Encore

4

The class was exactly as bad as Itachi had feared. The Guy person was really something else, and he took out each movement so much Itachi was afraid he would take off and fly away. Itachi stood in the back together with the three boys. Shisui stood in the front with some middle-aged ladies who were clearly Zumba-enthusiasts. Despite Itachi's mellow mood, he couldn't help but smile at Shisui; despite his keenness, Shisui had obviously never danced before, but that, of course, didn't bother him. Itachi didn't know how Shisui did it, but he just took his place and in doing so managed to not make a fool out of himself. Itachi himself was way more hesitant, and his guess was that he looked way worse off than Shisui did.

"And then we MIX A CAKE!" Guy screamed and did a swirling motion with one hand, pretending to hold a bowl with the other, at the same time stomping his feet in sumo-position.

"What kind of dance move is that?" Bjorn mumbled.

"Shut up and MIX THE CAKE!" Chris hissed back, mock-irritation searing through his voice as he mixed his cake furiously.

All the while, Itachi was a prisoner of his mind. A thousand thoughts swirled round so fast, and he only caught fragments of them. "If we didn't know he was such a ladies man, we would've thought he was into men..." "He loves the ladies..." This bothered Itachi for some reason. He felt tricked, used, and disappointed, all at the same time. But why? I like Shisui because he's been so approachable. No-one has never wanted to get to know me. He hasn't done anything wrong.

Itachi didn't understand, but was still somewhat grateful for the thoughts whirling through his mind like it was Guy's imaginary cake-mixing Zumba-bowl, because then he didn't really have room to think about the embarrassment of the situation. Thank God Shisui was in front of him and couldn't see him.

But why..?

Once the class was over, Itachi tried to sneak to the back door. Shisui hadn't spoken to him at all, and he felt he wanted to keep it that way. When he was just in the door, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned round.

"So..." said Shisui, eyes closed in a grin, sweat dripping from his forehead, scratching his curls like there was no tomorrow. "We are going out to eat after this and then to get some drinks. Wanna join?"

"I... I think I'll pass", Itachi answered, looking down a little.

Shisui looked disappointed "Are you sure? It would be more fun with you. And the others like you!"

Itachi smiled weakly at that. "I like them, too. But this is enough socialising for me right now."

"Ahh, all right, I understand", Shisui said. "So, see you in uni tomorrow."

"No lectures"

"Oh, so... Yeah, see you around."

"See you, Shisui."

And Itachi turned and left.

Itachi laid in his bed, thinking about the events of the day. It was as if an excitement he had felt in the core of his stomach had evaporated and disappeared. It felt empty, like that feeling of bliss had carved a hole in his stomach and then left it, so there was now a void waiting to be filled with something. But what Itachi wanted to fill it with didn't fit.

Unable to deal with his gloominess a minute longer, he picked up his phone and called his mother.

"Hi, sweetheart!" she said. "How is uni?"

"Hi, mum. It's fine."

"Tell me about it!"

Itachi told her about his apartment, his classes and the people there. His mother asked if he'd made any friends. Itachi told her he'd spoken to some people, but not anything else.