Unpredictable (A Dance Story)

Chapter 21

Each day for the rest of the week was the same: I taught the class, corrected them, and tried to ignore Holden. He somehow made me mad, but managed to get someone else's support. I brushed off their amusement and continued with the class, still angry.

"Why do I have to teach with Holden?" I demanded to Miss Sarah on Thursday.

"He was taking over for you last week. And plus, you're a good team," she replied.

"He annoys me," I whined.

"As you are annoying me," she retorted, raising her eyebrows.

I let out a big breath of air, feeling defeated. I'd never manage to get away from him.

The next day, Holden cornered me before class.

"You really don't want anything to do with me, do you?"

I shook my head. Might as well be honest.

"So, that's it? You're going to ignore me from now on?"

I was silent.

"Are we even friends anymore?"

I shrugged. He sighed sadly.

"You know, I never meant for any of that to happen. I would never drop you on purpose. And you are just as much to blame for that kiss."

"Shhhh!" I hissed, glancing around. No one was near us, but I was still paranoid.

"I don't want to think about it or talk about it or have anyone know about it," I cried, "So PLEASE shut up!"

That day, he didn't join me in teaching the class. I was glad, but I also felt bad. I'd never intended on hurting his feelings to get what I wanted.

That Saturday, Abbie called. "They're having a little fair in the park! You have to come!"

I agreed, feeling like a fair would be just the thing to get my spirits up. Abbie picked me up at 3, her mother driving us. Lacey and her friend were in the car too. They seemed just as excited as we were.

"Alright, girls, I'll meet you at the entrance in 2 hours," Mrs. Almes said, fastening paper bracelets on all of our wrists. The guy at the front had told us to put the bracelets on our right wrists, but he was nice about letting me put mine on my left.

"Where should we go first?" Abbie asked, looking at all of the things we could do.

My eyes were drawn to the big Ferris Wheel in the middle. Abbie smiled and we rushed to get in line.

"We'd better not get stuck at the top," she said as the ride attendant clasped the bar in front of us.

"Aw, but that's the best part!" I exclaimed. We started moving and I shifted my weight, rocking the cart. Abbie swatted my shoulder.

"Ella, knock it off!"

I leaned over the front and looked down, feeling the metal bar press into my stomach.

"You can seriously see everything from up here!" I said.

Abbie agreed, pointing. "Hey, look, there's Lacey!"

We waved madly at Abbie's little sister, who didn't notice us.

"Hm. Who else do we know?"

We scanned the crowd, looking for people. I saw classmates I hadn't thought about in a long time, most notably Madison. She had talked to me a while ago, after Logan had been so rude to me on our date. I felt inclined to seek her out sometime after we got off of the Ferris Wheel.