The Red Umbrella
: Chapter 35

The school gym was transformed. Instead of wooden bleachers and a huge scoreboard, all I saw was a world of large paper birds hanging from the rafters and five-foot cardboard flowers lining the walls. There were giant butterflies and ladybugs scattered among the blossoms. It was as if springtime had arrived in cartoonland. It was colorful, and a bit tacky, but I loved it.

“Lucía, over here!” Jennifer shouted above the music. She was talking with Doris and a few other girls who were on the decorations committee for the dance.

I walked toward them. Jennifer, with her slim yellow dress and blond hair, looked as bright as the sun itself. The other girls also looked like they were wearing their best spring dresses.

“Hi, everybody. The place looks great,” I said.

“Ooh, I love your dress!” Doris exclaimed.

“It turned out gorgeous!” Jennifer agreed.

I looked down at the peach dress I was wearing. It was a simple sleeveless dress with a round collar and an A-line skirt. I had made it myself from a Simplicity pattern and cinched it at the waist with a white patent-leather belt borrowed from Mrs. Baxter.

I gave them all a mock little curtsy.

For a girl who’d had her first sewing lesson in home economics only six months earlier, it really was pretty nice.

“C’mon. Let’s sit on the bleachers and see if we get asked to dance.” Jennifer pulled me by the hand.

I resisted. “Instead, why don’t we—”

“No excuses. Rita isn’t coming ’cause she’s sick, and Susan’s already on the dance floor twisting away.” She gave my arm a tug and I followed her to the stands.

As we walked over, I caught a glimpse of Eddie hanging out in the corner of the room with Nathan and a few others. They all looked nearly the same in their dark suits and thin ties, except Eddie towered over the other boys.

Jennifer and I sat on the first row of bleachers, next to a few other girls, and waited. I’d just gotten comfortable watching everyone else on the dance floor when Jennifer gave me a little nudge.

“Here they come,” she whispered.

My heart sank as I saw Nathan and Eddie walking toward us. I kept remembering what had happened with Manuel. I didn’t want a repeat of that night.

“Hi, girls,” Eddie said.

“Hello, boys,” Jennifer answered, twirling a strand of her hair.

Quiet.

It was an uncomfortable silence.

Eddie elbowed Nathan, who was standing in front of us shuffling his feet.

“Um … uh … yeah … so,” Nathan stammered.

Eddie looked over at Jennifer. “So, Jenn, did you try to match the theme? Like Miss Sunshine or something?”

“What?” she asked.

“No, I mean Nathan and I were talking about how you both looked nice and stuff. You with your yellow dress and all.”

“Like sunshine? Is that supposed to be funny, Eddie?” Jennifer crossed her arms.

“No, no. Hey, forget it. That just didn’t come out right. Don’t be mad. You want to dance?” He held out his hand. “I do a mean twist.” He showed us his dance move and we all giggled.

And there it was.

Eddie had asked Jennifer to dance and not me.

Jennifer hesitated, but I nodded for her to go ahead.

“Okay,” she said, standing up.

“Nathan, why don’t you dance this song with Lucía and we can switch partners afterward. That okay, girls?” Eddie cautiously looked at the two of us.

“Sure,” I answered.

Then I realized what had just happened and smiled.

Eddie was one clever boy.

* * * * *

For the next hour, we danced to the latest rock ’n’ roll songs. It was fun. When the song “Runaround Sue” came on, we all pointed to Sue Ellen Padgett, who tossed her hands in the air and spun around for us, as if on cue. The only ones who acted like they were completely bored were Betty and her group of followers. But eventually even they caved in and joined us on the dance floor. No one could resist the music and laughter. Eddie and I danced most of the songs together, and he kept making me laugh with all his silly moves. Everything was fine until “Blue Moon” started to play. It was a slow song.

I stood still on the dance floor as all the couples around me paired up to slow dance.

Eddie got closer.

All I could think was, Oh no, is everything going to get ruined?

He leaned in and whispered, “Want to go get something to drink and leave the slow dancing to the lovebirds?”

My shoulders dropped and I smiled. “Definitely,” I said.

I crossed the dance floor without Eddie even trying to hold my hand. He only touched my back to make sure I didn’t get bumped by a few dancing couples. I was feeling more and more relaxed being with him. He really was a good friend.

I watched him as he served us both something to drink. He had a bunch of freckles that covered his face, and his eyelashes seemed to fade toward the tips. He wasn’t movie-star handsome, but there was definitely something attractive about him.

“What? Do I have something on my face?” he asked, handing me a cup.

“Oh no. I was just thinking about something.” I’d been caught staring and I could feel my cheeks turning red.

“Are you having a good time?” he asked.

“Mmm-hmm.” I looked over at Susan, who’d sat down on a nearby bleacher to catch her breath. She was fanning herself with a napkin.

“Seems like even Miss Dancing Queen had to take a break,” Eddie said, pointing at Susan, who was now in the process of pulling her curly brown hair into a ponytail.

I looked up at Eddie. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“You give everyone nicknames, why not me?”

Eddie shrugged. “Don’t know. With you it’s different.” He looked down at his feet and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “It’s hard to come up with just one word that really describes you.”

My heart fluttered a little. He was so sweet, but I could see that he was uncomfortable. I needed to get us back to how we’d been just a few moments earlier. I gave him a light punch in the arm. It was the only thing I could think to do.

“What was that for?” He playfully rubbed his arm as if I’d really hurt him.

“Just for being Eddie.” I smiled. “C’mon, let’s take Susan a drink before she faints.”

“Hmm, with a swing like that I might have a name for you after all … Champ.”

I grinned, because tonight that was exactly how I felt.