I brought the SUV to a stop at the front door, lining up the rear hatch perfectly with the event center's front doors. Clicking my seat belt off, I opened the door and slid out of the air conditioning into the warm afternoon air.
"Yo! We're here! Get your nose out of your phone and let's move it!" I hollered at my nephew. He was still belted into the passenger seat, playing some sort of game on his phone and oblivious to the world.
"Huh? Oh!" he mumbled as he opened the door and tried to escape the confines of the BMW. Another grunt followed as he discovered that his seat belt was still attached, keeping him from climbing down.
"Sorry, Uncle Dave!"
He continued to make a project out of exiting the vehicle while I opened the hatch and started to pull together the boxes and things that we had arrived to deliver. Tonight was the homecoming dance for my nephew's school and I had volunteered to help him in his setup duties as well as come back later that evening as a chaperon for the event. Seth was the oldest of my sister's kids and I always offered to help out when I could. The younger kids had packed schedules and watching 7-year-olds play sports was not something that thrilled me. Going on high school field trips and chatting with the other adults at the dances, however, was far more interesting, so since I was a committed bachelor with nothing better to do with my time, I volunteered to handle those duties to give my sister and brother-in-law a bit of a break. Today, I was there to carry stuff in and lend a general hand as the student committee in charge of the dance took care of getting things set up.
After finally freeing himself from the prison he made of the front seat, Seth came around to the back of the car and we busied ourselves collecting the various bags and boxes to carry them in. The logical part of my brain knew that there was far too much for the two of us to carry, but the impatient part was screaming that we should do it in one trip. We started trying to load the boxes in our arms, stacking them precariously on top of each other, and then tried gathering the handles of the bags with the tips of our fingers. Seth was on the verge of dropping two of his boxes and my entire stack was ready to slip when I heard a familiar voice.
"Oh, Mr. Landrum! Let me help you with..." was the last thing I heard before the crash of boxes clattering back into the SUV as they slipped from my hands. Apparently carrying the three boxes and trying to snag the handles on two more bags was just too much for me to balance. The voice belonged to Jenna, one of the seniors who was also on the planning committee with my nephew. She was running towards us from the parking lot dressed for the weather in a loose t-shirt and tight denim shorts. Despite the effect that gravity was having on the decorating supplies, I was not too preoccupied to appreciate the bouncing that indicated she was not wearing a sports bra under that t-shirt. Since she was Seth's classmate, I had been around Jenna a few times over the last four years between field trips, school dances, and an occasional party at my sister's house. She was on the lacrosse team and her athleticism was obvious as she approached us. The top of her brown hair was about three inches below my eye line, making her about 5'4". Her denim shorts were showing off her legs, muscular yet very feminine; toned and sculpted but not bulging. The loose-fitting t-shirt was concealing her generous chest that I was trying not to stare at.
"Looks like you showed up just in time to save us cavemen from our own pride!" I replied, once the clattering of boxes ceased. "We were determined to make it one trip."
"Well, you two lunks were biting off way more than you can chew," Jenna grinned. "If you need help with your package, I'd be happy to grab it for you".
At least, that's what it sounded like she said. I had paused for a moment and she was giving me a slightly raised eyebrow with her tongue just peeking out to run along her upper lip. Did she just say she wanted to grab your package and subtly lick her lips? Was she trying to flirt with Seth? He was acting completely oblivious to her, still trying to gather up the boxes and their contents that had spilled back into the car. Did I just mishear what she was saying over all the other noise that was happening? My brain sort of locked up for a second and I wound up just staring at her for what seemed like an hour, but what was probably only about a second, before I shook myself loose.
"Jenna, I think we absolutely need some help carrying all this stuff in. Thank you!"
I thought I was recovering from that pretty well as I gave her a smile and stepped back from the hatch to let her choose what she would carry in for us. After I stepped back, I was off to the left of the vehicle, while Seth was still standing on the right side, taking up about half the space that made up the hatch opening. Jenna approached the back of the SUV, but instead of getting closer to her classmate, she approached to the far left, close to me, and bent forward to grab one of the boxes that hadn't spilled its contents.
Lifting that box along with a large paper shopping bag, she stepped back from the car, moving back and to her left instead of going straight back. This brought the backside of her tight jean shorts right up against me, but instead of stopping I could feel her push into me as she turned to her right and started towards the door. I was left standing there for a moment, unsure of what had just happened, as she turned back to look at me while she climbed the steps to go inside. There was the slightest smile across her lips and I could suddenly feel my own shorts were shrinking on me, slowly getting tighter. I quickly grabbed a couple boxes to hide the growing bulge and took a deep breath before closing the hatch and walking inside.
Once inside, the din of the dance committee filled the event center as the students and parents were busy hanging decorations, setting up lights, and moving tables and chairs around. After we had set down our cargo, I set about helping Seth put tablecloths on and arrange the centerpieces. After a while, that task was wrapped up and one of Seth's friends asked us to help set up the mood lighting. Taking the lights from their bins, we distributed them along the floor and began running the power cables along the baseboard, Seth worked on the north wall while I started down the east wall. I was busying myself with taping down the cables on my side when Jenna's voice broke my concentration.
"Mr. Landrum?" her voice seemed lower than usual. "Can I help you with those lights?"