"Federico, you have got to try the soft pretzels here man, Leon and I get them all the time, and we still can't believe how much cheese sauce they give you." Andres high-fived Leon, but Federico's attention was directed elsewhere.
"Who are they.." he asked in awe as a group of girls entered the room.
Leon followed his gaze, "Oh. The Pop's." Even from across the room the hairs on the back of his neck stood on edge from fear and admiration.
"Pop's?" Federico questioned.
Andres mimicked Violetta's voice, "It's the abbreviation for Popular."
"They have names don't they?"
Leon lifted an eyebrow, "Uh..yes. The brunette one is Violetta. The black-haired is Francesca and—"
"The luscious one is, the magnificent, Ludmila Ferro." Andres interrupted holding his hands out for a double high-five, which Leon and Federico took the opportunity to slap.
"You guys know these girls?" Federico asked, as he checked his hair.
"We're not allowed to talk to them," Andres took a bite of his pretzel.
"Not that he would want to…" Leon leaned into Federico, "Ludmila asked him for a copy of his English homework and he fainted."
Federico chuckled, "Dude you fainted?"
"I had low blood-sugar that morning!" Andres protested.
''So you think you can introduce me to Ludmila?"
"Like I said before, we're not allowed to converse with the Pop’s," Andres reiterated, pointing to himself and Leon.
"But if you wanna take a crack at it young grasshopper, be our guest." Leon gave Federico an encouraging pat on the back,
"Okay," Federico nodded, grabbing his guitar and heading over to the Pop’s table. "Excuse me," All the girls turned to look at him, offering smiles. Ludmila's reaction was ambiguous. "Uh, my name’s Federico." Ludmila lifted an eyebrow that seemed to say, get on with it. "You must be the lovely Ludmila Ferro.." All the Pop’s ooh'd and giggled as Federico took Ludmila's hand and kissed it.
"Federico..?" she ventured as he nodded, still holding her hand, "We're partners in dance class."
"Good. That means I get to see more of you.." The tone of Federico's voice made Ludmila smirk. This boy was obviously flirting, hard.
As they gazed at each other Ludmila felt a not so subtle nudge in her side. "Oh, um.. these are my friends—"
"I'm Violetta," Violetta piped up, extending her hand which Federico shook gently.
"And I'm Francesca!" Francesca clapped and smiled.
"What about.." Federico began, regarding the other six girls.
"We are all you need to know," Violetta answered. Federico gave a polite nod to them anyway.
Ludmila tapped his guitar with a perfectly manicured nail, "You came to play me a song lover boy?"
"Only if it's duet," Federico winked.
Ludmila flipped her hair back, "I'm not much of a singer.."
"Pffft! Nonsense. Ludmila is an amazing singer!" Violetta interjected gleefully.
"Alright," Federico began to tune the strings of his guitar, "Let's here you sing, cutie."
"It's Ludmila." Ludmila rolled her eyes playfully.
Federico held up his hands in the universal sign of innocence, "I meant Ludmila."
"Mmm." Ludmila stood, smoothed out her skirt and began singing acapella.
I'm feeling sexy and free
Like glitter's raining on me
You're like a shot of pure gold
I think I'm 'bout to explode..
Federico nodded and began to strum the baseline of Jessie J's Domino.
I can taste the tension like a cloud of smoke in the air
Now I'm breathing like I'm ready cause you're taking me there
Don't you know?
You spin me out of control..
If the cafeteria wasn't watching before, they were certainly watching now. As Ludmila sang each line Federico became more and more impressed with her vocal ability and admittedly he was plain checking her out. The power in her voice was extraordinary. It wasn't until Ludmila was delivering her last few lines of the song that he snapped back to reality.
Rock my world until the sunlight
Make this dream the best I've ever known
Dirty dancing in the moonlight
Take me down like I'm a domino
Every second is a highlight
When we touch don't ever let me go
Dirty dancing in the moonlight
Take me down like I'm a domino
The cafeteria burst into wild applause. Ludmila ran her fingers through the tips of her blonde locks and daintily sat, directing her all attention to Federico. It was his opinion that really mattered.
"Wow," Federico clapped. "You are truly amazing.. is there anything you can't do?"
Ludmila pretended to think, "Ask for my own number?"
Chuckling, Federico pulled out his cellphone, "Gotcha. I'll give you mine right now if you promise to text me tonight."
Ludmila batted her perfectly made up eyelashes, "I think I can find time."
"It's a deal then?"
"Deal," she nodded, extending her hand.
This time, as Federico took it into his, instead of kissing it, he intertwined his fingers in hers and grinned.
