A Love as Hard as This

Chapter 3

Richelle's Perspective:

Is Miss Kate kidding right now? I have to dance with Noah? She's obviously seen how much I don't like him, she's done this to torchere me on purpose.

I don't like Noah for many reasons, but the first, and most prominent, is that I know that he likes me. And that's bad, for many reasons.

"So..." he says. "Our duet's gonna be awesome. Should we get started?"

Awesome?! I don't even have words for his immaturity right now. Is he blind, or just stupid? I'm guessing the latter of the two, since he won't stop staring at my face.

"Let's just get this over with, got it?" I snap, dragging him to the side of Studio B, away from the others. "What do you want to start with?"

"How about we begin with you behind me, and then you come out, sort of in a dip, like this." He says, acting it out as he talks. He keeps talking about the choreo, and I'm impressed. Noah may be a ridiculous person, but he really is an amazing dancer.

Somehow we make it halfway through the routine, and I didn't correct anything he came up with.

"I'm just going to grab water, okay?" I say, and curse myself when I go off. Why did I ask his permission? This is stupid, get out of it, Richelle. No one should tell you what to do, especially not some boy.

When I go back to Noah, he asks, "Do you want to put a lift in it?"

"Sure." I answer. Lifts are more advanced, which means it'll impress Miss Kate more, and I'll do anything to prove to her that I'm the best dancer.

"You know the star lift, right?" I nod and get into preparation, but when his hands go on my waist, my breath hitches.

Stop it, Richelle, I tell myself. Nothing's new, you've danced with boys before.

When he lifts me up, I notice he's pretty strong. He doesn't wobble or anything, and is an excellent base. It's good for the dance, but bad for me. If this routine goes well, I might have to partner with him more.

And when he brings me down, it's clear that everything's only getting worse. He just keeps staring at me, but it's not in a romantic way anymore. It's like he's trying to figure out a puzzle.

So I back away. I don't know what else to do, but I can't take a chance that he'll find out about me. About my secret. And he can't, no one can.

"Guys!" Miss Kate yells, getting everyone's attention. "We're going to show the duets now!"

Camille and Josh go first, and their duet's pretty good, and I'm worried. Ours is better, and I'm afraid of what that might mean.

Then Gabby and Ethan go, and their duet's a little better. It has a lift and some complicated sequences, but I still don't think it'll beat ours.

Finally, it's our turn to go. We get into position, and when the music starts playing, we execute everything flawlessly. It feels amazing dancing with him.

When we finish, I look over at Miss Kate, and she's speechless. "Wow, guys. You're going to have to work together more often." She says.