Unpredictable (A Dance Story)

Chapter 32

"Oh. My. God."

I held the phone away from my ear as Karina let out a squeal.

"You two are so perfect, I can't believe my subliminal messaging worked!" She gushed.

"This is me totally going out on a limb here," I warned.

"I know, but he's my friend. So trust me: you made a good choice!"

"I really hope so..."

"You did!"

I let out a little laugh, shaking my head. "I've gotta go, I have solo and duet practice."

"Alright, talk to you later!"

"Bye."

I set my phone on the table of the waiting room as Tristan walked in.

"What's up Ells?" He asked.

"Ah, nothing. Abbie's practicing her solo and I'm waiting for Holden."

"How long has she been in there?"

I shrugged. "Five minutes, maybe. Why?"

He sat down beside me, his shoulders hunched. "I was going to ask you something..."

"Ask away."

"Do you think Abbie....Ah, nevermind."

"What?" I demanded, bumping his shoulder.

"It doesn't matter. Nevermind," he repeated, his cheeks turning pink.

"Whatever you say," I muttered, but I felt like dragging Abbie out of solo practice and making the two of them admit that they liked each other. I'd always had a feeling that they did, but lately the two of them were practically inseparable.

"Hey, Tristan. Ford."

I nodded at Holden and he took the seat on the other side of me. Nobody said anything for a couple of minutes, until a junior girl came in and started talking to me. She asked if I wanted to stretch with her, so I shrugged and slid to the floor.

"Being a lefty is hard," she chatted, "since everyone else in the class prefers the right side."

"That just means you work twice as hard," I said with a wink.

"True!" She exclaimed. "So, you must have trouble picking a side, huh? Since you're a righty but you can't use your right arm."

I opened my mouth to reply, but Holden beat me to it. "What kind of question is that?" He asked angrily, "And why would you even bring it up?"

"It's just - her arm - I wanted - I'm sorry," she sputtered.

Holden glared at her and she stared back, wide-eyed, before muttering something about having to go to the bathroom. I turned on Holden.

"Was that necessary?"

"About as much as asking that stupid question," he retorted.

"You do realize that it didn't bother me."

"She still shouldn't have said something like that. What if it had bothered you?"

I sighed. "Why don't we go to the little room and practice our solos before you scare away anymore juniors?"

***

"What do you think our duet's gonna be like?" Holden asked, sitting under the barre.

"I don't know," I replied, running into a grande jeté.

"Maybe she'll make it something different for once. You never know."

"Maybe I'll be little red riding hood and you'll be the wolf, then I'll defeat you one-handedly and send the audience an inspirational message about never giving up."

"That is definitely what I was thinking," he said, shaking his head.

"Obviously!"

I marked a few more things, imagining the music in my head.

"Your solo is perfect for you."

It was random and I stopped, looking right at Holden.

"Thanks...?"

"You're welcome," he replied. "But really. Miss Sarah said you screwed up your solo at that last competition. I thought it was beautiful."

I tilted my head. "Thank you."

It was genuine this time, and I wasn't sure how to react. Luckily, I was saved by Tristan.

"Miss Sarah wants you two in the big room now."

I bit my lip, silently thanking Tristan. That could've gone downhill real fast. I stepped into the big room first, noting the smirk on Miss Sarah's face. Please, no more love stories, please...

"Ready to hear your new music?" She asked.

I nodded once and she hit the button...

The first note that came out of the stereo echoed throughout the room, and I could instantly tell that it was a slow piano song.

Then came the second note, and soon the song came together with a slow and beautiful piano accompaniment.

The song was "Gravity" by one of my favorite artists, Sara Bareilles.

It was one of those songs that always came up when you searched for dance videos, however I could never tell if the dances to it conveyed love stories or not.

As the song continued playing, I tried to think of what evil plan was forming in Miss Sarah's head. I decided to just go with it, but the look on Holden's face clearly portrayed annoyance.

The song ended, and he stood up, his face slightly pink.

"You said no love story..."

"You're correct," Miss Sarah replied with a smug look on her face.

"I did say that. These lyrics can mean what you want them to mean, and for some, it may be a love story. But I believe you two have a friendship stronger than love, and I wanted to show that to the judges and the rest of the audience. Now, for the story..."

I barely concentrated on what Miss Sarah was saying after that. Her previous words burnt themselves into my head, and I was unable to think of anything else. What was she trying to say?

"Ella."

My head snapped up at the sound of my name.

"Are you paying attention?" Miss Sarah asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

I nodded, mumbling a quick "yup."

"Good. Now, this whole dance will be you two as one. Connected, almost. Each dance move is linked together, and you won't break apart until the end. That is my theory, however, but I want you both to try something new..." Her voice trailed off, and I swallowed.

She was plotting again...I could tell by the way her eyebrows furrowed together- the face she always made when she was in deep thought. I became nervous.

She quickly looked up and gave us both a warm smile.

"There are a ton of new lifts I want you both to try out, so let's get started on those before we begin choreographing." She walked to the end of the room to get her notebook, but stopped halfway and turned toward us.

"I really want you two to think of your own message to convey to the audience. I feel like this one is going to be a really emotional number- so make it one. I give you the dance moves, you have to do the rest."

It was the first time I had felt normal in the dance studio in a long time. No love story, no drama, and my arm was never mentioned at all. I felt good about the dance already- and we hadn't even performed it yet.