Pointe Shoes

Chapter nine

"Clara-Beara and I could just share my bed." Max suggested and I chocked on my coffee, which was more like sugar and cream with a little bit of coffee in it. "Or I can sleep on the couch and Clara-Beara can take my bed. It doesn't matter." Max added when he noticed my wide eyes and the light brown liquid that was now dribbled on my white shirt.

"I can sleep on the ground, if that helps." Danny offered softly, and I felt a slight rush of adoring toward him.

The thing was, neither Danny nor Lizzy could afford to stay at the Wildwood Inn another night, and had planned to spend it with a weird distant relative of Lizzy's. Max thought that was unexcptable, and now they are staying with us tonight. The problem was, the sleeping arangements. Orignially, it was that Lizzy and I shared a bed and Danny and Max shared a bed. That was shot down when Lizzy had said that although she liked me and thought I seemed nice and stuff, she didn't want to share a bed with a complete stranger. Then Max thought Lizzy and Danny could share, and him and I could share. I was still very nervous about it. Max was awesome and I liked him, but sharing a bed? What would Marnie say if she heard? I had high suspicions she would text me a list of possible baby names, and everyone in Max's family.

"Max, no, it's fine. We can share." I told him, trying to not sound terrified. Just a few nights ago I was terrified of even sleeping in the same room as him, and now we were sharing a bed? I knew Max would be a complete gentleman about it, but still. Scary stuff, man.

"Great! Now how about some Go Fish?" Max said excitedly with a twinkle in his eye. Max always cheats at Go Fish. We had played one of the first days, and I completely believed he was amazing at Go Fish, until I noticed I was sitting right in front of a mirror, and Max could see my entire hand. I made him promise me another Frosty after that.

"Oh no, mister. You always cheat at that!" I said, glaring at the boy. He grinned mischievously, winking at me.

"HE CHEATS?" Lizzy gasped in anger and shock. "All those years of thinking you just happened to be super fantastic at Go Fish, and you've been CHEATING?"

"Ummmmm... Maybe...?" He mumbled, eyes darting towards the door, and slowly backing towards it. Danny was now glaring at him, and Lizzy looked like he was soon going to be not very alive.

When Lizzy stood up menacingly, Max darted out the door. Lizzy and Danny raced after him, ready to pound him. Apparently, there were a lot of hard feelings about Go Fish. Go figure.

It was like a movie, how quickly the rain came. One minute there wasn't a drop in sight, and the next second it was a mess of teardrops from the clouds. Max, Lizzy, and Danny stopped at looked up at the sky, and then began to laugh. It was like your favorite song, watching the three holding each other and laughing in the rain. It made you believe in love. Not romance, but love. Kisses on cheeks, cheating at Go Fish, hugging in the rain. The real kind of love. The better kind of love.

Max stepped away and Danny offered his hand to Lizzy, his hair in clumps and her makeup smeared, but yet they were more beautiful than ever. Lizzy tentatively took the empty hand, filling it with her warmth. The two began to dance sloppily and happily.

I was too busy watching Lizzy and Danny to notice Max and where he went. I turned my head away to give the two a moment that was just theirs when Danny pulled her closer to a slow dance, and came face to face with Max.

"Dance with me Clara-Beara?" The question left my ears ringing and my heart racing.

Before I knew what I was doing, or why, I shook my head.

"Come on, Clara. It will be fun. I promise I won't step on your feet. At least, not that much." He grinned at me, and offered me his hand. His hair was dripping, making it look almost black and his skin look paler. Drops of water rested on his nose, his arms, his cheeks, his hands. Something about everything was way too real, and I turned around, and walked quickly back in.

"It's too cold to be out there. I'm going inside." I called through the glass door, my voice slightly cracking on the last word. Why was I acting like this? I was so scared, so scared of everything. Scared of love. Scared of taking a chance. Scared of happiness.

Why do I always do this to myself? I self destruct before anything can come of anything. One time, Marnie had a friend who was really cute. The three of us had hung out one time, and he really seemed to like me. Then, he asked for my number from Marnie, and when he texted me? I ignored him. I pretended I never even got the text. I never even knew why I did that until now. I'm scared of someone liking me. I'm scared of putting my heart out on the line.

The three of them walked in together ages minutes later, all of them giving me a worried look. Lizzy was kind of glaring at me, like I had hurt Max. Maybe I had. I walked into the kitchen, babbling about popcorn and a movie, hoping to fill the silence with ones that couldn't do any damage.

"Clara, Danny and I are going to go sit outside for awhile. I think you and Max need to talk." Lizzy told me softly when I finally turned around to see her face.

Max just stared at me with confusion, and maybe a bit of sadness, as Lizzy and Danny walked out.

"Why did you really refuse to dance with me?"  Max asked, moving closer towards me. I focused on his shirt. It was a faded blue like dark wash jeans worn a million times, loved to the point of holes in knees and tread bare between the legs. I tried to keep my mind on them, thinking about my favorite pairs of jeans.

"I already told you." I mumbled, still staring at his shirt.

"No, you already lied to me. What is the real reason you refused to dance with me? Did I do something wrong?"

I sighed, and looked up. His brown eyes were not brown; they were copper, and filled with sadness. We hadn't been friends long, but he obviously cared deeply about his friends.

"Of course not. I just... I don't know. I got scared. I've never really done anything like that before." I explained, hoping my poor, racing heart would just chill out.

"Well, why don't we change that? No pressure to two friends dancing in the rain." He grinned at me, and I had to smile back. I took his outstretched hand and we walked outside. The rain had toned it down to a light patter, and we began to dance.

One, two, three, four

I love the way he smiled

One, two, three, four

I loved is soaking wet hair. I wanted to kiss the top of his head

One, two, three, four

I kind of wanted to kiss him

One, two, three, four

"Maybe it's time we go in."

Thank you guys so much for putting up with my extra slow updates, I've been writing this chapter on and off since September.... You have permission to fight me. I will be slightly more frequent, but hopefully another chapter by April?