Dance Instructor

I decided to practise my steps. I bounced up and down to the beat of the music. The beat was poppy and the lyrics were fun. I wanted to do the best I could.

I pointed at the mirror and then pointed at my head, shaking it at the same time. I moved my hips some more until the lyrics ‘like a girl changes clothes’. I pretended to grab the bottom of my shirt and threw it over my head. I kept bouncing for a couple seconds then I snapped my fingers and bounced again. I pointed to the mirror again and shook my finger back and forth in a no motion.

The chorus kicked in. I fanned myself as my phone rang. I stopped the music and rang to answer my phone.

“Hello?” I said breathlessly.

“Hey, Cyndi—”

“Hey Katy, listen, I was up all night working on the dance and—”

She interrupted me. “About that... listen, um, my old friend came into town unexpectedly and...” she hesitated.

“And?” I asked, knowing where this would be going. The smiled dropped from my face.

“Well... she’s a choreographer and she really wanted to do this dance.”

Even though I knew it was coming, I felt disappointed. “Oh. I see.”

“I’m sorry. You can do the next one if you want...” she sounded guilt-ridden.

“...sure.”

“I’m so sorry, Cyndi.” The line disconnected. I shoulders slumped as I closed my phone. I slowly sunk onto the bench. I sighed and rested my head on my hands.

After a while, my phone rang again. I glanced at the caller ID and couldn’t help but smile. I flipped open my phone and pressed it to my ear.

“Hey, James.”

“Hola muchacha. What’s up?”

“Oh nothing. I just got, for lack of a better word, rejected by Katy Perry. She asked me to do a dance for her and I was up all night working on it. Now she called me and told me it couldn’t happen.”

“Aw. I’m sorry. Hey, want to hang out?” James sounded excited. I giggled slightly.

“Sure. What are we doing?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out. I’ll pick you up. What’s your address again?” he asked. I smiled and told him. “Merci, Madame,” he said.

“Parlez vous le français?” I asked.

“...what?” he asked, confused. I laughed.

“Mm, thought so,” I said to myself.

“Right. So, where are you?”

“The dance studio.”

“Wow. Work-a-holic,” he joked. I rolled my eyes, but the smile stayed plastered upon my face. “Here, get your ass out of your studio, and get home and ready, so I can come. Er, over. To, uh, pick you up?”

I burst out laughing, tears pouring down my face. I overheard James yelling on the phone.

“I didn’t mean it like that! Oh, come on! It’s not funny...” he said, starting to laugh himself. We sat there, laughing, for about ten minutes. We finally stopped, taking in deep breaths.

“Alright. I’ll go home. So you can...”

“Don’t even say it!” he interrupted. I smirked.

“Fine. See you in an hour?”

“An hour.” He agreed.

“So, where are you taking me?” I asked James as we walked out of my apartment building. He smirked. “What, like I’m telling you?” he asked as he ran to his car and opened it for me. I grinned at him and sat down in his car.

“Why, thank you.” he started the car and put it in drive. I looked out the window as he passed by shops. We drove for a good half an hour. I looked at him and raised my eyebrows.

“Are you kidnapping me?” I asked suspiciously. He grinned.

“Maybe,” he said childishly. I glanced around me as he slowed the car slightly.

“Seriously, where are we? I’ve never been to this side of town before.”

He glances at me slightly, with raised eyebrows. “You’ve never been to the beach?”

I shook my head and smiled. “No. Usually, I go to clubs. And usually people who can dance come along with me.” I smirked.

He smirked as well. “Thanks. But, hey, how do you know I can’t dance?”

“Can you?” I challenged him. He opened his mouth and stayed silent for a second. The corners of his opened mouth rose as he shook his head. I laughed. He swivelled around until he found a parking spot.

He found one and parked the car. “Get out,” he told me. I grinned.

“So insistent,” I said as I got out of the car. He smiled and rolled his eyes. I walked out to where he was standing and looked at him. “Where to now?” I asked. He offered me his hand. I shrugged and took it. He started pulling me down the trail. We walked for five minutes until we reached an ice cream shop. He turned his head and grinned at me. I smiled back as he dragged me into the shop. We walked out, licking two cones, mine chocolate chip cookie dough, him Rolo ice cream.

We kept walking down the path. I started hearing music in the distance.

“Mmm. What is that?” I asked him.

“Oh. Every day around this time, local bands go on stage and show off their talents. Some of them are really talented,” he explained. I nodded. He smirked at me and started running towards the music. I sighed, but ran to him. We laughed as we reached the stage. I stopped as I saw a girl and her band walk up stage. One of the guitarists spoke into the main mic.

“Hey. We’re Heaven’s Dark Side. We’re going to play two songs today. One of ours and a song by Evanescence,” he said. The lead singer was drinking some water. She seemed nervous. After a few minutes of preparing themselves, bring me to life started to play. The singer took a deep breath and opened her mouth.

“How can you see into my eyes like open doors?” her soft harmonizing voice rang through the crowd. “Leading you down into my core, where I’ve become so numb,” her voice became gradually louder.

“They’re pretty good,” I whispered to James. He nodded, eyes transfixed upon them. The song soon ended, leaving the chilling last note to linger in the silence. The crowd cheered. They smiled at the crowd.

“The next song is called The Damned,” the lead singer said. Guitars started, followed by her voice. Her lips flew through the first verse, and floated onto the bridge.

“The damned walks this world alone,
They treat them like their made of stone.
Broken and bleeding all on their own,
Their souls scattered into the unknown.” These harsh lyrics flowed through her lips like fine satin. The song ended with a band. The crowd cheered louder. They smiled again.

“Thank you.”

James and I clapped loudly. I licked my cone again. “That was awesome,” I told James. He nodded.

“Yeah, they’re really good. Come on, let’s walk,” he told me and walked back from the place we came from. “So, you’ve really never been here before?” he asked me. I shook my head.

“Like I told you, I usually go to clubs. And if I’m in a bad mood, I get piss drunk,” I laughed.

“I’d love to see that,” he smirked. I rolled my eyes.

“I bet you would. Thanks, James,” I told him shyly. He smiled at me. I let my eyes wander around the place and spotted a group of boys checking me out and eyeing James. I giggled. James looked at me oddly. I shook my head.

“No problem.” He smiled at me. I stopped him and kissed his check softly.

“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear as I wrapped my arms around him. I felt him smile and wrap his arms around me.

“There’s a group of guys checking you out, Cyndi,” he whispered to me. I laughed.

“I know. I read their lips earlier. One of them said ‘how could a guy like that get a girl like that?’”

“Hmph,” he mumbled. “Want to make them eat their words?” I could hear the smirk in his voice. I pulled away slightly to look at his face. He looked like he was trying hard not to laugh. I bit my lip.

“Let’s do it,” I smirked at him. His ice cream seemed to have disappeared and so had mine. I wonder if we ate it. I couldn’t remember. He broke off from the hug and walked me to the bench a couple feet away from them. He sat down and I sat beside him, cuddling into his side. In my head, I was laughing loud and slightly nervous. He put his hand on my thigh and moved my leg to rest on his. I buried my face in the nape of his neck to hide my silent laughter.

I started nibbling his neck. He sighed and rested his head on the bench. I kept attacking his neck. I glanced at the guys. They looked like they were watching free porn. I stopped and placed my head on the bench next to him. I moved my other leg on his lap and laid won on the rest of the bench. I felt James’ fingers graze my bare skin. I decided to wear Capri’s today.

I poked his arm. He looked at me. I offered my hand out so he could help me up. He grinned and pulled me back up. I glanced at one of the boys. He said in a loud whisper that he still didn’t believe we were dating. I tried not to snort. I looked at James. He has heard them, and was smirking. He was just about to kiss me when my phone rang. Capitol P just happened to be my ringtone. We both laughed out loud. I dug through my pocket to find my phone. I found it and pressed it to my ear.

“Hello?” I said. No one responded.

“Hello?” I repeated. Still no answer. I hung up the phone and looked at the caller ID. It said ‘Private Caller’. I stared at it in wonder.

“What?” James asked me.

“I don’t know. No one answered me.”

“Hmm, weird. It’s getting late; let’s go before we end up fucking on the bench.”

“Or beach,” I suggested with laughter.