Spinning Out✔️

48. Stay

Jax's POV

Thursday, August 26th (1 day till we leave for competition)

7:20pm

Jazz music played from the Alexa on my kitchen counter and I hummed along. Bella barked at the tv and I turned down the heat under the frying pan.

I was making rice and fried shrimp upon Luna's request. She was lying comfortably on the couch with Gen beside her as they watched yet another true-crime documentary today.

Today we spent our time rehearsing all morning and afternoon. Carmen was working us to max. We were all worn out and exhausted and tomorrow morning we were leaving by 9 am to get to the hotel by 1:30 pm.

I was relieved that nothing had happened in the past few weeks. And by the looks of it, we were in the clear for the competition. Hopefully.

Even my Nonna was coming back from Italy to come to see me perform. Scarlet's sister from out of town was coming, and everyone's family was getting tickets for the show.

The show was going to be broadcasted nationally and because it was getting so much press they decided to extend the show to two days instead of one. They even had some other dance troupes from different states performing in between the main competition.

And we all knew why it was getting so popular. NDC wasn't deemed to win and Rodale was the new competition that was winning. And Luna and I had become more and more popular online since our duets had been posted. They had hundreds of thousands of views. All of this press would change everything.

It was all so nerve-racking yet exciting. I never would've thought the summer would have turned out the way it did when it had first started.

It didn't matter what happened in the next few days, I was so grateful to have gotten the chance to do something on my own these past few months.

I walked into WDC not sure if I even wanted to dance anymore and learned so much about myself since then. I could see the change in myself beyond dance as well. I wasn't afraid of the same things that I used to be.

That fear of being unloved shrunk in size over the past two months. Being surrounded by people who cared about me because I was just simply "Jax" had changed the way I thought about things. And it didn't matter if Luna wasn't saying things with direct words, I knew how she felt.

She could hide behind her feelings and try to pull away but it all would come to the surface when we danced. At first, I was convinced I was seeing things and that I wanted to see what wasn't there. But it was growing more and more obvious as the days went on.

The way our eyes would meet in between scenes and sequences. The way she would get overwhelmed if I touched her in a certain way. We were constantly coming into contact with each other and lingering for more.

I was fully ready for so much more. Because I could see a future with the two of us. It was so clear and promising.

I knew she was hesitating because of her epilepsy. I couldn't blame her. She was worried that she would be putting too much on me.

I felt like I had been with her already for so long that it didn't make any difference.

I was too busy frying to notice Gen get up.

"Jax," She waved at me and rubbed Bella's side. "I'm gonna head out and finish packing."

She quickly came to stand beside me and grabbed a napkin and a piece of shrimp. I smiled, watching her blow on it and try not to burn her hands.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning," She said squeezing my arm quickly.

"See ya," I smiled.

She hugged Luna from behind and hurried out.