A life less ordinary ||~~Elax/Elmax~~||

Dance practice

"Is there something wrong?" El asked. Max had been at her house since lunchtime and had been pretty subdued since she arrived.

Max looked at her, contemplating whether to tell her about Billy's comments and actions from the previous evening, "er, no...no, just tired, I didn't sleep very well last night" she lied, hating herself for doing so.

El scrutinised her for a few seconds, not sure if she fully believed her. Not wanting to accuse her of lying, she said "I didn't either, actually. So, um, anyway...you know the dance at school?"

"Oh...yeah...I meant to ask you something about that" replied Max.

"What?"

"Well, it's about what Amber said, you know, whether you wanted her to set you up with someone, like one of the popular guys at school?"

"No" El answered without hesitation.

"Oh, really?" asked Max, the knot that had been developing in her stomach relaxing slightly.

"Yes, why would I go some guy I barely know? I want to go with you...a-and the guys" she added. Max grinned at her. "Talking about the dance, there is one thing though" El said, looking down and fiddling with the hem of her top.

"Yeah?" replied Max, wondering immediately where the conversation was going.

"You know we're, like, meant to dance?" El said awkwardly.

"Clue's in the name" Max said with a smile. El looked down, clearly embarrassed. "What's wrong?"

"I, uh, I don't know how...to dance I mean" confessed El, looking her in the eye.

"Oh, well I wouldn't really worry, half the people going won't know either" Max said, trying to make her feel better.

"What will they do if they want to dance?"

"Well" said Max, thinking about it for a moment, "they'll either wait for the modern stuff so they won't have to do it properly, or if they want to dance to a slow number they'll just make it up."

"Oh" said El, sounding slightly disappointed. "Can...can you dance?"

Max grimaced internally, thinking back to the ballroom dancing lessons her mom forced her to have when she was little, "er, yeah, I can dance" she confessed. She watched as El's eyes lit up and groaned inside, knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"Can you teach me?"

Yep, there it is.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*

"Are you sure you want me to teach you? I'm not very good" Max said, trying to put her off.

El smiled, "well, it's either you or Mike...and we've all seen Mike 'dancing'" she said with air quotes.

They both laughed, and when it died down sat there awkwardly for a few seconds. "well, I guess we'll need some music then" Max said, accepting her fate.

"Oh, yeah, come with me" said El excitedly, grabbing Max's hand and pulling her upstairs to Nancy's room. "We can use Nancy's radio, she won't mind."

Max nodded and watched as El found a slow-ish tempo song they could practice to. Standing and facing Max expectantly, a smile on her face, El asked "now what?"

Max stood and cleared her throat even though she didn't need to, "um, yeah, so you, uh, put your right hand in your partner's, and your left on their shoulder..."

"Like this?" asked El, looking at both her hands in the correct position.

"Uh-huh, and then your partner will put their hand here" Max said, putting her right hand gently on El's waist, "and you'll dance about this far apart" she added, looking at the space between them.

El nodded her understanding, "and then we dance?" Max nodded, "um, how?"

"Oh, yeah" said max, laughing slightly, "uh, the guy leads, don't ask me why, and you just try and tune into his movements and let him lead your body."

El looked a bit puzzled, "can we try? You can show me."

Max was starting to feel a little hot and uncomfortable, but looking at El's innocent, upbeat expression, didn't want to let her down. "Yeah, of course...so, um, I'll start moving and you see if you can follow, ok?" El nodded, smiling. "And don't worry if you step on my feet, I'll probably do the same" Max said making a funny expression.

A few minutes and a couple of bruised toes later they were doing a passable impression of a slow waltz. Without them realising, as they were concentrating so much, the song changed to a slower one, and Max subconsciously met its tempo. They both happened to glance up at the same time and smile at each other, then Max did something El didn't expect, she moved her arm and body in such a way that El twirled outwards and was then pulled gently back into their dancing position. Gasping she looked at Max who smiled at her, "just for fun, or to show off, someone might do that" she said, looking slightly embarrassed afterwards.

"That was fun, can we do it again?" asked El.

"Yeah, sure" said Max, finding an opportune moment in the song to do so. As she pulled El back in, she stumbled slightly and ended up much closer than before, both hands on Max's shoulders. They almost stopped moving and stood in silence for a second before Max broke it, "and...and a guy might try that move" she stuttered.

El looked at her questioningly, feeling her temperature rise slightly, "what move?" she asked.

"Pulling you closer, like this, and they might stop dancing, like this" she said quietly, gulping slightly.

"And then what?" El asked.

"Th...they would put both hands around your waist, and pull you even closer" Max answered, not breaking El's gaze.

They were only stood a few inches apart, "and then what?" asked El, practically whispering, leaning forward almost imperceptibly, her breathing feeling ragged.

Max felt like her heart was beating so loudly that El would be able to hear it, "th...then they would lean in" she replied, also moving closer, "and you would lean in...and then...and then you'd kiss." Her eyes flickered to El's mouth, her lips slightly parted. Unbeknownst to her, El did the same.

"Max..." started El breathlessly

"EL! MAX! Dinner's ready!" Karen shouted from the kitchen.

They broke apart, each taking a step back, letting their arms fall to their sides slowly. El turned to the radio in order to turn it off, but also to take a deep breath and try to calm herself down. She had no idea why she was feeling like this. As her back was turned, Max looked down and also took a few deep breaths, wiping her palms on her jeans as they had become slightly sweaty. "E...El?" Max said.

El didn't turn to face her, she didn't trust herself to look at her right now, instead she pretended to be doing something with the radio, "yes?"

"I, um, I forgot that Mom wants me home for dinner, she wants to start doing 'family' dinners on a Sunday so we can all get to know each other better" Max said, not a complete lie but not the exact truth either.

"Oh, ok" she replied, looking around, "I'll see you out then" she said, slightly relieved.

Max nodded and followed El down the stairs. She popped her head around the corner to say bye to Karen and made her way to the front door where El was waiting for her. "Well, uh, see you" said Max, never having felt more awkward in her life.

"Yeah, take care, bye" said El. Max turned and started walking away, ready to jump on her board as she reached the smooth tarmac of the road. "Max?" El called. Max looked up immediately, expectantly. "I...thank you...for the dance lesson" she said lamely.

Max smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, "no problem, see ya El." And with that she hopped on her board, El watching as she disappeared around the corner.

*~~~~~~~~~~~~*