Slow Dance

Shiloh tries to fake her enjoyment at being reunited with all her old high school classmates at the reception, some of whom she never liked and some she doesn’t even remember. She’s mainly focused on finding one guest but doesn’t see “him” and remembers that he is in the Navy and often away. Shiloh turns her gaze to the wedding party and sees that Cary is a groomsman.

Shiloh waves to Cary and he leaves the head table to talk to her. Their exchange is awkward as they haven’t spoken in 14 years. Except for Facebook photos, they haven’t seen each other, but Shiloh notes that he’s handsome and “look[s] grown-up. Settled. He look[s] like he’[s] gotten out of North Omaha” (8). Cary lives in San Diego, where he’s stationed with the Navy. He knows about her kids, and she shows him photos. Cary also knows she works in theater in Omaha, though she clarifies that it’s a non-profit children’s theater. Cary gives up his place at the head table to eat with Shiloh.

In high school, Shiloh, Cary, and Mikey see a foreign film and eat together afterward. None of them has a lot of money, so they eat at Taco Bell. Cary drives Mikey home and then takes Shiloh to her place, lingering in the driveway. Cary and Shiloh both live with single moms. Shiloh often pokes at Cary and fiddles with his hair, but she can’t tell if he likes it. She pokes his leg, and he grabs her wrist.

Shiloh and Cary ride to school together every day. Though they have different schedules because Cary is in ROTC, they find times to meet throughout the day. Each afternoon, Shiloh waits for Cary so they can walk home together.

Cary always wears his ROTC uniform, which Shiloh hates. She dislikes everything the uniform represents, including a “corrupt” government. Shiloh disagree[s] with the military and [can’t] understand why Cary want[s] to be in the Navy on a boat with a nuclear weapon. Shiloh also hate[s] that his uniform remind[s] her that he [will] leave after high school. They [argue] over their differing political beliefs, and Cary [leaves] Shiloh alone.

At Mikey’s wedding, Shiloh and Cary continue catching up. In sharing about her community theater job, Shiloh chooses her details carefully as she “[feels] like she need[s] to make explicitly clear to him that she [is] nothing he had ever expected her to be” (26). Yet, Shiloh doesn’t tell him she moved the kids in with her mother after her divorce. Cary saves the day when Mikey’s younger brother takes the mic to make a speech but is too drunk to talk. Cary delivers a lovely speech about Mikey and Janine, and Shiloh reflects on how Mikey and Cary are still best friends, feeling left out. She recalls when Cary and Mikey had secret girlfriends their senior year, and Shiloh cried when she saw photos of Cary with his date. She wasn’t jealous, just brokenhearted to be left out.

Shiloh considers leaving the party because she sees no point in reconnecting with high school friends with whom she’ll lose touch again. She recalls her wedding to Ryan, a small affair held at the university theater. She wore Lady Macbeth’s dress from the costume closet, and Ryan wore a Peter Pan lost boy costume, something she now sees could have been portentous. Nothing about their wedding was traditional, including the absence of a cake. They instead had cream puffs and Lithuanian cuisine. Satisfied that she’s seen Cary—her main reason for coming to Mikey’s wedding—Shiloh plans to stay one more hour before making her exit.

Mikey, Cary, and Shiloh attend their senior prom together. Shiloh hopes to find a vintage dress at the thrift shop but finally settles for a department store dress that suits their budget. The dress isn’t her style, making Shiloh self-conscious because she’s tall and not the conventionally accepted body type. However, she feels pretty once her mother curls her hair and puts on her makeup. Cary picks up Shiloh at her door. He offers to pay for her dinner and brings her a corsage, which he pins to her dress. She smells his apple-scented hair and wonders why Cary isn’t taking his secret girlfriend Angie to the prom.

Mikey disappears onto the dancefloor at the dance while Cary and Shiloh sit near the refreshments. Shiloh can’t dance and feels interminably awkward at social events, though she passes it off as being too cool for these teenage “rituals.” Cary asks Shiloh to dance to Journey’s “Open Arms,” but she refuses, so Cary dances with Becky from their journalism class. Watching Cary and Becky dance makes Shiloh feel embarrassed for everyone as she finds the intimacy of school dances fake and forced. For the last song, Cary insists Shiloh dance with him because he wants her to have a memory of her senior prom. Shiloh refuses, and Cary gets angry, calling her “Stubborn. Miserable” (43). He accuses her of thinking she’s better than everyone else, but she counters that it’s all just “to manufacture sentiment” (43). Mikey forces Shiloh onto the dancefloor, but she can’t move her legs and cries, so Mikey decides they should leave.

At Mikey’s wedding, Shiloh’s classmates Tina and Ronny wonder if Cary is single. They assume Shiloh knows, but she reminds them that she and Cary were never together. Ronny says Shiloh was “high maintenance” in high school and was operating at a different speed than everyone else. They see her as calmer now, but Shiloh says she is exhausted from being a parent. Ronny and Tina agree that Cary has aged well and that it’s likely because he isn't married. They gossip about Mikey’s expensive first wedding, which Shiloh didn’t attend.

After taking Mikey home after the prom, Cary drives Shiloh home, but she refuses to get out of the car. She never intended to ruin the night—Cary had already gone to his girlfriend’s prom but wanted to make memories with Shiloh and Mikey. He lists all the senior lasts and explains that they are ways to say goodbye to each other. He says she looked pretty in her prom dress. Shiloh insists that no one needs to say goodbye, but Cary reminds her that she and Mikey are going away to school, and he is going to boot camp. Shiloh says, “[…] we're not, like, done with each other […]” (53). Cary says she doesn’t understand how much distance boot camp will put between them, but Shiloh promises to write him. She pulls on his clothes, touches his hair, and thinks that he probably got his wish for the quintessential prom night with his girlfriend, including having sex.

At the wedding, Mikey and Janine share their first dance, which kicks off a snowball dance where people switch partners on the dancefloor. Shiloh still hates dancing and playing by any rules, so she refuses to participate while watching Cary dance with others. When he asks her to dance, though, she accepts, and even though it’s a fast tempo song—Outkast’s “Hey Ya”—they slow dance. At first, she feels uncomfortable being this close to him after so long, but soon, they fall into a comfortable rhythm, and she moves closer to him with each song. They talk about how much each of them has changed since high school, but Cary insists that parts of them will never forget the past. The DJ plays slower songs, and Cary and Shiloh hold each other closer and, at some point, stop talking and sway to the music.

Mikey interrupts them to say goodbye, overjoyed that the three of them are together again, and he and Shiloh plan to see each other soon. Shiloh prepares to go, and Cary offers to walk her to the car. Cary asks about Shiloh’s divorce, and she asks about his engagement. He says his engagement ended and he isn’t dating anyone seriously. Cary kisses Shiloh, and she immediately realizes that she’s always been in love with him. Since Cary is staying with his mom, Shiloh invites him to her house. She’s embarrassed at the mess, but they move quickly and purposely to her bedroom. Shiloh feels self-conscious, thinking that Cary probably has had more sex than her, but she pushes aside her doubts and embraces the moment.

Shiloh tells Cary she wants him, and they undress quickly and move to the bed. Neither has a condom and though Shiloh has a tubal ligation, Cary insists they need protection. Disappointed, Shiloh worries they are losing the moment and tells Cary that he’s “going to snap out of it. In a few hours, [he will] fly home and go on with [his] life” (76). Angry, Cary puts on his clothes and calls their decision a “mistake.” He says he’s not sleeping with her because she hasn’t changed.