Adlewood Academy

Jocelyn was nervous the entire day after her night run-in with her teacher, the gorgeous Mr. Liam Payne. He had no idea what he was asking her to do. It sounded simple – only dancing for one person – but it was actually a bit more difficult because of whom that one person was. He wasn’t only her teacher or a phenomenal dancer but he was also incredibly sexy and she had a hard time remembering anything around him, much less complex dance movements.

She had wanted to talk to Lana about it but her roommate was asleep when she got in and gone by the time she woke up this morning, very unusual for her. But, Jocelyn ceded that it made total sense – the one time she really needed to confide and get advice from someone they were nowhere to be found. She wasn’t sure if she should even tell anyone about her nightly meetings with her teacher. Surely that was against some rule or other? Or was she making mountains of mole hills? She figured it would be stupid to assume anything unprofessional would be happening between them, but then why was it constantly on her mind throughout her entire day?

Liam was pacing the room he had stumbled upon Jocelyn in as he waited for her to meet him that night. He was wondering the same things she had been all day – if this was purely for professional reasons then why was he already feeling so guilty? It had been simply a nice gesture when he saw her but now he was thinking that somewhere in the back of his mind his intentions weren’t just professional. It was hard not to feel something for her when she danced, even when her moves were awkward and uncoordinated, but seeing her dance perfectly while emitting such emotion was a whole other level and he found it too hard to walk away from that. He wanted to witness it again because it was absolutely beautiful.

And, if he was being honest with himself, he found her to be absolutely beautiful.

He was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a soft thump by the door and turned to see Jocelyn having just deposited her gym bag there looking awfully timid and shy. “Hey, you came.”

“You sound surprised.” She answered, stepping further in.

“I am … I figured you’d change rooms to avoid me.” He joked, putting on some mellow music to try and ease the palpable tension in the room. It did not help his attraction seeing her in a pale blue leotard that made her dark eyes shine brightly and complimented her dark hair. She, like most of the ballet-centric students, had a perfect, slender body with just the right amount of toned muscle. Had she not been his student, he was certain he would have asked her out.

“I considered it.” She said, only halfway kidding. She had thought about doing that but she figured he’d find her anyway. And, she really did need help if she wanted to stay at Adlewood, which she desperately did. She just wasn’t sure how this was going to do it – he made her more nervous one-on-one, not less.

“I’m glad you didn’t. I really think I could help you. I’ve talked to some of your other teachers …”

Unbidden, Miss Vivienne came to her mind. There had been so many rumors around school that she and Liam were dating. And, it would make sense. She was beautiful and so was he and they were about the same age, dancers, and both had a short stint on Broadway. It would make perfect sense if they were. Of course, there was no real proof of it – just idle gossip between students. Her modern dance instructor was the absolute last person she wanted to think about when she was with Liam, though, so she pushed her out of her head and listened to what he had to say.

“The thing I find most fascinating is that you do best in swing … Mrs. Shepherd says you dance quite beautifully in her classroom and I have to wonder if it is because you have a partner or because you have more fun? Or maybe you just like Mrs. Shepherd?”

“Oh, um …” She was not expecting him to talk to Mrs. Shepherd. Yes, she was Jocelyn’s favorite instructor because she was young, fun, and swing was much more laid back then ballet. She thought that perhaps she should switch her focus she was doing so well in it. “I don’t know … I suppose because it’s … I mean, you don’t really have to, um, be perfect?”

“It’s more laid back?” She flushed … could he read her mind? “That’s true … it is. I think that perhaps it could help to have a partner. Do you like your partner in swing?” He wanted to smack himself. That wasn’t any of his business, so why did he ask? How she felt about her partner held little weight in whether or not she performed better.

“I-I barely know him … he’s fun.” For some reason, she felt uncomfortable with her response and needed to clarify. “He’s become a friend, I guess?”

“Would you feel more comfortable dancing ballet with a partner?”

Where is this going?, she thought. “Um, I don’t know …”

“Would swing loosen you up? You are incredibly rigid and tense at the moment. To get past your stage fright you need to let everything go.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can.” He switched the music to a playlist Marina Shepherd had given him when he inquired about Jocelyn full of fun, upbeat swing music. “We’re going to loosen you up. You have to trust me and stop thinking of me as your instructor. We’re just two dancers right now, understood?”

She nodded, not being able to find her voice. She didn’t think she could see Liam as anything but an instructor … or that guy she’s been drooling over since the first day she saw him at Adlewood. Neither distinction would make dancing with him any easier but she had decided she would do whatever she could to get past her fears. She needed to stay at Adlewood and she needed his help. She tried to shake off her fears – shake off everything – as he came to stand in front of her. She just hoped her palms could stop sweating long enough to dance a little.

“Loosen up. I’m not a great swing dancer, but it’s not about being perfect, right?” He said, giving her a warm smile that made her insides melt. He may be trying to relieve the awkwardness but he was really only making her more nervous when he looked down at her like that.

He grabbed for her hand and effortlessly spun her around. She stumbled, but only slightly and he swiftly caught her and spun her again. She took a deep breath and let go of everything as he began to add in more moves. She could think of it as dancing with Niall – it was easy to dance with him and didn’t make her heart race – so she closed her eyes and pictured that and surprisingly began dancing much more smoothly and beautifully. Liam was no expert in swing but it was just supposed to be fun and he was honestly having fun just twirling Jocelyn around so she could get comfortable. He would have asked her to open her eyes, but he knew she needed to take baby steps.

They didn’t progress to ballet. Liam wanted her to get comfortable with him and he knew that would be a lot of pressure the first time they met. They stuck with ballet and threw in a little jazz, but nothing too crazy or intricate. They had fun – even Jocelyn when she could loosen up some. When they parted ways Liam made her promise to meet him again in two days at the same time so they could keep working together. Against her better judgment, she agreed. It had been far too much fun to dance with Liam. She got to see another side to him than just the dance instructor. She had even opened her eyes some by the end more or less out of sheer surprise that she could dance so well with him despite how anxious he made her feel.

Maybe he could help, maybe he couldn’t … either way she couldn’t pass up the chance to meet up with him again.