Johnny Castle's Second Chance (COMPLETED)

Chapter 9

Johnny did end up going to the party. He liked to find the shy girls and help bring them out of their shell. He scanned the corners of the room where they usually could be found, but  there wasn't a single girl not having fun. It put a slight damper on his mood, so he went to go get a beer instead. Ricco spied him and nodded at him, Johnny raised his beer at him and grinned.
Ricco announced Johnny," Hey hey hey ladies and gents! It's our  main man Johnny Castle! Welcome Johnny ! Nice to see you out! Go have some fun!" Then Ricco went back to spinning records. Suddenly Johnny felt some one come up behind him  and wrap her arms around him. He was startled, then looked down and recognized the bright red nail polish that Tina wore. He was not in the mood to deal with her.
" Hi Johnny!" She said when he turned to face her. He gently took her by the shoulders and tried to put some space between them. She was disappointed.
" Hi Tina." He looked completely uncomfortable.
" Can we dance?" She batted her eyelashes at him.
" Uh, Tina, I actually was just  leaving. I uh, have a bit of a head ache. Sorry. I've gotta go."
" You know, I could come with you
And give you a nice back rub, it might help." Lord, she just didn't give up very easily.
" Uh, no thank you Tina, goodnight." He chugged the last of his beer and set it on the makeshift bar.
He turned and left. Leaving Tina in the dust. As he walked back toward the main building Tina chased after him.
" Johnny Castle! How dare you?"
He stopped quick at the sound of her voice.She rushed up to him and planted herself in front of him hand on hip." What is going on? I thought we had a thing for each other! Lately you just keep blowing me off, I don't understand!" Her glare cut right through him.
" Tina, listen I'm sorry, I just need some time to myself. I don't want to be a jerk, but Tina, I'm just not feeling it. I'm really sorry. You're a nice girl, for sure! I'm just at a place where I need space." It made him upset to have to be the strong one, but v he tacky just wanted her to get away from him.
" You do? Did I do anything wrong?" She had sad puppy dog eyes. And her ruby lips quieted slightly as if she might stay crying at any minute.
" No Tina, we had some fun, but I'm just not in the mood to settle down right now. I'm awfully sorry, you'll find a guy that deserves you, I know it." He tried to give her a reassuring look.
" Gosh, Johnny, I'm not sure what to even say. I guess I'll leave you be then." She looked very sad. It wrenched his heart, but he didn't believe in stringing anyone along when he wasn't feeling anything.

" Come here." He opened his arms to hug her. She went to him and hugged him tight." We can still be friends, I'm just not ready to date anyone for awhile. "
Tina sighed and pulled back." all right, I understand."
" I can walk you back if you'd like."
" No thanks Johnny. Good bye."
" Good bye Tina."she walked away sad, and hurt.
Johnny went back on his way to his cabin. Only a few of the summer lodges had been winterized. He was one of the few brave enough to live out in the woods in the winter time. He liked the peace and quiet, so he had helped with the renovations to make it liveable, he even had a fireplace built and chopped his own wood. Johnny grabbed a couple chunks of wood on his way inside. The spacious room was neat and tidy and on one wall was the stone fireplace. He loaded the chunks of wood into the grate and then reached for his matches, lighting the fire. He changed from his work clothes into some sweat pants and a sweat shirt, the room was chilled, but once the fire got rolling it would warm up quick.
Johnny settled in for the night and watched TV for a time before crawling into bed. He felt bad for hurting Tina's feelings. It had been fun, but there was just something missing between them.
The rest of the weekend he worked by day and performed with one of his best students by night. The guests enjoyed watching the dance routines and Johnny was very proud of his student Kimberly, Johnny praised her once they were off stage.
" Kimberly! That was the best you've done yet! You've been practicing extra haven't you?"
" Yep! With Charles! We've been going though the routine in our down time when the studio is vacant."
Johnny smiled, " Great job tonight kid. Go have some fun now! You and Charles huh?"
Kimberly blushed," Yeah...kinda..."
He chuckled," Good for you. He's a stand up guy! "
" Yeah so far." She grinned. Then she went over to the female dressing rooms," Good night Johnny."
" Good night Kim." He strolled into the men's dressing room absently unbuttoning his top buttons after untying the bowtie he wore with tonight's suit. He was sweaty and needed a shower. The performance had gone very well though and even saw the Kellerman's applauding from their table at the side of the room. That made him happy. As long as he followed their rules they were happy with him. So Johnny had grown up and showed them that he would still be a valuable asset to their staff. Truly, he enjoyed performing, it kept his body in great shape and working with Ricco kept his mind in shape as they'd try to occasionally come up with new dance routines and music.