Emily

Chapter 3

“And ONE, two, three four! ONE, two, three, four!”

Adrian’s voice reverberated around the hall, the only other noises being the sound of feet sliding on wood, and the occasional breath from the dancers. Theo and Emily had worked solidly for two months, attending junior, senior and individual practices until their feet were hideous to look at, and the hard work had paid off. Adrian could hardly recognise the girl who was dancing in front of him now compared to the one who had shuffled into the studio two months ago, without a shred of self-confidence in sight. Emily’s naturally athletic body shape had stood her in good stead, and with a bit of endurance training she was really holding up to Theo’s dancing, which had been eight years in the making.

“Okay, take a break. Your cha-cha is coming along nicely, but that rumba is still looking as stiff as a board, Emily. You really need to loosen up.”

Emily grimaced and threw a towel over her head. “Do I have to do that stupid thing? It’s all posturing and ridiculous acting.” Theo laughed.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough.” He said, sitting beside her. Adrian’s cell phone rang, and he looked at the number before saying “Five minutes,” answering the phone as he walked out the door.

Theo had enjoyed the past couple of months, and he really believed that Emily had worked hard to get to where they were now. Her personality had finally started to shine through, although he was still very unsure about anything unrelated to dancing - all he knew was that she had a mother. As he sat there he realised she didn't know anything about him either, just that he was seventeen and in his second last year of high-school. He glanced over to where Emily was taking off her dancing shoes, looked at his watch and decided to make the most of the rest of the afternoon.

"Do you want to go for coffee somewhere?" He asked casually, packing away his shoes and towel. She looked at him startled, not expecting the question.

"Like where?" she asked hesitatingly, her eyes flickering down.

"Anywhere, although we don't have tons of time. There's a corner cafe round the corner that makes amazing fridge-cake, if you like fridge-cake. I definitely do." He smiled at her, and she smiled at her feet.

"I have to check with my mom, she's anal about that kind of thing, but I don't see why not. Is about an hour ok?" she looked at him.

"Sure." He said, lifting his tog-bag over his shoulder.

A quick phone call later and they were walking down the road, silently side by side. Theo wondered whether he was doing the right thing, but decided that there was no harm in getting to know his dancing partner better. Dancers are entitled to know something about the people that they were so physically close to, he reasoned, and besides, she didn't have to say anything she didn't want to.

The cafe was practically deserted on a Wednesday afternoon, and there was an old man standing behind the counter, reading a newspaper.

"Afternoon, young whipper-snappers." He greeted them jovially, and they ordered two slices of fridge-cake with a decaf latte for Emily and a cappuccino  for Theo.

"I'm addicted to caffeine." he admitted, and Emily smiled.

"It makes me jittery and I can't concentrate on anything properly for about an hour afterwards. A real pain in the neck for staying up late." She looked down at her hands.

"Why do you stay up late?" Theo asked.

"I write music in my spare time. It's something that my mom doesn't really approve of, so I try and keep it under wraps as much as possible."