Show Me What You Can Get Away With

I awoke the next day to a fully dressed Olivia, staring back at me.

“Ready to go?” She asks, smiling as per usual with her eyebrows pushed up as far as they could go. I looked at her with disbelief.

“Uh, no. I’m not even dressed. What time is it?” I asked, rubbing my eyes tiredly.

She looked at her watch. “Um, 12:30. I tried to let you sleep in and stuff.”

“Shit!” I said, darting out of bed and running to my cell phone that was still in my bag from last night. The ‘one missed text,’ and ‘one missed call,’ alerts popped up as I unlocked it.

“Something wrong?” Olivia asked, concern in her voice.

“No, I just promised a friend I’d call them earlier today and I forgot.”

“Alright well I’m gonna head over to Colvin and get a World history assignment from a friend. Just do what you need to do, get dressed, and then we’ll head out kay?”

“Sure. See you in a few.” I replied, not looking up from my phone as I read the text message. The door clicked shut as Olivia left and I returned my call.

“Hello?”

“Hey Kase, sorry I didn’t answer when you called me earlier. The times are different here and stuff and I’m still pretty jet lagged. How are you?”

“How am I? How are you? I mean I know you just got there and everything but how is it so far? Do you have like a room mate and stuff? What does it look like?” He asked excitedly. I missed Kasey already.

“Uh, it’s- it’s nice here. Everything in the school looks all regal and old. But then the rest of the campus looks more modern. My room mates name is Olivia and she’s really hyper and girly. But not too annoying, I think I can deal. The principal is a total bitch. But I haven’t really met anyone else here to make a full assumption.”

“And the street?” He asks excitedly.

I laugh, “Kasey I haven’t even gotten a taste of it yet. But when I do I’ll let you know. I miss you though.”

“I miss you too Audri. I wish I would have had the same opportunity as you.” He said, voice faltering at the end into a whisper.

“Hey! What have I always said?”

“But what i-“

“Tell me what I’ve planned since we were ten Kase.”

He sighed, “ That no matter what we’re always gonna be best friends.”

“Exactly. And?”

“And in a few years we can both go to school in New York together and everything will be fine.”

“And trust my ten year old self.”

“I do. Promise. I’ve gotta go though Audri. I’ll call you later?”

“I’ll make sure you do. I love you Kasey. Keep dancing.”

I took a shower and got dressed; Olivia came back successful in her homework exchange. We exited the dormitory, heading towards the main building.

“So I figured we’d just start on the first floor and make our way up.”

“How many floors are there exactly?”

“Four. Two for regular school academic classes, two for the prep suites.”

We went through each hallway on the first two floors, math and science classes on the first floor along with the gym, pool, and offices. The school was open at all times for the most part, although being that it was Saturday the place was practically deserted, save for a few students in random classes being tutored by their teachers. The second floor was for history and English classes. It was pretty much the same as the first, nothing special, old like the rest of the school. Nothing really interesting caught my eye until we hit the next two floors.

“So the third floor is the entire music suite. Since there are so many different instruments and things pertaining to music there is one whole floor for the subject. There are different rooms and hallways for each category of instruments. Brass, woodwinds, percussion, strings, and electronic. Then there are the choir rooms, and so on. And all the rooms are sound proof for the most part.” Olivia said, winking at me. I think I got the hint. This floor was the most packed I’d see thus far. There were students scattered about everywhere, each with different instruments in their hands. They were in the class rooms and hallways, since students were allowed to practice whenever they wanted and since their preps greatly affected their grades I guess they took it as a major advantage. We headed to the fourth and final floor.

“And of course the fourth floor, and my favorite, is dedicated to the drama and dance departments. These are where the bigger rooms of the school are, some of them are like mini theaters and have small stages and seats instead of desks and stuff. I will definitely help you get around school until you figure out where all of your classes are. I know this place is massive. There are at least six hallways on each floor. You could get lost for days in this place.” As we continued walking, I heard a familiar song playing from one of the rooms. Olivia was now going on about how the drama rooms weren’t as big as the dance studios, which in my opinion made sense but I kept quiet. Before I knew it I was walking away from Olivia and towards the music.

“And, well, that’s about it for the main building. Wanna go get some lunch?” She asks, looking in my direction.

“Sure.” I say, not really paying attention. By this point I’m standing in the doorway of the room. “Gravity” by John Mayer is playing, and a boy is dancing in the far corner of the room. All I could see was his tall, toned body moving with the music and a mop of black hair. I lean against the entrance as he turns into a split leap, twisting his body and falling to the floor; then pushing into the ground, springing up into a series of fouette’s. He jumps again, pushing through his back leg, and doing a tombe pas de bourree into an open jump. He lands on his knees, again leaping and punching the air.

“See you’ve found one of our top dancers.” Olivia says behind me. I nearly leap out of my skin. I’m completely mesmerized by the boy, his emotions, facial expressions, and absolutely perfect toe points luring me.

“Who is he?” I ask, not being able to tear my eyes away from the boy.

“That’s Kieran Reigner. Now come on let’s go I’m starved!” Olivia says, looping her arm through mine and pulling me away from the room.

“Wait!” I yell, Olivia coming to a halt. “What’s the rush?”

“I know what you’re thinking. And I’m advising you to stay as far away from that kid as possible.” I hunch my shoulders looking at her with disbelief. “Tell you over burgers?”

I huff, “Fine.” We continue walking, and I take one last look at the boy in the dance studio.

Olivia and I go to the schools lunch hall, where I stuff myself completely, clearly starved since the day before. The lunch hall unlike any other part of the school could honestly be compared to a normal high school. Granted it’s about fifty times bigger than a normal high school’s lunch room, but I assume it’s only because all the students have breakfast and dinner all at the same time with lunch split up into two. And thank God the food is better than my old school’s because I don’t think I could have lived off of crappy school food. We sit at an empty round table and Olivia goes into a rant about how uncomfortable the seats are. Apparently she’d completely forgotten about our deal.

“Ugh I can’t believe they actually make us sit in these for three meals a day! I swear I’m going to start bringing a se-“

“So about that Kieran kid again.” I interject, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Olivia rolls her eyes and sighs, “I’m begging you forget about the kid.”

“Why? I’m not saying I’m interested in him or anything.”

“Oh sure you’re not.”

“I swear! Does he have a girlfriend?”

Olivia smirks, “No. But he’s not the kind of guy you’d want to get into a relationship with. He’s too cocky and popular for his own good. You do not want to get mixed up with him. Plus, I heard he’s got a criminal record.” She whispers the ending.

“Then how’d he get in?” I ask, remembering a piece of information I’d read with my mother back in Arizona while we were researching the school. Something about a criminal background policy…

“He’s really good at what he does. Plain and simple. Half of the time he’s correcting the dance instructors. The school can’t really let him go even if they wanted to. And of course he’s got the biggest freaking head because of it. But enough about Kieran. If there are any guys to get interested in at this school, he’s the last on the list. Trust me. God knows how many rumors there are going on about that boy.” She takes a bite of her burger.

A curly haired girl walks up to our table, sitting beside Olivia and stealing a few of her fries.

“Well fine then. Don’t ask.” She says, sticking her tongue out at said curly haired girl. It takes her a few seconds before she acknowledges my existence.

“Hi. Who are you?” She asks, wide-eyed. I open my mouth but Olivia starts to speak.

“Danny this is Audriana my new room mate. Audri this is Danielle.” She says before going back to her milkshake.

“Hi.” I mumble. I thought Olivia told me not to befriend other chicks? She didn’t seem like the happiest to see me anyway.

“Hi!” Danielle says, her tone of voice changing completely. “Actually Olivia, I’m going shopping with Kirsten but I wanted to ask you if you were showing up to that Parker event tonight. It’s supposed to be huge.” And then as an afterthought, “Oh! Audriana you should totally come too!”

“I-“

“We’ll be there.” Olivia cuts me off.

“Great! See you guys later!”

“Olivia, who is Parker?” I ask quizzically.

“Parker isn’t a who. It’s a what.” She digs into her back pocket, pulling out a neon orange flyer with black writing and design all over it. Parker was a club. I smiled. I liked clubs. Clubs, lounges, even bars and pubs.

“Awesome huh? It’s an underground place not too far from here. Crap! I forgot! We gotta go! I have to look better than Danny and Kirsten!” Olivia practically shrieks, grabbing my arm and pulling me out of the lunch hall.