Spring Dance Chapter 2

By six-thirty Marrisa was sitting on her window seat staring out the window watching for Jim's old red beat-up truck she saw him drive to school everyday to roll down her street.  She could only imagine what the inside looked like.  He probably had a floor board full of pop bottles and twinkle wrappers.  As she sat there smoothing down her poodle-skirt, she saw a cherry red Mustang moving slowly down the street, as if looking for a particular house.

Sighing, Marrisa thought to herself,  “Man, sure wish I was going with Rocky tonight.”

When she looked out the window again she noticed the mustang stop, then pull into her drive.  Figuring the car was just using her drive to turn around, she continued to sit there.  Much to her surprise, Marrisa heard the car engine stop and the driver side door slowly opened.  A few minutes later she saw Jim climb out of the car carrying a corsage box.

Jim rolled his shoulders and shut the door.  He was dressed in form fitting black jeans with a white t-shirt that was pretty much molded to his chest showing off muscles Marrisa did not know Jim had.  His hair was slicked back in a duck tail.  As he made his way to her front door Marrisa jumped up and did a quick look in the mirror to make sure hair was fluffed out and her lipstick was on straight.  In spite of the fact she was just using Jim to make Rocky jealous, Marrisa found her heart pounding with excitement.

Hearing the door bell ring, she took a deep breath and made her way downstairs.

Opening the door, Marrisa said,  “Hi Jim.  Please come in while I get my sweater.”

Jim stepped inside the foyer and held out the corsage box,  “This is for you.  I wasn't sure what color your blouse was so I got you a white orchid wrist corsage.”

Marrisa turned around and held out her wrist.  “Would you please put it on for me?”

Jim fumbled the box open, put it on the entry table and slipped it on her wrist.  When she got her sweater, Jim took it from her and held it out for her to slip her arms into, something that Rocky never did for her.

When they walked out the door, Jim offered her his arm.  “Allow me to escort you to the car Marrisa.”

“Is this your car?”  she asked

“Yes it is.”  Jim told her  “I just finished restoring it about a month ago so this is really the first time I have had her out.  And don't worry, she is safe to ride in.  I took it for a test drive after I restored her.”

When they got to the car Marrisa reached for the door handle but Jim beat her to it.  He opened the door and helped her inside, then shut the door behind her.  Jim came around to the other side and got in.  When he started the car, music from the '50's came out of the speakers.

“Thought since we were going to a sock hop we might as well listen to that kind of music to get us in the mood to dance.”  he told Marrisa

Marrisa watched him out of the corner of her eye and wondered if he could actually dance or if he had two left feet.  Thankfully she had opted to wear sneakers instead of heels so if he did have two left feet he wouldn't cause her to trip if he stepped on her feet.

Without taking his eyes off the road Jim said,  “You look very pretty tonight Marrisa.  Blue is a very good color for you.  It brings out the blue in your eyes.”

“Thank you.”  she answered back, not use to getting sincere compliments from a guy before.

They drove the rest of the way to the dance in silence, letting the music break the silence.  When they drove into the school lot, Marrisa saw Rocky and Sherry heading into the gym.  After parking the car, she reached over to open the door.

Putting his hand on her arm Jim quietly said,  “Ladies do not open their own doors.”

He quickly got out and came around to open her door, helping her out of the car.

“Hey guys!”  Molly yelled from the next row.  “About time you got here.”

She hurried over to them, dragging her date with her.  Taking a good look at Jim she smiled wide and gave him a thumbs up.

“Hi Molly.  Hi Sam.”  Jim said once again offering Marrisa his arm.  “Let's get this party started.”