I walked back to the café with my hood up and head down, kicking the tiny pebbles in my way, trying to look as normal as possible.
When the café was back in my sights, I saw a silhouette of a girl dancing through the display window. She danced so gracefully, so beautifully that it was like she created her own beat.
Forgetting all about my phone, I hurried towards the door and the girl, opened it, and...
"Liam?" Cassie asked in a voice so soft, I almost didn't hear it.
"You dance?" I asked her. "Why didn't you tell me? You'd be perfect for the competition!"
Cassie laughed in a 'yeah right' kind of a way and replied, "Don't be ridiculous! It's just a hobby, and I can't afford to get distracted by a hobby."
"You have real talent, Cassie," I said. "I really need someone like you."
"I told you, I just can't," she said.
"There has to be something I can do!" I tried. "Jobs, money, tuitions?"
Her eyes lit up at the word 'tuitions'.
"You can pay my tuition?" she asked.
I nodded. "All you have to do in exchange is share your talent with the world."
She thought about it for a minute. "What about the auditions?"
"We'll cancel them," I said.
She sighed. "Okay then. I'll be your partner for the talent show."
I was so ecstatic at that very moment that I wanted to jump, or sing or at the very least, hug Cassie.
I restrained myself, however and settled for a "Thank you so much!".
She smiled and we made plans for practice the next day.
The next day, I met with Cassie in the gym. She was sitting on the water-break bench in the dance room, with mini portable speakers.
She was wearing a simple green top, purple leggings and hot pink legwarmers with some dance sneakers.
"Oh, hi," she smiled when she saw me. "I was just waiting for you."
I tried to greet back, I really did, but my social anxiety got the best of me.
"Y-you look nice and your hair is nice and, and-" I just stood there stammering like a fool.
Hearing this, Cassie's hand moved to touch the back of her hair, that was in a high ponytail, as she smiled and said, "Aww! I think you're the best man in the world and I would be honoured to bear your children!"
Wait, no. That's not what she said, but I think that's definitely what I heard.
What she actually said was, "Aww! Thanks, Jake! Shall we start now?"
When I nodded (because I had temporarily lost the ability to speak), she got up and turned on the speakers.
"What song have you thought of?" she asked as she set them up.
"None, actually," I answered. "Any ideas?"
"Yes," she said as she connected her phone to the speakers and played "Sucker" by the Jonas Brothers.
"This is 'Sucker' by the Jonas Brothers," Cassie said. "Listen to it and let me know what you think."
We listened to it.
When it ended, I smiled. "This brings backs memories."
Cassie gave me a look that plainly said, "TELL ME TELL ME TELL ME!"
I laughed. "This song was the one I used for my audition with the talent agency."
"Wow!" Cassie said. "If we use this song, the press will go nuts over the nostalgia! We could recreate the exact routine you used back then!"
"Oh, my god, yes!" I exclaimed. "Cas, you're a genius!"
She did a playful hair flip.
"That I am," she said, sassily. "Do you have any videos of the audition?"
"Yes, of course," I answered and turned on my phone and searched through the photos and videos.
"Here!" I said and turned the phone horizontally to show her.
Once the video was over, we played it again, slower.
"Here's my number," she said once that was done again. She noted her number on a notebook and tore a small slip of paper. "And don't get any ideas, just send me the video."
I blushed. "Oh, yes, I'll do that."
Then Cassie moved towards the center of the room and started to warm up. After a few seconds, she turned to me, "You coming?"
"Yeah, coming," I answered and walked towards her.
After the warm up, we used the video as reference and tried to recreate the steps, hilariously bumping into each other in the process and then laughing about other.
"Well this is a one person dance," I finally concluded. "We need to somehow add another person."
Cas thought for a second then replayed the video and paused at a mark.
"Here," she said. "Here I can move behind you and," she demonstrated a classic twirl and jump with a modern twist (literally, there was a twist in there). "Your thoughts?"
"Nice!" I remarked, then proceeded to move along the video. "Then when this part comes along, You can move back front and - may I?" I asked for Cassie's hand. She gave it to me gracefully as we did a outside partner step and a perfect dip.
We went back and forth like this until we'd worked out the whole routine. At the end, we drank some water and talked for a moment.
"Hey, Jake?" Kylie turned to me.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"I had fun today," she said. "I think I won't regret this after all."
I smiled. "Me too. We should go cancel the auditions, though."
"Yeah," Cassie said as she gathered all her things into her duffle bag. "We should get going."
After we went to the front office billboard and wrote 'CANCELLED' on the auditions poster in big marker ink, I ended up walking Cassie back to Building B.
"Well, this is me," she said. "Same time tomorrow?"
"You know it," I answered. "See you tomorrow."
Cassie smiled and bit her lip. "Bye."
"Bye," I said back.
Nick's gonna be soo jealous! I thought playfully as I walked back to Building A.
Hey Guys!
I think this may be one of my favourite chapters so far! I love this one, I love this one, I love this one!!!! I did think that a few parts were really cringe though, but nothing is perfect. Also thanks to queenieexxx for her opinion on which song should be the 'Casake' song. I hope you enjoyed chapter 7 of Finding Synchrony and I love y'all!
~Lia