Dancing in the Dark ✓

07 | sasha

As I tried to hide my shortness of breath while I nearly sprinted alongside Theo down the school corridors, I wondered how seldom I exercised nowadays. Back when I was still performing, the many hours of dance lessons definitely built up my stamina and kept me fit.

Theo must have noticed my much quicker than normal walking pace, because he slowed down to match my speed instead. When I caught him looking at me for the umpteenth time, I sighed and decided to take the bait. "Yes?"

He grinned sheepishly. "To be honest, I wasn't expecting you to make a decision so quickly."

"I could leave now then, if you want," I deadpanned.

"No, no need for that. Thanks for joining us."

I looked up and offered him a small smile. "Where are you taking me?"

He winked, then pushed open a door and held it for me. "Oh, only our secret hideout."

It was just another classroom, but the walls were covered in bright coloured posters and aesthetic photographs. The whiteboard was filled with words, and various forms of equipment filled up the area. The chaos was topped with a song being blasted, the singer sounding like he'd bust a lung sooner or later.

Theo grimaced. "Raphael, could you tone it down, please?"

I flushed as the other people in the room turned towards us.

"Thanks," Theo cleared his throat. "Everyone, this is Sasha. She's our writer. Sasha, this one grappling with the wires is Raphael, our videographer. That guy at the back is Lars, our sound mixer -- we've got another one called Davi, who's in Brazil right now for some family matters, but he'll be back as soon as he can -- and this MVP right here is the one who keeps us all on track, our producer Halima."

Halima strode to me and wrapped me in a hug. "A fresh face, finally! And a woman! It's been such a drag working with these men."

Raphael huffed. "Rude." 

Theo changed the subject. "We should discuss how we want to film."

"We're going for a full documentary style without any scripts right?" Halima clarified. 

"Yeah, I don't want to fictionalise any of Hiransh's experience," Theo replied. "I know some documentaries are heavily produced and edited, but if we could keep it as raw as possible, that would be amazing." 

"What do you guys have so far?" I piped up. 

Halima hummed. "Hiransh and his dance partner, Daisy, are on board. They said they could ask their dance friends to join the project if need be, and even contact the studio for us to film there."

"Are there any competitions coming up?" I asked. "If you'd want a big final, concluding scene, we could possibly contact the event organisers for permission to film Hiransh and Daisy's dances. If not, we could comb through footage from their previous competitions?" 

"Good idea," Theo nodded. "We'll definitely ask them." 

The afternoon flew by just like that, with us making plans on the general gist of the documentary and the interview prompts. 

"Is that the time?" Raphael was the one who blurted out, inspecting his watch. "I'm so sorry, but I really have to get going for dinner. You'll be close up, right, Theo?"

Theo glanced at me. "I'll walk our newcomer out."

"Theo Atkinson, you're the reason chivalry isn't dead. Well, Lars, I guess you're the one who's going to stay behind?"

"No."

"Alright, it's all you, Theo! Goodbye, folks!"

And with that, Raphael and Halima dashed out of the room, fighting to get ahead of one another. Lars bid his succinct farewell soon as well after helping to clean the whiteboard. 

Once we were outside, Theo released a breath I didn't realise he had been holding. He ran a hand through his hair. "I'm so sorry for taking up your afternoon like that, Sasha."

My stomach growled and I hurried to mask the sound. "All good, I usually just study, not up to much."

But he looked at me, incredulous. "Have you had lunch?"

I paused. I had been so focused on getting work done during lunchtime that I had forgotten to eat. 

Before I could reply, he rummaged through his bag, and pulled out a container. There were different types of fruits inside as far as I could tell, including bananas, blueberries and some sliced apples. "Here, have this before you get gastric."

"It's alright, I can head straight back for dinner--"

"It's just a snack I packed just in case I needed some thinking energy," he chuckled. "Really, please take it. You need it more than I do."

Seeing that he wasn't going to budge, I gave in, only because my stomach growled again at that moment. "Thanks so much, Theo. I'll get you lunch sometime--"

"Just show up for our next writing meeting," he grinned. "Hopefully this one didn't scare you away." 

"I've committed," I reminded him. "I go all the way once I do." 

He nodded. "I don't doubt that you do. I'm curious, though -- what convinced you to join?"

I felt heat rushing to my cheeks. "I watched your previous works on the Film Festival website. They were really well done, especially last year's one based on our national Youth Olympian snowboarder." 

Theo beamed. "Ah, Isabel Everly? She was really nice to make some time for us. The final result of that documentary was really thanks to my team's effort -- I'm sure this year we'll do a good job as well. Anyways, what do you usually do after school?"

I blinked. "Uh, study?"

"You go to the diner where Deandre works, right?" He continued. "Could I join you sometime? I could even ask Leilani and we could form a study group."

"I'm in the science stream and Deandre's in the commerce stream, though, we won't be studying the same subjects as you and Leilani."

"It's just for the company," Theo explained, grinning again. "I'm usually busy during lunchtime myself having Class President meetings, so I don't get to hang out much with my classmates, and they've formed their own study groups. I feel bad intruding on those ones, so trying to form a new one seemed like a good idea. But all good if you prefer studying on your own, no pressure at all."

Maybe it was the way I was taken aback by how Theo Atkinson could still feel like an outsider, that caused a wave of empathy to surge over me. I cleared my throat. "As long as Lei and Deandre are up for it as well, I guess?"

His smile this time was wide and uninhibited, causing the corners of his eyes to crinkle. It was so contagious that I found myself returning an amused one and gave into the urge to make a teasing quip. "Are you that lonely?" 

"I've never been part of a study group before, even though people have asked me to join them," he explained. "It's exciting."

I chuckled. "As long as we get work done and don't give in to Lei & Deandre's squabbles."

His eyes twinkled. "I'll ask them. Thank you, Sasha."

I wasn't expecting such a sincere expression of gratitude, so I fell back on my defence mechanism. "I better get home, too. Or else my dad and Joshua might probably tear the house down."

"Of course. See you tomorrow, Sasha Li."

I dipped my head, and walked out the door.