Everyone made a circle at the behest of a stooped man with slicked-up blond hair, who yelled directions in a whiny singsong voice over the music of a bluegrass band.
John, Mel, Cynthia, and Gina lined up on one side of the gym. John could see Harry on the opposite side with Julie and the marina crowd. She tuned him out, never once looking his way.
At first, dancers held hands in a circle, then the caller split them into quartets and finally pairs. Often John did not know his partner--from stocky, middle-age women to little girls in starched, lacy dresses--but everyone at the dance was either a summer resident or a local, and the differences between them were plain to see.
The local boys had sallow faces, wiry bodies, and skulked rather than walked. Many wore plain undershirts, blue jeans, and boots with taps for a harder hitting surface on the wood floor. Their stern, mopey faces seemed out of place with the frenetic cadence. Older local women wore big hairstyles and red or black outfits. Younger women wore jeans with flannel shirts and conversed raucously.
In general, the people from the lake were young and wore coordinated summer casuals. The boys were healthy, impudent, and bossy. Harry, Sarah, and Retta wore skirts and blouses. Cynthia wore dark-red jeans, Julie gold corduroy.
John was thrill when he was paired off with Harry. He whirled her around, excited by the touch of her body, but she did not make eye contact, just behaved like a pleasant stranger.
