Staying Hidden

Dance Assignment

By the end of the day, Mrs. Bryant (my dance teacher) told us to pair up for our latest dance assignment. And you guessed it, John's my partner. Everyone else was mad that I always picked him. The assignment was due by the end of the month.

"So, what song you wanna dance to?" I asked.

"Well, let's look through our playlists," he whipped out his phone.

I got mine out and we sat against the wall.

"Roar Katy Perry?" I offered up.

He shook his head. He didn't like Katy Perry. I wasn't a fangirl, but I liked the song Roar.

"Dance With Me? Cheetah Girls? Why do I have--? Vanessa, did you put more songs on my phone again?" He looked at me.

I shrugged. "You're fault for leaving it open while we were watching the movie."

"You little," he laughed as he pinned me down and tickled me.

Now, I know that you probably think John's gay since he's in dance and we watched The Cheetah Girls trilogy. But let me clarify a few things. He's not gay and I have nothing against gay people. He's danced ever since he was ten, because that was around the time his parents split. Then when he was twelve, his dad died in a car wreck. And when he told me these stories, I nearly fell apart. Because he's a year older than me, but we're in the same grade. I went to PreK, he didn't.

And yes, we were getting crazy and annoyed looks from people. Guess who cared though? Neither of us. I laughed as loud as I wanted and he was still saying funny things like, "You little munchkin" "Dancy" and "I'm gonna get you."

Mrs. Bryant looked our way and we stopped. I was still laughing, but I was calming down. She laughed, shook her head, and walked away. I slapped John in the chest playfully and shook my head. "You almost got us in trouble."

"Don't put girly songs on my phone anymore," he nudged me.

When school ended, John and I went to the dance studio. Mr. O'Connor gave us our own room in the studio since we were frequent visitors. We practically lived here.

"Hey, Mr. OC," John said.

"Hey, John, hey, Vanessa," he smiled at us. "Here's the key."

"How's the family?" I asked.

"Same as yesterday, thanks for asking. Don't let her go, John," he looked at John.

"Mr. OC, how many times do we have to tell you we're not dating?" John laughed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Ooh, Vanessa, got a new dance brewing?" Mr. O'Connor looked at me.

I nodded. "And we have to come up with one for our dance assignment."

"Ooh, I have a song for you," he said.

"What song?" I asked.

"It's one my daughter listens to all the time. Almost Is Never Enough by... Uh...."

"Ariana Grande and Nathan Sykes," I finished for him.

"That's a good one. Thanks, Mr. OC," John said and took the key to our room.

We went in and John went to YouTube on his phone. He played the song and I began my stretches. John did too and I conjured up moves in my head.

"This would be a good song for us to dance to," John said.

I nodded. "I already have dance moves. Do you?"

"Yeah, they're in here," he laughed.

"Knock, knock," Mr. O'Connor tapped on our door.