The Girl I Wanna Be (Dance Moms Fanfic) - Discontinued

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Paige waved to her mother as she pulled out of the parking lot. Nick hung towards the back of all of the kids, Paige lingering towards him. She still didn’t know where she stood her Chloe and Maddie. Plus they were on “dates” and she didn’t want to intrude. Nick looked really cute, or at least Paige thought so. He had on a plain t­-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. It was the most basic outfit for a guy to wear, and not many guys could actually make it look cute. Nick could though. He always did. Paige turned and looked at Nick who was too engaged in his phone to see what was going on around him. Her heart sunk slightly, so she decided to skip off without him and up with the rest of the kids. After taking one step, hop, or jump, Nick called her back.

“What?” Paige stopped and turned around.

“I thought you were going to walk with me…” Nick said with a small smile on his face.

“Oh it was just that you seemed to be having more fun with your phone.” Paige said, biting her bottom lip. Why were things to emotional between them so early on? They hadn’t seen each other since nationals, so shouldn’t things be awkward? Or at least normal?

Normal Nick and Paige were those kids who smushed cake in each other’s faces. They were the kids who dumped entire bottles of ice cold water all down each other’s backs. They were the kids who would go exploring in the woods and come back with tens of thousands of mosquito bites. They’d complain about being itchy but they both knew it was worth it. Paige never saw Nick as anything more than her older sister’s boyfriend. They only dated for about three months, but he was still the same old Nicky Dobbs. 

“No I was just telling my mom that we were here,” Nick said. He waved her back and Paige did what he said. There was even more room between the kids and Nick and Paige. Nick threw his arm around Paige’s neck as they walked into the fair and up to the ticket line. Josh paid for his and then Mikey did. Chloe and Maddie paid separately and that’s when Paige remembered that she left her wallet in the car. “It’s okay, I’ll pay for you.”

“Really?” Paige asked Nick.

“Of course.” Nick nodded, handing over a twenty dollar bill for their tickets. Taking two purple bracelets, Nick met with the group of kids just on the other side of the ticket booth. “Meet me back here in an hour. We’ll eat some dinner and then keep going. Kelly is picking us up at ten, so let’s do this.”

Paige looked around at the bright lights and heard the loud music. She didn’t know what she wanted to do first. But Nick did. Taking her hand, Nick ran off the Hopper. The Hopper was one of those rides where you get strapped in and you get raised up a little bit and then dropped down. Except this one had different levels. It dropped you a little bit more each and every time. Nick hated it, and so did Paige. That’s exactly why Nick wanted to ride it, too. Paige got strapped in and looked at Nick. They both had scared smiles on. The ride began and Nick could hear Paige’s nearly silent whimpers. Moving his hand from the bar he had a tight grip on over to her hand. At first their knuckles bumped and it sent a bolt of butterflies through both of their stomachs, hitting Nick a little harder than Paige.

What is he doing? Paige asked herself when she felt his large hand on hers. Paige struggled to lace her fingers through his, but once they were together, they didn’t let go. The ride raised them up and let them drop. Paige screamed every time and by the last one, Nick was laughing. Paige too. Once the ride ended, they both stood up. Paige was half in tears and half chuckling. Nick thought it was cute.

“I hate that ride,” Paige laughed with tears streaming down her face.

“Oh we won’t go on it anymore,” Nick said. He used one arm to pull Paige into a hug.

“Good,” Paige let out a few tears. Nick let go and smiled down at Paige. She smiled back up at him. “No rides for a while, ‘kay?”

“Sounds good. Where to now?” Nick asked.

Paige began to walk out as she laced her fingers through Nick’s again. She didn’t realize what she was doing until she turned back and saw Nick’s blushing face. This is weird. Paige thought. He’s a junior, I’m in eighth grade. Is this how Brooke felt with Brandon? “The slides,” Paige’s voice cracked.

She loved the long, multicolored slides and the gross, old potato sacks you had to sit on. They went through the slides a few times. At first separately, then they raced (and of course Nick won), and then they went down a few times together. At first, it was weird. Paige had never sat so close to him. Yeah, they’ve danced together for years and they’d done tons of lifts together, but it never felt that close and intimate. Nick’s arms were rested on his legs and his fingers barely touching Paige’s bare leg. Her face grew pink and luckily Nick couldn’t see her. Butterflies grew and grew and grew in her stomach and then it was their turn to go down the slide. Nick wrapped his arms around Paige’s waist. Giggling the entire way down, Paige tried to block it off. The two must’ve spent thirty minutes on the slides alone. And that was fine by them.

Paige and Nick walked side by side over to the ring toss. They had a little bit of time before they needed to meet up with everyone. The two competed to see how many rings they could get on the bottles. Paige won that time, but Nick insisted on winning her a stuffed animal. And he did, eventually. It was a giant stuffed monkey that he was forced to carry around for the rest of the night.

Everyone met up and ate dinner together. They all had corn dogs.  They sat at a picnic table, each couple did. Maddie and Mikey, Chloe and Josh, and Nick and Paige. Nick and Paige sat on the same side of the table.

“So what’s going on with you and Chloe and Maddie?” Nick finally asked.

Paige sighed and set down her corn dog, “They’ve just been lying to me lately and I don’t really like it. They’ve changed a lot. It seems like they’re better friends than me and Chloe and me and Maddie.”

“Don’t worry about it, they’ll be back around. For now don’t let it upset you. They’re just being mean.”  Nick said and took another bite of his corn dog.

“That’s what Brooke and Mom said.” Paige nodded.

Even later that night, there was about twenty minutes until Kelly would be there to pink the kids up. Paige and Nick climbed aboard the Ferris wheel. Maddie and Mikey as well and Chloe and Josh. Paige and Nick didn’t say much. They sat awkwardly apart and looked in opposite directions of each other. Paige ran her tounge across her teeth and enjoyed the ride. Soon, she felt the warmth of Nick’s arm around her shoulders. She glanced to him and grinned, falling into a small, side embrace. With her head on his collar bone.

“Are you excited about school?” Nick asked, breaking the silence.

“No.”

“Me neither.” Nick puffed.

“Let’s not go,” Paige made the bold choice rest her hand on Nick’s ribcage.

Paige looked up into Nick’s eyes. Blue meeting green. The cool air in between the two was suddenly replaced with warm. Paige leaned up, off of Nick’s chest as her eyes fluttered shut. Lips meeting lips.

“Okay,” Nick agreed as the warm air was again replaced with cold.

“Really?”

“Sure.”