I don’t feel like laughing now. My heart is in my throat. Oliver tugs me closer. “That’s it,” he encourages softly. “It’s easy. One, two, three, one, two, three.”

“How are you so good at this?” I resist the urge to look down at my feet. His green eyes catch mine and he smiles.

“Too many cotillion classes. They sure are paying off now. I owe my mother an apology.”

“Send my thanks as well.”

He closes his eyes for a heartbeat and breathes out softly. “God, I love this song.”

“What is it?”

“Tchaikovsky. The opening waltz from Sleeping Beauty. In the ballet she meets the prince in the woods, and they dance to this.”

That sounds right. This song sounds like it’s from a dream. Well, not one of my dreams, but someone else’s. “Then what happens?” I whisper.

“The usual. A monster. A curse. A kiss.”

We turn again. We’ve made a whole circle around the dance floor. “Hmm,” I say. “Sounds boring.”

By the second circle of the dance floor, I’m no longer tripping over my own feet. I only step on Oliver’s toes once.

I’ve never been one for dancing, but I’d dance with him again and again if he asked, because it makes me feel like I’m here, in my body, instead of watching the scene play out from afar.

We return to the table flushed and out of breath.

“You looked great out there,” Lena says.

“We’ll look better!” Pascal exclaims, and hauls Lena to her feet as a new song kicks up. He takes Maxine for a turn next, and Maxine laughs hysterically as she and Pascal both fight to lead.

Not long after, Maxine takes Lena onto the floor as someone onstage pulls out an accordion and a polka springs to life.

They collapse back into the booth when the song concludes, already fighting over who polkaed the best.

We sit at the table for the better part of an hour, finishing a bottle between the five of us easily. It hums in my veins, warm and only half-familiar.

I lean my head against the back of the booth and let the sounds of my friends’ laughter and the music wash over me.

Oliver squeezes my hand, bringing me back to reality. It’s comforting to watch the people I love most feel such joy. I brush away my racing thoughts, my sharp guilt, my fear, and I let the joy take me, too.

It’s when Maxine stands from the table and declares it’s her turn to get onstage with the band and show off her elementary-school flute lessons that we decide our time in Heaven and Hell should come to a close.

“You’re just afraid to let me because you know I’m a better flutist than all of you, all of you combined! You’re intimidated by my musical talent!”