Dancing with the Player | Book #1

Partners for a Reason

I stretched my muscles with the other dancers before we started the routine for the fourth time today. We had a dance competition coming up in a couple a weeks and we've been practicing non stop.

We had a contemporary and jazz group piece, a solo piece, and a duet piece. Unfortunately, Ms Saunders hasn't assignment the duet piece yet, but I was happy that she gave the solo piece to me. The contemporary dance piece was called Breathe Again. It's about one of us, which is Selena, that tries to get all of us to breathe again but we refused to since we all had masks on. During the piece Selena takes off our masks one by one until we all breathe again.

The Jazz piece was called No Roots and I liked it better than Breathe Again because the jazz piece was only for the girls. I also liked it because the dance was fun and involved props. The whole concept of the jazz piece was that we had no roots of being in a city and now we're free to go anywhere even if it was just with the one suitcase. In the beginning we're all reading a book then we each put them in a suitcase. One by one we dance while holding the suitcase. Near the end one of us opened the suitcase and we each grabbed a flannel top and dance while it swung around.

Last but not least was my solo to the song Lovely by Billie Eilish. It was my favourite song by her and I was glad I got to dance to it. My dance involved a lot of contemporary dance techniques but I didn't mind it. I'm still surprised that Ms Saunders picked me out of all the girls in the class. The girl's in my class danced so beautifully, I didn't understand why she chose me instead of them. That was until I asked her a few days ago and she told me that it didn't matter about how beautifully the others dance. She said that I'm more than that and how I don't dance beautifully, I dance with emotions and there's something raw about it.

After I was done stretching we were called by Ms Saunders to run through the contemporary piece another two more times. After that, the guys were allowed to go home while the girls had to run through the jazz piece a couple of times. I glanced over at the rest of the guys to see only James present. His eyes locked on mine and I slowly looked away from his intense stare. I continued going through the steps with the other girls. The dance wasn't too complex which I hated. Sometimes I liked having a challenge and although the girls found this dance quite challenging, I didn't one bit.

Once the jazz piece was over all of the girls left and went home, except me. Ms Saunders wanted me to run through my solo piece a couple times and work on small details that could easily be fixed. I didn't mind staying back since it would help me improve on what I needed to fix. What I did mind was the brown eyes across the room following my every move. His stare alone always brought a shiver down my spine.

"Thats all for today Stella. Remember to keep practicing and pay attention to the small details to make the dancer even better," Ms Saunders let me know.

I nodded my head,"I'll make sure of it."

As I turned away to go to my duffle bag in the corner of the room Ms Saunders called out to me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face her. She also called James to join us. I glanced at James to see him stand up and walk towards us.

"As you know I haven't chose who I wanted to represent the duet piece for the competition. I've been looking at each partner for a couple weeks and I saw some potential duet partners for the duet. But, they don't compare to you two. Stella, you and James will be the duet partners for the competition."

My eyes widened in shock at the information she shared. I couldn't believe she picked James and I to do the duet while there were so many good partners in our dance class that could've done the duet. I looked at James to see his facial expression the same as mine. His eyes met mine and a huge smile broke out onto his face. His grabbed my waist and twirled me around. I yelped in surprise and giggles left my mouth as I felt the air around me as James twirled me around. He finally let me down and steadied me so I wouldn't stumble.

Ms Saunders looked at us with her eyebrow raised, probably questioning our behaviour. Her eyes looked between James and I then she cleared her throat.

"The duet piece is called Trust. It's about a boy trying to get a girl to trust him again. The boy does everything to get the girl be with him but she doesn't trust me at all. In the end she finally trusts him and goes with him. The dance will be contemporary and there will be a big lift near the end of the dance. Now I need to know if you two are one hundred percent in this. So are you?"

"Yes," James and I responded at the same time.

Ms Saunders looked at me,"Stella with the contemporary piece, jazz piece, and solo, can you manage this too?"

It was a lot of dances that I would have to memorize and work hard but I knew I could manage it. All I had to do was practice, practice, and practice. There was a lot riding on my shoulders since everyone was counting on me to win the solo and now I had to win the duet with James. It was a lot of pressure and a lot of competition that I had to be aware of. Competition creates a lot of pressure but this is the chance to prove what I'm worth, to show what I can offer, and discover what I'm capable of.

"Yes I can manage it," I replied truthfully.

"Good, now we will run through the dance right now and practice more for another day."

James and I got into position and followed Ms Saunders' vision of the dance. I didn't know if Ms Saunders or even James noticed, but the dance resembled James and I's relationship. Once I caught James kissing Cynthia I didn't trust or forgive him. At times he made me feel like I could trust him, let him in again but I didn't. But in the end I did trust him and I forgave him. Yet, I haven't gone with him because there was still Dylan.

After what felt like two hours we finished running through the dance. The dance was a wonderful concept and I hoped that our piece would win the best duet on competition day. I grabbed my duffle bag and rested it on my shoulder as James did the same. Ms Saunders calls us over before we head out. We stop right in front of her.

"You know why I picked you two for the duet?" She questioned.

"We have potential," James guessed.

"Yes, you two both have potential but not exactly."

"You see something different in us," I guessed this time.

"I do, but not exactly."

"Then why did you pick us?" James asked.

"I picked you two for the duet piece to compete in because you two have a connection. A connection that everyone but yourselves can see. You both need to recognize that when you find someone you can really connect with it's like winning the lottery - it happens basically never, but if it does you really shouldn't blow it. You two are partners for a reason."