Antisocial Dance Party
April 7, 2015 5:51 PM
Dancing is for squares.
I'm in 7th grade and there's just been an announcement that there will be a school dance this coming Saturday.
This is a frightening experience.
I walk home in the rain, dragging my feet, imagining the horrors that await me.
Everyone I know is going. I can't not go to the dance or I'll be laughed at. Should I invite Sarah from history class? Is that a date? Do I even want to go on a date? I don't want to be the only one who doesn't have a date. What am I going to do?
It's Saturday, and my mom drops me off at the dance alone and kisses me embarrassingly on the cheek. I look around nervously hoping that nobody noticed. I adjust my thrift store sky blue pinstriped suit and make my way towards the building. There's a crowd of other kids waiting outside the chainlink fence surrounding the cafeteria. I wonder briefly why they didn't have the dance in the gym. Oh yeah, no fence. We're to be trapped in techno hell for four hours under lock and key.
The doors clang shut behind us. There's a DJ at the far end of the hall. I think it's Kevin's dad. His speakers are barely louder than his voice as he shouts "Are you ready to DANCE!?" A few kids respond, mostly "no."
It's been two and a half hours. The boys and girls line separate sides of the cafeteria, clinging to the walls. Jeremy and I are talking about magic cards. A slow song ends, and DJ Kevin's dad starts another. Jeremy walks away, and I'm standing alone against the wall again. Dances are terrible.
I start pacing and thinking about all the other things I'd rather be doing when I notice the music has stopped. I look around. I'm in the middle of the dance floor, by myself. Oh my god. Oh–My–God. Everyone is looking at me.
_____
The music starts up, a pounding techno beat. I think Kevin's dad says something on the mic, but it sounds a thousand miles away. I need to get out of here. I look around hoping for a way out, but I'm completely surrounded. I shut my eyes...
I'm fist pumping blindly in the air, jumping in small circles by myself in the center of the cafeteria. I'm kicking my legs wildly, and I switch the fist pumping to the lawnmower, essentially the same thing in a different direction. My head down, eyes closed, doing god knows what in the middle of the dance floor. I will be dead by the end of this.
No one is laughing. I look up, and by some divine miracle, everyone is surrounding me... dancing. Slowly at first, then it builds until everyone is jumping around and dancing just as crazily as I am. Maybe I won't die after all. Just maybe.
A few more songs and the dance ends. We all line up to be let out of the chainlink fence, packed like cattle, bumping together. Someone grabs my butt. I turn around. Wait... did Sarah just grab my butt? Awesome.
I'm in 7th grade and there's just been an announcement that there will be a school dance this coming Saturday.
This is a frightening experience.
I walk home in the rain, dragging my feet, imagining the horrors that await me.
Everyone I know is going. I can't not go to the dance or I'll be laughed at. Should I invite Sarah from history class? Is that a date? Do I even want to go on a date? I don't want to be the only one who doesn't have a date. What am I going to do?
It's Saturday, and my mom drops me off at the dance alone and kisses me embarrassingly on the cheek. I look around nervously hoping that nobody noticed. I adjust my thrift store sky blue pinstriped suit and make my way towards the building. There's a crowd of other kids waiting outside the chainlink fence surrounding the cafeteria. I wonder briefly why they didn't have the dance in the gym. Oh yeah, no fence. We're to be trapped in techno hell for four hours under lock and key.
The doors clang shut behind us. There's a DJ at the far end of the hall. I think it's Kevin's dad. His speakers are barely louder than his voice as he shouts "Are you ready to DANCE!?" A few kids respond, mostly "no."
It's been two and a half hours. The boys and girls line separate sides of the cafeteria, clinging to the walls. Jeremy and I are talking about magic cards. A slow song ends, and DJ Kevin's dad starts another. Jeremy walks away, and I'm standing alone against the wall again. Dances are terrible.
I start pacing and thinking about all the other things I'd rather be doing when I notice the music has stopped. I look around. I'm in the middle of the dance floor, by myself. Oh my god. Oh–My–God. Everyone is looking at me.
_____
The music starts up, a pounding techno beat. I think Kevin's dad says something on the mic, but it sounds a thousand miles away. I need to get out of here. I look around hoping for a way out, but I'm completely surrounded. I shut my eyes...
I'm fist pumping blindly in the air, jumping in small circles by myself in the center of the cafeteria. I'm kicking my legs wildly, and I switch the fist pumping to the lawnmower, essentially the same thing in a different direction. My head down, eyes closed, doing god knows what in the middle of the dance floor. I will be dead by the end of this.
No one is laughing. I look up, and by some divine miracle, everyone is surrounding me... dancing. Slowly at first, then it builds until everyone is jumping around and dancing just as crazily as I am. Maybe I won't die after all. Just maybe.
A few more songs and the dance ends. We all line up to be let out of the chainlink fence, packed like cattle, bumping together. Someone grabs my butt. I turn around. Wait... did Sarah just grab my butt? Awesome.
posted by TheNegativeInfluence (6 comments total) 17 users marked this as a favorite
Digging this. I love the aggressive sound and the buildup is just perfect. Nice tight arrangement on the instruments too.
posted by Doleful Creature at 10:56 PM on April 21, 2015
posted by Doleful Creature at 10:56 PM on April 21, 2015
I love this track. I wish there was an album-length version.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:49 AM on May 2, 2015
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:49 AM on May 2, 2015
The story and the music hit together perfect for me. I'm a slow reader.
posted by grog at 8:59 PM on May 4, 2015
posted by grog at 8:59 PM on May 4, 2015
I feel like I am reading a really good YA graphic novel.
posted by not_on_display at 12:37 PM on January 23, 2016
posted by not_on_display at 12:37 PM on January 23, 2016
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posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:02 PM on April 7, 2015