Instructions for Dancing

At a local club, Evie watches X and his band. With his friends Jamal and Kevin, X lights up the stage. Evie is entranced by his passion and emotional, “melting smooth” voice (99). X reveals a new song with incomplete lyrics called “Black Box,” which she thinks is brave.

After the show, Evie compliments the band, and can’t deny her feelings when X smiles at her praise. She takes X to her favorite waffle restaurant, which feels more romantic at night. She jokes that she usually only comes for brunch, but now, the place has rose petals, candles, and other romantic touches. X insinuates that she brought him there to seduce him, and Evie sputters that she didn’t. When they sit down, Evie tells him that he’s flirting, and X says he likes girls, especially “smart, pretty, snarky, slightly confusing ones” like her (103).

Evie asks about X’s music; X started playing concerts with pots and pans with his father, and his passion grew from there. Now, X and his father disagree about his future. Evie admits that she used to be close with her father, and opens up about the divorce, though she’s only ever told her mother and friends.