A little over due... A LOT OVER DUE! I'm so so so so sorry this took so long :'( Thanks for sticking around so long waiting for this chapter!
Please, vote, comment, ENJOY!
Chapter Fifteen
Willow:
“Willow!” Spencer stared at me wide eyed for good reason. I bet he wasn’t expecting to see me waiting around in his kitchen when he woke up this morning.
I passed him an awkward smile. “Hey Spencer.”
He ran a hand through his messy bed head, trying to straighten it out, clearly having only just woken up. We mumbled a few awkward lines between us, before he sat down, a silence falling between us.
“So what are you doing today? Bank holidays and all.” He asked, trying to strike up some conversation. I nodded my head, and shifted uncomfortably.
“I’m just hanging around with Derek today…” I muttered, sending a pleading glance towards the ceiling, willing Derek to come down quickly. “I’m just waiting for him to get changed.”
I had insisted to Derek that we had enough time for us to stop by his house so he could change his clothes, and now I was regretting it as I stood in an awkward silence with Spencer Jones, shuffling my weight from one foot to the other as I tried to think of something to say to make this situation any less uncomfortable. But honestly I didn’t know what I could say to him.
“Oh.” Spencer replied, not helping me by adding anything extra to make the conversation any easier.
I gave him a stiff smile. “So did you have fun at the party last night?” I asked.
He scratched the back of his head. “Yeah it was alright. Killer hangover though.” He complained pointing at his head and twisting his mouth into a grimace.
I nodded my head in agreement. Mine had thankfully died down a lot, but Spencer still seemed to be suffering.
“I’m never going to drink again.” He said, but he was wearing a smile now as he pulled himself up a chair opposite me, the uncomfortable silence officially shattered.
I smiled at him and shook my head. “Liar.” I said. “I’m sure you posted the same thing on Facebook after the Christmas party last year.”
His smile brightened. “This time I mean it.” He said with conviction. “Never again.” I shook my head, but before I had the chance to break it to him that that wasn’t a promise he would be able to keep Derek walked in, dressed now in his own clothes, and looking a lot more comfortable with himself.
“Hey.” He greeted me and nodded his head at his brother, whose smile had disappeared when he had walked in. Spencer grunted in reply, getting up from his seat, but Derek seemed used to it.
“You ready to go?” He asked me, tilting his head in question.
“Yeah.” I said sounding eager even to my own ears as I stood up. I hesitated as I left, remembering to say goodbye to Spencer, who gave me a half smile along with his own goodbye.
“That’s still a really cool hat.” I said to Derek as we left his house, nodding to the bright teenage mutant ninja turtle beanie I had seen him wear a few times now. He looked over at me in surprise and confusion.
“You really, actually like it?” He asked subconsciously reaching up to touch it, his face wrinkled in puzzlement.
Was that a serious question? Why would I lie about liking his hat?
“Um, yeah.” I said in a ‘duh’ tone. “You should be honestly worried that I’m going to take it from you one day.” I warned him in seriousness. The thought had crossed my mind a few times to do just that.
Derek was giving me a funny look.
“What?” I asked, him wrinkling my nose under his scrutiny.
He shook his head. “You’re nothing like I imagined you be like.” He said, sounding distant. I raised an eyebrow at him.
What that meant to be offensive, an attempt at a compliment, or just an observation?
“What do you mean?” I asked.
He shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I just never pictured you as the kind of person who would like something like my hat I guess.” He said not meeting my eyes as he answered, instead choosing to set his eyes onto the concrete path leading to the front gate of his house.
“You pictured what I’d be like?” I asked, pulling a face. I bit back a laugh as his cheeks warmed into a light shade of red, but I wasn’t able to hold back my grin.
“Uh-well- I guess.” He stuttered. “You kno-know because of rumours and s-stuff.” He said awkwardly. “Not in a creepy way. I promise.”
This promised to be good.
“What did you picture me to be like?” I asked interested to know.
Derek shook his head. “Nothing.” He mumbled, refusing to answer.
I caught onto his arm pulling to a stop altogether, twisting my features into an annoying whiney face. “Come on.” I pestered. “I promise I won’t hold anything you say against me.” I promised.
He just shook his head again, looking in the complete opposite direction of me now. I let go of his arm and ducked under it to his other side to try and get him to see my puppy god eyes in hopes it would get him to open up.
“Please?” I asked, before he had the chance to look away.
His eyes met mine, and he didn’t look away as I pouted. He groaned loudly. “This is embarrassing.” He complained, making me grin because I knew that meant he had caved.
I held back a whoop of excitement.
“It can’t be that bad.” I said, with a pause. “Can it?” I asked after thinking my sentence through.
Oh god! What kinds of rumours were there about me? That question made me all the more eager to know what Derek had thought I would be like.
Derek ran his hand though his hair. “I guess I sort of thought you would be…meaner.” He muttered.
“Meaner?” I echoed with a smile.
“You know, in that cliché ‘I’m popular therefore mightier than you’ way.” He explained.
“You mean like in mean girls?” I asked.
He scrunched his nose. “I haven’t seen mean girls.” He said sounding offended that I thought he would get the reference.
I held back my laugh, by biting the inside of my cheeks. “Okay, okay.” I said, putting up my hands in surrender, when I felt it was safe to talk without the risk that I would double over in a fit of giggles. But I didn’t want to quite drop the subject yet. “So you really thought I was like that, huh? What else did you think?” I asked.
He looked uncomfortable again. “I guess I thought you would be a bit superficial, fake?” He said it like he was asking a question rather than giving an answer.
I could tell how uncomfortable this conversation was making him, and I felt a little guilty, but I couldn’t hold back my laugh.
“I blame the rumours. They’re pretty brutal.” He tried to shift the blame.
His choice of words only served to further deepen my interest. Brutal rumours? Although I didn’t particularly listen out for rumours and gossip both Chrissie and Jenny hadn’t told me about them, though I knew some did fly around I didn’t know there were brutal ones.
Then again all gossip is pretty brutal at our school.
“What rumours have you heard?” I asked, genuinely curious.
He grimaced. “I don’t know.” I muttered.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously.” I prompted him.
He shrugged. “Someone said a while ago that you were a…” The rest of his sentence was lost when he started to murmur.
“A what?” I asked.
He looked up at me mumbling at me once again. I motioned by tucking my hair behind my ear that I still couldn’t hear him.
He sighed. “A bimbo. People said you were a bimbo.” I knew he was giving me an example of the mildest rumour he could think of that he had heard about me, in an attempt to not offend me.
I leaned back, my eyebrows rising. “A bimbo?” I repeated dumbly. I hadn’t known anyone had called me that. I didn’t bother pushing for more, because I probably didn’t want to hear them, and I could always ask Chrissie or Jenny if I changed my mind.
“Yeah…” Derek winced.
“And you really thought I was?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Kind of.” He admitted. “Of course I don’t think it now that I know you!” He back peddled. “You’re not offended are you?” He asked when I didn’t respond. I rolled my eyes at him.
“What-to-the-ever.” I said in a fake high voice, showing him a huge ‘W’ I’d made with my index fingers and thumbs, before flipping my hair obnoxiously over my shoulder. “It so totes doesn’t matter.” I batted my eyes in my best impression of a bimbo. “Like, pftt.”
He winced, and I dropped the act.
“Seriously I’m not offended though.” I said putting him out of his misery.
He sighed in relief. “So tell me. Did you misjudge me at all?” He asked, eager to use his chance to flip the question around on me.
“Nope.” I said boastfully.
He raised his eyebrow at me, and I grinned slyly back at him. “Really?” He asked, not looking like he believed me at all.
“Really.” I said pausing a moment before finishing. “I knew you were a complete nerd, and I hate to break it to you but you definitely fit the stereotype of one.”
He gaped at me, faking offence. “What?” He asked me. “Me, a nerd?” He pointed to himself with wide eyes.
“Comic book collection.” I taunted in a singsong voice.
“Wow. You’re telling me not every guy has one of them?” He asked.
I smirked. “Only the über manly ones.”
He snorted rolling his eyes at me, as his cheeks tinged pink at the reminder of him using those exact words. “Weren’t you meant to be taking me somewhere?” He asked, changing the subject to the fact we hadn’t moved in a while, and were still stood practically in front of his house.
I smiled at the cute way he flushed and tried to avert attention from it.
Even though I knew he was trying to distract me, it worked. Excitement filled my chest as I shot him a wide grin. “Yep.” I agreed. “You’re going to love it.”
Derek’s POV:
Willow pulled on my hand, walking for some reason no longer an acceptable pace, as she dragged me into the dance studio, a wide smile playing on her lips.
I was shaking my head, holding in my own laugh. I should have really known that one of Willow’s favourite places to be would be at a dance studio. I could still remember how excited she got just talking about the place when we had been talking in my mum’s hospital room.
As we walked into the studio Call me maybe was being played at an enthusiastically loud level, making me shoot Willow a pained look.
She just grinned widely, as I grimaced, her eyes glinting in amusement.
And she started to say something, but before she could she found herself under attack.
“WILLOW!” A high pitched voice yelled, making it sound somewhere between a shriek of joy and a war cry, as they leapt at her, making me notice for the first time other people in the room.
There were at least fifteen kids, (a majority of which were girls) all ranging from about six to twelve in age, and there was a short blonde girl (quote literally) throwing herself onto Willow, who stumbled back, her hand catching onto my arm to keep herself steady.
But there was no annoyance in her eyes as she smiled down at the small blonde girl attached to her stomach.
“Olivia! You’ve got to stop doing that!” The only adult in the room reprimanded, pausing the music, partly to my relief and partly to my horror, because now all eyes were trained in our direction.
The girl clinging to Willow pulled back, not looking at all apologetic as she gave out a ‘sorry’ for the woman’s benefit more than anything.
“No worries, Liv!” Willow assured the unapologetic girl. “But you should really have your hair up before you dance, you know this.”
Olivia grinned, as Willow tugged a spare hair bobble off of her wrist and held it out to the her. “Thank you!” She beamed pulling her hair up into a tight ponytail, before her eyes landed on me. “Who’s this?” She asked bluntly, making me feel even more uncomfortable.
Human interaction and I never went well together.
I heard a disapproving ‘tsk’ come from the woman who had made her way towards us, the group of children following her lead to this side of the room.
“This,” Willow reached out her hand again, once more placing it on my arm, this time squeezing it gently in reassurance. “Is my friend, Derek.” She introduced, making everyone’s eyes land on me.
Even with Willow standing by my side I felt uncomfortable.
“Does he dance too?” One of the only boys piped up, looking at me with interest.
My mortification must have shown on my face, because Willow was now finding it hard to hold in her laughter, that or she was remembering just how ‘smooth’ my dance moves were at the party last night.
“No.” I answered shaking my head. The boy frowned at me a little, but shrugged his shoulders dismissively. I clearly no longer held any interest for him.
Willow gave me a smile, as the instructor clapped her hands loudly, calling the attention of everyone. “Okay guys, all of you split off into pairs, and one set of three, and start on your warm up exercises.” She ordered.
Slowly everyone did as she asked, leaving Willow, the woman, and me all alone.
“So are you staying here today, or just dropping by?” The woman asked Willow, her eyes drifting over onto me in question.
Willow looked at me, and I shrugged my shoulders letting her know I didn’t mind whichever one she picked. She beamed at me. “Stay if you don’t mind, Luce.” She said, turning back to the woman, who gave a warm smile at her answer.
“Less work for me.” She said. Her eyes scanned over the kids. “What do you want to work on with them?” She asked.
Willow’s smile grew brighter. “I had a new dance I wanted to teach them actually.” She beamed happily, taking another glance in my direction. I looked at her curiously, wondering what that look was for, but she shook her head, turning back to Lucy. “I have my i-Pod with me.” She assured, digging it out of her back pocket.
“Good.” She said, before clapping her hands together loudly, drawing in the attention of the kids. “Alright guys, today Willow will be teaching-” Before she got through the whole sentence there was a loud chorus of cheers.
Lucy raised her eyebrow, but didn’t look all that offended. I wasn’t surprised to find out that Willow was extremely popular amongst the kids here.
“Please try and hold in your devastation.” Lucy snorted sarcastically, shaking her head. Willow blushed scratching the back of her head. “You’re up, Willow.”
“Thanks.” She said stepping in to take Lucy’s place; she already had everyone’s attention.
“What are we doing today?” The same small girl from earlier asked. “What Makes You Beautiful?” She said eagerly.
Willow smiled affectionately. “No actually, we’re doing something new today.” She said kneeling by the radio, plugging in her iPod. Her eyes went to mine as she clicked the play button and ‘Kiss the Stars’ started to play loudly through the overhead speakers.
“Okay.” Willow half shouted over the noise, turning her attention back on the kids. “I’m going to show you guys what I have planned so far, and then I’ll teach it to you guys, then we’ll work on some more of the moves together?”
Everyone agreed eagerly, making her smile.
“Okay, Liv can you come up and start the song again?” She asked, and the energetic blonde from earlier bounced her way to the front next to Willow.
As the song started again, Willow kicked automatically into action. The only time I had ever seen Willow actually dance before was at the party last night, but it was a lot different watching her dance a routine that had been choreographed.
I felt my eyes widen slightly, at the effortless way the dance flowed from one move to another fitting perfectly with the backbeat of the song. As quickly as it had started Willow was finished, not even looking slightly out of breath as she waited for their reactions.
“So what do you think?” She asked. As soon as she said the words an excited buzz filled the room.
“Impressive isn’t it?” Came from next to me, catching me off guard. Lucy, the original dance instructor was stood by my side, watching as Willow interacted with the children, breaking down the introduction into a count of eight.
“She’s exceptionally talented.” She praised.
“Yeah. She is.” I agreed, not taking my eyes away from the front of the studio.
From the corner of my eye I could see Lucy smiling over something. “How long has she been working here?” I asked.
“Over three years now. Almost four.” She said, with something akin to motherly pride in her voice. “But she before that she was a student here, she chose to stay on as a volunteer when she reached the age limit of the programme. And before that she was coming up with half the routines anyway.”
My eyes widened a little.
“She’s really great with the kids. They really adore her. They’re always asking about her when she’s not here. Though she doesn’t believe me hen I tell her that.” I could certainly believe it. They were all hanging on to her every word as she worked through the dance with them.
“So how do you know Willow?” She asked.
“We’ve gone to the same school together for years.” I answered. “Though we only started talking recently.”
“Ah, do you know Chrissie and Jenny too then?”
My eyebrows rose, at her mention of them, wondering how she knew them.
“Yeah, but not personally. I don’t really talk to them much. Has Willow brought them with her here before?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No. She doesn’t usually bring anyone with her. But Jenny and Chrissie used to come to the same dance class. They’ve always been as thick as thieves.”
I nodded my head as the conversation fell away, feeling impressed as I watched how quickly the kids caught onto the dance moves. It wasn’t long until they almost had the moves memorised and were finishing up the dance session, adding their own moves to the dance with Willow’s help.
When the children were collected to go home, Willow stayed to the end until all the children had left with their parents.
“Willow, I have to leave. Lock up after yourself?” Lucy checked, pulling her gym bag over her shoulder, to Willow who was sat down next to the radio fiddling with the settings.
“Of course.” She assured with a smile. As the door closed behind Lucy she came over to where I was sat against the wall. “Hey.” She grinned.
I tilted my head back to see her, giving her a smile in return. “Hey.” I said back.
“Sorry, were you bored?” She asked. “I know you’re not into dancing and all…” She trailed off.
“I wasn’t bored.” I assured her. “It’s fun watching you dance.” My face fell a little when I realised how weird that sounded. “Not in a creepy way.” I rushed to correct myself. “It’s just that you’re really good a-and talented, a-and-”
She cut me off with a laugh. “Thanks.” She said, beaming happily, making the knot of anxiety in my chest loosen. “Did you really like it?” She sat down in front of me cross-legged.
I nodded vigorously. “Yeah. You’re an amazing dancer.”
Her cheeks brightened slightly, adding to the slight pink that had been there before because of her dancing. “Thanks.” She said smiling at the ground, before looking up to meet my eyes.
“Though of course. You’re not quite as good as I am.” I said, puffing my chest out in fake arrogance.
Her eyes lit up with humour. “Of course not. I’ll have to take lessons from you.” She said laughing. She lifted herself to her feet. “Was it something like this?” She asked, before wriggling herself around in the attempt of imitating some of my moves from last night.
I grinned. “Yeah, but you’re adding too much grace. You have to stumble around a bit more.” I said pretending to be one of the critics.
She burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. You’re just going to have to show me what you mean.” She said teasingly, offering me a hand to help me up.
I shook my head. “Sorry.” I rejected. “There’s no music. You can’t expect me to dance under these conditions.”
Giggling she shook her head. “No of course not.” She jibed. “Let me remedy that.”
She walked across to the stereo throwing me a cheesy grin. “I’ve got the perfect song.” She told me before turning back to find it.
I grimaced, not putting it past her to start playing ‘#selfie’ as loud as the speakers could go. Instead though ‘I Need Your Love Tonight’ started up.
Willow turned back to me with a large smile. “You can’t go wrong with Elvis right?” She asked, repeating my words.
“No you can’t.” I agreed, mimicking her smile.
Her face brightened further. “Then you can’t say no to dancing with me.” She said reaching over to catch my hands in hers so that she could pull me to my feet.
I shuffled uncomfortably letting her help me up, but feeling incredibly awkward. But then I remembered that it was only me and Willow in the entire room, and she already knew how lacking I was in skill.
So I loosened up, not holding back in my ridiculous attempts to ‘bust a move’.
It wasn’t long until we were both doubled over laughing. Even just messing about it was easy to see the skill behind Willow’s movements, like the grace came naturally to her.
We spent the rest of our day messing about in the dance studio. Sometimes spread eagled on the floor, staring at the ceiling as we spoke to each other, other times with her showing me some of her dances, sometimes us both ‘dancing’ together. For a while we both played a short lived game of ‘tig’ which lasted up until the point I managed to trip over my own shoelace - face planting the floor with about as much grace as I danced with.
“How’s your forehead?” Willow asked as she locked up the door to the dance studio, sliding the keys into her bag once she had finished.
My hand raised automatically to the spot where a small bump was forming, wincing as my fingers pressed too hard. “Not bad. Hopefully it’ll be gone before Tuesday.” I told her with a shrug.
She smiled gently at me, her eyes running over my forehead. I felt my chest tighten slightly at the warmth in her eyes, and I inwardly scolded myself for the way I was reacting to her smile.
I sighed, taking a step away to try and clear my head a little.
Briefly her expression twisted into something, before changing to confusion then into her normal smile again. “I have to go.” She said, tugging her bag strap further up her shoulder. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nodded my head in agreement. “See you tomorrow.” I said.
She tilted her head before turning and walking away.
I sighed, my feet staying locked in place as she turned around the corner, disappearing from my view.
I tucked my lips into my mouth, closing my eyes. “Out of my league.” I said to myself under my breath.
So completely out of my league.
__
sorry again for this taking so long, I hope you enjoyed xoxo there will probably be less of Derek's P.O.V. from now on...i'm not sure yet :)