Twice The Trouble

Chapter 83: Dancing Hearts

Lucas drew out a shaky breath as he inserted his hands into the pockets of his blue pants.

Despite his miserable demeanor, in my eyes, he was still the most handsome guy on campus.

His boyish black hair was tousled and he wore the standard male Orion uniform of a white polo with elbow-length sleeves, simple blue tie, and matching blue slacks.

I tucked a wayward strand of brown hair behind my ear, careful not to budge my oval eyeglasses. My long wavy locks were tied back into a high ponytail,tamed by a lime green scrunchie. I was dressed in the daily female Orion uniform of white polo, gray vest, and blue pencil skirt and black shoes.

Lucas met my brown eyes, and I struggled not to fidget so much. "Did I do something wrong?"

"Err.. what?"

He looked down and shuffled his foot over the other. "I know class starts in ten minutes, but I just wanted to ask you if I had said anything or done something to make you mad."

My teeth chewed on my lower lip. I peered up at Lucas and told him: "You didn't do anything wrong, Lucas. I've just been.. preoccupied.. you know.. quizzes.. homework.. the school paper.."

Even I could hear how lame I sounded.

Lucas nodded his head. "We haven't hung out, just the two of us, for a while. Perhaps I can ask Stacy if she'd be okay with having lunch with her friends today?"

My brown eyes widened slightly. "I don't know, Lucas.I think it's best you spend the break-time with her. I know I would appreciate it if I were your girlfriend--" It was too late to shut my mouth.

I pressed my lips together, tore my gaze away from his, blood spreading in my cheeks. I was pretty sure my whole face was red as a tomato. My heartbeat hammered wildly against my rib-cage.

"S-Sophia, I..." Why was he stammering? Oh fudge, I blew it! The jig is up. He probably knows how I feel and everything will be insanely awkward and Stacy is going to MURDER me---

A girl suddenly yelled "SOPHIA!!"

Lucas and I whipped our heads in the same direction. An 18-year old girl with hazel eyes and long curly dark hair was running towards us, wearing a grin of excitement as she neared me.

"Emily, slow down," I advised my friend and classmate,E mily Aguirre.

She waved a frantic hand at me, the toothy smile still on her face. "I HAVE BIG NEWS!"

I took a step back in reaction when she spoke loudly. I darted a brief glance at Lucas to see if he had an inkling of what my fellow brunette friend was about to say, but he shrugged in response.

"Em, what's going on?" I asked her as her posture straightened up.

A big, giddy smile played on her lips as she shifted her hazel eyes from me to Lucas, then to me.

"There's going to be a Ballroom Contest this upcoming Thursday and all the freshmen are really excited for it." She beamed at us. "You guys know the five kinds of ballroom dance, right?"

Surprising me, Lucas and I simultaneously answered: "Salsa, waltz, swing, tango, and cha-cha."

Emily touched her lip using the back of her fingers in a you-two-are-so-in-sync manner.

"Um, yes." She cleared her throat before smiling at us again. She clapped her hands. "Well, each category of dance requires at least three pairs of college freshmen, resulting in fifteen couples who will be participating in the competition. And you guys won't believe this but..."

Lucas and I looked at her questioningly and we asked: "But what?"

I was startled when Emily held me by the shoulders and shook me back and forth. "Sophia, you and Lucas were handpicked by the faculty to be part of the contest! Isn't that fantastic??"

"What!?" Lucas and I exclaimed.

Emily drew her hands away and pointed at us. "Okay, that has gotta stop."

"B-but how.. I mean.. w-why.. I m-mean, how did this happen? There are over 600 frosh students here in Orion University." My hands were trembling. "And I'm not very good at dancing!" I wailed.

My brunette friend flashed me a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry Sophia. But nobody wanted to cooperate or volunteer for the contest, so all the deans had a meeting and selected freshmen whom are close to one another so close physical contact wouldn't discomfort them."

I felt all the color drain from my face. I was happy about being partners with Lucas, but I was absolutely petrified of performing in front of an audience. I'm very insecure about my dancing.

Lucas sent a frown in Emily's direction. "When did this meeting happen exactly?"

"Just now," she answered, rocking back and forth on the heels of her shoes. I knew she was secretly rejoicing at the situation. Because even though Lucas was my twin sister's boyfriend, I've been strongly aware that Emily preferred me to be with him.

My brown eyes slid over to Lucas. His own chocolate eyes mirrored my sheer apprehension.

This seemed too much to take in.. I was going to be partners with my sister's boyfriend.. whom I am head over heels in love with---and he doesn't know.. neither does she. I've been eluding him for as much as I can manage, avoiding his texts, his calls, fleeing in the opposite route whenever I saw him heading towards me in the corridors.

And now I had to dance with him in front of a crowd in only three days?

"Sophia?" Lucas called, dragging me out of my stupor. "Are you alright?"

I blinked repeatedly. The blue walls started to spin around me in a blurry haze, making me dizzy. "My.. head.. hurts---" 

Within seconds, I surrendered to the darkness.

"SOPHIA!"