The West Wind Read Online Free

band. The
song’s last note resonated through the room: the last breath of the universe
they had brought into being over the last few minutes.
     
    Xander flipped his hand in a slight hook away from them and Hero
twirled back toward him. His fingertips found the small of her back and his arm
wrapped around her waist as she spun three hundred and sixty degrees. His arm
wound around her as she turned, drawing her close and supporting her as he
began to lower her into a dip. She threw her right arm around his neck and
willingly put her trust in his strength without a second thought. After
following his lead for the course of the song, she knew him better than someone
who hadn’t danced with him ever would. As the spinning woman turned in his
arms, Xander slid out of the way and let her plunge in one fluid motion toward
the floor.
     
    Breath came heavily as the scene resolved, a whistle from someone
in their audience barely noticed. Xander rested on one knee, and Hero, straight
as a board, floated scarcely four inches from the floor. His knuckles were
closer still. She let out a breath she didn’t even know she was holding and met
his eyes. He stared back into hers and her lips parted slightly, the remaining
gravity of their motion still drawing them together. Xander leaned in, inches
away, then stopped. He shook his head.
     
    “No, I’m sorry. It’s too easy,” he said without thinking.
    She slapped him.
    He dropped her.
     
    Hero hit the ground with a gentle thud. Their surroundings
transitioned from surreal to real abruptly, startled from the fantastic
universe they had created. No one in the room moved a muscle. It was as if the
almost instant change from passion to anger had turned them all to statues.
Xander met Carolyn’s eyes. She shook her head softly, full of pity, and he
flushed red. On the ground, Hero glared around. She was embarrassed to have an
audience in the first place. Embarrassed to have an audience for her rejection.
Embarrassed to have been dropped in the first place, and the fall, while
admittedly short, just made her feel worse.
    Xander stood up and offered Hero his hand, “Look, I’m sorry, I
didn’t. . .” he began.
    Hero slapped his hand away and scrambled to her feet as Jaimie and
Leana rushed over.
    “You’re an asshole,” Hero said as she shoved Xander, hard. He
stumbled back without a word as the girls cut through the crowd and pushed out
the door. The three boys followed after them, crossing the dance floor in front
of the off balance young man.
     
    “Nice moves,” Evan sneered as he went by.
    “Classic ending, wish I had popcorn,” Jeremy said with a smirk.
    “Sucks, dude. That was pretty intense. Too bad you blew it,” Brian
said, almost supportively.
     
    One they were gone, Carolyn picked up the pace with ‘Zoot Suit
Riot,’ and the dance went on, the event not quite forgotten, but left to
conversations off the dance floor that were impossible to hear over the music.
Xander sighed and shifted his shoulders uncomfortably at the stares and furtive
glances directed his way. He took a deep breath and waved goodbye to Carolyn,
who blew him a kiss. Then he left.

Camelot
     
    Xander opened the door to the Brighton House and stepped inside.
Water ran down his face and his clothes were soaked from a summer rainstorm
that had snuck in while he was walking home. Light crept into the dark foyer
from a hallway and he headed toward it. His dad was in the library. From the
smell of it, he was re-staining the built-in oak bookshelves. Small puddles of
water trailed behind in Xander’s path.
     
    “Hey, Dad,” Xander said as he stepped into the room dripping. Zach
was leaning over the top of a ladder, using a brush to smooth the stain into
the corners of the shelves. A paperback copy of Shelley’s poems lay open face
down on top of an unused bucket. “Going to fix the whole place in one night?”
    His father turned to greet him, but wrinkled his eyebrows when he
saw his clothes