Page 33 of Status Undefined
“Absolutely not!” Sometimes the sassy way Keren spoke to her mother still surprised me.
There were already thousands of Thais and a few foreigners at the party when we got there. From a stage with lights that flashed in time with the music, a DJ was whipping up the crowd.
“Let’s get closer.” Daniel grabbed my hand and led us all into the sea of dancers. Towards the back, people were swaying back and forth a bit but not swept away by the music. But as we neared the stage, the chances of catching an elbow in the face gothigher. The dancers were deep inside the beat, a bit zombie-like as if they weren’t in control of their bodies.
It didn’t take Daniel long to become one of the zombies… actually, the lead zombie. They stared at this creature oozing self-confidence as he took up more and more space, the music seeming to flow through his veins. I looked over at Keren and Sean to see how they were reacting to this display of temporary insanity, but they’d already joined the zombie-fest. People began focusing on Daniel instead of on the stage and we became the eye of a storm of dancing zombies.
I wanted to document this so that I’d have proof that zombies do exist and a shot at winning the Nobel Prize. I had 30 seconds of closeup zombie footage when Daniel, laughing, pulled me into the orbit of his dancing. We smiled at each other as we danced, and the world faded into the background. It was just him and me – his white teeth, light blue eyes, jug ears and muscular arms that threatened to burst though the thin cotton of the Phuket shirt, the sweat on his brow. I was losing myself to the zombie king; willingly, but I couldn’t have resisted if I tried.
Time and space get distorted in crowds like that, so I don’t know how long we danced before I shouted, no, screamed in Daniel’s ear that I needed to get some air. I didn’t know how he could breathe; maybe zombies don’t need oxygen. He pointed toward the exit and the four of us made our way through the mounting crowd.
“Wow. That was crazy!” Daniel said in an unnecessarily loud voice.
“You were crazy.” I had to tell him straight. Some self-awareness wouldn’t hurt.
“Crazy about you!”
“Oh yeah!” That was Keren.
I made a gagging gesture at the flatterer.
“Let’s go grab a beer.” Daniel pointed at a nearby stand.
“We’re minors. They won’t sell to us,” said Sean.
“Wait here. We’ll bring you some.”
Daniel and I joined the long line at the stand. It was just before midnight and everyone was anticipating the countdown. Was I? I’d never kissed anyone on New Year’s Eve. Maybe it would be nice.
“So, what do you do at midnight?” Daniel asked as we waited.
“I thought I’d find some Thai guy to kiss. What do you think of the guy pouring the beer?”
“Isn’t he too short for you? Thought you liked them tall.”
“Why would you think that? Short is the cutest!”
“I know, shorty.”
“Sawadee khrup!” The beer guy was trying to get our attention. He had a lot of customers and no time to waste.
We carried four beers back to Keren and Sean and sat down to rest a bit. Five minutes to go, according to the countdown clock. We were all exhausted from dancing and the beer made us drowsy.
“Oh man! I completely forgot to film the party for Instagram.” Daniel said suddenly.
“It’s ok. I got a video of you dancing. Should keep your followers happy.”
“Totally. But we also want to see you kiss.” Keren’s eyes sparkled with anticipation.
“No way!” I protested.
When the crowd began chanting 10! 9! 8!... Daniel smiled and came closer. 7! 6! His lips were so red. 5! 4! It was so easy to be drawn in by him. 3! 2! 1!
The fireworks in the sky had nothing on the ones inside me when Daniel leaned in and kissed me. I held on to him and tried to make the kiss last as long as possible. It was one of those rare moments when my thoughts were silenced – a fantastic feeling. For a moment I didn’t remember that we weren’t always going tobe together, that it was temporary. My bad memories of the past did not exist. The future, no matter how uncertain and worrying, did not exist. It was amazing – the best start to a new year I could ever have hoped for.
The world came back into focus as we parted. Keren and Sean were watching us. The crowd was cheering at the fireworks. Daniel’s gaze lingered on me for a few moments, as if he was trying to take in every trace of that kiss, then he took out his phone and turned to the fireworks.
I took out my phone too, to send Daniel the video of him dancing. Reception was spotty and I couldn’t get it to work.
