Unfold

Chapter Twenty-Five (25)

From across the floor, Shawn watched as Jean talked to his mother as if she had known her for years. They were both laughing together, and he laughed when Jean held up her name card and shook her head slowly at him. He about choked on his food as he chuckled; he almost forgot about that one.

He was able to pull up a chair beside Jean at her table as they went through the first dances. After Zeiler and Tyler finished their dance, the DJ called all the married couples to the floor.

"Oh here we go," his mom said, standing up and swinging her arms as if she was warming up for a race. "Let's do this."

"I dare you two to go out there," his dad said, leaning in and winking at Shawn.

"You dare us?" Shawn said, amused. "Fraud, but since you dared us..."

Jean was talking to Faith, unaware of what was just said. Shawn grabbed her hand and started to pull her towards the dance floor.

"Wait, this is for—" Jean said, stumbling over her feet as they walked onto the floor.

"Shh," Shawn said, putting his hands on her waist and pulling her close to him. "Just go with it."

He couldn't help but laugh at how frantic she looked. He moved her arms around his neck and she looked to his parents with desperate eyes. Both of them laughed; there was too many people on the floor for anyone to notice they weren't supposed to be there.

"Please exit the dance floor if you've been married for less than two hours," the DJ said, and everyone laughed. Zeiler and Tyler has the biggest smiles on their face as they walked to the edge of the floor.

"Oh no," Jean said. "Shawn, what is this? Why are we doing this?"

"Be cool," he said, smiling and looking around. "We could win this."

He had his hands on her waist, and she started giggling in her panic. When she realized he wasn't going to let her leave, she buried her face in his chest as if she could hide from the crowd. He laughed out loud at her before kissing the top of her head. Looking into the crowd, he made eye contact with Zeiler who threw her head back laughing. She nudged Tyler who looked to him and grinned, shaking his head at him slowly. He gave him a thumbs up.

People started exiting the floor after 1 and 2 years. Jean tried to walk away each time but Shawn easily pulled her back. His mom found it the most funny, she was cracking up as she rested her face on his dad's shoulder.

"Don't encourage him!" Jean cried, not able to hide her smile at his mom's reaction.

"Five years!" The DJ called. Jean looked at Shawn, pleading with her eyes, but he continued to sway back and forth to the song that was playing. Nobody was paying them any attention yet.

"Please Shawn," she pleaded. "Five years is long enough. We got married a couple years after high school. Let's quit while we're ahead."

"Be still," he said, looking around the room and nodding at other couples as he tried to play it cool. "It's biblical."

When they called ten years, he laughed before he even looked down to see Jean's reaction. She went stiff as a board and her lips were pressed shut. As anyone who looked remotely their age started to leave the dance floor, he knew he needed to put her out of her misery.

"Ten years?" She said, trying to keep her cool. "We got married when we were fifteen?"

"Ten?" He asked. "Jean, it was nine, how could you forget?" He rolled his eyes in mock frustration and grabbed her hand to pull her off the dance floor.