Page 22 of The Way We Dance

Ty

We were in our second and last week of camp and I was fucking exhausted. Too tired to lift my legs, yet somehow I was expected to do ballet again.

Coach told me Miss Priss hadn't gotten back to him on anything from her time at practice, at least not on me. He had received several notes on Lawrence though.

Not sure if that made me mad or vindicated. I asked Coach if she was there to watch Lawrence and he said, no. She was there to watch me, but if she saw anything she could help with, she would send the info his way.

"I may see if Lawrence wants to go with you on Tuesday and Thursday to work out whatever she's got for you," Coach had said.

I shook my head adamantly and told him no. No way was I going to have a witness to my efforts in the degrading "sport" of ballet. I didn't care if Lawrence would also be subjected, we weren't going to be skipping into that place like two bestie girlfriends ready for class.

"You sure that is the reason?" Coach smirked.

"Fuck yeah," I scoffed while turning and leaving his office. I didn't believe me though. I had been with Giselle, three times if you included yesterday's practice and every time had been fun. Getting her riled up and seeing how she responded was something I was looking forward to tonight, and I sure as fuck didn't want Lawrence involved.

I tried opening the door to the studio at exactly 9 pm Tuesday, but it was locked. I peeked into the slit in the blinds on the door, but it was hard to see in. I had just sat there and watched the munchkins leave so I knew she was in there.

"Hey, Miss Priss," I knocked and yelled, hoping she heard and let me in.

It only took a minute and she was unlocking the door and ushering me in quickly.

"Come in, come in," she whispered. She locked us in once the door was shut and peeked outside the blinds real quick. I was taking off my shoes while I watched her, setting my keys on a chair inside the lobby.

When the keys jingled against the plastic of the chair, she swirled around and gave me her best front.

"Hi, so good to see you," her smile was fake and the worry lines still lingering on her forehead had me worried. "Let's get started."

She clapped twice, the way she did when she had spoken and I was to follow. I walked behind her from the reception area to the studio and paid close attention to her body language.

Her shoulders had tension, her steps were short. Her neck barely moved and her fists were clenching and unclenching.

"You ok?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

She turned and had the same fake smile on her face, "Of course."

I chewed my lip and nodded, letting it go. I wasn’t anyone to her, so I didn't want to push. Plus, I had an asshole reputation to uphold and I needed to get to work on that.

"Good, because I came up with some things that you suck at," I said as seriously as I could.

"Excuse me?"

"You're too thin, for one." I held up one finger and ticked it off with the fingers on my other hand. "Second of all, I am 87% sure you have a stick shoved way up your ass."

She started to turn red, and I could see her slipping from the poise she tried carrying. Normally that poise was infallible, but I could sense tonight she was weak, and I pounced.

"Also," I ticked a third finger, "You don't belong on a football field. You looked ridiculous." Fuck that was a lie. She looked like she was there to do a job and like we should have all been bowing down to her superiority. But I was on a roll and her face was telling me I was hitting buttons.

"That we can agree on, Mr. Black," she spoke through clenched teeth. "I didn't want to be near that field but when I ran into Mr. Peyton in the gym of our building, we came up with a plan to expedite your ballet lessons to help you improve on the field."

"Did it work?"

"I don't know yet, instead of discussing that with you, you have been insulting me."

I shook my head and smiled incredulously, "Whatever."

"Did you notice you are stepping off from your heels when you run?"

I swung my head to her and squinted in disbelief. "I have played football my whole life and I just now forgot how to run?"

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