Dance of a Lifetime

by Frank Downey

  "I think you're a big part of that, Warren," said Siobhan.

  "A small part, maybe. This is mostly her."

  "Hey. That's enough morbidity. Let's play some POKER!" said Crash.

  Chapter 17 - Girl Talk

  They played poker for a while, then the party broke up into little knots. Crash and Warren commandeered the boombox, programming an old-school party mix of Beatles and Motown. Some of the other guys joined them as they discussed sports. Sophia joined Mo, Ally, Tina, Kate, Cheryl, Siobhan, and Christine around the picnic table.

  "All right, Sophia, spill the beans," Mo demanded. "Have you and Warren really slept together?"

  "Yes."

  "I could never see Warren taking a girl to bed," commented Siobhan. "He's historically been very shy around girls. In fact, I can't see him asking you out."

  Sophia smiled. "He didn't. Both times."

  "You scamp!" said Mo. Sophia just grinned.

  "I'm trying not to be judgemental, I really am, but I can't see losing my virginity this young." Cheryl said.

  "I was twelve," Sophia said.

  "TWELVE?" Cheryl asked.

  Sophia sighed. "Seeing as I've shared some of my past with you, you can understand that saying 'no' was not one of my strong suits. Especially with a guy declaring undying love in my ears, if only I would do it with him, at a time in my life where I was very vulnerable to that sort of thing."

  Cheryl looked at Sophia. "Do you regret it?"

  "Oh, yeah." Sophia replied. "I regret a lot of things. I commend you for not giving that up until you're damn good and ready, I really do. Wish I had. Are most of you still virigns?"

  Most of the table nodded assent. "Good for you. No sin to wait. Wish I had."

  "So do I," commented Siobhan.

  Mo looked at her in disbelief. "You're not a virgin?"

  "No."

  "You never told me this," said Mo. "WHO?"

  "Mike Kelly," Mo and Sophia laughed at that one, and tried to stifle it. "Go ahead, laugh, I deserve it. However, since it lasted about seven seconds"-everyone cracked up-"I have forgotten about it and have chosen to reclaim my virginity." General laugher all around, as Siobhan got a wry smile. She looked at Sophia and said, "So, are we the only fallen women at the table?"

  Nobody spoke up. Sophia asked, "Ally?"

  "Nope, still not deflowered." Everyone laughed. "Crash and I have come awfully damn close, mind you, but I'm not quite ready."

  "Good."

  Mo asked, "So how do you know that you're ready?"

  "Oh, that's easy," said Sophia. "Make sure you want, really want to do it. That you're not doing it to make him happy, or because he begs you to, or because you figure what the hell, or because you think all your friends are doing it and you're falling behind. When you say to yourself, 'I want this, it feels right' with no hesitation, no reservations, then you're ready."

  "Have you ever felt that way?" asked Cheryl.

  "Yes," Sophia smiled. "With Warren, every time. That's how I know the difference."

  "How long were you guys going out the first time?" Cheryl asked.

  Sophia looked sheepish. "Three and a half weeks."

  "That's ALL?" exclaimed Christine.

  Sophia blushed. "Like I said, when you really want it, when it feels right..."

  "Does it still feel right?" winked Mo.

  Sophia blushed deeper. "Uh-huh," she managed to squeak out.

  "All right, Soph, time to spill the beans," demanded Siobhan. "Look, we've all known Warren Kelleher a long time. He's the sweetest guy I know, but let's face it-he's a nerd, a preppy, a geek. And you've been hinting all night that he's some sort of fantastic lover!"

  Sophia's blush was purple. "He is."

  Mo looked dumbstruck. "You're not kidding, are you? You're not saying this just to get a rise out of someone, are you?"

  "No," Sophia said. "Look, you ASKED."

  "Yeah, I did," said Siobhan. "I just can't square this with the image I have of Warren. Warren Kelleher, good in bed? Who woulda thunk it?"

  "Look," Sophia tried another tack. "Despite that, you're obviously very fond of Warren. You consider him a good friend."

  "Yes."

  "So, what do you like about Warren? What do you consider some of Warren's better qualities?"

  "Let's see," said Siobhan. "He's smart. Imaginative. Very funny, great sense of humor. He's warm, kind and generous to a fault. He's unbearably sweet at times." They all laughed. "And, as an added bonus, he's a good singer."

  "Right. That's a pretty good list of some of his finer qualities," Sophia agreed. "And here's a romance lesson for you all from someone who knows both sides of the fence. If you decide to start looking for a lover, Siobhan's list contains the most important qualities. Not good looks-although Warren has a great ass"-they all laughed-"not muscles, not machismo, not the right car or how he dresses or how good a partier he is or how cool he is, or how cool your friends think he is. Kind, warm, generous, sweet, imaginative, funny-they are all far more important. Trust me. And the ability to croon a decent love song after we're done should never be underestimated." They all laughed at that.

  "Look, good technique is nice-and Warren's got that, especially with those magical hands of his, and now I am no doubt blushing." Laughter all around. "Oh, there's another good quality. Go to bed with a guitar player. They know how to use them fingers." More laughter. "And I'm purple now, I'm sure. Anyhow, the most important thing for a girl to enjoy sex is to go to bed with a guy who wants his partner to enjoy herself. That's the most important thing. Look, those of you who are virgins will find out quickly enough that a guy can get himself off pretty easily. Most girls can not. It takes some patience. Warren's patience and loving attention amazes me sometimes. It certainly amazed me the first night."

  "How so?" asked Cheryl, who was now paying rapt attention.

  "Well, with my previous boyfriends, if it took twenty minutes, it was a long time." They all laughed, and Siobhan interjected, "I can relate," to more laughter. "Right. Anyhow, the first time Warren and I went to bed, we were there for over three hours. And I'm not counting the hour of kissing and cuddling and love-song crooning after we were done. He spun my head around so hard that night I still haven't recovered. And he still does."

  "Yeah," Siobhan asked, "but did you spin his head around?"

  "What? You kidding me? Watch this." She called, "Hey ROMEO!"

  "Yes Juliet?" she heard from the darkness.

  "Could you please get me another Coke?"

  "Sure." They heard scrambling from across the yard, heard Warren reaching in to the cooler, and then he appeared with a Coke. "There you go." Then he noticed the uproarious laughter coming from the table. "What's so funny?"

  Sophia turned to the table and said, "Well, girls? Whipped?"

  Mo laughed, "Oh, you betcha."

  "Completely whipped," agreed Siobhan.

  Warren got a wry smile, "Hey, I resemble that remark."

  Sophia smiled at him, "The girls wanted to know if I spun your head around in bed like you spun mine around. I figured a visual demonstration would be most effective."

  "Oh, REALLY. Then you wouldn't mind me doing my own visual demonstration."

  "Oh, No."

  "Oh, YES." Warren sat next to her, put his arm around her, and brought his other hand to her face, and startred touching it.

  The girls looked on in rapt amazement. "What is he doing?" demanded Cheryl.

  "Making me completely weak in the knees, mostly," Sophia sighed. Warren danced his fingers on her face for a minute, lingered a minute on her lips, and then withdrew, standing up and saying, "And don't you forget it!" as he walked away from the table.

  "What did we just see?" Mo asked.

  "You just saw my boyfriend make me completely turned on, that's what you just saw," Sophia sighed, blushing. "He discovered early on that my face is an erogenous zone. I told you, great fingers."

  "Wow," was all Siobhan could say.

  Most
of the girls were still at the table some time later, but Sophia and Warren had gone to sit on the grass together, cuddling and kissing a bit. Every so often, the girls heard laughter from one or both of them.

  "Wow," said Siobhan. "They really do seem happy together."

  "Yeah, they do," agreed Mo. "I think she's really good for him. And, with what she told us earlier, and what I know about Warren, I have no doubt that he's really good for her. Boy, did I misjudge her."

  "We all did," said Christine.

  "She's actually very sweet," added Mo. "More damaged than I hope to ever be, but sweet all the same. And you watch her and Warren, would you ever think that they're only 14 and 15 and have only been dating a couple of months?"

  "Good sex," commented Siobhan.

  "No, it's not just that. My bestest buddy really is truly in love. And she loves him right back. Good for them."

  Chapter 18 - The Unsuspecting Student And Pedro Martinez

  Sophia got up for school on Monday morning, actually looking forward to it. She was amazed. She was looking forward to her second period of the day, which was English. Today was the day they took a quiz and started discussion on their latest assignment-Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare.

  This was the first time Sophia could ever remember that she had actually already read an English assignment. She had even seen a production of the play-Warren had gotten a copy of a video from his English teacher, who had shown it in class. Warren's teacher had shown it because he had said you didn't get a lot of the subtleties of the humor from just reading it-especially the bawdy stuff. Warren had agreed, and after he had shown the video to Sophia, she had also agreed. She re-read the play last night, and was actually going into a class feeling well prepared. Amazing.

  She walked into class and sat down next to Jessie. Jessie was the only person from her usual crowd in this class, and that was a good thing, because she was afraid her rep was about to take a severe beating. Ah, well, fuck it.

  Keith Waters walked in to face his Freshman English class. He was kind of dreading it, because he was teaching Shakespeare. Lots of high school freshman had trouble with Shakespeare, and this was not any kind of advanced-placement class.

  He gave a quick ten-minute quiz, just to see who had read the play. He took five minutes to correct all the quizzes, so he could see what was what, and saw that a few kids had gotten all the questions right. He was, however, completely dumbfounded that one of those people was Sophia Daniels.

  He started a discussion on Taming of the Shrew. Lots of kids hadn't read it, not to his surprise, and some kids had tried and had not gotten it, also not to his surprise. But some kids had read it, and had gotten it-and to his sheer amazement, one of the kids that seemed to have gotten it the clearest was the heretofore completely unteachable Sophia Daniels.

  Insightful comment after good question after insightful comment. He couldn't believe it. After one particularly good insight, Mr. Waters couldn't resist himself.

  "OK, Sophia, tell me. Is that really you, or were you somehow replaced by a pod person?"

  The whole class laughed at that. Sophia looked a bit sheepish, "It's really me."

  "You read one of my assignments?"

  "Oh, I read Taming of the Shrew over a month ago. I just had to re-read it."

  "You. Read. Shakespeare. For fun."

  "Yeah. I love him. I even got the Collected Works as a birthday present."

  "There goes your rep, Sophia. Destroyed. For ever," interjected Jessica Reidel from behind Sophia. Even Mr. Waters laughed at that.

  "I'm still trying to figure out what got into you."

  "Her preppy boyfriend, that's what," said Jessie.

  "Thanks, Jess," said Sophia dryly.

  "You have a boyfriend who introduced you to Shakespeare?" asked Mr. Waters.

  "Yeah," Sophia smiled. "He loves him, and got me completely hooked on him."

  "Older guy?"

  "No, a freshman."

  "He goes here?"

  "No." Sophia was smiling, but her voice got very soft. "St. Mike's."

  The whole class started whooping and hollering at that. Sophia Daniels going out with a guy from St. Michael's? Unbelievable.

  Even to Mr. Waters. "You... are going out with a Prep guy?"

  "Yeah," Sophia said, blushing a bit and somewhat sheepish, but proud. "Ranked third in his class, even."

  "Wow," said Mr. Waters. "I do believe I need a drink." The whole class hooted at that one. "Later, perhaps. Now, back to Miss Daniels's favorite author..." He shot her a smile, which she returned.

  At the end of the class, Mr Waters called Sophia over. He handed her the quiz with 100% written on the top. "Great job, Sophia. If there are any other great authors that your boyfriend wants to introduce you to, tell him he's got my permission."

  Sophia laughed. "I'll do that."

  "Seriously, Sophia, I think it's great. I love Shakespeare myself. Anyone who converts is OK by me. Of course, I would prefer that it would be my fabulous teaching technique that would convert them, but who can compete with a boyfriend?" They both laughed. "Seriously, since you learned to appreciate Shakespeare on the fly, if you have any ideas to get it through to some of the kids who aren't getting it, I'd appreciate hearing about them."

  Sophia thought about that. "Well, the main thing Warren-that's my boyfriend-emphasized to me when I first started reading Shakespeare, was not to get bogged down with the language. He says lots of people get frustrated by this word or that, and miss the poetry and meaning of the play."

  "Good point. Was Taming of the Shrew the first one he gave you? I always find it a good one to start with."

  "No, Taming of the Shrew was the second. This is my boyfriend, remember, we're in love and all that-what do you think he gave me first?"

  "Aah. Romeo and Juliet," Mr. Waters smiled.

  "You got it. Remember, this is me we're talking about, and I'm dating a complete, total Preppie. The whole lovers-from-different-worlds thing sucked me right in, like Warren knew it would. Although we are, as Warren says, trying to avoid that whole double-suicide thing."

  Mr. Waters laughed. "So, he sucked you in with Romeo, and then gave you Shrew. Good approach. And you had no problem with Shrew when you read it?"

  "No, but that reminds me. I didn't get it all until I saw it."

  "Saw it?"

  "Yeah. Warren's teacher over at St. Mike's showed them a video of a theatrical production of Taming of the Shrew. Warren borrowed a copy from him to show to me. You really don't get how risqué and funny that play is until you see it done."

  "You're right. You're absolutely right. Think Warren could get me a copy of that video?"

  "I'll ask him."

  Sophia walked into work positively bubbly. She had actually had a good day at school. A really good day. Not only English, but she had gotten an 85 on an Algebra test. She couldn't wait to tell Warren.

  Warren was thrilled. Sophia, happy about school? He was so happy. A few more days like this, he thought to himself, and that self-confidence of hers would be at an all-time high. He agreed to ask Mr. Rogolli about the video, and didn't think it would be a problem.

  Walking home that night, Sophia was still on a high. Warren loved it.

  "Well, Soph," said Warren, "a day like that deserves a reward. I didn't plan it to be a reward, but what the heck. It'll just make your day better."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "We have to cut practice short this Saturday."

  "This is a good thing?" Soph asked.

  "Yeah, because of the reason we have to cut practice short." He grabbed his wallet, and withdrew two tickets, and held them up to her. "First base side, above the dugout, not too far up, and Pedro is going to be on the mound. And it's the Yankees, even."

  Sophia squealed, and wrapped him in a bear hug, right in the middle of Washington street. "You dear, sweet, boy, you!"

  "I can't remember the last time I was at Fenway," Sophia said as they found their seats.
"It was before Mom divorced Charlie, and that was four or five years ago."

  "Really? Nick's a big baseball fan, I thought he might have taken you once or twice."

  "Nickie and I don't usually socialize outside of parties. That would have pissed some people off."

  "Aaah."

  "No such worries with you, though," smiled Sophia.

  "True. If Nick took you to a game, the only reason I'd be jealous is that he didn't get a ticket for me."

  They both laughed. They settled into their seats, juggling the food and sodas they had gotten.

  Warren looked around. These were good seats, he expected to be surrounded by businessmen-types, but they weren't. Must be because it was a weekend. In fact, the rows around them seemed to be full with college guys. And Warren heard their mumbling-they had definitely noticed Sophia.

  "Hey, check out the babe!"

  "Best-looking girl I've seen at a baseball game, I'll say that."

  "Look at her, she's too young for you!"

  "They're never too young."

  "Boyfriend must have dragged her to the game."

  "I did that once. Brought a good-looking girl to a ball game. Never again."

  "Why not?"

  "The scenery might have been nice, but she spent all game asking stupid questions. Nope, no more pretty girls at baseball games-I prefer to go with people who actually know something about baseball!"

  "Ah, who cares? Look at her! Who cares if she asks stupid questions? All she has to do is look pretty, and I'd be in heaven."

  Warren leaned into Sophia's ear and whispered, "You seem to be the center of attention."

  Sophia blushed. "I noticed. Boy are they in for a surprise."

  "How so?"

  "Watch me."

  Warren wondered what she was up to. Then they posted the starting lineups.

  "Jesus Christ, what is Jimy thinking?" Sophia asked, loud enough for the previous commenters to hear her. "He's batting Lewis leadoff again? Why not just start the game with one out and nobody on?"

  "Well, Offy's knee is acting up again," said Warren.

  "I know," said Sophia, "which means you have to play Lansing because he's your only other second baseman. So what's Jimy do? Put Lewis in the lineup, so we get a second automatic out. I don't care if a lefty is pitching, leave Nixon out there, and let him lead off. His OBP is 100 points higher than D-Lew.