{Ooh La La - The Kooks}
...She was such a good girl to me, and ooh la la, the world just chewed her up, and spat her out...
----
May 20th
Bodhi Bennett never was subtle. Within the five minutes between his arrival and our departure back to the lakeside cabin from the ballroom, he had managed to potentially strip Dad of his good graces with Tim by noting that the 'hot blonde at the bar was totally giving him the bedroom eyes'. Roughly translated, Bodhi had rather loudly indicated that Tim's wife Clara, who was standing at the bar, her flowing golden locks shimmering under the chandelier light, had bothered to give Bodhi a second glance.
The next morning at the breakfast table was sombre and deafeningly silent, only interrupted by Dad mumbling about the different ways to win back Tim's affections and still be in the running for what seemed to be the holy grail of job promotions.
"So..." Bodhi murmured to me as he picked at his pancakes half-heartedly with his fork while I tucked heartily into my own. "What have I missed?"
His devilish smile always did win me over, and that moment was no different.
"Let's see...Well, you missed my birthday, my prom, Easter, Christmas, oh and Cady's rabbit died," I swallowed a mouthful of orange juice, chuckling to myself.
"Mrs Hoppers?" Bodhi showed a sense of shock.
"I'm surprised you even remembered her name," I snapped, playfully.
"Getting sassy in your older years, Ava," Bodhi replied. "You know what I meant, how are you holding up with dumb and dumber?"
His eyes glanced over to Mom and Dad, who were both separately enjoying their breakfast, Mom reading Cosmo and Dad shoving his face down at the stock ratings on his iPhone.
"They're at each other's throats most days, don't let the peaceful silence, or their cosiness last night in the ballroom fool you," I told him quietly. "Dad ignores me. Mom is still hell-bent on me being Mrs. rich stockbroker by the time I'm 20, and currently, she's trying to set me up with your new best friend Tim's son, Benjamin. So all in all, everything is just peachy."
Bodhi paused, blinking a few times as though trying to register it all fully.
"I heard you're taking dance lessons, is that true?" He asked, moving on.
"Blame Mom," I hissed.
"Blame me for what?" Mom interjected. I had been caught red-handed.
"Our good looks," Bodhi didn't even miss a beat. He wrapped his arm around me and pulling me close to him while I choked down my nervous stammer. "I mean we sure as hell didn't get it from Dad."
Bodhi's comment only received a glare from Dad.
"Look at the time, honey!" Mom rose suddenly from her seat at the breakfast table. "You have dance lessons in a few hours, and I will not have my daughter rushing her appearance and turning up like a scruff."
Mom shooed me away in the direction of the bathroom to begin getting ready for what I was sure would be the worst few hours of my life.
'I should have choked on the orange juice pulp', I whispered to myself.
----
I was never blessed with the ability to dance. I barely functioned as a normal human being at the best of times, but there I was, standing before Elliot in his black tank top and sweatpants with the sun streaming in the windows of an attic, above the craft sheds near the main building. There I was trying to remain calm, in all of my awkwardly inadequate glory, oversized cardigan and all. We had been stretching and warming up, the music tuning out the apparent silence between us.
We were mere strangers, and I was being expected to dance with him.
"Okay, so how much experience do you have with ballroom dancing?" He stood over me as I stretched my legs on the wooden floor.
"Unless you count the macarena as a sort of ballroom dance, then none at all."
I rose from the floor to face him, my knees threatening to turn to jelly as the song changed and I knew that the time had come to actually begin dancing.
"Well let's get started then Avalina."
With a tight grip of my sweaty palms, he pulled me into the middle of the room.
"Ava," I murmured.
"Did you say something?" He asked.
He tilted his head as he looked down to me, his height clearly superior to mine, while he moved my arms to lock in position, his smirk returning across his perfectly angular face.
"I prefer Ava," I told him. "Only my parents call me Avalina."
My dark hair had been tied up in a messy bun and was falling over my face in small portions, covering my eyes, but I persevered, tucking the stray strands behind my ear, praying my face was not the colour of beetroot as he took hold of me.
"Okay, then... Ava. Let's get going."
----
Three hours and a bucket-load of sweat later, I was only sure of one thing. I was definitely not meant to be a dancer. Elliot was so effortlessly talented and never lost his patience with me, despite my resemblance to Bambi on ice. I don't think I could have coped if he had.
All in all, it hadn't been a total failure, and he had taught me a few things that would hopefully stop me from falling flat on my face in the ballroom with Tim's son, causing my family further embarrassment which was the last thing we needed after Bodhi's spectacle on his arrival. We exited the building out into the dusky air, a slight cooling breeze passing us.
"Thanks for the lesson, Elliot. Sorry, I'm not the best student."
I tugged on the sleeves of my cardigan, catching sight of myself in the lake's reflection as we walked on the path before it forked at the edge of the lake, where we would part ways.
"You're only a beginner. Believe me; I've had far more trained be much worse." He smirked again.
I had seen that smirk at least a hundred times in the space of three hours amidst our broken conversations while he taught me the steps. Then, before I knew it, I said it. The word vomit from that morning had returned with a vengeance.
"And I'm sorry for the way my family were with you last night, and for the way my Father spoke to you...Like--"
"Like I'm just an employee? Don't sweat it. I'm getting paid, so I take it all in my stride. You don't have to worry about it, though." His smirk transitioned into a glimmer of a genuine smile, and there must have been a breeze, but goosebumps had risen from my skin.
"Well... Um... Thanks again," I nodded, turning on my heel as we reached the fork in the path, heading back to the cabin to wash the lingering sweat off of my skin.
"Better get ready for your dance with Benjamin tonight," Elliot called after me, his sarcastic tone oozing out of every syllable.
"How did you know about that?" I turned back.
"Employees hear everything... See you later, Ava."
And with a small chuckle, he was gone, but the tingles on my skin that had initially been from the sweat running down my back had been replaced by the thought of the smirk that I saw become a fleeting smile.
----
YOU ARE READING
Summer Rain
Teen Fiction"Together we were like summer rain. Rare and indescribable until you feel it for yourself..." When Avalina Bennett and her family spent the summer at the Beaumont Country Club, she was sure her summer had been ruined before it even started. Her br...
