The Space Between

Chapter 14

S-Fit on Thursday

Varian was muttering calculations to himself when he almost bumped into Hiro.  "Oh!  Gosh, I'm so sorry.  I didn't see you there…"

"Oh, don't worry about it." Hiro waved a hand.  "I actually was coming to find you.  My friend Meghan invited me to another dance, but it's open for our age group.  So if you wanna tag along, that's cool.  And bring a date if you have one."

"Cool, I'll think about it.  And no, I don't have a date."

Hiro grinned.  "Great, because I don't have one either!"

"Are you sure?  I know a particular girl that might fit that role," Varian teased.

"For the last time, we're not dating!" Hiro cried.

"Yet."

"Really? You're worse than Honey lemon!"

"Maybe I'm tired of two friends of mine who have obvious feelings for each other batting around the bush.  But you know, you all have your own way of going about things, I suppose."

"Oh, so if you had a crush, you'd just be blunt and tell them?"

"So you do have a crush on her?"

"That's not what I said!"

Varian laughed.  "As for your question, no.  I don't walk up and say, "I like you" or "I have a crush on you".  It's more like I make it obvious then ask her out.  She says no, cry it out in a pillow and move on."

"When you put it that way, you sound like you get rejected more than you ask someone out," Hiro teased.

"Well, I've certainly had more rejections than dates if that's what you're wondering."

"Ouch."

"Yep.  Girls can be so cruel.  Anyways I'll let you know if I can go to that party or not.  I don't really have a suit or anything," Varian admitted.

"Ask Fred.  Maybe he has something. Knowing, his closet is probably filled with old Tuxedo's or something.  Or Honey lemon usually has ideas where to get them cheap and fast," Hiro suggested.

"I think about it."

"As long as I'm not the only weird nerd kid there, I'm cool," Hiro said.

Varian laughed.  "Oh, that's what this is all about?  Ok.  Fine. I'll go so you don't die of boredom or embarrassment."

"Thank you!" Hiro let out a sigh of relief.  "I owed Meghan.  Now I owe you.  I gotta go to class."

Varian shook his head before continuing down the hall. 

Saturday Dance

Meghan tapped her arm impatiently before Hiro appeared in the gym.  He had another boy behind him, which must have been Varian.

"Hey, Meghan." Hiro waved.  He was wearing the same outfit from the previous dance, but she was pretty sure he was wearing a new white shirt due to the lack of a lemonade stain.  "This is Varian."

Varian was wearing his suit jacket draped over his shoulders and the top two buttons of his shirt were unbuttoned.  He had his hands in both of the pockets to his slacks. And he wore black tennis shoes with white rims. That was not how she expected a nerd to wear his suit, but suppose that it was wrong to assume all nerds fit the stereo typical.

"Hey." Meghan waved to Varian.  "Hiro said you'd be coming.  So, are you another nerd that didn't have a normal childhood?' she teased.

"That's an understatement," he chuckled.

"Well, this is a highschool dance.  Ever been to one?"

"To a formal dance?  Yes.  To a school dance?  No," Varian admitted.

"Well, this is it." Meghan gestured to the room

Varian looked at it and nodded.  "Very different from the parties I'm used to.  I'm afraid I don't know any of these dances…"

"You haven't seen any of these?" Hiro asked in surprise.

"Oh, no I've seen them.  I've never attempted any," Varian explained.

"Well, what dances do you know?"

"You know, the typical waltz, the tango, the hole in the wall, the Laendler and a bunch of Cro- I mean, German traditional dances… it was important to know the traditional dances where I came from," Varian explained.  "It proved you were etiquette, and it was also an important role in your status."

"That sounds like you lived two hundred years ago," Meghan laughed.

Varian gave a nervous chuckle.  "Well, I can promise that I didn't live two hundred years ago."

"Mind showing me some?  I've always kind of wanted to know how to dance like an old fashioned ball," Meghan said.

"Uhh… sure.  Hiro?"

"Nope.  I'm good.  I'm going to check out the punch and snacks," Hiro said.  "Which is the highlight of any party."

The other two nodded in agreement.  Hiro watched them do their own thing and poured himself some punch and filled his paper plate with some cupcakes and chips.  Honestly, he actually was just content sitting back with his food and watching Meghan step on Varian's toes every five seconds.

"Sorry," she apologized.

"At this rate you don't need to say it-ow..." Varian winced.  "You're worse than I was learning," he chuckled.

"Apparently, I'm not very graceful," she laughed.

"Don't worry that also comes with practice.  I wasn't the person you'd usually ask to teach dancing back home anyways," Varian admitted.

She merely chuckled. Megan felt her hand in his.  It was oddly soft and gentle.  His other arm was wrapped around her waist.  If she were in a movie, this would be a romantic scene.  But she wasn't in a movie.

"So, ever taken a girl to a dance before," she asked suddenly.  She immediately regretted it when he let out an embarrassed chuckle.

"Well... There was one girl when I was thirteen.  She ended up dumping her punch on my head.  I didn't go to the local barn dance anymore.  Or attend her birthday parties.  Or any birthday parties."

"Oh, gosh.  What happened to make her do that?" Meghan tilted her head.

"I don't know.  She never did tell me. All I remember is that it was the day it became abundantly clear that I would never fit in with the kids of Old Corona."

"Is that the name of your school?"

"Um... Town.  I was homeschooled," he explained.

She nodded.  "So she was a bully?"

He shrugged.  "It didn't really matter.  I don't even remember her name.  I have a habit of crushing on girls who end up hating me." Varian let out a low laugh. "Like there was this one girl who literally," he suddenly stopped. "Um... Well... She... Nevermind.  That's a story for another time.  It's kinda long."

"Ah.  That doesn't sound great," Meghan replied.

"Tell me about it.  What about you?"

"Me? I've had my crushes. Been on a couple dates. Get dumped. Yeah, usually in that order."

"Ok, so both our love lives suck."

"Pretty much.  How did we get on this conversation again?" Meghan raised a brow.  Then she remembered that she was the one who asked him the personal question first.  What was she thinking?

He shrugged again. "Who knows.  But you stopped walking on my feet, so that's nice."

She merely chuckled.