November Song

Chapter 1 - The Transfer

The Transfer

          The headmaster was a scary fellow. I was only in his office for about fifteen minutes, but it felt like an eternity. His no nonsense attitude scared me. I had two months of classes to make up for. Because of this, I had to do extra classes before and after school every day and three hours on Sunday. It was going to be extremely hard for me. Regular classes, extra classes, and three hours of dance group practice every day was a lot for anyone, but the headmaster didn't give me a choice. He basically just handed me my schedule and explained briefly the basic rules before handing me the Academy's handbook, a map of the Academy, and the key to my room. My weekly schedule looked something like this...

Morning
6:00 - 7:00 - Extra class
7:00 - 8:00 - BREAKFAST
8:00 - 9:00 - Salsa 1
9:00 - 9:30 - break
9:30 - 10:30 - Salsa 2
10:30 - 11:00 - break
11:00 - 12:00 - Salsa 3
12:00 - 1:00 - LUNCH

Afternoon
1:00 - 2:00 - Flamenco
2:00 - 2:30 - break
2:30 - 3:30 - Lambada
3:30 - 4:00 - break
4:00 - 5:00 - Belly dance

Evening
5:00 - 8:00 - Extra-curricular
activity
8:00 - 9:00 - DINNER
9:00 - 10:00 - Extra class

Then there was my Sunday schedule...

11:00 - 12:00 - Belly dance
1:00 - 2:00 - Lambada
3:00 - 4:00 - Flamenco

         It was a good thing I decided to arrive over the weekend. I'd at least have some time to explore the Academy's grounds so I don't get lost on Monday. The place was huge. While I was out exploring I ran into a very bubbly redhead. Her name was Samantha. She was a little too chatty for my liking but she was friendly so I decided to put up with her. Her big eyes looked strange on her small face, but she was cute. She offered to show me where the classes were held. I appreciated her help. It was through her ramblings that I found out she was the Vice Captain of Girls Dynasty and that we would be spending most of our evenings together. She brought me up to speed on the group and I told her I wanted my first practice to be one where I get to know the other girls. There were fifteen of us in total. Sadly, Samantha and I weren't in any classes together. Her specialty was ballet. I found that interesting. She didn't look like the ballet type.

               Monday morning rolled around with me still apprehensive about how my first day would go. I was fifteen minutes early for my 6 a.m. extra class. I used the time to get some stretching in and to practice a few steps. Salsa was a pair dance so I was interested to see how my instructor would work that out. I had done my research on all the dance instructors here. Christian Fernando was one of the best. He's from Spain, but has been teaching at the Academy for over ten years. He has a lot of experience with salsa. I was just eager to learn from him. He'd been a professional salsa dancer for just two years until an injury ruined his career. After recovery he decided not to continue professionally. That's when he turned to teaching.

I had just finished warming up when Professor Fernando arrived.

"Good, you're already here. That's a plus in my book. I assume you've already warmed up." I nodded. "It's November, right?"

"Yes sir."

"Call me Christian. Sir makes me feel old."

He spoke with a heavy accent but it was easy to follow his instructions. We went through a few basic steps and he made notes occasionally on his iPad. We followed up with some spins and turns. It was nothing I couldn't handle. I figured he just wanted to get an idea of my ability.

"Okay, good. You're not as bad as I thought you would be." I wasn't sure if I was to take that as a compliment.

"Am I late?" A new voice joined us. The professor huffed out that he was. I kept quiet.

"I said six, Cassian. Not six fifteen."

"I thought you'd need the extra time to test her."

"How thoughtful of you," the professor replied sarcastically.

The newcomer turned his head towards me. Just by looking at him I knew he was older. He strode towards me with purpose.

"I'm Cassian. You are?"

"November," I replied instantly. His expressive brown eyes bored into me.

"That's a nice name. Is there any significance to it?"

"I was born in November."

He smiled. "Well I guess it fits then."

"Are you done?"

Cassian just smiled at Professor Fernando and stepped away.

"Cassian will be your partner for these sessions and also for your salsa 1 classes. With your arrival there's now an odd number of salsa dancers so he'll be your partner for the time being."

I looked at Cassian. "Don't you have your own classes?"

"Cassian graduated last year. He's in charge of the salsa club here and well I'm his coach. He's the number one male salsa dancer under the age of twenty-one in the country."

What? I looked at him with wide eyes. There's no way I'd be good enough to partner him even if it's just practice.

"Don't worry. I still live on the Academy grounds. Any dancing at all is practice for me. Plus I'm free when morning classes are going on anyway. It's no problem really."

I nodded. Knowing that he was a sort of a professional dancer didn't do much for my nerves.

"Will Maria be arriving anytime soon?"

"She'll be here in five minutes."

"You should warm up."

Cassian moved to one corner of the room and started warming up. Professor Fernando talked me through a few more steps and made some more notes. By the time he'd finished Maria had shown up.

"I want you two to do a simple routine, nothing too difficult." Both Cassian and Maria nodded. "You will follow them keenly. Make sure not to miss anything. After they're finished you will switch places with Maria."

It sounded simple enough, except it wasn't. What Cassian and Maria thought was simple looked extremely difficult for me. They moved together like two people who had been dancing together for years. There's no way I was good enough to do that.

They did the routine once more and then it was time for me to do it with Cassian. The first few moves were okay. It's the turns and spins that I was worried about. After three times of unsuccessfully landing one turn, Professor Fernando stopped us, clearly annoyed.

"Stop. The reason you're finding it difficult is because you're not letting Cassian lead. I'm curious. What was your last partner like? Was he any good?" He didn't let me answer. "Try it again. This time, don't think or focus on your movements. Listen to the music and let Cassian lead you."

I nodded. He was right. The minute I let Cassian take charge, everything came together. I smiled when we pulled apart. "Not bad," he said. Dancing with him didn't feel as daunting as before.

"See how easy that was," Professor Fernando interjected. "We're finished for today. I'll see you in class first period. Let me just double check your schedule to be sure. Our next extra lessons are tomorrow evening and then Thursday morning and Friday evening."

"That's correct."

"Good. Go get cleaned and up and ready for breakfast."