Unpredictable (A Dance Story)

Chapter 33

"Yeah, cool," Danielle said, scooping up a handful. "I'll be in my room."

With that, she disappeared. And I never saw the girl again.

"She's...nice," I started, breaking the silence Danielle had left us in.

"Oh, I know! She's the best sister."

He grabbed the bowl of popcorn and motioned for me to follow him into the living room. I sat on the couch as he browsed through channels on the TV. He settled on a Harry Potter movie, which I approved of, and sat back.

"Wanna take a picture?" He asked.

I smiled. He was charming, I'd give him that. "Of course!"

I leaned back and stuck my tongue out for the picture, watching as he uploaded it to Instagram. Well, tagging me would certainly get him a fair amount of new followers. He chatted endlessly and I kept up with the small talk. I hated to admit it, but I was growing bored with every topic he brought up. He kept quiet after a while and just watched the movie, both of us munching on popcorn.

I was sitting to the left of him, so I was surprised to look over and see that he'd grabbed hold of my right hand. I didn't know how long he'd been holding that hand, and I felt bad that I didn't have any feeling. I kept my eyes glued to the TV screen, feeling awkward.

"Ella?" He asked.

I looked over. "Yeah?"

He looked at me for a second, smiling, then pulled me closer, wrapping an arm around me. I pretended to be flattered, resting my head on his shoulder, but I really just wanted to go home. The only thing I was enjoying about this was the smell of his cologne. Was it bad that I hadn't had even a hint of butterflies in my stomach since I'd met the kid? I was really starting to doubt myself.

The movie came to a close and Scott seemed reluctant to unwrap his arm from around my shoulder.

"Wanna stay for dinner?" He asked, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

I tried not to squirm. "I would, but my grandparents are really strict about dinner. I didn't ask them beforehand, and I don't want them to be upset..."

"Oh, I understand! They seem like lovely people."

"They are." I smiled genuinely. "So thank you for having me over and introducing me to your sister and everything..."

"It was my pleasure." He finally loosened his arm and I stood up.

I'd texted my mom beforehand and told her to pick me up promptly at 6, so I knew she'd be there any moment. Scott seemed unsure of what to do for the first time today, glancing at the hallway leading to his front door.

"I'll, uh, walk you to the door."

I led the way and smiled awkwardly. "It was fun!"

"Yes!"

There was the beep of a car's horn outside and I reluctantly went up on relevé and kissed his cheek. "Bye!"

"See ya!"

***

The dance studio was cold when I walked in. Abbie was already sitting in a chair, her arms wrapped tight around herself to keep from shivering. "Hey! Aren't you supposed to be in rehearsal?"

"Yeah, yeah," she muttered. "I got a text from Miss Sarah. She can't come today, she's sick. But she's sending one of the other teachers to monitor rehearsals. She told me where the spare key was. I'm not allowed to touch the thermostat, though."

"Rough morning?" I laughed.

She just glared. I sat down beside her. We where quiet for a second, then I got enough courage to tell her about the disastrous and confusing 'date' with Scott.

"Sounds to me like you don't actually like this kid..." She said with a snort.

"I suppose I don't," I agreed miserably.

"Well, get off your high horse and tell Holden you like him, then."

I blinked. "Abbie. That was really random. Are you crazy? I don't like Holden, okay? And anyways, he has a girlfriend."

She rolled her eyes and grabbed my left shoulder. "Listen, Ella. I love you dearly and you know it. But I'm going to let you in on a little secret here. That boy has come to me so many times over the course of 2 years, completely lost because of you. Do you think those years of pining over you disappeared because you shut him out once? He only asked Madison out to make you jealous. And she talked to me before she left for her music program, and guess what? She admitted that he's only fun and flirty with her when he's around you too. She wanted to break up with him before she left, but thought it would be too harsh. And frankly, I'm tired of all of you and your petty drama because you won't just ADMIT that you like each other."

Her eyes were wide and so were mine. "Oh..." I managed to say.

"I'm awful. I really am."

I just blinked again and sat back. Hm.

Eventually, the teacher came and supervised our rehearsals. When Holden grabbed the paralyzed hand at the start of our duet, electricity shot through my body. I thought of Scott's arm around me and the absence of butterflies. A laugh bubbled up in my chest, and suddenly everything made sense again.

***
Alright, so this chapter may be a little rough since I haven't done this in a while :P But I will tell you that the whole purpose of this one is to resolve some of the messes in Ella's life. Things will start to wrap up soon ;)

Oh boy, I feel like I haven't been on here in so long. Well then, I'll tell you what I've been up to lately...I joined the marching band (in the color guard so I could dance! Haha), I started taking piano lessons again, I learned how to play guitar, I listened to lots of Hozier and Ed Sheeran... Life's good, I can't complain :)

If you guys wanna follow me on twitter and Instagram to bug me about updating my stories, feel free to! My twitter handle is @HalleBallet (wow, how original, right? :p) and my Instagram is @halle_mathieson. Expect another update again soon!!

~HalleBallet