Lighter than a feather.
Winter felt as though she were weightless. Her mind still reeled from her conversation with Joe that happened early in the morning in which he had asked her to be his dance partner for the White Dove Ball, an opportunity that Winter couldn't refuse. While climbing the stairs of a local dance studio, she was certain that she was floating on air. She fixed her sight on Joe, who was a few paces in front of her, to remind herself that this wasn't a dream. As they reached the door at the top of the staircase, Winter hesitated.
What if I'm not good enough? Or if I can't keep up? I haven't danced in years. Am I making a fool of myself by saying yes?
Joe noticed the glazed look in her eyes and gave a response that seemed as though he had read her mind. "Don't worry. The instructor works with the hosts of the White Dove Ball every year. And some of the hosts in the past have had no rhythm and she still managed to make them look like stars. You have nothing to worry about." He offered her an encouraging smile before opening the door to the studio. Taking a deep breath, Winter shook off the nerves and stepped in after Joe.
The studio was cozy and filled with natural light from windows that were right below the ceiling. Winter couldn't help but sigh with nostalgia while she relished the feeling of the marley floor beneath her wiggling toes. It had been years since she had been in a dance studio and only now was she realizing how dearly she missed it as the smell of stale hairspray and leather filled her nostrils. Roscoe had been kind enough to pick up tights, a leotard, and a pair of character heels from a local dance store. Winter stretched her muscles, discovering with glee that she still maintained a lot of the flexibility from her younger days. She continued to warmup until their instructor, Anna, waltzed into the room and introduced herself.
"Why, Joe darling, you're just as easy on the eyes in person as you are in the magazines." Anna reached out and kissed Joe on each cheek before facing Winter. "And what a lovely girl you are! Winter, is it? Why, you're like a porcelain doll!" She greeted Winter in the same fashion - a swift kiss placed onto each cheek. Then, in a motion so sharp and quick that it stunned Winter and Joe, Anna faced the mirror and clapped her hands. "We have little time so let's waste none of it! The theme you chose for the ball this year is vintage circus, yeah?"
Joe nodded. "That's correct. I'm eager to see it all come together."
Winter hadn't known the theme to the ball - she hadn't thought to ask. Vintage circus sounded like a whimsical wonderland and she envisioned a ballroom decorated in shades of cream, deep red, black, and light aqua. She wondered how much effort Joe had put into the event. After all, it was only natural for her to be so curious since she was an event planner by career.
"I have selected the perfect song." Anna fiddled with her iPad and the speaker for a few moments before Rewrite the Stars from The Greatest Showman began to play. "You like it?"
It was a gorgeous duet and Winter found herself lost in the words as Zac Efron and Zendaya harmonized about wanting to defy the odds to be together. The emotion in the piece was strong. Anna had chosen a song that would undoubtably embody choreography that would really wow the guests at the ball. Winter's heart gave a flip.
As she had promised, Anna wasted no time. "Remember, dance is more than just movement. Feel the dance with your body, your mind, your heart, your soul. Joe," she beckoned to him with her finger, "we will start with you grabbing her hand to twirl her into you."
Anna clapped out the counts. Joe took hold of Winter's hand and with a slight tug, pulled her into an elegant twirl that finished with his arm around her waist. They ran this move three more times. It looked, and felt, good and smooth. This process continued for several more 8 counts as they built onto the dance. Winter and Joe were proud of their movement and grace up until this point. But to their surprise, Anna frowned. "Hmmm, no. The energy is all wrong."
"What do you mean?" Winter stepped forward.
"Disjointed. The move flows right, but now we need the spark." Anna clapped, the crisp sound bouncing off of the studio walls. "I've got it. Hug." Joe shrugged and wrapped Winter into his embrace and after a few moments, they pulled away only for Anna to push them back together. "Whisper your favorite color into their ear."
Winter couldn't see Joe's face, but the feeling of his warm breath on her ear was an unexpected twist and it sent a shiver down her spine. He whispered the word blue and she whispered back pink.
"Yes, now whisper to each other your middle name."
"Adam." Joe's voice was smooth as honey.
"Jane." With her response, she felt Joe relax a bit. She hadn't even noticed that he was tense until she felt his shoulders sag.
"Great, yeah. Next, tell each other something you like about them."
This time, Winter was ready to answer first. She leaned her head close to his so that her lips almost graced his ear. "There's a lot to like about you, but in the short time we've known each other, my favorite thing about you is how generous you are. You could have easily ignored my text about wanting to meet. You could have told me to leave your penthouse. You could have let me figure out my own way to fly back home. But you didn't. You helped out a total stranger, pretty much. You have a huge heart, Joe Jonas." She could feel him smiling as their heads continued to rest close together.
When Joe started to give his muted response, a new sensation tingled all over Winter's body. "It's hard to pick just one thing to talk about, but you're so down to earth and easy to talk to. I feel like I get taken advantage of quite often, but from the beginning, I never got that impression from you. You really gave me friendship when I didn't know I needed it." Goosebumps covered her from head to toe. If she already wasn't walking on air before, she certainly was now.
With the 'spark exercise' completed, Anna resumed her choreography instruction. "Now that the spark is lit, let's try again with feeling and music!"
The beginning notes played over the sound system. The energy in the room was palpable as the two locked eyes before beginning the choreography. Something was different about the look in Joe's expression. While his stare was usually friendly and warm, the emotion seemed deeper. Softer. Yearning. Winter found herself unable to tear her eyes away for fear of never having him regard her again with the same intensity behind his gaze. An overwhelming feeling of fondness clouded her brain as his hand found hers for their initial twirl. Their bodies moved as one, matching each other step for step as the music swelled. Joe's fingers trailed across her skin with every leap, twirl, and waltz and left her breathless. All too soon, the music faded out. Winter blinked and stood in silence while their chests rose and fell from the powerful piece they had just rehearsed. Both seemed reluctant to leave the moment.
A flurry of claps erupted from Anna who was grinning ear to ear. "Brilliant! I could see it! Did you feel the spark?"
It was Joe who spoke all the while never breaking eye contact with Winter. "That felt amazing."
Blood roared in her ears. Winter had seen that look before. She had felt this feeling before. The familiar rush of adrenaline from the tickle of butterflies deep inside. The accelerated heart beating to compensate for the nerves. The spark. Winter knew it was a placebo caused by the bonding exercise paired with the rigorous activity that was providing them with the euphoric feeling, but that didn't stop her from soaking in every second. Her mind flashed back to her early teenage years when she would fantasize of Joe giving her this exact look.
"Once you have the spark, the dance will come as second nature!"
Anna's voice droned on in the background. Both Joe and Winter had shifted their attention to the slender dancer, but Winter was hyper aware of a new sensation - Joe's hand resting on her lower back. Whatever Anna was saying was going in one ear and out of the other. For the remainder of their time in the studio, Winter's focus lingered on the electric feeling Joe's touch left on her skin.
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The car ride back to the penthouse was quiet. Neither Joe nor Winter had fully processed the unexpected chemistry that had formed during Anna's unique bonding method. Winter sat on the bed in the guest room and mindlessly scrolled on her phone in an attempt to empty her thoughts.
"Mind if I join you?"
She shrugged and curled her legs underneath her while Joe got seated on the far side of the bed. Without thinking, she admired the flex of his bicep as he rearranged himself into a more comfortable position.
"You felt it too, right?" There was a hopeful edge to his voice.
"The spark?"
"Yeah, you did feel it, didn't you?"
Feeling very vulnerable all of a sudden, Winter turned her head down to hide her pink cheeks. "Of course I did."
Joe seemed more unsure of himself than usual. "I've never felt anything so..." He ran his fingers through his hair. "...natural."
"The chemistry between us for the dance will make it so believable at the ball."
Winter didn't even have to see Joe's face to know how crestfallen he had become. More than likely, both of them would wake up tomorrow and the effects from the passionate moment during the dance would be long gone. It was better to remember that everything about this friendship was temporary so that feelings wouldn't get hurt along the way. She bit back a wistful sigh. She couldn't deny the shift of energy between them. The energy that made her heart quicken at the mere thought of it.
It had been less than 48 hours since her harsh split with Nolan and she was still hurting despite the controversial end. It was natural for her to want to rebound just to feel anything at all. For the last three years of her life, Nolan had been her biggest cheerleader. Her best friend. Her constant. Everything had changed in the most dramatic way and Winter was left to scramble to pick up the pieces of her new normal. She was aware of Joe's gentle gaze resting on her and it took every ounce of willpower to not pursue whatever spark was between them. But in her current mental state, these feelings couldn't be trusted. Deep down, Winter knew that if she rejected his advance, this opportunity would never come again and her fan-girl heart nearly split in two. She tucked a stray piece of her blonde hair behind her ear.
Without a spoken word, Joe came to the conclusion on his own. "Winter, I don't want you to think I want anything more from you than your friendship. Friends can have natural chemistry too." He reached over and tapped her leg playfully.
Winter expected for a weight to be lifted off of her shoulders when she realized that Joe had only meant friendship and nothing more. Instead, disappointment sank like a rock in her stomach. Maybe she had secretly hoped that Joe did feel something beyond a platonic connection. Maybe she had wanted him to have a desire for her. Maybe it was the heartbreak talking. Winter smiled through her bitter inner turmoil. "Friends? With you? Gross."
A mischievous gleam lit up Joe's face and he leaned forward conspiratorially. "You're totally gonna get it for that."
At those words, Winter sprung up from the bed and tore across the penthouse. Joe scrambled after her, sliding across the slick wooden floors in the hallway with his socked feet. The sound of his footsteps gaining on her gave her a burst of energy. She let out a squeal while rounding the corner to the living room and leapt over the back of the couch to safety. Or so she thought. Seconds after her impact into the plush cushions of the couch, Joe's shadow soared over the back of the couch and crashed into her. Winter was pinned beneath him.
"Say the magic words to be released!"
Winter writhed around but no matter how hard she tried, she wasn't able to escape his grasp. "What's the magic word?" She relented.
Joe was thoroughly enjoying this childish display. His lips were parted into a laugh and his eyes twinkled. "Repeat after me : Joe Jonas is hereby declared the winner and I will bow down to him."
"I'll never say those words! I'm not going down without a fight, Jonas." Winter lifted her hands and without hesitation, tickled his sides and under his arms. A burst of giggles erupted from him and for a moment, she thought he would admit defeat and get up. Instead, he tickled her back. This tickle fight continued for quite some time before both of them were out of breath and desperate for air. "Fine, you win! Joe Jonas is the best and I bow down to him!"
"Victory is mine!" Throwing both hands into the air, Joe slid off of the couch and onto the floor. Unable to resist, Winter snagged a pillow from the couch and pummeled him as punishment. "Hey, watch the hair!" He protested.
A memory came back to Winter. "What happened to the song you wrote last night?"
"Oh, that. It's a work in progress." Joe seemed surprised that Winter remembered the sample of a song he had written so hastily on the back of a receipt. "We're still working on our next album. I'm actually meeting with them tomorrow to work on some of the new music. I'm not sure if I'll bring that song, though. I only have part of a chorus."
The band had recently announced that they were back together - a major surprise for old fans. 'Sucker' was their new single that was released a few weeks prior and was a total bop. Personally, Winter wasn't updated on all things Jonas Brothers these days but Sucked indicated that their new music would be more mature and unique to them. "Amazing, how many new songs are there so far?"
"Just a handful finalized. We still have a lot in the works." There was a quick pause. "Join us tomorrow. We could actually use the input of a fan to see how everything will be received."
"I'd really enjoy that, actually." Winter admitted sheepishly. "Thanks, Joe."
The rest of the day passed by without any events of significance. In any other circumstance, Winter would have begged for something to do, but she was grateful for the downtime since her recent days had been chaotic and busy. She turned in for bed early. Beside her room, the familiar melody of 'When You Look Me In The Eyes' floated across the air and provided a sense of peace and warmth in the penthouse. As Joe continued to play the tune, Winter closed her eyes and drifted off into a soft slumber.