And Then We Danced

I Understand

The moment I stepped back out into the hallway, I pressed my back against the rough brick wall and tightly shut my eyes, clenching and unclenching my fists at my sides.

It had been three years since the last time I let my emotions surface, three years since the last time I lost control, and in one split second it all comes back to me. All because someone mentioned his name.

I strongly considered turning around and punching the wall, but I hesitantly kept my anger at bay and took a deep breath. I had to let the fire die, not burn brighter.

I tried to keep this side of me to myself, locked away in a place I didn't like to open, but in the end my temper always worked as a key. I tried to control myself, but I failed each and every time. My best was never enough.

"Hey, are you ok?", she asked. I calmed down a little, glad to hear the voice of someone I wasn't mad at.

I opened my eyes, and Maddie's concerned expression met mine. Her tears had dried on her cheeks and her eyes weren't red anymore. If I hadn't seen her crying, I wouldn't have know that she had.

"Yah, I'm fine", I lied, pushing myself away from the wall. I tried to keep my words calm, but they still came out a little harsh.

"I'm sorry", I quickly added, remembering that she was still emotionally stressed. "I'm not mad at you, I promise. I'm mad at him", I said, the words slipping out before I could stop them.

Her eyebrows lowered in confusion, and I instantly regretted my words, knowing that she was about to ask the one question I hoped I'd never have to hear.

Why did I even have to apologize? It's not like she cares if I'm mad at her, we only met half an hour ago. Granted, I didn't want to hurt her feelings, but we barely knew each other, there weren't any feelings to hurt. Were there?

After what seemed like an hour, she surprised me by simply shrugging her shoulders. "Ok, I understand", she said, smiling. She turned on her heel and started to walk down the hall. "We should probably get back to class, I don't want to keep Mr. Serious waiting any longer", she called back to me.

I stood there, dumbfounded. How could she not have the slightest bit of curiosity about what I just accidentally revealed? Out of all the things I expected her to say, 'I understand' was not one of them.

"Are you coming?", she asked, her voice echoing through hallway.

Her simple question instantly brought me back to reality, and I quickly ran down the hallway after her.

We slowly walked side by side, and I awkwardly shoved my hands into my pockets, looking for the right words to say.

"I, um... Thanks", I finally muttered, hoping that she knew what for.

Maddie laughed. "Don't mention it", she said, and a huge weight I didn't even know was there lifted off my shoulders.

And somehow, I knew that her simple reply had a much deeper meaning. I knew it meant that neither of us would ever mention it, to anyone. Her tears and my anger would be kept a secret from everyone else but ourselves.

As we walked down the hallway together, the only sound that could heard was our footsteps echoing against the hard tile floor.

"So...", I started to say, trying to break the growing silence between us, "how come you and your family moved to Maine?", I asked, knowing that it was another very personal question. Why couldn't I have just asked her a common question for once?

She tilted her head to the side. "Well, my dad got a huge job promotion, but if he accepted it, we had to move here", she explained. "At first I hated the idea, but then I found out there was an amazing dance studio here, and I love to dance, so I thought I'd give it a shot", she admitted.

I couldn't help but laugh at the irony of her words, and she looked over at me with hurt expression on her face.

"What?", she asked, clearly offended.

"Oh no, I'm not laughing at you", I said, removing my hands from my pockets. "I just find it ironic that you decided to give this place a chance because you love to dance, I decided to give it a chance because I can't dance".

She raises her eyebrows. "You can't dance?", she asked, her expression changing from offended to suspicious in a matter of seconds.

I shook my head. "Nope. And I've tried, too. After three years of taking lessons, I finally decided to just call it quits and accept the fact that I wasn't very coordinated".

It was true. Even though I hated those dance lessons, I hated not being able to do something more. I would still be practicing to this day if my mom hadn't finally agreed with me and admitted that dancing wasn't one of my strongest feats.

Maddie shook her head, mainly out of disagreement. "I don't believe that you simply can't dance. Anyone and everyone can dance, they just might not move like the rest of the world", she argued.

I thought over what she said. Maybe she was right, maybe I could dance, just not in the way that people usually do. Or maybe she was wrong, I just sucked.

"Uh-oh", she whispered, softly nudging my arm.

My eyes carefully followed hers, and I immediately saw the cause of her silent worries.

Mr. Serious was standing outside of the class room, leaning up against the door with his arms folded across his chest. His face was pinched into a tight frown, and he was angrily tapping his foot against the floor.

When his gaze landed on us, he scowled before pushing away from the wall and slowly walked over towards us.

"Well. Well. Well", he said, speaking each syllable in perfect harmony with each footstep. "Look who finally showed up", he said, a small smirk starting to grow on his lips.

"Sir, we-", Maddie started to explain, but he interrupted her by raising his hand.

"I wasn't talking to you, Ms. Emerson", he coldly remarked. He averted his attention over to me. "I was actually talking to you, Mr. Morris", he said, the smirk fully on his lips now. "I just received a call from Mrs. Toshney down at the front office, and she told me that you were incredibly rude, and walked out on her for no apparent reason", he said, and I tightly clenched my fists at my sides.

If I was alone, I would step forward and yell that there was reason I walked away, he was just to concealed behind his smug little attitude to realize that. But if I did that, there was chance Maddie could get in trouble for my small outburst, so I just stood there and bit my tongue.

"Now, Ms. Emerson, the rest of class is at lunch, if you'd like to join them, go down the hall and take a right. Mr. Morris, if you'd please follow me", he said, starting to walk down the hallway.

"I'd love to", I said coolly, and he stopped in his tracks, not expecting me to give him a reply. I could tell that I had wiped the smirk off of his face and replaced it with a scowl.

"Now", he said harshly, and slowly continued to walk away from us.

Maddie looked at me through a worried expression, and I gave her a reassuring grin. "Could be worse", I whispered with a shrug.

"Now, Mr. Morris", Mr. Serious' voice echoed through the hallway.

I gave her one last small smile before turning around and running down the hall, away from the girl I barely knew, and towards the man that I was beginning to hate.

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hey guys! im sorry it took me so long to update, for those that don't know I was at a wedding. but i finally found the time to write a little, so... youre welcome. :)

also, i want to send a shout out to @SilentMoons for the amazing cover art. thanks SM.:)

ummm... 5 votes and until next chapter, and please, if you like this story, drop a comment or two at the end of each chapter. i want to know if you liked the chapter, hated it, lost interest in it, anything. i just need to know that you want me to keep updating. thanks. :)

~FreeFallingAgain