Taking Chances

by Deanna Frances

  “What’s up with your stepdad?” Jacquie asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe he and my mom are in a fight or something.” I shrugged, making it look like no big deal. I looked at him from my window once more before we headed over to Jacquie’s. They had the most fun time putting make-up on me and doing my hair. Annie and Jacquie’s dresses were so pretty. Annie’s was a midnight blue, strapless dress that went down to about her mid-thigh. Jacquie’s was pink, with ruffles at the bottom, and I was wearing my short white and black dress that Matt had chosen.

  When Spencer came to pick me up from Jacquie’s, Mrs. Tyler took pictures of all of us in our dresses and then she took pictures of us with the boys. When I got into Spencer’s car, he said, “I didn’t get a chance to tell you, but you look beautiful,”

  I looked at him and said, “You look pretty handsome yourself,”

  He was in black dress pants, a white button-up shirt and a silver vest and tie. I had to admit; it was probably the most handsome outfit I’d ever seen him in.

  I smiled, and kissed him once softly. When we arrived at the school at seven-thirty for the dance, a couple of crowds had started to assemble. We all went to stand over by the bleachers, and I sat down next to Jacquie and began talking to her.

  “I’ve never been to a dance,” I told her.

  “Not even one?” she asked, surprised.

  I shook my head.

  “Well, I have to admit, the IC Homecoming is the best.”

  I smiled. “I guess I’ll find out.”

  “Hey, Jacqs, come dance with me?” Jeremy asked, taking her hand. She smiled and went to dance with Jeremy to one of the first slow songs.

  “Hey,” Spencer said as he came up to me. “Would you like to dance with me?”

  I smiled, and let him take my hand.

  “I take thee at thy word; call me but love, and I’ll be new baptized. Henceforth, I will never be Romeo.” He kissed my hand as if we were at the Capulet’s party where Romeo and Juliet meet. I smiled widely.

  The first few dances were faster, hip-hop songs, and I had fun dancing with Jacquie and Annie on those songs. Then, a slow dance came, and Spencer took me into his arms again. During the next slow song, I danced with Dean. I talked to him about Emily, and he said that he was really happy that Spencer had me in his life because ever since his parents died, he’d been having a really rough time trusting people, and that I was all he could talk about anymore. He trusted me more than anyone else. When that song was over, we all went into the cafeteria to cool down for a while.

  We hung out in the cafeteria for a little bit, then shifted back into the gym. There were a few fast songs, and then there were a few slow ones. I danced with Spencer on the slow songs, and when the songs ended, I didn’t really want to let go. Around ten, the DJ announced that this would be the sweetheart’s dance. Spencer found me when the song started playing, and I was suddenly connected to him. He held me close, and I rested my head on his chest. I wasn’t really paying attention to what was going around us; all I cared about was Spencer and me together.

  “Recognize the song?” Spencer whispered in my ear, smiling.

  I listened to the song as much as I could. Don’t know much about your life; don’t know much about your world. It was “Taking Chances” by Celine Dion.

  “It’s ‘Taking Chances,’” I said.

  “I requested it for you,” he replied. “I was really hoping they would play it. I guess ever since you came, I’ve had a lot better luck.”

  I looked up at him and smiled. “What do you say to taking chances?”

  “As long as I’m with you, I say yes,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “I need you, I’ll keep you. Everything in my mind is set on you, and your eyes, that stood out the most. You and your wondrous mind help me chase my dreams.”

  “That’s not Shakespeare,” I noted.

  “Nope. That’s all mine. Copyright of Spencer Stevenson.” He smiled, and leaned down to kiss me. He held me close for the rest of the song, and when it ended, he took my hand in his and led me over to stand next to the bleachers with him. We stood there and talked while we watched our friends dance.

  “You don’t really like that kind of dancing do you, Juliet?” Spencer asked me.

  “I don’t…really know how to dance that way, actually,” I admitted, staring down at the gym floor. I could slow dance pretty well, but when it came to grinding…I’d seen it on TV, but I’d never done it.

  He laughed quietly.

  “What?” I asked.

  He smiled. “Nothing, I was just thinking that if Jacquie heard that you didn’t know how, she’d probably take you out there right now and make you dance with a bunch of random guys to make sure you knew how.”

  “I wouldn’t do it,” I vowed. I wouldn’t dance that way with anyone if I couldn’t even do it with Spencer. Especially if I was told to dance with someone else right in front of him.

  “Don’t worry,” Spencer said. “She’ll teach you sometime. It’s easier for the guys. All I’d have to do was hold onto your waist and follow your lead. It’s sort of backwards…guys are really supposed to lead, but I guess this kind of dancing is different.” He chuckled.

  “That makes it sound a lot easier.” I giggled, taking his hands, stepping in front of him, and placing his hands on my lower waist. Not nearly as low as Jeremy had his own on Jacquie, but Spencer still chuckled again, tightened his grip, and I leaned back against him. I wasn’t dancing, but Spencer seemed to like it anyway.

  “This will do.” He kissed the top of my head. Before the dance ended, we took pictures together from the professional photographer. I took some pictures with Annie and Jacquie, just Spencer, and then we took some pictures with our entire group.

  After the dance ended at ten-thirty, my friends and I decided to go over to Jacquie’s house. When we got there, Spencer went to living room with the rest of the guys, while Jacquie, Annie, Emily and I went upstairs to change. Annie, Jacquie and I put on our clothes from earlier, and Emily had brought clothes with her. We joined the guys in the living room, who’d loosened their ties and unbuttoned their vests.

  We stayed at Jacquie’s until one in the morning when I went home unwillingly, wishing that I could stay with her or Spencer.

  When I got home, I prayed that my parents would not be there, but because my luck was a lot worse than Spencer’s, they were. I tried to ignore them, but Michael still screamed at me incoherently. He was more drunk than usual, and I didn’t even catch half of the things he said. I ran up to my room and locked the door, hoping he wouldn’t try to hurt me.

  The next morning, I woke up early, and Spencer called to ask if I wanted to go out to lunch. I heard my parents leave the house and I wondered where they always went. Chicago? DeKalb? I didn’t know, and I didn’t care. I didn’t want to leave Lillian and Rebecca alone in case Michael came home, so I asked Spencer if they could tag along. He’d willingly agreed and offered to pay for all of us.

  Spencer picked us up at noon, and I got into the passenger seat of his car.

  “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” he asked me quietly, taking my hand as my sisters got into the backseat.

  “No,” I replied.

  “Can you guess?” he asked.

  “I have a pretty good feeling I know how much you love me.” I giggled.

  “I bet you do.” He leaned over and kissed me.

  “Hey!” Lil complained. “We’re right here, you know. Jeeze, people…”

  Spencer laughed. “Sorry, Lillian.”

  Rebecca sighed. “Teenagers.”

  I looked back at her in surprising disbelief, as Spencer chuckled quietly and backed out of the drive.

  * * *

  We decided to eat at The J. After lunch, I had to do some grocery shopping at Wal-Mart with the extra money from the dress fund Maddie had given me. Spencer wandered around the store while I shopped. Lillian and Rebecca picked out snacks they wanted for lunch.

 
; We found Spencer in the CD section. He was holding a little shopping bag in his hand. He must have gone to another store while I was shopping. We walked out of the store and out to his car. I put the groceries in the trunk before climbing into the passenger’s side. Spencer still had the little bag in his hand.

  “What’s that?” I asked.

  “Nothing.” He sounded like he wanted to drop the subject, but I thought I saw him smile.

  When we got back to my house, my parents were still gone, thankfully. I put the groceries away with Spencer’s help. Lillian and Rebecca went upstairs to their room, so we were somewhat alone. We sat down on the couch and talked while listening to my Michael Buble CD.

  “Tell me something,” I mused, playing with Spencer’s hair.

  “Anything,”

  “Never mind,” I said, wondering if it would hurt him.

  “Just tell me.”

  “I’m not sure if it will hurt.” I placed the strand of his hair back into place, and sighed.

  “Tell me please,” Spencer stroked my face lightly with his fingertips.

  I sighed, looking down at my hands entwined in my lap. Spencer took one of them and held it in his.

  “Please, my fairest Juliet?” he whispered. I looked up as I heard whispers coming from the staircase. Lillian and Rebecca stood there, and met my gaze before running back up to their rooms. I laughed lightly, then looked back down at my hands.

  “Would you tell me more about your parents?” I asked a moment later. He was silent. I kept my head down, not wanting to see his expression. He sighed.

  “My parents were Lillian Rose and John Joseph Stevenson,” he started.

  “I like your mother’s name.” I smiled, still looking down, thinking about my sister.

  “Yeah, my dad said it was the most beautiful name in the world. I disagree just a little bit.” He smiled at me, and said, “I think Sydney Nicole is an awesome name, too.”

  “What’s your middle name?” I wondered.

  “Ryan. Spencer Ryan Stevenson.”

  “I like that name the best.” I leaned forward, resting my head on his chest.

  He wrapped his arms around me. “Do you want me to finish the story?” He chuckled.

  “Yes, please.” I closed my eyes, totally relaxed.

  “Okay, well, as I said, my Mom, Lilly, and Dad, John Joseph,”

  “John Joseph? Joseph like your brother Joey?” I asked.

  “Yes. He was named after Dad’s middle name. I was…well, I don’t know exactly where my name came from.” He laughed softly. “Mom and Dad met when they were a little younger than we are now, maybe thirteen or fourteen and were married a few years later at the age of eighteen. Joey came later, and me after that. Uncle Justin moved in with us for a while after he lost his job. That’s when Dad let him start working on your farm with him. Uncle Justin needed the money to move out, and Dad wanted to help him. They were as close as Joey and I were. Uncle Justin got back on his feet and moved back into an apartment in DeKalb, but he still came and helped Dad farm during the harvest. He met a girl named Claire, and they were engaged within a year of dating.”

  “He was engaged? Where is Claire now? Did they ever get married?” I looked up at him with curious eyes, and he continued.

  “Claire moved in with Uncle Justin for a while, and then she simply lost interest I guess. I was only about ten, so I don’t know much. And I won’t dare try to ask Uncle Justin now.”

  “So she just left?” I was astounded.

  “Not exactly. They broke up, in a way. She moved off to Montana and was never heard from again.”

  “Your Uncle Justin lives with you now, right?”

  “Yeah, he took over my dad's job, in a way. He farms all of my dad's field and stuff.”

  “What were Joey and your mom like?” I asked, still looking at his face. “I’m sorry. I just want to understand you better.”

  “It’s alright. You deserve to know.” He smiled my smile. “Joey graduated about a year or two before he…well, you know. He had planned to go to USC to play basketball. That was his sport. He got a full scholarship to go, but decided to wait a year and take the scholarship the next year so that he could stay with me and Mom while Dad was away on business. The three of us lived together and Dad came back when he got an urgent call about Grandpa. He was working in Connecticut, I think. Somewhere in the east, and he flew home the next day. I really didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye…I was visiting my other grandparents in Phoenix…”

  It was silent for a few moments, and then I whispered, “I’m sorry,”

  Spencer shook his head, wiping away a small tear from his cheek. “I know you were just curious. Tell me more about your family,” he said, looking into my eyes.

  How could I deny him his request? I didn’t have to go too into detail, did I?

  “Well…um, my dad was a man named Andrew Baker, and he left my brother, Clayton, my sister, Violet, Maddie, and me right after I was born.”

  “Maddie is your mom?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sorry. I call her by her first name. Well, Maddie met my stepdad Michael Anderson, and they were married within a few years. They had two kids together, my half sisters, Lillian and Rebecca. We were living in a small house in Chicago until my grandma died, and then we moved down here. There’s not much of a story,” I lied. “Well, and then I met my first love, but that’s a different story.” I smiled as he looked up from our now connected hands and smiled.

  “Are you feeling alright, Romeo?” I asked, messing with his hair again. He chuckled, which was a good sign.

  “Yes. I’m stronger than I imagined. I thought I’d be so depressed right now, but it feels…nice to be able to get it all off my chest. Thank you for understanding.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. I closed my eyes.

  It was about nine-thirty when Spencer said he had to leave. But before he left, he asked me, “When did we start dating?”

  “Um…sometime in late August, I think. Why?” I asked.

  “Well, what’s the date today?”

  “Um…September twenty-eighth.” I was confused.

  He reached over and picked up something off of the floor. It was the little shopping bag. He took something out of the bag and held it in his hand so I couldn’t see it.

  “Happy one-month anniversary,” he said, handing me a small, black box. I opened the box, and lying there was a beautiful, shining ring. The ring was a silver band with five small diamonds inserted. I was speechless. It was so beautiful.

  “Do you like it?” he asked.

  I found my voice. “Um…wow…is this real?”

  “Well, they are not real diamonds. It’s sterling silver with gems inside.”

  “It’s beautiful…thank you. I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything.” I had never expected to get a ring for my one-month anniversary.

  I looked up at his face. His eyes were sparkling with excitement.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He smiled his heartbreaking smile.

  “Here,” he said, taking the ring from the box, and slipping it on the third finger of my right hand. “There, it’s a perfect fit.” He smiled again.

  I couldn’t resist my next move. I threw my arms around him and brought my lips to his. He kissed me back, just as enthusiastically as I had. He wrapped his arms around my waist and I scooted onto his lap to bring us closer together. I couldn’t believe that he’d taken the time and money to buy this ring for me. I didn’t even want to think about how much it had cost him. I felt so selfish. I should have known enough about relationships by then…my thoughts traveled elsewhere as Spencer continued to kiss me. I couldn’t concentrate anymore. All I could think about was him; his amazing personality, his handsome appearance, and how he was mine.

  The back door creaked, and Spencer jumped to his feet, pulling me with him. His hand still held mine in a tight grip, as if he were afraid I might slip away.

  “Sydney?” Maddie called from the entryway.


  “Who’s that?” Spencer asked me.

  “My mom,” I replied, making it seem like no big deal.

  “Should she know I’m here?” he asked, releasing his hold on my hand. “I’d like to meet her,” he added, smiling.

  I sighed, praying Michael wasn’t there with her. “Sure,” I took his hand back in mine, and we headed into the kitchen.

  Thankfully, Maddie was the only one standing there. I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if Michael had caught Spencer there…

  “Hello.” Spencer smiled to my mom. “You must be Mrs. Anderson,” Obviously he’d paid attention to my story.

  “Yes.” Maddie smiled, in a good mood. “And who might you be?”

  “Um…mom,” I started. “This is Spencer Stevenson. He’s my boyfriend.... “

  Her eyes widened in surprise. “Boyfriend? Huh?”

  I nodded as she saw our entwined hands.

  “Well, it’s nice to meet you, Spencer.”

  “Nice to meet you, too,” he replied. “Well, I’d better get going.” I walked Spencer outside to his car, making sure Maddie couldn’t see us as we kissed goodbye.

  “Your mom seems really nice,” he noted. I nodded, not wanting to say anything. “Well, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” He leaned down and kissed me softly before getting into his car and driving away.

  “Bye,” I whispered a second too late. When I got back into the house, Maddie was ready to interrogate.

  “So what’s with the boyfriend?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

  “Where’s Michael?” I tried to change the subject.

  “Oh…he went to a bar with some friends.”

  “Since when does he have any friends?” I murmured.

  “Some people from Chicago came to visit him, isn’t that nice?” Maddie said.

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  “Where are your sisters?”

  “Upstairs. They’re sleeping. We’ve got school tomorrow, if you didn’t know.”