~:*:~ Sixteen ~:*:~

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Bright

It was already the second rehearsal for the group dance and I was making no headway with the partner portion. Poor Leona must have toes in shades of black and blue by now.

I should have just stuck to my original plan; find a new hiding spot and wait it out until they have no choice but to pick a new Massey King nominee. I woke up early enough to slip away, yet for some reason I found myself trapped in my room. My feet refused to move towards the door. I sat on the edge of my bed, waiting for something. I didn't know what that was until there was a jovial knocking on the door and I bolted upright without a second thought. Jedson was waiting on the other side of the door with coffee, bagels, and a broad smile on his face. My heart raced in excitement, and yet I proceeded to act irritated by his presence. I'm not sure why I always felt the need to hide my pleasure with false hatred where Jedson is concerned.

So in the end, Jedson dragged me to dance practise after much protest.

After two hours of choreographed sways, turns, leaps, and gestures, the seniors running things finally let us go free to get back to frosh activities.

"I'm really sorry, Leona. I'm rubbish at this. I've never been that coordinated."

She was sitting off to the side with her shoes cast aside so she could rub her feet. She had been a good sport about it, never complaining or giving up. She just carried on in the dance and even did her best to offer instruction. She was such a sweet and friendly girl... I hated to be such a disappointment.

"Don't worry so much, Bright. We'll get it sooner or later! There are more rehearsals to come." She smiled in spite of her pain.

"But your feet..."

"It's nothing that a little ice and rest won't fix." She assured me. "I don't scare off that easily. Do you?"

"Perhaps when it comes to dancing..."

She raised an eyebrow. "And other things?"

I didn't understand her meaning.

She repeated, "Do you scare off easily, Bright? Or will you stand by your...choices... when things get hard?"

"What kind of choices?"

Her eyes wandered over to Jedson who was meandering towards us. She put her shoes back on as she stated, "Just choices in general, I suppose." She stood and squeezed my hand reassuringly. "I just don't want you to be afraid of something that can make you happy."

I clued in to what she was implying, but I refused to give anything away. I wasn't about to confirm or deny her suspicions. "I'll keep that in mind..."

She left the studio after quickly confirming her plans with Jedson to meet up with the other guys in the afternoon. Slowly the rest of the nominees and seniors began to file out of the studio as I got my stuff together.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself..."

Jedson was waiting for me instead of leaving with the others. His devoted attention to me still surprised me at times.

He continued, "You're not as bad as you think. And don't you dare use this as an excuse to run out on the competition!" He teased.

"There are not enough hours in the day to fix whatever's wrong with me."

Jedson slipped his hand into mine without warning and pulled me further into the middle of the dance floor. Like usual when he touches me, I found myself dumbstruck and speechless. He pulled our clasped hands up into position, and then gently placed my other hand on his waist. I didn't remove it, but I found my voice.

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