All for the Mirrorball

Chapter 4 - Giggly Squad

The first few days of rehearsals went pretty well. Ilona was surprised by how well she and Alan were working together. He had a firm coaching style, but they were having so much fun - laughing even through the difficult stuff.

They'd also met a few more of the cast members and celebrities, and she felt like she was starting to get the lay of the land. They still had a week to go before the show.

Alan stopped dancing abruptly. "Are you doing okay? You seem a little off," he said.

"Oh... yeah, sorry," Ilona said, with a shake of her head. "I think I zoned out a little. Some of the dancing is just running together."

"Yeah, that can happen." He caught the distant look in her eye. "What if we call it early today and do something else?"

"Shouldn't we keep practicing?"

"Ilona, have you done anything besides dancing in the last week?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," she said with a nod, "I've gone -"

Alan cut her off. "The gym doesn't count."

"Oh," she said, looking a little defeated. "Well, not really. I've been pretty focused. Plus I barely know anyone yet, so I haven't ventured out too much, and I've been too busy to open any of the dating apps or anything yet."

The look of surprise on his face had her wondering if she'd overshared.

"That's what I thought," he said, his face breaking into a grin. "The first week is always the toughest, especially for the celebs who don't live in LA already."

She looked up at him with big eyes. "Really? Okay...yeah, good. It's been weird. I'm used to having my whole team around me. I'm more than ready for my sisters to get into town," she caught herself rambling again. "Yeah. Something different would be good."

First, he took her across the street to Erewhon for a $20 smoothie. They both agreed it was just a regular smoothie, but... you know, good. Next, they drove to a "surprise spot," which turned out to be a mini golf place.

"Oh my God, I love putt putt!"

"Really? Oh no, does that mean you're going to destroy me in this game?"

Her only response was a shrug and smirk as they practically skipped in to get their clubs.

Obviously, the game wasn't even close. They had fun either way.

"Are you just good at everything?" Alan asked as they headed back to his car.

"Be for real," Ilona said with a shriek of laughter. She looked over at his earnest expression and followed up with, "I promise that's not the case."

He shrugged. "Sure seems like it. Okay, so - dinner? Any preferences?"

"Oh... um, does Italian sound good to you?"

"Yes! I can take you to my favorite spot, it's not far."

She beamed over at him and he thought his stomach did a flip. Weird, he thought.

"That's perfect."

At dinner, they did some very well-deserved carbo loading and talked about anything but dance. Alan brought up her sisters and that really opened her up.

"It's clear y'all are really close. They sound like cool people."

"Oh my God, Alan, they are. If you think I'm cool... just wait. Do you have any siblings?"

"I do, and I do." Alan told her all about his brother, Gene, who was back in Minnesota and ran a dance studio with his wife, and his three adorable nieces.

"Wow, so dancing really runs in the family," she said. "And no wonder you're so nice! You're basically Canadian!"

Alan couldn't help but laugh. "You know, that's the first time I've gotten that one."

"Come on, you're a softie, Alan Bersten!"

"I think it's something about you - it's like separately, we're two serious adults, but together, we're just... the giggly squad," Alan said after a pause. To that effect, they both giggled.

"Oh! By the way, we have to come up with a team name - so be thinking about it!"

They spent the rest of dinner laughing over ridiculous team names - ranging from ones that just combined their names to those that celebrated their mutual love of breakfast sausage.

By the time Ilona was home, the faraway look in her eyes from earlier was long gone. She felt like herself again. She had a weird dream where she was laughing with Olivia until her face morphed into Alan's, but whatever.

The next day at lunch, Alan introduced her to Chandler and Brandon. Ilona hit it off with Chandler immediately, and they gabbed throughout most of the meal.

During a snack break later, Ilona ran into Rylee, a 2nd year pro on the show, and her partner Stephen.

"Hi! Stephen!"

"Ilona!" Stephen shouted as she pulled him in for a bear hug. "So good to see you! Just like Paris, eh?" He laughed at his own joke before officially introducing Rylee, who immediately hugged Ilona.

"I love you, girl. You're so funny! How's it going with Alan?" the cute blonde asked excitedly.

They talked about learning to dance and laughed for a minute about Ilona's "lack of grace" and Stephen's "inability to find the beat" before Ilona realized she was late getting back to rehearsal.

"So great seeing you both - really. Let's hang out soon!" She called over her shoulder as she jogged down the hall.

Alan had a stern look on his face. "You're late."

"By 30 seconds! But don't get used to it."

His stern look cracked into a smile, and he held out his arms, where she met him. "From the top?"

By the end of the day, she was still looking forward to Olivia and Adrianna's arrival, but she was feeling much less lonely and much more like herself.

****

I swear it's going to pick up some! I feel like the first week is important for their whole background. It'll be a slow burn, but the pace is still going to pick up, don't worry!! 

Thanks for reading!

xx