Dancing with the Player | Book #1

Midnight of Memories

"The beginning? What else do you have in store Maxwell?" I grinned.

"A lot, Johnston," he winked.

He started the car and turned the radio back on. I softly hummed the lyrics of The Sound by 1975 while James tapped his fingers on the steering wheels. The windows were down and cold air flew into the car and through our clothes. I didn't mind the cold breeze even if I was freezing. I had no clue where we were going next but as I closed my eyes, listened to 1975, and have the cold air pass through my hair, I couldn't care less.

The car stopped and I opened my eyes to see that we were at a thrift shop. I raised my eyebrow and observed the store. James walked before me and we entered into the store. Once we did a bell at the top of the door went off. I was surprised that the thrift shop would be opened at this time but as I looked near the counter I saw a '24 hours open' sign. Weird.

"What are we doing here?" I questioned as I perceived that we were the only customers here.

"We are here to get dolled up," he answered, but it wasn't the answer I wanted.

I skimmed through the clothes on each of the racks and didn't find anything 'dolled up' to purchase. I looked over at James to see him holding a black blazer, I guess he found something already. I turned around and my eyes caught a short silver puffy dress. The neck line was a low v and I didn't mind it at all. The dress had straps, the top of it had white roses on it while the bottom was all tool. Overall the dress looked stunning and I didn't think I could pull this off.

"Try it on," A voice said from behind me.

"No it's best if I try to find another one."

"Try it on," he repeated.

I went to the dressing room and took off all of my clothing. I stared at the dress and admired it from head to toe. I swear if my mom were here right now, she would've fainted. If Emma were here right now, she would've went into shock. Everyone who knew me very well, knew that I would never pick out something like this to wear. However, I did and I couldn't stop looking at myself in the mirror.

"You look beautiful," I looked up to see James leaning against the wall with the black blazer I saw him previously looking at.

I turned around and faced him as he stared at me. It was the first time James had stayed quiet. Usually he had some more witty comeback to say but he didn't. Maybe it was the dress that made him silent. The dress was gorgeous and I was sure on any other girl he'd also go silent.

"Let's go," is all he said before leaving my dressing room.

I slipped on my white sneakers and picked my clothes off of the floor. I walked out the change room and walked towards James. James glanced at the cashier who looked very tired yet bored out of their mind. I looked up at James who looked down at me. His eyes went towards the front door and I knew what he was trying to signal: we were going to make a run for it. I'd never stolen anything before and I know I should be protesting against this, but part of me felt excited.

I looked down at James' finger as he counted down from three. Right when he hits one we dashed to the front door and ran outside not before hearing the bell go off. The cashier's footsteps could be heard from behind us. We quickly hopped into James' car and drove away from the thrift shop. I looked back at the cashier leaning forward most likely tired from running.

"You know, it's just a thrift shop we could've paid for our outfits," I rolled my eyes.

He smiled,"What's the fun in that?"

I rolled my eyes yet again at James. He continued to drive and now I wondered why he would want us both to get dolled up. I hoped we weren't going to some posh party that his family knew. The last thing I wanted to do was be around was rich people questioning why I chose dance for a career.

"We're here, lets go," he said as he exited the car.

I furrowed my brows, that was quick. We were at a banquet hall and I wondered what the hell we were exactly doing here. I could here loud music from inside once James opened the door for me. Luckily it wasn't a posh party but as my eyes landed on a bride dancing with her groom, I recognized we were at a wedding. There were many people, maybe about 200 to be exact dancing and singing to the music.

"We're at a wedding," I observed.

"We're crashing a wedding," he corrected me.

"How so?" I curiously asked, wanting to know how James could possibly crash a wedding.

"Follow me and see," he responded.

I followed James' lead and we go to the middle of the dance floor and danced to the music. The crowd of people stop dancing and their eyes watched us. The music was a Spanish song and I had no idea of what the song was saying. James and I knew a bit of salsa dancing but out on this dance floor we looked like pros. I moved my hips to the music then James grabbed me the waist and pulled me in close. He spun me around then dipped me.

The Spanish music ended and some pop song came on. I slightly frowned at the sudden switch of the song but I smiled at James' smile on his face. I guess he enjoyed moving his hips as much as I did.

"Hey, you two aren't part of the wedding!" We heard a girl yell at us.

James and I glanced at each other, I took his hand in mine, and we ran out of the banquet. Once we reached outside we began to laugh out loud. To someone walking past us we might've seemed high on drugs but to ourselves we were just two people who crashed a wedding and got caught. We calmed down and headed back inside of the car. I slightly frowned once I took in that the night was over, I guess I was having too much fun to notice the time.

"The night isn't over," James told me.

He parked the car on a curb and turned off the engine. He came to my side of the car and opened the door. I stepped out and took his hand in mine. Instead of going through the entrance he led me through brushes that were by gated fence. We went around the back of this place and stopped once we reached a back door. James took out a key from his pocket and opened the door. I made a mental reminder to ask later how the hell James has a key to this building.

The door made a small creaking noise and the lights automatically turned on to reveal an indoor water park. I gasped as I stared at the water park before me. I've always wanted to go to an indoor water park and I'm glad that I got the chance to now. James took off his shoes and I did the same, not wanting to get my white sneakers wet. For what felt like an hour we played in the pool, went down the water slide, and went through sprinklers. It was pretty funny dunking James' head in the water.

I also removed the silver dress before I got into the water. The dress was far too precious to get soaked of water and I was hoping to wear it again. If I brought it in the water with me, that dress would've been long gone. James and I were currently sitting on the edge of the swimming pool, our feet in the water as we looked at the water before us.

"How do you have a key to this water park?"

"My grandparents owned it and gave a spare key to me when I wanted to have fun," he answered.

"That's nice of them," I said as I gave him a small smile.

He smirked,"So did you enjoy a midnight madness?"

I nodded,"Surprisingly, yes. I had a lot of fun thank you for doing this."

"You're welcome."

"But I wouldn't call it a midnight of madness."

James looked at with a questioning expression on his face,"What would you call it then?"

"I would call it a midnight of memories," I said.

"Why?"

"Because although a person needs a little bit of madness, a person needs memories much more. Madness is something we have in ourselves, but memories are in a diary that we all carry along with us. We may let go of the madness inside but not memories. Sometimes we can't let go of memories because they're constant reminders of a great story that we never expected to end."

I continued on,"So this was a midnight of memories because good times come and go, but the memories will last forever."