Taking Chances by Deanna Frances Page B

could slow dance pretty well, but when it came to grinding…I’d seen it on TV, but I’d never done it.
    He laughed quietly.
    “What?” I asked.
    He smiled. “Nothing, I was just thinking that if Jacquie heard that you didn’t know how, she’d probably take you out there right now and make you dance with a bunch of random guys to make sure you knew how.”
    “I wouldn’t do it,” I vowed. I wouldn’t dance that way with anyone if I couldn’t even do it with Spencer. Especially if I was told to dance with someone else right in front of him.
    “Don’t worry,” Spencer said. “She’ll teach you sometime. It’s easier for the guys. All I’d have to do was hold onto your waist and follow your lead. It’s sort of backwards…guys are really supposed to lead, but I guess this kind of dancing is different.” He chuckled.
    “That makes it sound a lot easier.” I giggled, taking his hands, stepping in front of him, and placing his hands on my lower waist. Not nearly as low as Jeremy had his own on Jacquie, but Spencer still chuckled again, tightened his grip, and I leaned back against him. I wasn’t dancing, but Spencer seemed to like it anyway.
    “This will do.” He kissed the top of my head. Before the dance ended, we took pictures together from the professional photographer. I took some pictures with Annie and Jacquie, just Spencer, and then we took some pictures with our entire group.
    After the dance ended at ten-thirty, my friends and I decided to go over to Jacquie’s house. When we got there, Spencer went to living room with the rest of the guys, while Jacquie, Annie, Emily and I went upstairs to change. Annie, Jacquie and I put on our clothes from earlier, and Emily had brought clothes with her. We joined the guys in the living room, who’d loosened their ties and unbuttoned their vests.
    We stayed at Jacquie’s until one in the morning when I went home unwillingly, wishing that I could stay with her or Spencer.
    When I got home, I prayed that my parents would not be there, but because my luck was a lot worse than Spencer’s, they were. I tried to ignore them, but Michael still screamed at me incoherently. He was more drunk than usual, and I didn’t even catch half of the things he said. I ran up to my room and locked the door, hoping he wouldn’t try to hurt me.
    The next morning, I woke up early, and Spencer called to ask if I wanted to go out to lunch. I heard my parents leave the house and I wondered where they always went. Chicago? DeKalb? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. I didn’t want to leave Lillian and Rebecca alone in case Michael came home, so I asked Spencer if they could tag along. He’d willingly agreed and offered to pay for all of us.
    Spencer picked us up at noon, and I got into the passenger seat of his car.
    “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” he asked me quietly, taking my hand as my sisters got into the backseat.
    “No,” I replied.
    “Can you guess?” he asked.
    “I have a pretty good feeling I know how much you love me.” I giggled.
    “I bet you do.” He leaned over and kissed me.
    “Hey!” Lil complained. “We’re right here, you know. Jeeze, people…”
    Spencer laughed. “Sorry, Lillian.”
    Rebecca sighed. “Teenagers.”
    I looked back at her in surprising disbelief, as Spencer chuckled quietly and backed out of the drive.
     
    * * *
     
    We decided to eat at The J. After lunch, I had to do some grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with the extra money from the dress fund Maddie had given me. Spencer wandered around the store while I shopped. Lillian and Rebecca picked out snacks they wanted for lunch.
    We found Spencer in the CD section. He was holding a little shopping bag in his hand. He must have gone to another store while I was shopping. We walked out of the store and out to his car. I put the groceries in the trunk before climbing into the passenger’s side. Spencer still had the little bag in his hand.
    “What’s that?” I