W Y A T T

"Tell me again, why are we coming to this party?" Harper asked after closing the door behind her as she exited her dorm.

"Because it's gonna be fun."

"Not to be a debbie downer, but I think I'd be having a lot more fun if I was tucked in bed, reading a book, with a nice scented candle burning beside me."

I stopped in my tracks in the middle of the hallway and turned around in her direction. Harper mirrored my actions, and stopped walking, turned in my direction and stared at me. The hallway wasn't too wide, so we stood close enough that we could practically feel our breaths against each other's skin. I liked this feeling.

"Whenever you wanna leave, we leave." I firmly stated. "But at least try it, at least try to... get into the spirit of the thing. It's gonna be really fun. Don't you trust me?"

"Yes, I do."

Hearing her say she trusted me did more to my heart than I'd expected. Knowing Harper is one thing, being her friend is one thing, having the biggest crush on the planet on her is one thing, but hearing her say she trusts me, even after everything that's happened between us... that's fucking fantastic.

"Alright, then. Let's go have fun."

Harper and I have gone to a lot of events together, her senior prom being one of them, but I don't think we've ever looked this cool before.

Long Live the 80s was, as obvious as it can be, an 80s party, so the dresscode for tonight was, of course, the eighties. And in true eighties fashion, I was wearing a purple and yellow baggy, oversized crewneck sweater, tucked under the baggy jeans and black converse sneakers. Harper was wearing what she called mom jeans, but truly looked like regular jeans that looked fantastic on her, and a basic, white t-shirt underneath a colorblock zip up jacket that she had zipped halfway through. She had used her hair curler, and the curly, wavy hair was practically glowing. She used a neon pink scrunchie to hold her hair back in a half-up ponytail at the top of her head, letting the rest of her curly hair cascade down her back.

This new hairdo caused her whole face to be on full display, not an inch covered and I loved it. And for the first time in months, Harper had actually gotten dressed up and put some makeup on, which was something she loved to do but hadn't done since moving to New York. I could tell she was slowly going back to her old self. Tonight she went for bright pink eyeshadow, with blue eyeliner.

The party would be taking place at Carman Hall, and we didn't take more than ten minutes to get there. When we arrived, we were faced with a rainbow of colors reflecting on the walls, a speaker that was playing - you guessed it -, eighties music, and tons of colorful beverages. The drinks looked like the result of multiple chemistry experiments performed by high schoolers, looking translucid and bright and in every color you can think of.

I turned around to look behind me and noticed Harper, looking everywhere around her, trying to figure it out. This was a bit crowded and between the loud music and the people chatting with each other, speaking up louder than usual, it was definitely loud and confusing in here.

"I don't know why you'd think I would be having fun here."

"I know how much you love dancing." I pointed to a group of girls in the far end of the room, dancing with each other. "I couldn't let you miss this opportunity."

"Not like this, not like... in the middle of all these people I don't know."

"We've got to take care of it, then." I extended my arm out and held out my hand with my palm up, inviting her to come with me. "But you still don't have to dance if you don't want to."

She took my hand and we walked through the busy hallways until I spotted with my little eye, my friends Jacob and Jackson.

"What up, bro?"

"Hey guys." I saw Harper's eyes dart between them, as if she was watching a tennis game and had to follow the ball every time it moved. "This is Harper, she just started here at Columbia recently. She's an old friend from the West Coast."

"Oh, you're that Harper."

I was instantly overwhelmed with the urge of punching Jacob's face. Instead I put on my best, fake, nice smile and knocked my fists together as a way of eliminating the nerves. Didn't work.

Harper's eyes drew away from their faces and focused on mine instead, looking for some sort of explanation as to why she would be that Harper. I didn't give her one and instead, I went ahead and introduced them. "This is Jacob and Jackson, they're my friends."

"It's nice to meet you."

"You too." Jackson spoke this time. "Wyatt has told us so much about you."

Again, Harper and I found each other looking at one another, she expecting me to explain and me, remaining quiet. I don't know what's more unsettling in this awkward moment we found ourselves in - me, suddenly feeling shy at the exposure, or Harper being so surprised that I'd talk about her. Did she think I got over her just like that? That she hadn't crossed my mind ever since we walked away from each other?

"Anyone want a drink?"

Thank you, Jacob. The sudden urge I had of punching him was traded by the urge of kissing him.

"I'll have a beer. Harper?"

"Uh... Soda is fine."

After chatting for bit about Columbia and classes, sipping on our drinks and eating some nachos, and just as "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" started playing, Leigh Anne, a girl from my Civil Rights class ran right past us to meet her girlfriends who were hanging by the other end of the room, screaming something along the lines of "I love this song so much!".

I chuckled at the enthusiasm and looked at the girl standing next to me, who looked everything but amused.

"What's wrong?"

"Zoey and Chloé would love to be here." A pause. "I would love for them to be here and dance with them."

My heart tied up in my chest, and I did the best thing I could do - I called my sister Chloé, on facetime.

"Hi, what's up?" She greeted me with a smile, when she answered after three rings.

"Is Zoey by any chance there with you?" I put my spare hand on my other ear so the sound of the music wouldn't interfere.

"We're on our way to Mr.Ricci's right now."

"Can you put her on?"

Chloé looked confused about my request, but did what I asked her without questioning. I handed my phone to Harper, she grabbed it and looked at me, unsure of what to do, but went ahead and talked to them anyway. I stood in my place, watching her as she slowly but surely started to become more comfortable at this party, even if she was the only one dancing by herself while holding my phone. That was because she wasn't alone, she never was. That's what Harper never understood from the get go, our friends would always be around even if it was through a screen.

"You're so whipped." Jackson commented before patting my back and leaning forward to grab his cup that he'd left on the table.

"Not that we didn't know that already but, you know, now it's-"

"Now what?" I asked.

"Now we can actually see it. We got proof."

"I have no idea what you two are talking about."

"Your feet are glued to the ground while you're looking at that girl, dancing around while holding a phone, and you're smiling like an idiot."

"A happy idiot." Jacob added after hooking his arm around my neck and chuckling.

After Harper jammed out to an 80s song about girlfriends and sisterhood and how they just quite literally want to have fun, Harper got a lot more loose at this party. I could tell she was much more at ease and less tense. She drank more soda, ate more food, showed a few shy dance moves as a song she liked started playing. And I really really liked seeing her like this.

A few hours later, and after the four of us grabbed some pizza and burgers, Jackson was pulled away by a blonde girl that he'd been talking to, and shortly after, Jacob walked away as well, when he spotted some old friends of his that were invited to the party, leaving me and Harper alone.

"Oh my God, I love this song!" She said with so much enthusiasm and joy in her voice, that I found myself smiling at her just to see her like this.

At first I couldn't recognize the song from the intro alone, and my confused expression gave me away.

"It's Macarena!" Harper said, as if it was a crime I didn't know it. "Every birthday party I went to as a kid had this song playing!"

The wave of nostalgia hit me hard. It wasn't just every birthday party, it was every party. Every sweet sixteen, every new year's party, every wedding reception. It just isn't a party without Macarena playing.

"Oh yeah!"

"Do you know the dance?"

Did I know the dance? I couldn't quite remember it at the top of my head right now but a song like this, with such a cultural impact? I'm sure that as soon as I stared I'd pick up on the moves. Like riding a bike.

"I'll just have to watch you."

I slid to her side and looked at her while she started dancing, nailing every move. I gradually picked up on three or four moves, and, after the first sequence, when we jumped and turned ninety degrees to the left, I looked back to watch her and we clapped at the same time, smiles on our faces. It felt like I had unlocked a memory I didn't even know I had. It truly was like riding a bike, I started to remember everything and had fully picked up on the whole sequence as the chorus came up again.

We extended our right arms first, then our left, with our palms facing down, and then faced them upwards. Then we put our right hand on our left shoulder, and left hand on the right shoulder, making an X over our chest. Then we put our hands on our head, one side at a time. Afterwards, we put our hands on each hip and started moving our hips in circles, before jumping to the side again.

I am definitely not kidding when I say that dancing Macarena with Harper at that 80s party was the most fun I've had in years. We were both just so carefree, dancing and singing like no one was watching, as if our lives depended on it.

* * *

"I had a really good time." Harper said as I walked with her down the hallway to her dorm room. It was half past one, so it wasn't too late, at least not for a college campus on a Friday night, but I couldn't go back to my room and not walk Harper to hers without knowing she had gotten there safe and sound.

"Thank you for taking me to that party tonight."

"None of that." I smiled. "I had a lot of fun, too."

"I really enjoyed watching you do the Macarena." She laughed, probably remembering the whole thing. I chuckled as I felt my cheeks get warm.

"It was really fun. Although, I'm pretty sure that's not an eighties song."

"No, I am almost positive it's not." She giggled. "But hey, I'm glad they put it on the playlist."

We stopped by the door number 508 and stood still for a moment, looking at each other, smiling shyly. I had the burning desire to run my fingers through her hair, and to place my hand on that soft spot under her earlobe while my thumb caressed her cheek, relishing in the softness of her skin, but I knew that that would just bring me one step closer to bend my head down to capture her lips with mine, in a kiss that's long overdue, and that was dangerous territory for us, so I just shoved my hands in my pockets and let out a nervous laugh.

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

* * *

author's note

i finally posted this chapter!!! this scene was one of the first ones that i've thought of as i was mentally creating this story and wow, i really liked how it turned out! 

question: have you ever been to an 80s party?

if you've been around for a while, you know that votes and comments can really get a writer far, so, if you liked this chapter, please vote and consider leaving a comment with your opinion so far, 'cause you know i love reading those! last but not least, follow me on on ig - missmarswrites - i do a lot of fun stuff there!

p.s.: the 80s party playlist will be posted on my ig later today!

xoxo, mars