Dottie’s First Dance - A Jaci and Dottie Story
Dottie put her hands on her “magic” Princess Charm School dress, and for the first time since she had found it in her closet, she trembled at the prospect of putting it on.
She had loved the charm school class, and especially wearing the dress, but today was different.
Today, she would dance.
And not alone, she would be joined by a boy, a prospect that still gave her the willies just thinking about.
Could she do this? She desperately wanted to be able to pass the charm school class, and today was a big part of that, but dancing? With a boy?
She gritted her teeth, and put on the dress.
“I can do this, I can do this...” she thought.
Tante Drea split her time between checking on Dottie and checking on her sister Jaci, who was having similar problems, but eventually both girls made their way to the class.
Dottie said nothing when they arrived, but gave Tante Drea’s hand a squeeze, drawing strength from the love and acceptance they shared.
Then the boys started to arrive, and Dottie watched carefully for the boy she thought of as Rugby Boy.
It was a double look at him that caused her to have flashbacks recently, but she found herself hoping he would be here anyway.
And he was.
He came toward her in a “Prince Charming” costume that took Dottie’s breath away.
“And I thought he looked good in a dirty rugby shirt ....” She thought.
When it became obvious he was to be her partner, the shakes she had fought all day got worse until she could barely stand.
And then he took her hand, and the fear vanished behind .... other feelings.
She stammered about being a poor dancer, and he just gave her a smile, and said “Just relax, let me lead, and I promise not to step on your toes.”
The dance was simply magic, equal to anything Disney could have created.
When the class finally ended, and she sat down, he smiled at her a smile that turned her insides into putty, and said, “Thank you for the dance. You’re very good.”
Dottie stuttered, and said, “No, you’re very good. I ... I never caught your name.”
“Bailey. Bailey Summers.”
The words escaped before her fears could stop them. “I ...I dont suppose a guy like you would take a girl like me out for ice cream or something sometime?”
“I would, but I’m spoken for.” He pointed to a girl a couple of years older in the audience.
Dottie shook her head. “Of course you are.”
*****
Later, she recounted the whole event to Tante Drea as they curled up on the couch with her sister Jaci beside her, and wept a bit.
“I’m sorry, Dottie. You gonna be okay?”
“I ... I guess so Tante. Just being able to dance felt like such a big deal that anything more was probably asking too much. “
“And how was your dance, Jaci?” Tante Drea said.
Jaci composed herself, and took a breath. It was clear she had a story to tell too ....
'How did I let myself get talked into this?' Lil Jaci wondered to herself.
Moments ago Tante Drea had dropped both herself and Dottie at the front door of the St. Mary's Academy. The halls had streamers along them directing people to the main gymnasium where the dance for the Charm school girls was being held.
The two girls could not be more contrasting in moods and appearance. Dottie in her black and white knee lenght dress. The upper part of the dress was sleeveless with a remnant vintage styling wide lapel collar draping from her shoulders in black cotton over a white satin bodice with a small fabric white rose at the joining giving emphasis to her non existent bust. The black skirt draped down to her knees which were almost shaking. The waist of the dress hugged in Dottie's waist a bit to give her more curves than her body currently had.
Dottie had been so in love with the way the dress had made her look that Drea had to have both her and Jaci's dresses locked up her bedroom away from the two girls.
By contrast Jacilynn's red dress with its tiny spaghetti straps clearly emphasized her ample B cup breasts by drawing attention away from them. The cut of the bodice actually made them look a bit smaller but the dark line of her cleavage was on clear display. This dress also had small waist. However this one was a bit loose on Jacilynn's waist as she had lost a bit of weight over the week. The wide thigh high double tiered skirt gave the young girl an appearance of the the perfect figure. She had first picked the dress because it hide her hips a bit. The dress had a sash that tied in the back in bow. Drea had spent a number of minutes getting the bow to sit just right for Jaci.
The scowl on Jaci's face was a picture. She was upset because she was not allowed to wear her first pick of a more feminine tux version of the classic male suit. The skirt of the tux had reached her knees. The blazer had made her feel like her curves were well hidden. However Drea had vetoed the outfit telling Jaci that the dress looked better on her. Dottie had also gotten into the act at the store making Jaci believe that she looked more like a girl in the tux than the dress.
Dottie on the hand was terrified. She was more than a little nervous about dancing with boys. She had done okay in the practice session with the few local boys. But these boys were not local. In fact they were the young charges of St. Mary's opposite number. The private school for boys was only for the more elite of society. Most of the stories they had heard of these boys were mixed. The boys could be cruel. They could also be quite lavish with praise and expensive gifts. The girls at the school had inflicted those girls part of the Charm school classes with various stories over the past 2 days.
Jaci's hand was starting to get sweaty from the tight clasp Dottie had on her hand. As soon as Jaci would move it to try to get comfortable Dottie's grasp would tighten again. Dottie's heels were quite small being only an inch high. Heels still but not as high as Jacilynn's own two inches. Still Dottie was having some trouble keeping her balance in the heels while Jacilynn paid them no attention.
"Jaci I.. I can't go through with this. I'm scared! What will they think? I look awful.." Dottie started to pull back on her hand. Dottie was getting cold feet. Jaci ignored this in part but a small smile graced her face as she pulled back forcing Dottie to move forward in her unbalanced heels. Both girls were wearing real makeup for tonight. Not much being some powder, blush, eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick. The small fact that this made Jaci look pretty was lost on her.
Jaci refused to believe she was pretty. A boy like her parents wanted was not supposed to be pretty. As they entered the gymnasium the complements paid to her and Dottie on how pretty they both looked did not really sit well with her. Dottie however blossomed under the praise of the girls. She did look at Jaci from time to time with a strange look that baffled her. Across the gym from the group of girls was the boys all in their school uniform dress. The grey slacks, dark navy blazers with the ascots in place of ties. The blazers had the tails of the rather outdated higher classes.
The teachers acting as chaperones started the festivities off with classical waltz music. The training the girls had had over the past weeks enabled them to move, shyly, towards the boys in a straight line. Jaci was busy leaning over watching her sister halfway down the row from her to make sure she was doing alright. Thusly she missed seeing the three boys opposite her shuffling for position to be opposite her.
When she turned back the boys had settled down under the stare of some teachers out of her line of sight. They moved forward on que and took up position as the boys developed a sudden case of shyness to a one. It took some of the more male teachers to prod each boy forward. To a one they had eyes only for their opposite. The music started into the waltz proper and they couples started the first dance.
After 5 such fancy dances a break was called and the girls gathered together to gossip about their partners. Dottie had seemed to have lost her fear after the first dance. By the second she had actually started to enjoy the night. Jaci confessed that most of her partners had a problem with their feet or tongues thus far. To her confusion this was met with giggles by most of the girls. When she asked why they all said nothing leaving her frustrated.
At one point the proper decor of the dance was ruined when the Dj took a break and his prerecorded music switched to one of his mixed cds instead. The children now relaxed from the dances so far got treated to music meant for nightclub dance clubs.
At one point a favorite of Jacilynn's started to play. Selena Gomez - I love you like love song baby started to play. Jacilynn didn't notice at first before she fell into the same trance she would occasionally fall into at home. She closed her eyes and started to swing her hips side to side and her hands found their way sliding over her body before raising up over her head as she fell headlong into the dance. This got everyone else to start dancing while a braver boy than the others moved forward to dance with her.
Their moves were so coordinated that much of the crowd parted to watch the two dance around the floor. The small fact that Jacilynn was mouthing the words in perfect timing to the song as she danced was not lost on most of the watchers. Dottie was quite a sight herself as she bounced up and down on her feet giddily as she watched the girl that her sister normally kept locked up let loose.
The chaperones let the children have their fun as they danced away all their energy dancing to much of the latest pop dance hits. Dottie had no end of dance partners both boys and girls while Jacilynn was surrounded constantly by many boys.
At the end of the night when Drea picked up the two exhausted girls she got a reply that it was nice night before both girls passed out against each other in the back seat before she even got out of the parking lot.
How she was going to get two girls in finery into the house by herself was a mystery to her but Andrea would not ruin their night for all the tea in china. When she had left them both she had feared for her girls one being overly nervous the other upset at having to be so obviously girly. The two young women in the back seat of her car sleeping like princesses brought small tears of happiness to the older woman's eyes.
Drea looked at the sleeping girls in the back seat. Time enough to get them into the house and to bed. She smiled as she thought of another dance a long time before; a time and a place that held memories, to be sure, even if they were entirely bittersweet.
“Can…can I dance with you?” The boy looked at the pretty girl with his head down and eyes up; an awkward if entirely common stance. He didn’t bother to wait for the reply since all the replies were the same.
“Robin…can I?”
“No!”
“Cindy…can I?”
“No!”
“Sue?”
“No!”
The only girl who might have said yes never went to dances; Nancy preferred instead being home to read a book or do sewing than being just once more awkward and too-tall in a gym filled with pretty girls. A missed opportunity to be sure, but the boy understood; he never felt comfortable either; not around girls for sure, but mostly in his own skin. The odd and shameful feelings of wonder and amazement upon seeing a girl in his class wear shiny hose and the uncomfortable frustration when she asked what he was looking at. What had been really a complement of sorts was taken the wrong way and earned him a rude shove from a protective suitor.
“Robin?” The name echoed in his head. There was something so strange but nice about the feelings he had. Those stirrings of feeling close; not as a suitor, but as a sister. A feeling which quickly turned to embarrassed shame when he realized just what and how he felt about Robin d’Artaglia; how he wanted to be just like her. Not the first time for those feelings, but the first time in understanding just what those feelings meant.
“Tante?” Jaci whispered from the back seat. “Are we home yet?”
“Yes, honey. We’re home.” Drea echoed the soft word but Dottie was already stirring as well.
“Do we have to go to bed?” She looked at Jaci; the conspiratorial grin on Jaci’s face nudged Dottie only a little since she wanted to stay up to talk. Both girls plead with wide-open eyes and silly grins and batting eyelashes like an old movie. Drea sighed and nodded yes to the plea and a few moments later they were getting ready for at least a reasonably extended bedtime. All three sat on the couch; Drea was at one end, her legs curled up beneath her.
“You should have been there.” Dottie said. “It was so much fun.”
“You should have seen Dottie,” Jaci said with a big smile and a small giggle. The two regaled her with the various wonderful moments that lifted them throughout the evening. In a while they had run out of energy and were just smiling and giggling. Drea smiled at them and grabbed their hands; walking them to bed. In a moment they were tucked in and seconds later they were fast asleep.
“You should have been there,” she heard Dottie mumble in her sleep.
“Yes, honey.” She walked back and kissed them on their foreheads before turning out the light. She sighed a quiet sigh and wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her chenille robe.
“I should have,” she said finally as she walked out of the room, remembering a sad and scared and confused boy long ago. And she thanked God that these two would have many more dances and many more times to become exactly who they knew they were meant to be.