Halfway In Love (#Wattys2016)

33 - I was being rained with books on a day that wasn't even my birthday!

<Update : 10/01/17>

A/N : Hey fellas! How's 2017 treating you? I hope everyone's enjoying it so far :)

Anyways, here's next installment and I really hope you like it!

If you do, please don't forget to vote! 

Happy Reading !!!

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Chapter 33 - I was being rained with books on a day that wasn't even my birthday!

"This is worse than Calculus." Dave groaned.

"No it isn't." Mr. Maxwell and I said in unison.

"Is this really necessary? How does it matter if I don't dance at the party?"

"Because everyone does so at parties like these. There'll be people, media, everyone will be looking closely at you." His dad answered from where he sat at the couch in the living room sipping wine. He looked nothing short of a royalty. I looked at Dave sitting beside me in his pj's and laughed inwardly. Other than their personalities, nothing was similar between the father and the son. It was seven in the evening and I had just come Dave's place to continue teaching him dance as I have been for the entire week.

Today however, Mr. Maxwell insisted to see how it was going. Because this was his event, he said, which was tomorrow and therefore his reputation, he didn't want Dave to make a fool of himself. I thought that was pretty harsh on his side, but then I noticed the amused shine in his eyes and caught them both sharing a look, I realized it to be an inside joke.

The first day I had managed to make Dave sit and watch a few tapes of waltz and ballroom dancing to get the hang of it before we actually started with it. In this week I realized he was being more annoying than he was during Calculus lessons.

Even today, when we were almost done, he couldn't stop being whiny. I didn't understand what had gotten into him.

"Look, I've already gone through your childhood nuisance once. I can't do it all over again." Mr. Maxwell said to him. Dave just grinned in response.

"He's all yours." He said to me before leaving for his room. That sentence oddly brought a feeling like I was being rained with books on a day that wasn't even my birthday.

"Come on, get up." I demanded, standing up. "I don't get it, you have gotten so good at this, why are you being so childish?"

He laughed as he got up and took my hand in his before wrapping another one around my waist. "I just like to annoy him." I shook my head chuckling. Talking while we danced made it easy for two reasons. One, he was distracted from being shy about it. Two, I was distracted from these weird sensations running up and down my spine, erratic beating of my heart and knots in my stomach.

"Wow, you really are getting better." I exclaimed as he spun me around before taking me in his arms again. I had this strangest feeling to never let go.

"Aren't I?" He seemed just as pleased with himself as our feet moved in synchronisation.

"You look surprised." I laughed.

"Of course I aa...." His foot caught into mine, we spun around faster than I was able to comprehend anything at the moment and then I was flying backwards. I waited for the inevitable crash but it never came. When I finally got my bearings back, I felt Dave's hand firmly placed underneath the back of my head and when I finally opened my eyes I found Dave's face placed right above mine. It was so close I got quite cross-eyed just looking at his nose. But then my eyes slipped upwards and suddenly I was drowning in those green-blue eyes. They always made me wonder like they did now; how could they resemble the sea and the sky, emeralds and trees all at once?

They were getting darker with each second passing between. I wonder if that's what's called dilation of the pupils. Sherlock had mentioned it once. It meant that someone lik- I gasped softly and his eyes for the first time in the last (what had it been seconds?minutes?years?) left my eyes to travel downwards. Suddenly, I was very very very aware of every sensation in my body possible in the world. I could feel his heart beating wildly, not unlike mine, his shallow breathing, not unlike mine and his face inching closer, not unlike mine.

"Steph..." His whisper resembled a prayer, his eyes flickering up and down.

What was going on? What the hell was happening? I began fearing this unexpected, unnerving, strange all new things happening around me. It felt exciting but scary at the same time. And because I couldn't understand it, it became all the more frightening.

"What's all this fuss? People are trying to work!" Mr. Maxwell's booming voice was like a bucket of icy water. And just like that, the spell evaporated in a poof. In the next moment we had sprung apart and were both standing at maximum distance from each other as we could without looking weird when his dad entered the room.

"Don't mind him. He's sort of grumpy tonight." Dave whispered. I nodded at him watching his dad who was now looking at his expensive vase crashed on the floor. It was actually then that I noticed it too.

"Sorry dad." Dave said, guilt plastered on his face.

"Sorry Mr. Maxwell." I muttered looking down. I couldn't even begin to imagine to buy it myself it looked that expensive.

"Eh. I always hated that one anyways." He waved it off and my eyes flew open surprised, to find him smiling warmly at me.

"Just make sure no one hurts themselves." He motioned towards the pieces before turning to go back to his study but I sensed his sentence to mean something else entirely. But before I could ponder upon it, my phone rang. Looked like the entire universe was trying to get us to not practice anymore. The phone call confirmed my suspicions.

"Hello?"

"Hey Stephanie. It's Annie."

Who?

"Yes..."

"From the school newspaper, sports section, remember?"

Oh! Right.

"Yes of course! Tell me, what is it?"

"Well... oh hey... Ms. Jones?" A new rough manly voice suddenly interrupted the previous soft one. I strained to catch who it was.

"Mr. Arthur," I finally identified, "Is something wrong?" Beside me Dave was looking curiously at me, his eyebrow raised in question.

'One minute' I mouthed at him as I waited for a reply from the other side.

"Yes." He said and my heart plummeted. What could be the matter that a teacher has to call during holidays. "This is about an article's that's due?"

Uh oh.

Now I remembered.

An article that was due.

Due today!