Out of the Flames

Chapter 7. Dance Lessons

Chapter 7.

It was about 5 o'clock the next morning when I gave up on sleep. I put on a pair of stretchy jogging pants and a thin, loose tank top. I quietly made my way downstairs and stuck a blue sticky note on the table with one word on it: Jogging.

I slipped out of the house and put on my shoes before setting off on the path. I was jogging down the long side of the trail that ran around the outside of our field, when I saw someone standing on the second storey balcony of the Mendez's house. As I got closer I could see Edi's distinct red hair. I stopped at the corner closest to his house and waved. He waved back before holding up a finger to indicate that he wanted me to wait a minute. I stopped and as I waited I reached down and stretched a bit.

"Tina!" Edi called as he ran out of his house towards me.

"Hey." I tried to sound a bit closed off so he wouldn't bring up the augment we had yesterday.

"What is with the cold shoulder sunshine? I would say you are not a morning person, but then that would imply that you should be sleeping not going for a run at five in the morning." Edi said smirking with a twinkle in his eyes which were now brown. I half involuntarily took a step towards him to get a better look. They were lovely golden brown colour. The most noticeable part was the light that they reflected. Edi had the brightest dark eyes I had ever seen and they made my stomach flutter just looking at them.

"You're not wearing contacts." I commented after realizing there was a bit of a pause.

"I haven't had time to put them in yet." He said with a look that was almost embarrassed. "Look, I am sorry for pushing you yesterday. I should have respected that you did not want to tell me and left it alone." He said looking up at me through his dark eyelashes.

"It fine, I just can't tell you. It's not that I don't want you to know, it's that I'm not allowed to let you know." I said trying to explain the situation without actually giving away anything. "Maybe one day I'll break a couple rules and tell you, but for now, I can't." I offered him a smile to see if he accepted my answer.

"It is ok, really, please do not feel bad at all. You cannot tell me and I respect that, when your ready, if you are ever ready, I will listen, but until then, I promise not to push you." Edi returned my smile and I knew I had made the right decision yesterday.

"I appreciate that Edi."

"Would you mind coming into my house and teaching me the dance that we are doing in class?" Edi asked hesitantly.

"Sure, I just need to tell...my family." I said patting my pockets to ind my phone. "I forgot my phone at home, I'll just run home and tell them, I'll be back in five minutes." I turned about to cut across the freshly cut wheat field.

"Just use my phone. No need to waste all that energy going back and forth." Edi said. Before motioning me to follow him. We ducked back through the fence and I followed him through a hidden glass door into his dance studio. The door wasn't exactly hidden but rather cleverly disguised to blend in with the rest of the glass wall.

"So what part of the dance are you having trouble with?" I asked.

"None of it, I would just like to go over the steps a couple times and catch up with the rest of the class."

"First of all, do you have your pointe shoes?" I asked pointing out his bare feet.

"Yes I do, would you like to borrow a pair?" He asked before striding across the caramel wood floors. He opened a mirrored door and disappeared into a secret room. I curiously followed him and as I stepped ins aide I saw that it was a large closet. A perfectly organized dance storage room. On one side of the room there were neatly labeled boxes and on the other there were costumes hung in colour-coated order. Edi grabbed a pair of pointe shoes off the top of a box and then opened the box and pulled out another pair of pointe shoes.