Adlewood Academy

Jocelyn was a bit more nervous meeting Liam this time after they had argued and she had gone to grovel at his feet for his help again. He had been so nice about it, though, even apologizing though it was entirely her own fault for snapping at him that night out of stupid jealousy. When she had been in the office with him she couldn’t help but think that he was a bit flustered, too, which didn’t help when she thought about her feelings for the completely off-limits instructor.

“Lana, come with me tonight.” She begged at lunch, without so much as a greeting to her roommate.

The girl just threw her wavy hair back and laughed. She knew all about the nightly meetings, the only person that knew since she was pretty sure it was against the rules. She also knew all about Jocelyn’s feelings and, from the looks of Liam that night she stood him up, she was certain she knew his too. “Not a chance.”

“Come on. He’s hot – you can check him out.”

“I think you do plenty of that for the both of us. Why are you so worried? You’ve practiced with him before.”

“I know, but after our little spat and everything it’s weird. And finding out he and Vivienne aren’t … Well, it’s different somehow and I need you to come with me as a buffer.”

“No. I can’t, and even if I could I’d still say no. I’m encouraging this bad behavior, but I think you should go for it.”

“For what? What?! No! I can’t! He’s my instructor.”

“That’s kind of hot.”

“Lana!”

“What? I’m just saying … girls talk about him a lot but you’re the one he’s tutoring one on one. Says something, I think.” Lana still didn’t tell Jocelyn that he had come to their room looking for her that night. She knew it would only make her more nervous about meeting with him than she already was.

“Says I’m a worthless dancer.” Jocelyn let out a groan. “I’m going to be late for Vivienne’s class.” She grabbed the apple off her tray and waved to Lana before darting off to modern dance.

She wouldn’t have minded if classes dragged on that day but it seemed just the opposite. It felt like only moments since she saw Lana at lunch but it had been hours and it was now time to go and meet Liam. She paced nervously outside the room for a few moments before taking a deep steadying breath and decided to go forward. After all, she wanted to be here and this was what she needed to do. She was going to put her heart and soul into it and do everything Liam suggested. He was a brilliant dancer and he knew what he was doing. It was time she put behind her fears and prove that she deserved to be at the academy once and for all. And she desperately wanted to win the showcase.

Liam was stretching out when she entered the room which she found to be odd, quiet classical music playing in the background that had a buoyant and joyful feel to it rather than the intense stuff she was used to dancing to all the time. “Hey, glad you made it.” He greeted with a sly smirk and hopped off the ground.

“Were you dancing?”

“Nope, but I’m about to – we are going to do a duet.”

“We who? You and I, we? Oh I don’t know about that …” Jocelyn felt like her entire body flushed with embarrassment when it became clear that Liam was going to dance with her.

“I think you’ll feel more at ease dancing with a partner on stage, Jocelyn.” He could see that she was thinking it would be the exact opposite and moved to stand before her. “I promise – it will help.”

She told herself that she had agreed to go along with whatever Liam had in store for her so she shakily nodded her head. “If that’s what you think is best.”

“Now that was easier than I expected.” He teased, walking over to turn the music up. “We’re going to do something simple and easy. You have danced The Talisman before, yes?” Seeing her nod, he smiles wider and turns on a new song that she recognized immediately from the Russian ballet. “Act III, a simple pas de deux.” He approached her again and held out his hand.

Jocelyn tried not to think too much about the fact that Act III of this particular ballet includes a lot of lovers’ embraces and she would be doing them with her instructor so she just dropped her bag and grabbed a hold of his hand, feeling its warmth grasp her own and felt a tug pulling her into his chest. She was sure he could feel her heart racing because she could feel the steadiness of his as they began the dance. At first, it was just all too distracting dancing with Liam and feeling his hands on her or his body heat coming off of him. It caused her to remain the clumsy dancer she had been around others. But, when he restarted the song and they began again, she was able to loosen up ever so slightly trying to call on her experience in the swing dance class and dancing with Niall.

She could feel his pride in her falling into the steps more naturally and it was made even more apparent by his wide smile when she looked up at him. She was actually dancing the proper steps, the proper way, and not only that but she was actually graceful. She had never done any of that before when other people were around and it was astonishing. Liam had been right – if she focused on dancing with another person, it was a lot easier than being all on your own. By the end of their second time through it, she was dancing perfectly and beautifully just as he had seen her do when she danced on her own. After a lift she had bombed the last time was done wonderfully, Liam let her slide down his body (part of the act, though it hadn’t been intentional when picking out the dance) very slowly.

Jocelyn caught her breath. She could feel ever toned muscle in his body as her feet met the ground, her hands remaining on his broad shoulders. She chanced a look up into his warm brown eyes and felt an immediate spark. She had never been this close to him, never touched him in this way, and it seemed as though he was just as affected by it as she was. It took only a moment to realize they were not moving away after the song ended, but instead moving closer together. If there were alarm bells going off in her head that this was a bad idea, they were drowned out by the voices telling her to just do it – just kiss him. So, she raised back up on her toes in her ballet shoes (thankful at this moment to be a dancer to do such a thing) and met his lips in a fiery kiss.

It was as though the passion had been building up between them for years. They fit much too perfectly for it to be a mistake, though Liam knew he should be concerned what with them being in the studio with the door wide open. It was too hard to resist meeting her insistent lips, though, so he just gripped her waist tighter and pulled her up to kiss her deeper. She jumped in the middle of their make out session and wrapped her legs around his hips, Liam holding her closely and moving to push her into one of the floor to ceiling mirrors. As it dawned in both of their minds that janitors would be coming by soon and they were sure to be caught, they slowly unwound from one another in a blushful yet not awkward silence.

“So, um, same time tomorrow night?” Liam asked, sounded much shier than normal.

It made her blush even darker as she hastily grabbed for her bag. “Um, yeah … same time tomorrow night.”

“See you then and good job tonight. With the dance not with the … well not that that wasn’t … I mean that was good, too, but you know … Your dancing was, um, s-so much better.”

“Oh, right. Thank you … um, right. Yes. Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jocelyn raced back to her room and slipped in quickly, slamming her back into it once it shut. Lana tugged her earplugs out and started chuckling seeing her roommate in such a state. “So … go well, yeah?”

“I just made out with my instructor and I want to do it again.”