Ballgowns

• Ruby Sharkey, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2021

Imm’s face went hard and cold. The world seemed to freeze on her expression, painted with the tiny ballroom dancers that swirled and twirled in their pretty gowns by men with identical suits. Imm darted her head sideways. It was time.

I turned swiftly and saw Lacey thunder up the stairs to the second balcony, where we had agreed she would wait. She drew the shiny thing from her pocket, winked at me, and pointed it at our prey. I had forced the plan to change course - meaning Imm had to go to the lobby and I would be the one to distract the man. My position was risky, like running through a fire in order to escape, for what if Lacey missed? However I wasn’t to question my task. If Lacey hit me she still had a second try, and my casualty was worth the confirmation of his.

I looked to the third balcony, where James would be standing if Imm hadn’t been able to stop him in time. I exhaled. James’ seductive blue haze was nowhere to be seen, so I began to move into position.
There was the man. He stood, alone, a rose grasped between his teeth. A thorn had stung angrily on his lip, causing a thick trail of ruby to run down his chin. I hitched up my skirt and began to swirl towards him, lost in the deliberate writhing of gowns and bodies. My head felt as though I had missed a step going down the stairs, which I couldn't afford to do in high shoes like these.

I was terrified, and alive and excited and necessary.

The man’s eyes locked onto mine - a sort of ocean blue rimmed by reddish veins, like those of a smoker. I blushed, then stepped into the cliche position of interlocking finger tips.
“May I have this dance?” he asked with sarcasm as he swept me into the mosh. I smiled bashfully, the kind of smile a girl to dance with him might, but secretly sucked in the cloudy ocean inside me and waited to hear the bang.