A. Emeritus

Chapter 20

It's days like these that I'm thankful I grew up here. Sure, it's a little different, but my family has worked hard to be able to provide a place where everyone can feel they belong. And I'm glad that we've become a safe haven for so many.

"Do you think you'll actually go on stage on tour?" Fire asks, pulling my attention from the people around us. I blink while I think about my answer.

"Well I know all the songs, but singing or playing in front of people seems a lot different than doing basic mass duties." I think a little more as we dance. "I guess I'll just have to see when we get there." Fire smiles and spins me.

"Keep in mind I'll be cheering you on no matter what." I laugh and try to spin him under my arm, but fail spectacularly as he falls on his ass. Once he's back on his feet we laugh again.

"At least someone has faith in me. I feel like I'll look stupid on stage." Fire laughs and leads me out of the crowd.

"You always look stupid, I don't think you have anything to worry about." I punch his arm and fill a glass with water.

"Just wait until you get to go on stage, dick." I sip my water and look out the balcony doors at the sky. "Have we been here for long?" I ask as I stare into the star speckled sky. Fire checks his phone as he leans against the wall beside me.

"It's been two hours." He tells me as he opens a game. I hum and continue looking at the stars, if it weren't colder at night I'd go out and look for longer, but not in this dress.

A hand is placed on my shoulder as I'm lost in the stars. It shakes me a little and I turn to look who is holding me. Gizio holds his hand out and bows.

"May I have this dance?" I place my hand in his while holding my glass of water out to Fire.

"Can you please hold this, Fire?" He nods and takes it in his free hand, as I'm pulled away.

Faces pass as Gizio leads us into the crowd. Finally, he takes my other hand and begins to dance with me, while throwing in a lot more flourishes than Fire and I did.

"Listo is upset you told him he's not your dad." Gizio tells me before looping his left hand over my head and pulls my back against him and releasing my right hand, I spin out to the full extension of our arms before spinning back into the prespin position.

"That sucks, maybe he should have thought about that before letting you take over." I tell him as he spins me under his right arm and we return to the normal dance position."Also, you've attracted onlookers." I add, catching a glimpse of some people stopping to watch. He smiles wide and pulls me into the sweetheart position again, where my back is against him.

"Then we shall put on a show, no?" I know exactly what he wants me to do. As the parental figure in my life he had me get dance lessons in addition to my normal school lessons. I spin out and on the way back in I release my left hand and we trust fall, followed by a tornado into a whip. We follow the same rhythm for a while before I spin out and feel a hand grasp my open hand. Gizio releases my right hand and I quickly spin to face Papa, who has changed from his robes into his suit.

As we dance I notice something crucial, we aren't on the same page as far as dance style. I pull myself close to him and whisper,

"Do you know the Charleston?" As I pull away I see he looks confused. "Follow what I do." I let go and take a couple steps back before placing my arms down and readying myself. After Papa copies me I slowly start the footwork, once he seems to have the slow steps down I speed up my movements and add a twist. Finally, I take his hands and lead him in a simple dance. "Let me lead, just act like you know what you're doing." I tell him as I bring his right arm up and spin under before linking my right arm around his back and standing side by side to him.