"Raise your left leg," he said, this time not forcing my leg up and making me pull a muscle (AGAIN! GRR!), "and stretch your right foot out. Balance on your toe. Balance. BALANCE! BALANCE!!"
I fell over, but luckily onto the big mat Daniel got out for me. Because apparently falling on my face fifteen times was enough times to teach him that yes, I did need one.
"I'm sorry, okay?!" I yelled, my eyes filling with tears. "I'm sorry I'm so bad at this! I'm sorry!"
It was eight o'clock on a Friday night. I wasn't going out on a date. I wasn't partying. No, I was having a dance lesson with the person who hated me the more than the rest of the world hated me altogether.
And I was practically the worst dancer. Ever.
"Is it because you're stressed," Daniel said, completely surprising me. He was actually surprisingly intuitive.
"Yes," I mumbled, grabbing his hand to haul myself up. "I had a calculus test today, but I'm pretty sure I failed."
He smiled at me, a sweet smile that made my heart thump.
"Calculus? I'm pretty sure you'll never need that."
"I know, right?" I blurted out, more of a natural response from when me and my friends talked about Calculus. Well, not really talked but more "dissed and ridiculed".
I blushed. I'd accidentally shown him the "real" Erica. The one who hated Calculus. You should never let your enemies know you're weaknesses. Daniel might kidnap me and make me do Calculus or something. You never know.
"Oh wait, the mid-terms?" he said, positioning my leg back into the Arabesque position I'd been trying to get into for hours. "They were hard. I flunked those too."
I collapsed again, but more out of surprise this time. Mr. Perfect flunked something? Wow.
"Really?" I said, shoving myself up again, and trying again.
"Yes, really," he replied, smiling, his hands on hips as he tried to put me into the stupid Arabesque thing. "Lift your leg."
I did.
"There you are," he said, letting go. "There you have, the Arabesque."
"I'm doing it?!"
"You're doing it."
"Wow!" I laughed. This actually felt really good. I was doing it. I could really do it. A light sensation filled my stomach, and I felt like I was flying. The feeling of actually achieving something. It felt good.
How come I don't get this through acting?
"You actually have a lot of potential as a dancer," Daniel said. "You just need to relax a bit more. All your muscles are tensed up."
He was actually complimenting me...? He wasn't that kind of guy! Guys like him would rather die than be nice to people they hated. He was probably tricking me.
All this thinking stopped me from concentrating (damn brain) and I toppled over again.
Daniel tried to catch me, but my hands slammed into his chest, and before I realized what was going on, I was on top of him. His arms were wrapped around me, in that "catching" pose he was too shocked too come out of.
"Oh my GOD, I'm so sorry!" I muttered, jumping off him. My face flushed bright red. Frick, why the hell was I acting so stupid like this? It couldn't be that...I liked him, right? No! I am not putting myself through it again, dating another actor! Actually, not just actors, I'm never dating another guy again. Not after Ben. I have officially built walls around my heart, and locked it up tight.
