On Short Notice, Part 5

On Short Notice, Part 5

Setting: Cadence's Igloo
Date: February 14th, 2007
Time: 7:48 PM PST

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Cadence looked around. The clock on the stove read 7:48. Two more minutes. She's leave in two minutes.

She and Franky were meeting at the Snow Forts to go to the dance together. It was at the Nightclub, and Cadence was so excited she thought she was gonna jump out of her seat. But she was also a little nervous.

She decided that she was just leaving now, took a breath, and headed out the door.

It was snowing lightly, but she was prepared: she had put on a purple hoodie, just in case.

Breaking into a run, she hurried to the Snow Forts, only to discover that Franky wasn't there yet. She looked around. Not many penguins here. Just the typical three or four having a snowball fight.

"Oh, my gosh! It's DJ Cadence!" someone cried. Cadence turned, looking around.

Behind her, there was a yellow penguin with a blue hoodie on. He laughed when she saw him, and she smiled.

"I had you, didn't I?" Franky said, approaching her.
"Yeah. I was half-ready to pull out a pen," she replied. "How did you make your voice like that?"
"Skill. So what's up?" he asked.
"I'm excited," she said.
He smiled distantly. "Me, too."
"Are you gonna dance?"
"It's called a dance. Of course I will."
"Do you know anyone else that's going?"
"No... I don't think... no. The guys are lame. They won't ask anyone. I told them to ask someone as a friend, but G-Billy doesn't know any girl that's enough a friend for him to ask, Petey K doesn't feel like going anyway, and Stompin' Bob has declared himself Forever Alone."
Cadence laughed. "Forever alone?"
Franky shrugged. "Yeah."

"Well, anyway... We can start heading over there," he said.
Cadence nodded. "Okay."

They started waddling to the Snow Forts. They absentmindedly touched flippers while waddling, and suddenly Franky was holding her flipper.

Cadence smiled, blushing as she met his eyes. It was a new experience for her. She had held Franky's flipper before, onstage once, once when they were watching (with the band) a really suspenseful episode of a singing show they liked, a couple other times... but this was different. Franky's usually-yellow cheeks were a rosy red and hers probably were too. His yellow flipper was soft and smooth. He wasn't holding her flipper too lightly, or clutching it so hard that she couldn't let go. No, it was in the middle. It was just right.

Franky smiled and said,
"This is so new. I've never been to a dance before, let alone with a girl."
"You've never been to a dance before?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No."

They approached the Nightclub door.
"Wow, I'm surprised. You're gonna like it."
"I am?"
She nodded. "Yeah."

They were standing right in front of the door now. "Let's go in," Cadence said, lightly tugging on his flipper and going through the door. He followed.

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Franky had never seen the Nightclub so... what's the word... Pink? No, it's actually not that pink in here. Calm? Not really...

Franky shrugged. Whatever.

As soon as they got in, Cadence started bouncing up and down to the best of the song that was playing. It was a popular song and one of Cadence's favorites.

"Love this song," she said.
"Me, too," Franky said. He liked it, too, after all.

"C'mon," Cadence said after a minute. "Let's dance."

She headed out onto the floor with the beat in her step, pulling Franky with her. Franky grinned, bouncing around and pretending he knew how to dance. He didn't, really. He knew some moves but freestyling was hard.

Cadence started dancing. She was an awesome dancer and Franky loved to watch her. She jumped around, spun, and did all kinda of complicated things that Franky had no idea how she did.

"The party can start when you arrive, Cadence," he said, grinning.
She giggled in between steps, grabbing his flipper again. "Follow my lead."

They danced for some songs, pretty much laughing through the entire thing. The whole dancing-with-a-girl thing was totally new to Franky. And he was having an awesome time.

About 20 minutes after they arrived, the DJ put on a slow song.

Cadence looked at Franky as penguins on the dance-floor started pairing up. He blushed and held out his flipper to her.

"May I have this dance?"
She smiled. "Of course."

She took his flipper, then he pulled her close to him and she put her flippers on his shoulders. He put his on her waist, and met her eyes. They were about the same height, so it was easy to dance. But Franky still didn't really know how.

"I have a confession," he said as they rocked back-and-forth to the music.
"What is it?" she asked, curiously looking at him with her dark eyes.
"I can't dance."
She giggled. "Oh, slow-dancing is easy, Franky. All you've gotta do is have rhythm. And you have plenty of that."
"Yeah, but what about the steps?"
"Side to side. Just like you're doing. This is my first time slow-dancing too."
"There was that time when G-Billy dared us to at the Holiday Dance, remember?"
"Yeah, but that doesn't count."
"Oh."

After a pause, she said, "This is so... I don't know... Fun."
"You're having fun?" Franky asked, smiling.
"Of course I am."

He couldn't stop looking at her eyes. They were so pretty. Everything about her was so pretty.

"Hey, Cadence," he said.
"Mm-hmm?" she asked.
"You're really pretty," he said softly.
She blushed. "Awww. Franky."
Franky smiled.

The whole night, Cadence stuck to Franky. When the fast songs came on, she danced and he attempted to. They danced together for the slow songs. The DJ even put on a Latino song, and she showed him how to salsa. It was awesome, and when the DJ announced the last song around 10, he was pretty bummed.

As the last song came to an end, penguins started heading out. Franky looked around. They hadn't seen anyone they knew, but they had been called out multiple times for being 'DJ Cadence and Franky from the Penguin Band'.

Soon, the two of them were the only ones left in the Nightclub. Cadence looked around, then met Franky's eyes and said,

"Thank you for tonight, Franky."
"Aww, no need to thank me."
"I had a lot of fun. Thank you for taking me."
"You're welcome."
"Franky, I really like you."
Franky grinned. "I really like you, too." He kissed her cheek, closing his eyes. As he pulled away, she blushed.

"Let's head back to your place," he said. She nodded.

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When they got back to Cadence's igloo, they stood outside. Cadence was tired but happy.

"I'll see you later, Cadence," Franky said.
"Bye, Franky," Cadence said with a blush in the dark.
"Bye, Cadence." Franky hugged her and started for the band's igloo.

Cadence went into her igloo and smiled. "That. Was. AWESOME!"
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The end.