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Mike was uncomfortable.
It wasn’t that the music was too loud, and the contents of everyone’s solo cups didn’t bother him. The problem was that Cam had ditched him, and now he was stuck leaning against the wall and checking his phone like some antisocial loser. It wasn’t Cam’s fault; his boyfriend had grabbed him the moment the two had walked in for a “beer pong strategy meeting,” and that was the last he had seen of the short geeky boy. Maybe he needed another drink.
He headed to the drinks table, face scrunching up as he tried to decide just what he was going to pour into his cup. It was... a lot of alcohol for a high school party. Someone’s older sibling must’ve really come through. Mike settled on some fruity cocktail-in-a-box, unscrewing the cap and making himself a drink. To be honest, he wasn’t the biggest fan of getting drunk, that was more of a Vito activity, but getting a little tipsy at some jock’s First Week of Senior Year party couldn’t hurt. As he set the cocktail box back down, he bumped elbows with someone, and turned to apologize before he found himself at a loss for words.
This girl... was very, very pretty, and it didn’t help that their bump had gotten her attention as well, and that she was staring back at him wide-eyed, her irises just as pretty as the rest of her. The only thing Mike could do was stare, his face heating up. After a brief pause, she giggled, said a brief, “Oops, sorry!” and continued making her drink, pouring a shot of vodka into whatever it was she had in her cup.
“It’s, um, it’s no problem,” he stammered out, unable to stop watching her. The girl was unfamiliar to him, an oddity at their relatively small high school. He had known most of the kids in his grade since freshman year, when he had first transferred here, after the incidents in middle school. It wasn’t something he enjoyed talking about. “Are you... new?” he asked, nervously taking a sip from the drink he had just poured.
“Mhm, just moved here from Yarmouth,” she said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. (God, he couldn’t stop staring.) “The only person I really know here is my neighbor Gwen, and she kinda left me behind to hang out with her girlfriend.”
“Same,” said Mike, a little too quickly. “I mean, not the girlfriend bit, but Cam- he’s my friend, and the moment we walked in he went off with his boyfriend and now I’m just, uh. On my own!”
He expected her to politely excuse herself from the conversation after that, but to his surprise, all she did was laugh. (Her laugh was just as cute as she was.) “On your own, huh? Me too. It’s hard to make new friends when everyone already knows each other.”
“It’s, y’know. There are some really nice people here and then there are some major assholes. It’s highschool.” Mike paused, considering what she had just said. “If you’re looking for friends, I’d, uh, I’d like to. Be your friend, that is.”
She lit up, eyes sparkling at him, and his heart nearly stopped. “That’s really sweet! Oh gosh, I don’t think I ever introduced myself. I’m Zoey!”
“Mike. I’m Mike!”
“Mike...” Her eyes widened, and she muttered to herself under her breath something that he didn’t quite catch.
“Sorry?” he asked, worrying that somehow he might have offended her. How was it possible to offend someone just by telling them your name? He didn’t know, but he wouldn’t put it past himself to pull it off.
“Sorry! I said, um. Like Mike Wazowski!” Something about that sent her into a fit of giggles, and Mike sighed in relief, glad that he hadn’t upset her. He was a little confused as to why she found that so funny, though.
“Haha, yeah. Put that thing back where it came from or so help me!” he said, and Zoey snorted loudly, laughing even harder. “How much have you had to drink?” he asked, starting to feel a little concerned for her.
She calmed down, gesturing to her cup. “Enough to where I’m calling it quits after this one.”
He nodded, seeing that she had herself under control. “To drinking responsibly!” he said, and raised his cup to hers, to which she tapped hers against his with a smile.
“To new friends!” she said, and took a drink before wincing near immediately. “Whew, I made it kinda strong.”
“Are you gonna be okay with it?” he asked, and she nodded, taking another drink without wincing this time.
“I know my limits,” she said, “But thanks for looking out for me!”
‘It’s no problem!” Mike shifted from foot to foot, not sure where to take the conversation. Luckily, the sounds of a Wii being booted up from the other room turned both of their heads. The title screen of Just Dance soon flashed across the screen, and the two teens made eye contact, Zoey breaking into a wide grin.
“We should do a duet together!”
Mike nodded, pointing at the crowd that was beginning to form. “Maybe we should go get in line?”
Zoey quickly downed her drink, setting an empty Solo cup down and shaking her head briskly. Mike followed suit, not going quite as fast as she did. “You’re good at this,” he said, and she just chuckled.
“Yeah, I’ve had practice,” she replied, without any further explanation. “Come on!”
She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the crowd, and all he could think of as he was jostled by drunk party-goers was how warm her hand was. Her nails were painted a glossy cherry red, almost the same shade as her hair. Normally, he’d be embarrassed, cutting through a swarm of people like this, but with her...
God, Mike, get a hold of yourself. You’ve known her for barely five minutes, isn’t it a little early to be falling in love?
They arrived at the front, where some guy in a cowboy hat was clicking through the songs. “Hey dudes,” he said as he saw them approaching, “Wanna kick this party off?”
“Yeah!” Zoey said enthusiastically, as Mike nodded along. Cowboy hat passed the controller to Zoey, fishing out an extra one for Mike. As he strapped the Wii remote to his wrist, a familiar song began playing, and he looked up to see an old friend on the screen.
“That one,” he said, beginning to stretch out his legs. “Please?”
Zoey selected the song, and the two chose their characters, a woman in a sparkling red dress for her and a man in a tuxedo for Mike, and got into their positions.
“Ready to get your ass kicked?” she asked as the intro began to play. Mike just laughed.
“I don’t know, are you?”
Ladies and gentlemen, this is Mambo Number Five.
One, two, three four five, the two clapped their hands as their feet stepped in time in a jazz square. Mike didn’t say it, but his face lit up as he saw that, just like him, Zoey was the type to actually dance, rather than just waving the remote around in a lazy attempt to rack up points.
Everybody in the car, so come on, let's ride! I like Angela, Pamela, Sandra and Rita, and as I continue you know they getting sweeter! They faced each other, waving their arms in the air, and as they met eyes, Zoey got a strange look on her face and glanced away, smiling oddly.
“Have you played this song before?” he asked as the verse continued, and she nodded.
“Been a few years, though.”
“Same. But I still remember all the moves!”
Zoey laughed, and the song reached its first chorus.
A little bit of Monica in my life, and their arms swung up and shook back down. Their hands flew up as they kicked in unison, Zoey stumbling a little but regaining her balance.
“Are you sure you’re fine?” Mike asked.
“Shut up and dance!”
Soon, they neared the end of the song, with Mike holding a solid lead. His remote vibrated as a fifth star appeared next to his score bar, and the audience that had gathered to watch the two of them cheered. They continued dancing to the jazzy music as the outro began to draw to a close, until there were no more moves shown on the bottom of the screen. In the game, the woman spun into the man and he dipped her, and to Mike’s surprise, suddenly Zoey was in his arms. Following instinct, he twirled her around, but the alcohol was clearly having an effect on her balance.
She tripped, and he caught her in a clumsy recreation of the dip on the screen, their faces now heart stoppingly close.
“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” Someone in the crowd of teens began the chant, and soon everyone had picked up on it.
“U-uh, you don’t have to-” Mike began, but was cut off as Zoey leaned upwards and closed the distance between them, her lips pressed against his. It only lasted for a second, but it was enough to turn his face into a furnace. Their little audience erupted into cheers, a sound that seemed a million miles away to Mike.
She smiled up at him, and it was like someone had dropped a ton of bricks onto his chest. Seeing his face of shock, her smile faltered. “Sorry, was that too much? I wasn’t thinking!”
Was he dreaming? He pulled her back up, still too surprised to speak. “Mike? I am so sorry,” Zoey said, wearing a look of worry.
Mike shook his head out, regaining control of himself as the shock of ‘pretty girl kissing me’ began to wear off. “Next time, maybe give me a heads up?” he asked, chuckling awkwardly.
Zoey blinked, before she giggled and elbowed him playfully. “Next time? So there’s gonna be a next time?”
“I-I didn’t mean, wait, Zoey, I’m sorry-”
She cut him off with a hug, saying, “I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Oh god. There was no denying it.
Mike was in love.