His Tiny Dancer [COMPLETED]

XXIII

"That's besides the point. Are we-"

"Even if you guess right I'm just going to say 'nope' again." I pout, and he says, "Why don't we start walking. The sooner we start, the sooner we'll get there."

"Fine," I say, opening my door and quite literally hopping out of his car, considering it's much higher off the ground than I am used to.

"Is it far?" I ask when we are walking next to each other on the sidewalk.

"Nope."

"...is it close?"

"Nope."

"Oh, come on!" I exclaim in annoyance, only causing Noah to laugh at me.

"It's not close, it's very close," Noah says, attempting to ease my annoyance. I roll my eyes at him, before realizing this hint is crucial to figuring out where we are going. I look around, searching for a location that fits the description. Of course, I have no description to work with, so it could be anything at this point. For all I know, there isn't a surprise at all. Just the 'fun' of the suspense, which I don't find as fun as an actual destination.

I glance around. He's taken us into the city, so cars drive along the dirty snow filled road, causing the distant sound of honking. Small trees line the sidewalk, old Christmas lights still hung up but turned off since it's only the afternoon. People bustle past us, occasionally causing either Noah or myself to bump into each other, our arms lightly touching.

"I still have no idea," I admit, sighing in defeat.

"I'll give you one more hint," Noah says looking down at me, causing me to eagerly meet his eyes as we pause at a corner.

"What?" I ask, excited to figure this out. Noah simply looks back forward and walks around the corner. Confused slightly, I follow him, and gasp when I see what must have been the surprise. I look up and across the expanse of a large brick building, the windowless wall completely covered in a beautiful mural. "Swan Lake!" I recognize it immediately. A ballerina in a white tutu, her leg in a high attitude to the back, her back arched, and her arms over her head - one of the most well known poses of the ballet. She is painted across most of the building, with a beautiful nighttime landscape behind her. "Oh my god, it's beautiful! How did I not know this was here?" I had ran up to the mural, leaving Noah behind, but now I look back at him to find that he's already watching me.

"It's new. I saw them finishing it up when I was driving through a couple of days ago."

"This is amazing. This would be a great spot for dance pictures, I should come here next time I do a photo shoot," I say, more thinking out loud than actually talking to Noah.

"Why wait?" I look up at Noah, confused. "I'll take your picture now."

"I'm not exactly dressed for it," I say, looking down at the sweatshirt and leggings I threw on when I got home, along with my dirty white converse.

"I think you look fine."

"Well... okay. Can you take it? Do a burst so I can pick the best one."

"Sure," Noah says taking out his phone, causing me to stop from pulling my own out of my pocket. I had assumed he would take it on my phone so I would already have the pictures, but he was faster than me. Noah goes to the edge of the sidewalk and crouches down, squinting slightly while looking at the phone. "I can't see the whole thing, I'm gonna cross the street." As he crosses, I position myself in front of the wall. I decide I'm going to mimic the painting by doing the same pose, so I stand below and slightly behind the girl in the picture.

"Ready?" I say to Noah from across the street, having to raise my voice slightly.

"I'll tell you go when there aren't any cars coming," he responds, crouching down again. I get myself ready and wait for his cue. "Go!" I step onto one leg and kick the other one behind my head, letting my knee bend and bringing my arms up. I smile so my face looks pleasant, and hear a satisfying crack as my back folds in half and the bones pop. I stumble out of it, not caring since the photo is already over. Noah stands and checks for cars before jogging across the street.