Oh god oh god oh god she'd really gone and done it now, hadn't she? She ought to be impervious to embarrassment after all this time, shouldn't she? And still her cheeks were hot with humiliation as the other girl laughed.
The boy - young man - was smiling, and Jemima felt her heart tighten in a vice. Only... the vice loosened again, unexpectedly, as the smile did not slip into a laugh - a dreadful, vicious hyena laugh like the girl's, resounding in her head - and he did not recoil from her hand as he should have.
Well, wasn't he a saint? Jemima let out a breath and tried to keep her posture straight, too relieved to worry about the knot of shame in her gut that wanted to remind her this was only pity, only politeness. After the year she'd had, she was grateful for pity. She smiled back at him bashfully, trying to decide whether to address the elephant in the room or merely concentrate on being so poised he forgot all about not having asked her to dance with in the first place.
Alright, so the latter was a bit of a tall order. Shyly, she prepared herself for the music to begin, resting her hand lightly on him and trying not to flutter like a leaf in sheer nervousness. "You're very kind," she said softly, silently thanking him with her eyes more profusely than she dared say aloud. Nothing had obliged him to do this - it could have turned out so very much worse.
The boy - young man - was smiling, and Jemima felt her heart tighten in a vice. Only... the vice loosened again, unexpectedly, as the smile did not slip into a laugh - a dreadful, vicious hyena laugh like the girl's, resounding in her head - and he did not recoil from her hand as he should have.
Well, wasn't he a saint? Jemima let out a breath and tried to keep her posture straight, too relieved to worry about the knot of shame in her gut that wanted to remind her this was only pity, only politeness. After the year she'd had, she was grateful for pity. She smiled back at him bashfully, trying to decide whether to address the elephant in the room or merely concentrate on being so poised he forgot all about not having asked her to dance with in the first place.
Alright, so the latter was a bit of a tall order. Shyly, she prepared herself for the music to begin, resting her hand lightly on him and trying not to flutter like a leaf in sheer nervousness. "You're very kind," she said softly, silently thanking him with her eyes more profusely than she dared say aloud. Nothing had obliged him to do this - it could have turned out so very much worse.
