The Space Between Us(9)

"Here," Asher said as he slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders.

"Thanks," I said and offered him a small smile. I pulled it tighter  around my body. It was huge on me and could probably wrap around me  twice. All the extra fabric caused it to bunch up in front of my jaw and  I couldn't help but inhale the scent that permeated from the collar of  the coat. It smelled like him. The intoxicating smell of Asher, mixed  with the scent of the wet pavement was almost too much for my body to  handle. I felt my heartbeat speed up, and I tried to keep the expression  on my face even and unaffected.

"So, about the Spring Fling," Asher said, breaking the silence of the unusually quiet walk we were sharing.

"What about it?" I tried so hard to sound normal, but all I could hear was my heartbeat pulsing in my ears.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe we could all go in a group. I mean, I know  your dad won't let you go with a date, but maybe he'd let you go with a  big group of people."

"I guess there's no harm in asking."

"Do you want to go to the dance? You know," he said quickly, "with a group of people?"

"Sure," I said just as quickly.

"Cool. So, I won't go with anyone in particular, and neither will you.  We'll go together, you know, with everyone else. But we'll all be there  together, as a group."

"That sounds good," I said, trying not to smile. Even though the  conversation was making me nervous, his excited rambling was making me  laugh. I couldn't really remember a time when Asher was nervous. Before I  could stop to think about the words that came out of my mouth, I asked,  "Why didn't you just say you'd go with Samantha?" In the darkness I saw  the corners of his mouth creep up into a smile, but his voice came out  cool and controlled.                       
       
           



       

"She isn't who I want to go with." I looked away before he could catch  me watching him or see my smile. This was good. We would go to the  dance, but not together. Not with anyone else, mind you, but not as a  date. I took a deep breath. This was ok.



That night when I returned from Asher's basketball game, my dad sat at the kitchen table reading a book, waiting for me.

"Hi, Charlie Bear. How was Asher's game?"

"Good," I said as I took off his jacket, frowning that I had forgotten to give it back to him.

"They win?"

"Yeah. Asher scored some awesome three-pointers too. He's so good."

"If he works hard, he might be able to play college ball. He's got a lot  of potential," Dad said, still looking at me. I gave him a small smile.

"So, Papa Bear," I said sweetly. He knew something was coming by my term  of endearment. I grew out of calling him Papa Bear when I was about  seven, even though his nickname for me would never die. I was ok with  that. I liked that my dad still called me Charlie Bear. "Asher, Reeve  and I were talking, and we all want to go to the Spring Fling together  with a group of people. Do you think it would be ok if I went?"

"What is the Spring Fling?"

"It's a dance at school. It's semi-formal, so I would probably need to get a dress."

"A dance, huh?"

"Yeah, but none of us are taking dates. We're just all going to go as a  group, like, a big group of friends." I'm not even sure I believed what I  was saying, so I was sure my dad was going to see straight through me  and bring up what was really going on. I wiped my sweaty palms on the  back pockets of my jeans. I tried to remain cool; I really wanted to go  to this dance. I could admit that to myself even if I wouldn't admit it  to Asher or Reeve. But if my dad knew why I wanted to go so badly, there  was a chance he wouldn't let me. His no dating rule was still in play.

"Who all is going in this 'big group of friends'," he said, using his fingers to make air quotes. I smiled at him a little.

"Well, it would be Reeve, Asher and me. Then probably some guys from the  basketball team, and Lizzy. You know, just a group of kids, going to a  dance," I said nonchalantly. I tried to get him to smile. I was trying  to hide the fact that I wanted to go to this dance more than anything in  the world. My dad looked at me for a few moments, unblinking. Then I  heard him take a deep breath in and saw him shift in his seat.

"Ok, Charlie. I'll let you go to the dance." As excitement flowed  through me, I closed the distance between us and threw my arms around  his neck in a tight hug.

"Thank you, Daddy!"

"Don't thank me yet. I have some restrictions." I pulled away from him and frowned a little.

"Ok... what are they?"

"I have to have dress approval, I will drive you and Reeve to and from  the dance, and you will have to come home right after. No after parties  of any kind." I would not reveal to him that I was so thankful he was  going to let me go at all that these stipulations were completely fine  with me.

"Ok," I said with mocked sullenness. Suddenly I thought about dress  shopping with my father. Nothing sounded more mortifying. I winced as I  asked my next question. "Do you think it would be ok if I went dress  shopping with Reeve and her mother?" I saw him mulling the question  around in his mind.

"I think that would be ok, so long as you understand that if I don't  approve of the dress we will just take it back and buy something  potatoe-sackey." I giggled at his joke, but he didn't look like he was  joking.

"One more question," I said with the sweetest smile I could muster.

"Yes?"

"Do you think, since I won't be going to any parties afterward, that I could invite Reeve to spend the night here?"

"Of course, that's fine."

"Thank you, Daddy!" I flung my arms around his neck again, giving him a tight squeeze.

"Anything for you, Charlie Bear."





Chapter Five

The night of the dance came upon us quicker than I could have imagined.  Reeve and I were in my bathroom putting the final touches on our outifts  and I couldn't believe how different I looked and felt when I saw my  reflection in the mirror. I felt like Pinocchio when he turned into a  real, live boy. The transformation was unreal. I went shopping with  Reeve and her mom for a dress and luckily my dad approved of my choice.

I wore a peach-colored, halter-style dress with ruching along the  midsection. It had a tiered skirt with different fabrics making up each  layer. I thought the visual of the different fabrics flowing down the  length of the skirt was so beautiful that I knew I wanted that dress  immediately. The skirt also cut at an angle, making it even more  appealing in my eyes. The long side of the skirt came down to just above  my knees, with the high side reaching to mid-thigh. It was different  and pretty. I loved it. My dad was a little chagrined by the skirt. I  knew he thought the high side was a little high, but honestly, most of  my legs were covered and once he saw Reeve's dress he couldn't complain.                       
       
           



       

Reeve's dress was absolutely stunning. I would never wear anything like  it, but she was braver than I was, more daring. Her dress was a  bubblegum pink color, strapless, with a sweetheart neckline. It also had  this amazing piece of black lace that wrapped around half of it,  covering one breast and half of her skirt. It was also short, very  short. Reeve was much taller than I was, so she had way more leg than I  could ever hope for. I was sure my dad was going to throw a blanket over  her when he saw her come down the stairs in her dress. His eyes bulged  out of his head almost making me laugh. Reeve's mom stood at the bottom  of the stairs snapping pictures of us, telling us how beautiful we  looked.

"Reeve, that dress is gorgeous on you. And Charlie, you look stunning."

"Thank you, Mrs. Anderson," I squeaked, not use to taking compliments.  After a million pictures were taken, my dad sullenly herded us out to  his car. He didn't say much on the drive over but when he pulled up to  the school he turned around and gave us a stern look.

"I will be waiting to pick you both up right here at ten thirty, sharp. Do not be late and, uh, have a good time."

"Dad, don't worry, everything will be fine. It's just a dance." I tried  my best to make him feel better, but I knew he was uncomfortable. I was  his only daughter heading off to my first dance and my mom wasn't around  to give me all the normal 'talks' girls my age were supposed to be  having with their mothers. I knew my dad was feeling my mother's absence  tonight and I understood how hard it was for him; it was hard for me  too. I rubbed his forearm gently and then leaned forward and kissed his  cheek. "See you in a few hours, Daddy." I gave him a bright smile and we  climbed out of the car.