“Now, pirouette, step-ball-change, step-ball-change, leap – no, remember to split your legs more– turn with you partner, then finish.”
Thirty guys in leotards and leggings all ended in perfect poses, their legs, head and arms all in exactly the same positions. Apart from one. Well, maybe not since I wasn’t really a guy, so maybe I didn't count.
“Excuse me,” I said, putting my hand up, like an idiotic middle school kid. “I didn’t really get that bit.”
“From where did you feel lost?”
From the beginning.
“Oh, just from the spinny bit.”
“Pirouette?”
“Yeah. The Pira…pira…egg.”
“Pirouette.”
“Yes.”
“Well, I think everyone else is done with that bit. Maybe you could stay here for several minutes, so I can train you?” NO! Hell NO! I’m not spending a single minute longer in this dance studio, not when I’ve just spent two periods locked in this room with this stupid hyperly-excited teacher!
A couple guys glared at me (the gay ones. Not that being gay was wrong), and were clearly thinking, “How could Juliet be so crap? I would make a much better Juliet!”
“Don’t worry about it, sir.” There was a hand on my shoulder, squeezing a bit too hard to be truly comforting. “I’ll teach him.” I looked up, at Daniel’s face. What he being nice to me? I turned away again, to look at the teacher.
“Fine,” he said, waving a dismissive arm at me. Of course he did – Daniel was acing Dance class – he looked like some sort of Greek God, with his strong arms, but unfairly graceful movements. I hated that he was so perfect. “You guys can have the dance studio all break.”
I looked back at Daniel, kind of shocked he’d done that for me.
“We’re going to have so much fun,” he whispered, right into my ear. It could have been sexy, but he way he said it raised goosebumps – and not the good kind, either. He was so going to have fun – bullying me. I can’t believe I didn’t realize that.
I’m such an idiot.
***
“Alright, raise your leg. Raise. Higher. Higher. Higher!”
“I’m trying!” I yelled, tears forming at my eyes. Bloody hell, this hurt. I’m pretty sure he was doing this just to torture me. Did he really hate me that much? “It’s hard!”
He put his hand under my thigh, and lifted my leg up even higher.
“Fuck!” I screamed, falling over. “OW! I pulled something! Ow bloody ow OW! What did you do that for?” I glared at him.
“Sorry, sorry!” he said, biting on his lip while trying not laugh. But he did offer me a hand, which I took. “Can you walk?”
I pulled hard on his hand so I was vertical again, then let go. I put some weight on the bad leg.
“Nope,” I said, falling down again, semi-pulling him down too.
“I’ll get you to the infirmary,” he said, pulling me up, and looping one of my arms around his neck. “Come on, let’s go.” We made a few staggering steps before I said something utterly stupid.
“Why do you hate me?”
He looked at me. I suddenly remembered – I’d asked him the exact same thing as “Erica”. Would he realize…I prayed that the whole “massive star” thing made him obnoxious and dumb, like most other celebs.
“I don't hate you,” he said, looking away again. We were moving really, really, REALLY slowly. “I just… Oh for God’s sake.”
He put his hand against my back, and suddenly I was airborne. Well, not quite.
“PUT ME DOWN!” I screamed, forgetting the whole “pretending to be a boy thing”. I was thrashing wildly, and yelling in a high-pitched girl voice. “PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!”
He ignored me, and walked on, much faster. How can he carry me so easily? I tried to ignore his muscles, but it got harder when he pulled me closer to his chest. Was he doing this on purpose?! I put up a massive fight, but he didn't really seem to be effected, even when I semi-tried to bite him.
“This is so embarrassing,” I muttered, trying to hide my face from the guys who were watching our walk to the infirmary (why the hell is it lasting, like, a billion miles? Can’t he walk faster?). I wasn’t looking at Daniel, to hide my blush.
“Why are you like this?” he said, chuckling. “You’re acting like a girl.”
My breath caught in my throat for a second, but then I forced out a stupid, gruff guy-ish laugh. That sounded a little like this:
“Ahohohohoho!”
But worse. Like Santa jacked up on steroids.
There was some awkward eye-contact, then we both looked away, semi-smiling.
“Hey, there’s going to be a beer party tonight. A friend of mine’s just joined this school, and we’re having a welcome party thing. You might know him. He just moved in next door…?”
“Tyler?” I asked, blurting his name out.
“Yeah. Anderson.”
I bit my lip. Maybe I could find a way out of this…?
“I thought you hated me,” I said, trying to hide the hopefulness in my voice. “You were going on about how embarrassing it would be if I talked to you in public.”
“That’s true,” he said, looking at me, as if I were a piece of gum on his brand new suede Manolo Blahnik stiletto heels. Even so, my heart leapt. “You could just tell them that you don’t know me.” My heart collapsed into a flat, tired lump.
***
The infirmary nurse wasn't there.
“It’s okay,” I said, blushing. “I can do it.”
“No,” Daniel said, peeling the cooling pad sticker thing off. It wasn’t stealing, right? Not when we found the cooling pad, just lying around. Well, in the medicine cabinet. Damn, I was still such a good girl. I still got worried about stuff like stealing medical supplies. “I’ll do it.”
He pulled my leg, and gently stretched it out, propping it up onto a chair.
“Where does it hurt the most?” he asked, staring at me intensely. I pointed at the bottom of my thigh, trying not to go too red at his touch. His fingers, dancing over my skin, found the place, and pressed the pad against my leg.
“Thanks,” I said.
Silence.
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I suddenly asked, sick of his stupid evasions. It wasn’t like I hadn’t noticed (I might not be some Calculus genius, but I wasn’t that dumb). Why the hell didn’t he just tell me?
“Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Okay, if this was a movie or a book, or something, he would have made a heart-felt speech about how he was wrong about me. If this was a movie, he would have smiled beautifully and my heart would have thumped faster. If this was a book, this would be the exact scene where my feelings change, and I fall into the deep abyss of L-O-V-E.
But this is reality.
“I’m trying to hook up with your sister,” he smirked, giving me a sleazy grin.
I choked, and semi-drowned in air.
“Sorry, WHAT?!”
“Yeah,” he said. “I, er, met her the other day. She’s interesting.”
I fought back the urge to laugh. Right, me semi-naked (but in a bath towel) was interesting? I guess the NAKED part was the most interesting. Aren't guys all the damn same?
***
Period 3.
I was way too late, with the whole pulled muscle thing, but the Nurse wrote me a note explaining my condition (when she finally showed up at the infirmary).
I checked my timetable. Swimming?
SWIMMING?!
I opened the back of my phone, shoved my SIM card back in, and pressed the power-on button. Damn, why is this taking so long?!
When the screen had finally loaded, I pressed speed dial.
“Cris?!”
“Yes, darling? May I say, you sound especially cheerful toda–”
“I HAVE SWIMMING!”
I hung up, and switched my phone off. He would understand why I was so mad. Let him waste his time leaving me voicemails, all begging for my forgiveness. He deserved it. What kind of lame-ass manager was he? I had my note, so I wouldn’t have to swim today, but still. Cris sucked.
I jogged to the pool (running in sneakers was so much easier than running in heels), which was actually on my school map – how did I not see it before…? – but thankfully seemed to be an indoor one. It would suck to have to wait in a freezing cold pool, outside.
Thank God there will be plenty of hot, naked guys there to entertain me.
***
Author's Note: How long should I make each story, hmm? I think 40 pages is too short, 150 pages is too long, so around 80 pages....? I dunno, I need your input. On one hand, the shorter they are, the quicker I can start new books, but on the other hand, the longer they are, the more detail they can have...? I'm trying to be a lot more regular with my uploads, and I do them in a cycle.
Anyway, hope you like :) REMEMBER: VOMMENT!!!!
Also, please leave comments, because I do read them all ;)