Missing Moments

The Third Time Finn Asks Piper Out

"No, I don't think so," Finn answered as he kicked his locker door shut.

She nodded and started to leave the locker room with Finn right behind her. As they made their way down the hallway, her hands fidgeted restlessly in front of her as she risked a glance up at him. Should she try to make conversation with him? Did she want to? She wasn't even sure. Finn was just weird. He was a nice guy, but he couldn't seem to take a hint. He'd asked her out twice now, and she'd turned him down both times, not only because she barely knew him but also because she just wasn't interested in dating at all. Not after what had happened with Josh.

Finn had taken to staring up at the ceiling as they walked. Piper had just made peace with walking in silence when he suddenly said, "Hey, I heard there's this really cool pizza place downtown." Piper grit her teeth, anticipating his next words. "Do you want to go check it out one night?"

"No," she told him automatically.

As usual, he barely flinched at her rejection, as if it didn't even faze him in the slightest. Gosh, she really didn't understand this guy at all. Even still, she couldn't help thinking of how awful it felt to be on his side of rejection and sighed as she turned to face him.

"Look, Finn," she started. He nearly stumbled into her as she had stopped walking in front of him and quickly caught himself before looking at her expectantly. "I'm sure you're a great guy and all, but I'm focusing on dance this season, not dating, so can you just leave it alone?"

Was that too harsh? She wasn't trying to be mean, but wasn't it also better to be upfront with him rather than keep giving him some kind of false hope or something?

She wrung her hands in front of her, gauging his reaction. He didn't seem upset, just rolled with it as usual. (Maybe he was just really good at masking his emotions or something.)

"Yeah, sure. I get it. Dance is important," Finn told her, holding his hands up as if in a gesture of surrender.

Piper let out a breath of relief and nodded. "Okay. Good." With that, she continued on to Studio A, leaving Finn behind to join the boys with a sad frown that she didn't see.

Studio A was indeed empty as Finn had said it would be. Piper pulled one of the mats off of the wall and set it up in the middle of the studio. It was easier to practice her aerial when no one else was around. There was no need to worry about anyone watching and judging her, and she didn't have to feel embarrassed about using the mat.

She didn't know how long she practiced by herself in Studio A. At one point, Emily came in to lock up the office on her way out for the evening and told Piper to turn off the lights and lock the studio up behind her when she left. Not long after that, Amy strode into the studio, sipping on a nearly finished smoothie from Shakes and Ladders.

"Hey you," Amy called cheerfully.

Piper smiled in greeting at her best friend. She had just sat down on the mat, sweaty and tired from working so hard. Even after practicing for hours, she still wasn't quite getting it. Her aerial was beginning to feel like a lost cause. Was it supposed to be this hard, or was she just that bad at acro?

Amy joined her in the center of the studio, sitting down on the wood floor and stretching her legs out in front of her. "I didn't think you were coming today," she stated, and Piper shrugged.

"I wanted to work on my aerial, but it's not going very well."

"Do you want help?" Amy asked, perking up and setting her smoothie aside. Of all the people Piper could ask for help, Amy was definitely the best. Not only was she her best friend, but she was also the best acro dancer on A-Troupe (in Piper's own personal opinion).