“You have GOT to be kidding me!”
      “I kid you not.”
      Stefan stared at Mia, his mouth agape and his eyes stretched wide in disbelief.
      Mia stood in front of him, hands on hips, with that steely look in her eyes that told him that nothing would change her mind.
      “Come on.” She said- no, commanded, grabbing Stefan’s hand.
      Stefan yanked it back. “Mia, no. I can’t do it.”
      “Why not?” she demanded.
      “Because.” Stefan replied doggedly.
      One of Mia’s eyebrows rose. “’Because’? That’s not a good enough excuse.”
      Stefan took a step back and fearfully eyed the swirling mass of people on the dance floor. “I can’t dance.” He muttered, annoyed she had made him admit it.
      Mia rolled her eyes. “It’s not that hard. All you have to do is shuffle your feet to the music.”
      “I would make a fool of myself.” Stefan said returning her glare.
      “I make a fool of myself on a regular basis, but you don’t see me crying about it.” Mia scoffed.
      “That’s different.” He argued.
      “How?” she challenged.
      “Well…” Stefan racked his mind for a good enough excuse. “You’re a woman, so…you don’t care if you embarrass yourself…” he finished lamely.
       Mia looked at him incredulously. “As a woman I GREATLY care if I embarrass myself! I might not show it on the outside, but I die on the inside! Besides, you’re a man. You shouldn’t talk like you actually understand us women.”
       “Nevertheless.” Stefan said, slightly disgruntled. “I WILL NOT dance!”
       “But-“
       “No!”
       Mia’s appearance suddenly changed. Her eyes lost their steely glare and were replace with a deep sadness. Her hands fell to her sides in defeat. She looked at the floor when she spoke to him.
       “So, you’re saying I’m not that important for you to dance with?” she said in a broken voice.
       Stefan crossed his arms. “Come on, Mia. That trick won’t work on me.”
       “What trick?” she asked sadly.
       “You know what I mean. You are going to act all weepy in an attempt to make me feel guilty so I’ll dance with you.”
       Mia shook her head. “That’s not true.” She said in the same sad voice.
       “Whatever.” Stefan said shaking his head. “I’m going to get us some punch, and when I get back, you better be happy.”
       Not waiting for Mia’s response, Stefan swung around and walked off.
       He stayed as close to the wall and as far away from the dancers as possible. He couldn’t help but wonder how the dancers were able to swirl around like that and not hit each other. It was a mystery.
       Stefan finally reached a long, wooden table piled high with all kinds of delectable foods and drinks. He made his way to the center of the table where the punch was and picked up two cups that were pre-filled.
        Cups in hand, he spotted Gatrie and Shinon on his right. Gatrie was working down cookies like his life depended on it, while Shinon looked on in amusement.
         Shinon notices Stefan and waved. “Hey, Stefan.”
         Unable to wave back, Stefan just nodded his head.
         Gatrie came up and slapped Stefan on the back so hard that he nearly spilled the drinks.
         “Greetings, comrade!” Gatrie said cheerfully. “What are you doing?”
         “Um… I’m getting drinks for Mia and me.” Stefan replied
         “Have you danced with her yet?” Gatrie asked.
         Even though the blonde was unaware of the fact that Stefan couldn’t dance, Stefan still felt embarrassed.
         “I haven’t seen you dancing with Nephenee.” He shot back defensively.
         Gatrie grinned at him, realizing why he had avoided the question. “We’re waiting for the square dancin’.” He replied, “We’ll DOMINATE at that.”
         Shinon, who had walked up at the same time as Gatrie, stared at something across the room intensely. “Hey…is Mia…crying?”
         “What?” Stefan asked, turning around so fast that he almost spilled the drinks again. “Where?”
         Shinon pointed. “Over there.”
         When Stefan finally saw where Shinon was pointing, his mouth fell open in horror.
         Mia was standing next to Leonardo’s girlfriend, Laura, in the same defeated position he had left her in. However, Mia’s face was now flushed red, and a solitary tear trickled slowly down her cheek.
         Stefan was stunned. She was crying? Because of him. He had left her. She hadn’t been playing with him. He had actually left her when she was feeling so dejected.
         No…
         No!
         The fact that he had caused his love pain ripped through Stefan like a tornado.
         Forgetting that he was in public and that he needed to mind his manners, Stefan let out a wild yell and tossed the cups over his shoulder.
         Ignoring Shinon’s cry of dismay as the liquid splashed over him, Stefan planted both of his hands on the table and vaulted himself over the table. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he took off running. He desperately pushed his way through the crowd of dancers. He was pushed back and jabbed with elbows, but he kept running. He HAD to get to her. To apologize.
          He finally broke free of the crowd and spotted Mia a few feet to his left. Before he even got half-way there, he fell on his knees and slid the rest of the way.
          Skidding to a halt in front of Mia, Stefan desperately grabbed her hands and looked up into her eyes.
          “Mia, I’m sorry!” he cried. “I didn’t mean to leave you! I thought you were joking! Please! I didn’t mean to hurt you! Oh, please don’t cry! I’m so sorry!”
          Stefan felt tears well up in his eyes. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if she didn’t forgive him.
          Oddly enough, Mia began to giggle.
          Stefan felt confused, “What is so funny?” he demanded.
          “I wasn’t crying because you left.” Mia said, trying to control her giggles.” Laura told me a funny joke that made me laugh so hard that I started crying.”
          Aw, geez.
          Stefan slowly stood up and turned around to come face-to-face with everyone in the room. They had all stopped dancing, and were now staring at him, their faces etched with shock. Stefan felt like he was about to die. He took a half-step to run out of the room, but Mia grabbed his arm.
          “Aren’t all you girls jealous that your man doesn’t do that for you?” She called loudly. “Only a true man would care so much for his woman that he would risk his reputation to get to her.”
           For a second, everything remained quiet. Then all hell broke loose.
           Girls and women rounded on their dance partners and glared at them. The air was soon full of their cries.
           “Why don’t you do something like that?!”
           “Whenever I cry, you just walk away!”
           “How come you’ve never done that for me?!”
           “Can’t you be more like Stefan?!”
           Whilst the couples began to fight, Stefan pulled Mia out of the room and into the hallway.
            “Sorry if I embarrassed you.” He apologized.
            Mia laughed and hugged him. “You didn’t embarrass me. I though what you did was actually noble.”
            “Seriously?” Stefan asked, wrapping his arms around her.
            Mia nodded. “Didn’t you see the other girl’s reactions?”
            “Who didn’t.” He muttered. More seriously, he added, “I was just worried that I had hurt you. That’s the last thing I would ever want to do. All I want to see is you happy.”
             “I’m always happy when I’m with you.” Mia murmured.
             Stefan smiled and gently kissed her on her forehead.
             “But you’re gonna have to make up for not dancing with me.” Mia said slyly.
             “I am not going to-“
             “Don’t worry. We aren’t going to dance.”
             “What then?” Stefan asked suspiciously.
             “It’s a new sport that just came out.” Mia replied, “It’s called rollerblading!”