Night of a Wallflower

Short story for the Unspoken contest in which I missed the deadline! I really did enjoy writing this.

The music in the room made the walls vibrate. Crowds of people dancing, yelling over the music, laughter filling the air. Mari felt uncomfortable, clinging to her red solo cup while leaning against the wall. Her friends of course made her come to this party and she would make sure they wouldn’t hear the end of it.

She watched almost in envy, as the people around her paired off to slow dance. She took another sip of her drink, and her eyes wandered.

He caught her eye.

The distance between was just far enough, but those pale blue eyes almost glowed from the strings of twinkling lights around the room. He was also leaning against the wall, drink in hand; almost as if Mari was looking into a mirror. Another girl was at his side, most likely trying to talk to him, but his attention was on Mari.

Her brown eyes looked gold in the lighting. He gave her a smile and it was as if an electric wave made its way from the top of her head to the tip of her toes. She smiled, a shy tight lipped smile. He frowns comically, making his smile bigger, pointing to his teeth. Mari stifled a laugh, clearly he wants a genuine smile. Playing along with, Mari shakes her head, motioning to the other girl who was still talking at his side.

He winced, shaking his head, he pulled out his phone and wrote “Help Me!” in big letters, turning it around to show her. Mari raised her eyebrows, noting that they were very much not a couple. She pulled out her phone and wrote “Sorry!”. He grinned at her again, the sight was so enchanting, Mari almost felt light-headed. Every now and then, he would turn to nod to the girl beside him before turning back to face Mari.

“Name?” She wrote.

“LJ.” He replied. “Yours?”

“Mari.”

LJ titled his head, as if saying nice to meet you. Mari had to cover her smile with her hand, and tilted her head right back.

“No smile??” He asked.

“No.”

“Why?”

Mari sighed deeply before answering.

“Ugly smile.”

“Can’t be!” LJ showed his phone to her and Mari felt her face go warm. The girl next to him grabbed his attention for a brief second, he flashed an apologetic look. He asked the girl a question and she went off on another tangent, focusing only on her story.

“I’ll judge.” LJ wrote. Mari scoffed, rolling her eyes jokingly

“What do I get?” She asked.

“A dance?” LJ raised an eyebrow.

Mari gave him an interested look, tapping her finger on her chin, contemplating the exchange. LJ looked hopeful, anticipating seeing the smile from such a pretty girl. Mari took a deep breath, looking down at her shoes. She had always been embarrassed about her smile. She had crooked teeth that made her feel insanely insecure. She looked back up at LJ, he was smiling kindly at her. His eyes gave her the encouragement she needed.

She gave him a toothy smile, a genuine smile. The lights made her eyes twinkle, and LJ felt a rush of adrenaline hit him. She had such a pretty smile.

The girl next to him finally got the hint and had left as LJ made his way across the room. Mari looked at him sheepishly, and he extended his hand, gesturing to the dance floor. Another smile appeared on her face and she felt so giddy.

LJ spun her around, taking her into his arms and they swayed to the music. Mari looked up at him and he was already smiling.

Her friends will never hear the end of this.