─ 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫. bh.jm

i. i think

joe knew this setting all too well.
the posthumous ticking of the cherry coated clock was giving him the biggest migraine ever.
it was 3:15, and that clock wouldn't stop ticking until 3:55. good fucking lord.
as his best friend lucy commanded their students to "wave with poise and pride," joe sat back and held his sugar rushing head with a damp, cream colored cloth.

"did you get drunk again, mazzello?"

joe snapped out of his strawberry state of mind. he was confused at first. he wasn't able to identify or even hear voices too well today. it was rami, lucy's boy toy. he had come into the breakroom, and joe hadn't even fucking noticed.

"when am i not drunk, rami? when was the last time you saw a sober joe, huh?" joe quipped.

rami chortled. "you right. you should stop drinking, though. you know how strict gwil is about drinking during the job."

ah yes, gwil.
satan in fucking stilettos.

he was the owner of bohemian dance academy, a three story building painted like the sky. it was located right next to may high school, where most of the students originated. joe had only worked here for, what, two years? but he had heard all of the horror stories about gwil.

"yeah, probably. but these fucking dance rehearsals make me wanna get shitfaced so bad that ill die." joe sighed.

"why do you work here if you don't like it, mazzello?"

joe pondered.

"i don't got anything else to do.." joe wilted like a flower. it was a sad reality. joe was a sheep. he followed along in life and left his path up to random choice.

"fair point."

just then, the two heard a loud bang from the main hall. then the sound of a woman, lucy most likely, screaming. their heads whipped back in unison, and they rushed to her aid.

"woah, what the hell happened??"

lucy sat in the middle of a crowded circle. her students were huddling over the blonde as she teared up at the sight of her broken ankle.

"im fine.." lucy whispered. her lemonade heels were broken to hell, and the actual heel part of the shoe was still sliding down the linoleum floor.

"lucy, holy fuck.." joe gasped.

lucy shot him a look. "language." she mouthed.

rami rushed up behind her and lifted her up by her arms. he signaled with only his irises to joe to 'pick her the fuck up by her legs or else ill cripple you.'

they carefully brought her into the breakroom, and she was still crying and trembling. lucy was bleeding heavily from her ankle, and this made rami bandage her laboriously.

"one of you needs to go back outside and teach the rest of that fifty minute class. they are NOT PAYING US FOR NOTHING!" lucy griped.

" they aren't paying us at all. " joe thought.

joe drew a heaved sigh. "alri', i guess i will." he threw in his towel and walked out with a look that could kill.

the students all sat in rows talking about lucys little incident. while he walked out, joe heard a bunch of stories.

'i think she's gonna quit'

'if she does, i call dibs'

'what if she saw me and was so astounded by my beauty that she tumbled and broke?'

'doubt it. you're built like a fridge, rog.'

joe snapped his fingers. "settle down.  we're gonna do something easy and just figure out a dance routine to perform for lucy since she broke her ankle. you have two weeks. go."

joe walked back into the breakroom with a relaxed but still hungover smile. "well, looks like my work here is dooone!" he stretched his fingers and flopped into the nearest chair.

he shot lucy a stare as he brewed his coffee. "are you doing better?"

"i guess..not really, though. how much better can i get in five minutes?" she huffed. joe handed her an ice pack and a coffee.

"i guess not very. what did you even do to get yourself into this mess?"

"tried to teach them how to arabesque mid air. got my foot tangled in my dress and dropped like a goddamn fly." lucy laughed it off, which joe wouldn't have expected, being that five minutes earlier, she was in such pain..apparently.

joe combed back his auburn hair. "im gonna head out now. tell rami to talk to me later, don't tell gwil im gone. snitches get stitches. and uh..hope you feel better soon."

lucy waved him bye and he gathered his belongings to stroll out.

but as he grasped that glass handle to the academy's opening, he spotted a face.

a face like no other. it made his heart throb and his pulse quickened. he was heading into the academy, and joe sheepishly stared at him, not even thinking about moving.

which was the stupidest move the man would ever make, because this knocked him into the beautiful boy.

joe and the boy were face to face. joe was..blushing. hard. noticeably. terribly.

"oh, im so sorry sir!" the blonde hair bored apologized. "im ben hardy. i came for the class. sorry, sorry. didn't mean to..um..bump into you!"

he bowed under joe's feet. "oh, it's no problem. just watch where you're going, okay?"

" even though it was my fault, but ok, joe. " joe thought to himself.

joe just waltzed right by, drove his cotton candy prius home as fast as he could, and flopped into his bed to waste away.

but he would lay there for the next few hours thinking about the blondie ben he met.

" oh shit. "

he didn't know it yet, but his life was about to change.
all because of ben fucking hardy.

"monday
start of my holiday
freedom for just one week
feels good to get away"