As the driver turns into the open gate before Dalton's huge mansion, I gradually drop my jaw as I take in how big his house is. The front lawn alone is about half an acre with a driveway leading up to a garage hosting 5 plus expensive looking cars. I have never seen a house bigger than the one I live in.
"Impressed?"
Dalton asks cockily
"Your place is huge, so i guess I am a little impressed."
I bitterly confess. However, I take comfort in the fact the he isn't the one who earned any of it so I'm not really complimenting him.
The driver parks the car in the huge garage and Dalton leads me into the house.
"Welcome to casa de Dalton."
He says as he pushes the double doors open. We walk in and the first thing I notice is how high the ceiling is. Before I can finish internalizing all the open space that's just supposed to be a hallway, a tall man with slick back hair and a classic black and white suit walks up to us.
"Hello master Zaccai, I see you have brought a guest with you today. Shall I ask the kitchen staff to prepare something for the two of you?"
Did this man just say kitchen staff?
"Sure! Something to keep our energy up. Just tell them to take the stuff to the gym building, we want to use the studio for dance practice."
Did Dalton just say gym building?
"right away sir."
The well dressed man walks away gracefully.
"i knew most people in this town are rich but.... Damn"
I let out still admiring how beautiful the house is on the inside.
"yeah, my aunt and uncle are pretty big names in the entertainment industry."
"Like, actors? Or musicians?"
"Well, my uncle was and actor a few years back but now he has his own talent agency and my aunt is a popular director."
I wonder if I've heard of them.
___
After a brief tour of his home, oh! I'm sorry, I meant of the main building, Dalton and I exit the house from a back door which leads to a huge backyard with three other buildings, all two stories.
"Just how famous are you aunt and uncle!"
I exclaim. Dalton lets out a loud chuckle before speaking
"Well, you have a huge house too, why are you so shocked?"
"thats the thing Dalton... we have one huge mansion where you have a huge mansion and three mini mansions in the backyard."
Dalton starts to walk towards one of the buildings and I stay right behind him because if I lose him I might get lost.
"Ace gave me a tour of your house, I know y'all have a big gazebo in the backyard too."
"That's not even the same thing Dalton."
"will you please just call me Zac."
"not even to save your life"
We enter a building that I'm assuming is the gym building he was talking about earlier. There is a hallway leading to a flight of stairs and two doors on each side.
"this is the gym, my uncle spends most mornings in there..."
Dalton's starts while pointing to one of the rooms.
"... And this is the steam room."
He continues while pointing at the other room.
"a steam room?"
I arch my brow at him to express how over the top that is.
"moving on..."
We climb up the stairs and, after walking down another hallway, we enter one of the rooms. It's really huge, even bigger than the school dance studio, it's even bigger then mine!
"i'll assume this means you're impressed?"
Dalton's voice pulls me out of my daze and I am finally able to see he has already walked to the center of the room while I'm still at the door enchanted by the beauty of the giant space surrounded by clear, clean, perfect mirrors.
"Let's just start choreographing the dance."
I suggest while making my way to the center, unwilling to admit how impressed I am out loud.
"yes ma'am.".
___
After setting up the speakers, Dalton and I discuss the basic flow of the story our dance will be telling the end divided the song into sections for each act.
"Okay, so today we are working on the first section of the song. How our unlikely couple meet."
I relay as we stand side by side staring at our reflected selves.
"what if the boy sees the girl walking and is enchanted by her beauty?"
Dalton suggests
"too cheesy..."
"okaaaaayyy. What if the girl and boy bump into each other, the girl gets pissed but the dude falls for her the follows her and does everything to please her up until she falls for him?"
Wow... that was subtle.
"Let's just start with them bumping into each other."
"okay... we should freestyle it."
"fine... as long as you can keep up."
"I'll follow your lead"
Dalton presses play on his fancy remote and we start to freestyle according to the storyline. As we dance, Dalton's attempts to pull me closer to him become more frequent yet more sudden. However, my ability to dodge gracefully without being off beat should be rewarded.
"im impressed"
He lets out.
"as you should be."
I deadpan.
However, I let my guard down too soon. I should've known the compliment was part of his plan. He grabs my hand and twirls me into his arm then uses his free hand to cup my chin and tilt it upwards.
"what the heck do you think you're doing?"
I demand.
"You see Sarah, just like the boy in our story, I'm in love with you and I'm doing everything to make you fall for me. So you're going to have to work just as hard to keep me away."
I smirk in amusement and scoff.
"What makes you so sure that pulling me so close will make me fall for you. I'm a dancer sweetheart. If it were that easy, I would've fallen in love ten times over."
"I never said anything about this being easy."
I glare at him, suspicious of what that's supposed to mean but he just wears his cunning smile and stares right back. Before I can even take a moment to process, I see his face inching towards mine. My eyes shoot wide open as I watch him press his lips against mine. Has he gone mad? He must've! My body is frozen solid due to the shock.
"The heck was that?!"
I exclaim once he pulls away after what felt like aeons.
"uhm... a kiss?"
"Don't play dumb! Why'd you do that?! That's.... That's... that's assault!"
"I'm sorry, you were just there and I had to. Are you mad?"
"I'm irritated for sure... but it's not like it meant anything. Let's just get back to the dance. Pull something like that again and I'll kill you."
"kay, next time I'll just wait for you to kiss me."
I am taken aback by the amount of confidence he says those words with.
"yeah, keep on dreaming pal."
This boy definitely has a couple loose screws.
___
Dalton and I have been practicing our duet for the past two weeks. Alternating between my house and his. We have choreographed moves for the whole song and Miss Barlowe approved of how we decide to tell the story { boy bumps into girl, girl gets pissed, boy fall for her, boy follows her and tries to please her, girl not interested, boy and girl spend more and more time together against girls wishes- sounds familiar, doesn't it?, boy saves girl from imminent danger and nearly dies, girl realizes she loves him, boy and girl do a romantic duet and finally story ends while the girl is in boys arms... sigh}. I've been feeling more irritable and tired lately, probably because of the duet and how Jeanna and Audrey have been picking fights with me over Dalton. They don't want him spending time with me and neither do I but he's the one that follows me around.
Today we are showing Ms. Barlowe how far with come in terms of choreographing our duet.
"Sarah! First one here as usual."
Ms. Barlowe hails as I walk into the studio
Where is Zaccai?"
She adds
"he had a bio test before this so he's probably going to come with the others"
"Are you feeling alright?"
The look of concern on Mrs. Barlowe's face revives my focus.
"yeah... I'm good."
I answer with a weak smile. She suddenly places her cold hand on my forehead then on my cheeks.
"You don't have a fever but you look so pale."
"Probably just drained from school."
Before Ms. Barlowe can say anything else, the rest of the club members come flooding in. I place my bags at my usual corner and wait for instructions. Once everyone has put away their stuff, we all fall into formation while Ms. Barlowe stands before us and tells us what we will be doing.
"Today we are going to start with the group dance then Tess, Mike, Zaccai and Sarah will show us their duets. Tomorrow we will be doing the solo dances, remember each one of you has a solo so make sure you have your dances ready for tomorrow."
Ugh, I forgot about the solo's. I haven't even picked a song let alone choreographed it.
We start the group dance as Ms. Barlowe watches and controls the music. She makes us start over every time anyone messes up. The room starts to look blurry and my ears start ringing like crazy. Somehow I manage to stay on beat though. When Ms. Barlowe is finally satisfied with our performance, after 25 re starts and 8 repeats, she gives us a 10 minute break. I immediately head to my bags and grab my water bottle.
"Hey Sarah, are you feeling okay?"
Dalton asks, interrupting my peaceful water consumption.
"never felt better."
"it's just, you're slower than usual and it looks like you're struggling to keep up."
"just having an off day I guess."
He gently grabs my shoulder and turns me to face him.
"Sarah... you don't look okay."
"im fine Dalton"
I push his hand off my shoulder and walk back to the center of the room.
"Alright, everyone sit in formation except for Tess and Mike. You guys are gonna show us your duet and we'll end today with Sarah and Zaccai's duet."
After Tess and Mike perform their duet, Dalton and I perform ours. Despite how trashy I am feeling, I manage to not only keep up with Dalton but even get him to struggle to keep up with me. I really am awesome, I deserve a medal of honor.
"That was great you guys. You keep practicing and polishing those duets and we are a shoe in for regionals."
Uh oh, here it comes
"But your dances should already be prepared to take home the national trophy! How do you expect to wow judges from all over the nation with those sloppy moves?! Tess! Mike! You look like old trees caught in a hurricane! Your dance is so chaotic yet you two are stiff as bones! Work on making your movement more fluid! Zaccai! Sarah! You guys are too fluid, we can't even keep up with the story sometimes! You shift from one act to the other so subtly it throws everything off! Work on how you portray your story!"
That's Ms. Barlowe for you. I mean, she was a champion dancer before she became a teacher so, I guess she knows best.
"that's it, you're all dismissed."
Everyone starts flowing out of the room. I sit in the corner where I placed my bags earlier and wait for everyone to leave. Audrey is clinging onto Zaccai like a black jack and pleading with him to agree to something that he doesn't seem all that interested in. At least now he knows how I feel. Since it looks like they're gonna be there for a while, I'll just use the opportunity to leave. Just as I'm about to reach the door, I hear Dalton tell Audrey that he'll think about it before calling for me.
"Hey Sarah! Wait up!"
I try to continue walking but he catches up anyway and I don't have energy to walk any faster.
"what is it Dalton..."
I heave
"We're still practicing right? At your place?"
Oh yeah... how did I forget that.
"yeah..."
I lose balance for a second after what feels like a shiver in my chest.
"woah...you sure you're okay Sarah?"
Dalton asks after grabbing hold of me and keeping me upright. The same thing happened at the park... weird.
"Yeah, I just got up too fast I guess."
My head is throbbing and the ringing in my ears is only getting more intense. I rub my eyes to try and restore my blurred vision but I still can't focus my vision when I open my eyes. Dalton is mumbling something but his voice is too muffled to make out what it is.
"Sarah?!"
Is he calling me? But I'm right next to him. But he sounds so far away.
Everything is going dark. Am I about to...
___
A bright light pierce through my eyelids forcing me to open my eyes. I blink rapidly to allow my pupils to adjust. Speaking of the room I'm in, where exactly am i?
"Sarah! you're up. You gave us quite a scare there."
I turn to see the source of the familiar voice speaking to me.
"Nurse Daisy?"
Why is nurse Daisy here? Am I in the nurse's office?
"I see you're still a bit disoriented."
I pull myself into a sitting position because sleeping in front of people makes me uneasy, well, people i'm not very familiar with.
"You don't have to get up so fast, your blood sugar levels are dangerously low. You need to take it easy. Nearly gave this poor boy a heart attack. He didn't leave your side the entire time you were here."
I turn to see who on earth she could be talking about. The first image that pooped in my head when I heard the word boy was Desmond, but my gaze is met by Dalton's worried expression. He has half his face hidden behind his interlocked hands and he is tapping his hill quietly and rapidly. I eye him for a moment before lifting my brow.
"You look worse then I feel."
He looks up at me and I notice the genuine fear in his glassy eyes. Its kinda creeping me out. He slowly lets his hands fall, he hadn't even realized I was conscious. Before I know it, he is out of his waiting chair and is pulling me into a hug.
"Please don't scare me like that again. I've never seen someone collapse like that before. You were shivering and unresponsive and I didn't know what to do so I carried you here."
He's speaking so fast it almost sounds like another language.
"Would you relax? I'm fine."
He finally releases me from his hold and looks me in the eye.
"That's what you said before you collapsed."
Okay... that's a valid point.
"Yeah, but now I am fine for real."
"Uhm... no you're not. You blood sugar levels are still low sweetheart"
Nurse Daisy joins in.
"You're not really helping..."
I point out while subtly gesturing to the boy in front of me on the verge of tears. She quickly grabs a box of biscuits and a juice box from her table and hands them to me.
"Take these and you should be okay though."
Wow... nice save...
"Great! See cry baby, I'll be fine."
Dalton rolls his eyes at me and turns away in shame. It makes me happy to see him so embarrassed.
"I see not even sickness stops you from being so mean."
He mutters.
___
Dalton and I finally leave the nurses. He has not only insisted on walking me home but caring my bags as well. But i'm not complaining, if he is willing to carry my stuff like a servant who am i to say no? Right?
"Sarah!"
A familiar voice calls as we exit the school. Desmond pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and rushed to me.
"I heard what happened. Are you okay? Erica told me the nurse wasn't allowing anyone to see you so I waited to see you when you left."
Ugh... I hate that those words made my stomach flutter. Can I please just get over this boy already?!
"I'm fine."
I deadpan.
Just before he asks something else, he notices Dalton behind me and his expression changes.
"Hello Dez..."
Dalton says with a backhanded smile.
"Zac..."
Desmond replies with a cold glare.
Ugh... I don't have time for this. I roll my eyes and start to walk away.
"Hey, hold on a sec."
Desmond wraps his fingers around my wrist, stopping me from walking any further. I turn to face him, not sure if I want to hear him out or scold him for touching me. Before he can get a word in, Dalton's hand lands on top of Desmond's and, with the most eerie smile I've ever seen him make, he stares Desmond in the eye and produces his next words.
"It's not polite to grab someone like that, especially when the clearly don't want to speak to you."
Tch... he's one to talk.
"Take your hand off me Dalton."
Yeesh... the last time Desmond sounded that scary was when some jerk tried to flirt with me on one of our dates. Ugh! No! I shouldn't be remembering that!
"Not until you take your hand off her, Alverez."
"Okaaay ladies, how about the two of you go get a freaking room and I go home and enjoy my peace."
I yank my hand away from Desmond and start to walk away.
"I still have your stuff, you know."
Dalton yells as I walk away.
"Then be a good little servant and follow me, or else you will be fired."
He rushes and closes the gap between us.
"Well, since we live in the same neighbourhood, mind if I join you?"
Desmond asks after catching up with us. Pretty sure Dalton just growled under his breath.
"I don't know what exactly it is you gain from walking with your ex girlfriend who your new girlfriend hates but i don't want drama with Erica."
"Fair enough. But i already told her you'll always be important to me so she wouldn't be surprised if walked you home after i heard you collapsed."
This is why I avoided him all this time. He is just so... Ugh!
"Said every player ever..."
Dalton not so subtly comments.
"You got something to say, Zac?"
"Me? No, what gave you that idea?"
"Okay, either the two of you walk in silence or I go home alone."
I intervene. And so the three of us walked in awkward silence