He asks out Janice

He finds her near the edge of the floor, standing with Maya, the navy dress catching the light the way it has been doing all evening. She sees him coming and says something to Maya who glances at him once and quietly excuses herself.

He stops in front of her.

Miles: last dance.

She looks at him for a moment with that expression he has never quite been able to fully read, the one that sits somewhere between careful and something she has not decided to put into words yet.

Janice: last dance.

She takes his hand and he leads her onto the floor. She steps in close naturally, her hand finding his shoulder, her head almost at his chin. He puts his arm around her waist and they settle into each other without any of the usual negotiation of two people finding their rhythm. It is just there, easy and familiar, like they have done this before in some version of events he cannot quite remember.

They move slowly. The room exists somewhere at the periphery.

Miles: you okay?

Janice: She looks up at him. She nods once, quietly. yeah. She pauses. More than okay actually.

Miles: good night?

Janice: She considers this genuinely. She looks around the room once then back at him. It got better as it went.

He turns her slowly and she comes back to him easily, her hand tightening slightly in his.

Miles: Janice.

Janice: She looks up at him.

Miles: I'm glad it was you tonight.

Something crosses her face, warm and unguarded, the careful layer she usually keeps in place completely gone for a moment.

Janice: She says it quietly. me too.

They stay like that through the rest of the song, her head resting against his shoulder, his chin lightly against her hair. Neither of them speaks. Neither of them needs to. The kind of silence that only exists between two people who have been circling something for long enough that they no longer need to explain it to each other.

When the music finally fades she lifts her head slowly and looks up at him. Her eyes are soft in the low light, something in them that has been there since sophomore year and never quite went away.

Janice: what happens now?

He looks at her for a long moment.

Miles: after party.

She holds his gaze for just a moment longer. Then she smiles, slow and quiet, and leans up and kisses him softly once before pulling back.

Janice: then let's go.

She laces her fingers through his and leads him toward the door.

He follows without hesitation.