Dance With Me (Norminah & Camren)

Chapter 1: Fucking Wonderful (Prologue)

A/N: I was gonna post this later, but it's Thanksgiving AND I'm feeling extra thankful for y'all cuz I just hit 1K+ followers! So here's a new Norminah fic inspired by an idea from butterfly_savager . Special shout out to her for the dope concept! 

Tap that VOTE and leggo!

Normani's POV

I was stretching in my usual corner at the dance studio, counting precisely to 20 as I held each stretch. Loud laughter broke out, and I looked up irritably at Dinah Jane, who was on the opposite side of the dance studio goofing off and taking a Snapchat selfie with her group of friends.

Immature idiots.

"Circle up!" Sean Bankhead, the instructor of our collegiate dance choreography class shouted.

Perfect. I thought, ending the last of my stretches right on time.

Today was an important day. We were going to be picking partners for our end of the year showcase. And since it was my last year, it was important that I made a good impression on the professional dance recruiters that came to the show. I didn't want to take any chances at ending up with someone I didn't want to dance with, so I'd taken the liberty of ranking each of my classmates in terms of technical skill, and hoped to convince either of the top two people on my list to become my partner. I joined the circle of students and stood next to Val, the classmate who had received the top rank on my list.

"Phones away please!" Sean shouted, glaring at Dinah.

"My bad, Bankie," Dinah said, quickly shoving her phone into the middle pocket of her hoodie and giving Sean her full attention.

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Dinah Jane was always fucking around in class. Though creative, in my opinion, Dinah's dance technique suffered greatly because of her carelessness. And that's why, Dinah Jane had received the lowest rank on my list. There was no way I could work on the most important routine of my life with a carefree dancer like her.

"Now that we have Ms. Hansen's attention, let's go over the assignment, shall we?" Sean said, "You will each pick a partner and choreograph a 20-minute dance routine for the end of the year showcase. Got it?"

Renditions of 'yeah' echoed through the room and Sean continued, "Everyone must participate to pass this class. Also, remember that scouts from major dance agencies will be at this showcase, so make sure you deliver a solid performance if you want a future in dancing professionally. You have 5 minutes to pick your partners, before I come around with my clipboard. Get moving!"

The circle of students broke up at once, and I turned to Val and asked, "Val, would you like to be my partner?"

"Sure. In fact, I was just going to ask you the same," Val said with a small laugh.

"Great! I have some concept ideas we could look into."

"Awesome! Me too. I was thinking about a mix of slow ballads. Something to get the audience real emotional."

"Me too! Looks like we're going to be great partners!" I said excitedly, happy to have gotten my top pick.

"And...I'm guessing you two are partners?" Sean asked, coming around with his clipboard to where Val and I were standing.

"Yes!" both of us said together and I was pleased that we were so in sync already.

"Interesting...the top two students as partners...should be interesting," Sean said, jotting our names down. "Or...really predictable and boring." Sean stopped writing and looked around the room. "Dinah Jane! Zendaya! Over here, please!"

My heart was beating forebodingly as Dinah and Zendaya made their way to us.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

"I need you four to switch partners. Z, you're with Val. And Dinah, you're with Mani," Sean said.

"What!?" Z, Val, and I said together, outraged.

"Chill," Dinah said casually.

"But he's boring and stiff!" Zendaya argued.

"Excuse me?" Val said, affronted.

"That's not fair!" I said heatedly, "We're supposed to have a choice in who we pick."

"Not anymore," Sean said without looking up from his clipboard, "Val and you are too technical. You guys need to loosen up. And these two are too loose, especially Dinah. They need to tighten up. Hence, the switch. Besides, I want you guys to challenge yourselves. Not play it safe."

Wanting to argue more, I said, "But Sean, you can't-"

"This is my final choice, Ms. Kordei. And if you want to pass this class, you will step out of your comfort zone and show me something unexpected," Sean said sternly, before walking off to another group of students.

"Don't worry, ManManz, we'll show his deadass. We'll legit be #dancegoals by the end of this!" Dinah said, raising her fist for me to bump.

I looked between Dinah and her raised fist and let out a miserable sigh.

Fucking wonderful.

A/N: This is gonna be a short story, roughly 1k words (or less) per chapter, with lotsa Norminah fluff, a dash of drama, prolli like one smut scene, and hella dancing, duh! #StepUpfeels. What'd you guys think so far?