Chapter 6 - dancing through the night: part 1

15.
"So, what do you think," said Faye, twirling to show off her new dress.

Having carefully pulled a plateful of baking bread rolls out of a blazing oven Niall turned to look the girl over.

The new dress, an emerald pouf that hugged the waist and flared at the hips, clung tight to Faye's slender figure, accentuating her lean curves.

"Finally gotten yourself some clothes your size I see," said Niall. "It looks great on you."

"Thanks," said Faye. "Yeah, Mrs. Kendrick gave me some money and asked Annie to take me shopping. So-" she pulled nonchalantly at her new skirt "-it doesn't make me look fat?"

"Fat," said Niall, smiling as he furrowed his brow. "What's given you that idea?"

"I don't know," said Faye, grinning as she took another twirl; "it's what Annie said when she tried hers on."

At that Niall laughed.

"Right," he said, removing from his hands one oven mitt after another; "I wouldn't pay too much attention to talk like that if I were you."

"If you say so," Faye shrugged. "Those smell pretty good," she said, her eyes darting towards the bread rolls Niall had just placed on the counter.

"Wait until they've cooled a bit and I'll let you have one."

"Right."

Faye paused.

"Actually though," she continued, her voice suddenly turning serious; "there's something I want to ask you."

"Go ahead," said Niall, placing a clean towel over the hot bread rolls.

"Well," said Faye, handing a sheet of paper, a flyer, over to him; "Annie and I got invited to this a couple of days ago. It's a party, apparently. The flyer says I can bring whoever I want so, well, would you like to go?"

Having studied the paper for a moment Niall responded with a nod.

"Yeah, sure," he smiled. "I'd love to."

16.
By the time Niall, Annie, and Faye got there the party was already in full swing. With Lettie's parents out of town the large looming home of the Kincaid's was filled with loud music and people louder still.

As Faye, following behind Niall, stepped into the Kincaid's crowded salon, an oversized room in which all furniture had been pushed to the walls in order to leave empty at its centre a vast stretch of floor, she seemed for a moment to freeze. Looking behind him Niall saw on her face a tense, wide eyed look.

Having never been much of one for parties himself Niall could hardly blame her. Looking around the room he found that he didn't know many of the other guests. Most were, as far as he could tell, a few years younger than him. Not by much, but enough to have him feel a little out of place.

As for Faye, somehow Niall doubted the girl had been to many parties. Or, at least many she could remember. He could hardly imagine how overwhelmed she might be to find herself now suddenly thrust into this loud crowd of strangers.

Looking at Faye, her eyes wide as she took in the tightly packed room, Niall couldn't help but be glad that he'd agreed to come along. Dressed in her emerald pouf with her hair done up and her make up on the girl was astonishingly beautiful.

"You alright," he asked, an encouraging smile on his face.

"Yeah," said Faye, drawing a deep breath.

"What are you two standing around dawdling for," interrupted Annie. "Come on," she said, waving for the two of them to follow.

Looking over at Annie Niall couldn't help but think that the girl might've been right to worry about her new dress. A tight, strapless number, it hugged her figure, drawing attention to her well-padded curves. To Niall it looked lovely, but he suspected Annie might have preferred one a little less tight around her pudgy tummy, one that drew a little less attention to her thick arms and fleshy shoulders.

With neither Niall nor Faye quite sure what to do with themselves they both nodded and followed along as Annie swiftly led them through the crowd.

"Lettie," the girl shouted, waving a plump arm in the air as she saw her friend, and two other young women, standing by the wall.

Lounging beside a tall cabinet displaying a fragile set of fine china Lettie Kincaid, her lean curves draped in a scarlet halter dress and her golden hair styled into a long braid, looked nothing short of luminous.

"Annie, there you are," she erupted, waving to her friend.

Squeezing through the crowd the two girls soon found themselves arm in arm.

"Love the dress, dear," Lettie beamed. "It looks great on you. Though, if I were you I'd probably have gone with something a little less snug around the waist."

Lettie's friends, both slender and shapely, giggled as the golden haired girl teasingly prodded Annie's overpadded abdomen. Blushing as she gazed down towards her pudgy tummy, a bashful frown on her face, Annie said nothing as Lettie turned her attention towards Faye.

"And hello to you..." she paused.

"Faye," reminded Faye.

"Right, the girl staying at the bakery, glad you could make it," said Lettie, a gleaming grin on her face. "So, what do you think of my little get-together?"

"Well," Faye hesitated, her eyes darting around the room; "it's very loud and crowded."

"Well, yes," Lettie laughed, "that's rather the point. So," she said, changing the subject; "where are you from anyways?"

Faye was about to answer when suddenly an unfamiliar voice interrupted their conversation. Turning towards it Niall found he recognised the man it belonged to. The two of them had never talked, but he'd seen Harry Miller several times around town and heard more than a little about him from Annie.

Lean with deep blue eyes and a mane of icy blonde hair he was dressed in a pair of tight dark jeans and a dark green shirt with the sleeves rolled up. In his hand was a brown bottle that he seemed almost to have drained.

At the sight of him Annie's eyes lit up.

"Hi Harry," she blurted, her face turning red as she moved her plump arms to cover her squishy midriff.

With a quick nod Harry acknowledged Annie. His attention however swiftly fell on the lean redhead standing beside her. Having, after moving to take a sip, found the bottle in his hand empty he swiftly knelt to put it down, carelessly leaving it on the floor as he moved to greet Faye.

"Well hello there-" he grinned, extending a hand "-haven't seen you around here before."

"No, I'm, well, new in town," answered Faye, taking his hand.

"A newcomer huh," he grinned. "So where are you from then?"

"Um, it's kind of a long story."

"Is that so-" resting his hand against the sturdy frame of the china cabinet Harry leaned in closer towards Faye; "-well I'd love to hear all about it."

"Well, um, I'm not sure there's much to tell," said Faye, taking a step back.

Harry looked like he was about to say something more when Niall interrupted the conversation.

"Hey," he said, smiling at Faye; "you want to go and get some snacks?"

"Yeah," the girl nodded briskly; "that sounds good."

And so, before Harry could say another word, Niall had led Faye away.

17.
Biting into another mouthful of salty crisps Faye couldn't help but smile. Though she seemed, bit by bit, to be getting used to this strange, loud new world into which she'd suddenly found herself thrust she still kept mostly to herself. She enjoyed her snacks and stuck to Niall, Annie, Lettie and the rest. Only when, at last, Lettie suggested that they all head out onto the dance floor did Faye truly perk up, nodding eagerly in agreement.

"You coming too?" She asked, turning towards Niall.

Niall hesitated.

"Maybe later," he said.

"Later then," grinned Faye as she turned to head out onto the open floor.

Once she'd started her dance all Faye's anxieties seemed to fade. Suddenly she felt perfectly at home. Her steps coming effortlessly she swung her body with incredible ease. With every leap, sweep and pirouette she felt a joy almost as great as when she bit into one of Niall's cupcakes, as when she stuffed into her mouth a handful of greasy chips or a delicious heap of potato gratin. Pushing herself further she found herself absorbed completely in the moment, capable of thinking about nothing but the wonderful way her body was moving.

Only once she came to a stop did it dawn on Faye that the entire room had fallen silent, that all the other guests stood as if frozen, and that all eyes were on her.