An Artist in Love

Chapter 3: Preparing for the Competition

Lexi's POV:

This is it! Exactly one month until the battle of the Dance Troupes. It's 4:30 in the afternoon and we (my group mates and I) are supposed to meet up here in the dance studio right now to practice our dance routine. I already set up the cassette and plugged in the usb. I put the music on pause and sat beside the cassette silently. "Hm... since I guess they'll still be taking long, I'll draw first," I said to myself, bringing out my sketch pad and charcoal pencil. Because there was no other subject to draw, I just chose the entire room. I sketched it the way I saw it, from my perspective. "Lexi?" a deep voice called out. It surprised me and made me jump up from the floor a little. "Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Dan apologetically said as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"Oh, it's okay," I replied. He sat beside me and looked at my sketch. "Woah..." he muttered. "A realist, I see. It looks amazing," he commented. "Th-thank you! It's just a sketch though. I'd love it if I could paint on a canvas," I stated. He looked at me with big, shocked eyes. "What?" I asked. "You... you paint?" "Mhm. Ever since..." "Ever since?" "N-nothing. Anyways, do you paint as well?" "YEAH! I mean... ehem... yeah." I couldn't help but chuckle. "What?" he asked in puzzlement. "Haha! Nothing. You can just be really cute sometimes!" I remarked. I noticed him turn red, so I asked, "A-are you okay? You seem a little... red." "WHAT?! Y-yeah I'm fine. Wait a moment," he spoke in a hurried manner before running out of the room and leaving me.

"He just left me... I was supposed to ask him his favorite artist. Oh well..." Here I am, talking to myself again. I continued to sketch, adding more shading and details to my artwork.

Dan's POV:

I hurriedly left the room and leaned on the wall. I closed my eyes for a moment and her face flashed in my mind. "NO! This can't be happen --" "Hey, Dan! Everything cool?" Chan Min asked me. "And why is your face all red? Are you okay?" I gave a deep sigh and said, "Why is this happening to me?" "What is?" "THIS!" "Ummm... you're blushing and... sweaty. Hmm... DID YOU KISS SOMEONE?!" "No! Why would I --" I was saying before Lexi's face popped into my head again. I felt my face steam up again. "GAH!" I exclaimed, covering my blushing face and sliding down the wall to sit.

"Well somebody's got some serious issues," Beatrice, the mean girl of the class, said then walked past me and entered the room. "Can you just tell me, Dan?" I took a deep breath and said, "ITHINKIHAVEACRUSHON--" "Ah, love! Such a petty thing to feel. What good does it bring but bravery? That which can lead to stupidity," August, the emo guy, suddenly interrupted before going in the room. "That's exactly what I thought!" I remarked. "You know what? Let's just forget about this for now and get our head on straight. We got a competition to win!" Chan Min cheered as he helped me up.

"So how many more are we waiting for?" Beatrice asked. "Seven," Lexi answered with a smile. Not soon after, the four geeks came marching in. "Well, that's three to go!" Chan Min said. "Hey nerds," Beatrice said, pertaining to Kim, George, Dayna, and Leah, "Do you know where the other three are?" "N-nope," George answered. "HERE!!!" Jake yelled to the whole room with his hand up high. "We noticed that," Beatrice said coldly and annoyed. "Psh, just cause no one noticed your presence!" "WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN --" "A-alright guys, calm down," Lexi interrupted their argument, "let's all be happy today and keep positive!" The two simply snickered and rolled eyes at each other then took their seats.

Ugh, how long do we have to wait? Seriously! It's 5:00 and Lexi said 4:30. After about ten minutes, we heard a soft knock on the door. Lexi went and opened it to find Sarah, the nice girl. "I'm sorry I'm late. I just had a few errands to run for the principal." "It's okay," Lexi replied. "Oh, by the way," Sarah added, "Trixie can't come today. She said she had a lot of stuff to do at home." "Ahhh, I see. So, shall we start?" Lexi announced. We all got to our feet and started practicing.

Lexi's POV:

An hour has passed and everyone started to leave. Soon after, there was only me, Dan and, Chan Min left in the studio. "I'll practice some more, you guys can go ahead," I told them. "No way you've been practicing for an hour already! We all have. Take a break, Lexi," Chan Min replied. "But I --" I was saying, before Dan came towards me and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me to walk and unfortunately, the cassette's wire was on the way and I tripped. I closed my eyes in fear, and the next thing I knew I was staring into Dan's eyes. His one arm supported my back and his other hand supported my head. My arms were wrapped around his neck and my whole body was basically tilted.

"Uhh... Thank you, Dan! My face would've met the floor if you didn't catch me," I said. He only stared at me and his obvious expression stated that he was also scared for a moment. I got back on my feet again and smiled at him. I noticed that he had turned red again. "Dan, you okay?" I asked. He only nodded. "Well then that's great you two! Shall we go?" Chan Min spoke up. "Yeah, of course. Sorry for the delay." "Nah! It was nothing."

We went out of the room and as we walked, Dan was between me and Chan Min. "A-are you okay?" he asked me. "Mhm. Thanks to you, I'm fine!" I cheered. He nodded again. "I was scared for a moment, but then I felt your arms supporting me and I guess I didn't feel as scared," I added. He smiled. Hm... he really doesn't talk much, but that's okay.

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