get into the music and follow the boy. I’m going to start and you
just sort of feel what I’m doing and let your steps match mine.” He
danced her around the floor. At first she was a little awkward.
    “Relax, Sweetie, you’re trying too hard. Just
let me guide you.”
    And then she got it. Pressed against him, she
felt herself anticipating his next move until their steps together
were smooth and graceful. She felt her chest lightly pressed
against his and her groin barely touching his and her head against
his cheek.
    “It’s almost like having sex standing up,”
she told him.
    He chuckled. “It can be if you like the
person you’re dancing with well enough.”
    “I like you well enough.”
    “I know, Honey.”
    *
    After that, he taught her how to do all the
latest fast dances - both the ones you did apart and the ones
together, where he swung her around and under his arm and caught
her again around her waist.
    “You’ll do,” he told her, “you’re plenty good
enough for a 7th grade sock hop.”
    “Who taught you how to dance, Rafe?”
    He thought about it for a minute. “Well, I
don’t know, Lane. I guess I don’t remember that anyone did.”
    “How do you get so good at everything, Rafe,
without anybody even having to show you?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I watched
them dancing on t.v. or something.”
    * *
    “Well, Laney,” he said first thing in the
morning, “today you’re a teenager.”
    “I know, isn’t it cool? A teenager!”
    “I’ve got a present for you tonight when we
go to bed.”
    “What, Rafe?”
    “It’s a secret. You’ll find out tonight.”
    “Rafe, you always make me wait for
things!”
    “That’s because looking forward to something
is almost as much fun as actually doing it.”
    “I’ll be in a tizz all day thinking about
it!”
    “Your grades are good enough, you can afford
to be in a tizz for one day.”
    *
    She was in a tizz all day. She would read her
history chapter and then realize she didn’t remember a thing she’d
just read. Or quit right in the middle of doing a math problem. She
kept thinking what new thing there could possibly be that he hadn’t
already shown her. It seemed like they’d done everything that could
be done. They’d done it with him on top and with her on top. They’d
done it with him sitting in a chair and her sitting down on him.
They’d done it with mouths and hands, in the shower and in the
pool.
    “Elena, are you feeling all right?”
    “Oh, yes, Mrs. Peterson. I just lost my train
of thought.”
    “Well, would you try to find it again and
finish your problem?”
    “Yes, Mrs Peterson, I’m sorry.”
    *
    Her parents had forgotten her birthday again
so there was no cake and no presents but she didn’t care. She kept
watching the clock, waiting for it to get to be