Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ryder
After the rest of the dance team leaves practice on Friday, Carly and I stay behind again with Coach to work on our duet. We practiced a little yesterday, but had to cut it short because Coach had a meeting with Harrington.
“Okay, let’s see what you’ve come up with so far, Carly,” Coach instructs.
Carly stands in the center of the gym. Her hair sticks to the back of her neck due to the tough routine we had today. I can feel my sweat dripping down my chest and back.
“It’s not much,” Carly says. “I was up all night putting it together.” She motions for me to join her. “So you start by standing here, facing me.” She places her hands on my shoulders and turns me so we see eye-to-eye (sort of—she’s shorter than me). “And I face you.”
We’re looking at each other now.
“Um…so I thought we could maybe move closer and, like, press our foreheads together. If you want.”
I shrug. “I’m game.”
“Okay. So we spin away from each other.” She twirls around. “Spin.”
I do as she says.
“And then we stretch our hands to each other and find each other.”
I follow every direction she sends my way. I’m a little sloppy in the beginning because this is all new to me, but I’m getting the hang of it. The story is about a prince and princess who are unable to be together, so Carly wants the routine to focus on how much we want each other.
I’ve never felt that way about a girl before—about anyone, really. Of course I have people in my life who are important to me, but I’ve never been close to anyone. Never yearned for anyone.
But if I had to choose someone to pretend with, Carly would be the only person on the list.
She pushes some hair away from her eyes, cheeks a bit red. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know.”
I tilt my head to the side. “Can’t give you an answer if I don’t know what you mean. Am I looking at you like this?” I glare at her. “Or like this?” I give her a wide smile. “Or maybe like this?” I make a funny face.
She bursts out laughing. “No! You’re looking at me like…like…”
“Like I want to do this?” I take her hands and spin us around so fast the room turns into a big blur.
“Ryder?” Coach calls. “Can we focus, please?”
Shoot. I forgot that she’s here. Was having too much fun with Carly.
I stop spinning and drop Carly’s hands. “Sure, sorry.”
My partner laughs lightly, pushing her hair over her face like she’s trying to hide it, although it’s hard to do that because she has a ponytail. I can’t stop a smile from forming on my mouth. I like when I make her laugh. It feels like I’m making up for all the years she hated me.
Carly goes through the routine another time to make sure I’m following.
I’ve got most of the beginning memorized already, so we pretty much have smooth sailing.
But the second part is much more difficult.
Carly choreographed it in a way that it gets more interesting and intense and complicated later on.
Like the moves build and build until the grand finale at the end.
“I didn’t come up with that part yet,” she informs us. “But I want it to be a lift that will wow the audience and make them fall off their seats. If we can pull it off, I mean.”
I grin at her. “The two of us? We can pull off anything.”
“You sure can,” Coach agrees. “But let’s take one step at a time and not overdo it. We have time before the next competition.”
Carly and I take a break to drink. I go to the water cooler to refill my bottle while she looks at her phone. Then she joins me and fills up her bottle.
“Routine is solid so far,” I tell her with a smile.
“Thanks, but I’m a little worried about the finale. Maybe we can come up with something together.”
I chug down half of my water. “Sure, but I’m not sure what input I can offer. You’re the brains and talent.”
She laughs softly. “Maybe. But have you ever watched couples dance? I always loved watching the guy lift the girl. I don’t know why. It was just fun. Seeing her float in the air like that. I always thought the guys have super muscles.”
I glance down at my biceps. “Hmm. The boys kinda let me down the other day.” I lift my head. “But if you want to float in the air, you’ll float in the air.”
“I never said I want to.”
“No, but do you?”
She shrugs. “It’d be nice to add it to the routine, but it’s not necessary.”
I inch closer to her, dipping my head so my mouth is at her ear.
“I’ll make all your wishes come true, Princess,” I whisper.
Even if I have to kill my arms doing it.
Because there’s no way in heck we won’t at least get a trophy next time.
No way in heck is this beautiful, awesome girl who’s been working so hard, going to be disappointed again.
I pull my head away from her ear, give her a bright smile, then make my way to the bleachers to put my bottle away. But before I do that, I turn around. “Oh, I meant to ask you something.”
“Okay?”
I return to her, shoving my hands into my gym shorts. “You going to the party tonight?”
“Party?”
“At Ivy’s. The entire school is invited.”
“I didn’t get an invitation, so I doubt everyone is invited.”
My eyebrows furrow. “Oh. Did your friends?”
She shakes her head. “It’s fine. No one ever invites the scholarship kids anywhere.”
“You know, I’m a scholarship kid, too.”
She scoffs. “Maybe, but it’s different with you.”
“Why?”
She gapes at me. “Do I need to spell it out for you? Think about all the girls who chase after you every day.”
I frown. Why is she bringing them up? I don’t want to think about the other girls. I want to focus on her.
“So?” I ask.
“What?”
“Are you coming to the party?”
“I just told you I didn’t get an invite.”
“This is me inviting you. You and your friends and whoever else that wants to come.”
She twists her mouth. “I don’t know.”
I lean my elbow on the water cooler, careful not to put too much pressure on it and break it. “Let me guess…you’ve got plans.”
“Kinda.”
“Do they include figuring out our grand finale?”
“And tweaking the rest of the routine. And the team routine.”
I place my hands on her shoulders. “You gotta live a little, Cap’n. It’s not healthy for you to be cooped up in your room all night obsessing over the routine. You need to have fun.”
“This is fun.”
“Seems stressful.”
She folds her arms over her chest. “I want to do it.”
I hold up my hands. “All right. Just remember that the party won’t be the same without you there. I’ll text you the address in case you change your mind. We’d better get back to practice. Coach is waiting for us.”
She remains at the cooler for a bit before joining me in the center of the gym. We don’t try any lifts today—we focus on just getting the simple moves down. Coach says we’ll practice the complicated ones next week.
We hold hands and push away from each other, only to run to each other again.
I spin her a few times as we make our way around the gym.
Now’s not the right time to notice how soft and warm her hand is.
I don’t know why I didn’t realize it until now.
I actually like holding her hand, something I never thought I would like.
I used to snort when Blake and those sappy couples at school and on TV held hands.
Seemed silly. But it doesn’t seem silly now at all.
I don’t want to let go of her hand, but of course I’ve got to.
This is a dance, not a holding hands competition.
“Great job, kids,” Coach says when we’re done. “We’ll pick up from here on Monday. Have a great weekend.”
We wish her the same, grab our stuff, and make our way out of the gym. We stop before the girls’ locker room.
“So will I see you at the party?” I ask Carly. “No pressure or anything. Just curious.”
She shrugs. “If my friends want to go.”
“Okay. Later, Captain.”
“Later, Twinkle Toes.”
I whirl around. “What?”
She giggles, then her eyes widen and she covers her mouth. “I have no idea where that came from.”
With a wide smile on my face, I step closer to her. “That was pretty cute. But why the Twinkle Toes?”
She shrugs. “Because you’re a dancer. Why? Don’t you like it?”
“Not sure. Seems corny .”
She playfully whacks my arm. “Then Twinkle Toes it is.”
I chuckle. “All right, then. I shall take my leave now, my princess.” I bow. “And I may or may not see you tonight. If I don’t, have a great night. And don’t stay cooped up all night working on the routine. Have fun . And that’s an order.”
“Unfortunately for you, the captain doesn’t take orders from her subordinates.”
I lift a brow. “What about from her partner?”
She shakes her head. “I still outrank you.”
“Darn.”
She places her hand on the locker room doorknob. “See you later.”
“See you.”
I turn around and head to the guys’ locker room to change out of my gym clothes. When I emerge, I glance around the area in search of Carly, but don’t see her anywhere. She must have gone to the girls’ dorm.
I have some time before I need to get ready for the party and decide to take a stroll around campus.
Many girls pass me and wave and start talking to me.
But I’m not really interested in them. Of course I answer their questions because I don’t want to be a jerk, but I’m just not feeling it.
Which is weird because I’ve never felt like this before.
The Parker twins grab on my arms. “Will you be at the party tonight?” April asks.
“You have to come,” Avery whines. “Nothing is fun without you there.”
Interesting how I said something similar to Carly less than an hour ago.
“Will you come?” April presses.
I smile at them and the rest of the girls surrounding us. “Of course. I never miss a party.”
They cheer. I expect it to make me feel good like it usually does, but I don’t feel anything. Instead, my eyes roam the area, looking for the redheaded beauty. But she’s not around.
***
“How long does it take you to get ready, man?” Felix groans from behind the bathroom door. “You’re worse than a girl.”