Dancing for Destiny

Chapter 1

For Lucy Baker :)

Chapter 1

Eva Bodmin was a lady. She lived in a large house with her aunt and uncle, Hannah and Henry Bodmin. They never spoke of her parents and as she didn’t even know if they were her blood relations she found it hard to ask. Eva was a dancer, mainly ballroom but she could manage some simple ballet. She danced four times a week, five if there was a show. Her passion for the dance had faded a long time ago but she kept going so as not to disappoint her aunt and uncle, her teacher or her dance partner. The main reason though, was that Eva loved the costumes. Some of them were long and encumbering and often they were low cut and made Eva blush at the amount of skin she was showing but no-one noticed the dresses when Eva started to dance, for although she no longer had any love for the dance, the dance certainly had a love for her. She was a natural and nothing could help that. Her dance partner was always a boy and almost always Sebastian.

Sebastian was tall, dark and his hair was worn long, not as long as Eva’s but floppy quite the opposite to the fashion in this day and age. His nose was slightly large but that didn’t matter to Eva. She though he was gorgeous! (Eva went by the motto ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’) Sebastian was a year older than Eva but she didn’t mind because he either didn’t know or didn’t care what she thought. He did have a girlfriend and Eva was aware of that but she felt that as long as she kept her feelings secret it didn’t matter.

Karen, Eva’s friend and ex dance partner was petite and blonde although she had a light tan all year long. Her father was Scottish and her mother was French so she had an extremely English (Posh) accent with a hint of a Scottish accent and she could speak French fluently.

One Monday after practice, Karen brought her dance partner Jordy over to meet Eva, as she also had feelings for the boy she spent so much time with. Jordy was also one of the best in the class but this wasn’t what made them like each other. Afterwards they may have described it as being interested in the other half of society but they fell into talking immediately, there were no awkward silences. Again, afterwards, neither would have been able to say exactly what they talked about but they passed a pleasant five minutes.

As Eva and Karen were being driven home in Eva’s new fangled motor car, Karen said rather coldly “So you like Jordy then.”

“Yes, he is a very nice person, I can see why you like him. Oh lordy Karen! You think I like like him don’t you!” exclaimed Eva.

“You mean....you don’t?”

“NO!!!! Karen, you know I like Seb but that just adds to the fact that I would never openly have my eye on anyone that you do! Anyway” Eva carried on without taking a breath “He treats me like an equal, almost as if I’m a boy not a girl. Even my cousin Shaun doesn’t treat me like that and I’ve known him practically since I was born!” Karen squealed and flung her arms around Eva's neck “Thank you very much my best friend ever, I got so very worried just then!”

“Think nothing of it” said Eva with a dismissive shake of her head “So, tell me about Jordy.” Karen took a deep breath and started what could have turned into one of her hour long lectures “Well, he lives with a man called Ted, although I’m not sure if they’re related or not, in a cottage on Finn Hill”

“But those houses are tiny! How did he ever get enough money for the academy?” Eva cried.

“Yes, well they’ve got enough money and everything to live but Jordy- I love his name, it’s so bally amazing!– was accepted to the dance school on a complete scholarship, that’s how good he is!”

“Oh, don’t worry, I know that!”

“Of course, well,” Karen carried on, sounding pre-occupied “he’s invited me round to his house on Saturday but I know my parents won’t let me go unchaperoned, so if my parents ask you if he’s trustworthy, you will say yes won’t you? You can come with me too.”

“Of course, from what I’ve seen he is a very good person as well as a good dancer” agreed Eva.

“Oh, thank you! Will you come too? He says Ted won’t mind.”

Eva debated this in her head, if she went then Karen wouldn’t have to lie to her parents but if she did go, she might just make things awkward between Jordy and Karen. “I’ll ask, what day was it again?”

“Oh good, yeah, Saturday”