Dance Instructor

I just came back from a couple hours of dancing at the studio. I plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV, yawning slightly and stretching. My phone started singing. I groaned and opened it.

“Hello?” I mumbled.

“Hey!” Lindsey’s cheery voice rang through the phone. I smiled in my tired state.

“Hey,” I responded.

“Are you busy today?” she asked me eagerly.

“No. What’s up?” I asked.

“Do you want to go shopping today? With Jennifer?”

“Yeah, okay,” I agreed.

“Okay, we’ll come pick you up around two and we’ll go shopping,” Lindsey said. I smiled.

“Okay, sounds good. Bye, see you then,” I told her and hung up after she said ‘bye’. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was eleven thirty. I sighed and heaved my ass off the couch to go take a relaxing and refreshing shower.

I had just finished tying my hair up as the buzzer thing rang. I ran across my apartment.

“Hello?” I said breathlessly into the speaker, pressing the button.

“Hello Ms. Carvel. There are two ladies down here who say they have a-”

I cut Charles off. “Thanks, Charles. Send them up,” I told him. I ran to my room to get my purse and ran back while I heard a knock at the door. I laughed and ran back to open the door. Lindsey and Jennifer were standing the hall, smiling. I stood back to let them in.

“Come on in,” I told them. They walked in, looking around.

“Nice place,” Lindsey complemented me. I shrugged and laughed.

“Nothing too special.”

“Are you ready?” Jennifer asked me. I nodded, grabbing my keys from the counter.

“Let’s go,” I smiled.

“Oh, this is so cute. It really goes with your eyes,” I said, holding a purple dress next to Jennifer. She smiled at me and took it.

“Thanks Cyndi. I’m going to go try it on,” she said, walking to the change room. I smiled and started to look through another rack of clothes. I looked at Lindsey.

“You find anything?” I asked her. She sighed and shook her head.

“Not anything I like. Hey, listen, I want to talk to you about something,” she began but was interrupted by Jennifer’s voice.

“Guys, look!” she squealed. I turned around to face her and smiled approvingly.

“You look awesome!” Lindsey said with a touch of awe. I grinned and nodded.

“Told you so,” I told her. “You going to take it?” I asked.

She looked at the price tag and cringed. “Do you think I can afford a two hundred dollar dress?” she sighed. “Back to the dressing room,” she said and walked back. I turned back to Lindsey.

“Pity. She looked amazing,” I told her. Lindsey nodded. Jennifer walked out of the change room, dress in hand.

“Do you mind if I take that?” I asked Jennifer. She looked at the dress and handed it to me. I grinned and hopped off the dressing room.

“She seems very nice.” I heard Lindsey’s voice. They started talking in hushed tones, but loud enough for me to hear.

“She does. Do you think she likes James? Those two seem to have something going on there,” Jennifer said. I took off my shirt and pants, reaching for the dress.

“I’m not sure if she likes him, but he likes her. There’s no question about it,” Lindsey said. I froze, the dress hanging on one strap. My eyes drifted towards the door of the dressing room. I took the rest of the dress off and put it on as quickly as possible, still in shock. Even if he liked me, I don’t like him. But, he doesn’t like me, so there’s nothing to worry about, I told myself. I took a deep breathe, put on a smile and unlocked the door.

“What do you think?” I asked them, twirling a bit. Lindsey nodded as did Jennifer.

“Looks good,” Lindsey said. Jennifer turned around to shirt through the rack behind her. I winked at Lindsey and walked back into the dressing room, putting my clothes back on.

“I think I’ll take it,” I said, hoping Jennifer wouldn’t discover my bluff.

“Okay. This store is way too expensive, anyway. You girls want to go get some coffee?” Lindsey asked us. We agreed. I walked to the cashier to pay for the dress. The girl there smiled at me and scanned the dress. I handed her my MasterCard.

“Thank you, and have a great day,” she smiled, putting the dress in a bag and handing it to me. I smiled at her.

“Thank you,” I responded. We walked out of the store and went across the street to Starbucks. We ordered our coffee and sat by a table by the window.

“Ah,” I breathed as I took a sip of the hot liquid.

“So, Cyndi, got a boyfriend?” Jennifer asked. I shrugged.

“Nah,” I said.

“Nobody that you have your eye on?” Jennifer pressed. I smirked inwardly and narrowed my eyes.

“What are you getting at?” I asked. She shrugged.

“Nothing really. Trying to start up some sort of gossip,” she laughed.

“Well, to answer your question: not really. Like, I know a lot of guys, but some of them don’t seem… I guess, we’re just friends, you know. Plus, most of my guy friends got girls. So do most guys on the streets these days,” I frowned slightly. “Besides, I don’t feel like I want anyone recently,” I told them. Lindsey nodded.

“You might feel differently later. When I met Gerard, I really liked him, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted a boyfriend. I got a loving husband instead,” she laughed and smiled. “They’re kind of cute,” she noted, looking over my shoulder. I turned around to find Mark and his friends entering the shop.

“That’s my friend Mark, with some of his other friends,” I told her.

“Oh,” she nodded.

“Hey, Cyndi,” a familiar voice said. I looked up to see Mark standing there with a couple of guys behind him, smirking.

I rolled my eyes but smiled. “Hey, Mark. This is Jennifer, and Lindsey,” I introduced them. He smiled at them.

“This is Jake, Kyle, and Tim,” He gestured to the guys behind him.

“Hi,” I smiled sweetly at them. They all gaped at me. I giggled inwardly.

“Kate was looking for you earlier. She told me to tell you to meet her at the studio around two,” Mark informed me. I groaned.

“But, I was there from four to nine! I’m not a dancing machine,” I whined.

“Four AM?” Mark asked me. I nodded.

“Wow,” Mark said. “Whatever, I’ll talk to her, okay?” he told me. I smiled gratefully at him.

“Thank you,” I said. He smiled at me and departed. I turned to the girls. “We better get going, eh? Still have half of the afternoon left.”

“Were going to leave now, okay? I’m pretty tired,” Lindsey said. I nodded.

“Okay,” I told her and hugged her. I hugged Jennifer next. “See you later,” I told them. I glanced at one of my bags. “Oh, guys, wait!” I shouted. I picked up the bag and took out the purple dress. I turned around and handed it to Jennifer. She took it from me, speechless.

“You can’t…” she mumbled. I laughed.

“Oh yes, I can. You looked better in it anyway,” I told her, smiling. She laughed and hugged me tightly.

“Your welcome,” I laughed. She pulled away and grinned.

“I’ll pay you back,” she swore. I shrugged.

“You don’t have to. It’s a gift from me, to you,” I told her.

She smiled at me again.

“Thank you!”