#did everything wrong

Ray gasped as she wiped the sweat from her brow.  The dance studio was empty, but she still flushed more from shame rather than exertion.  Even without a partner, she had stumbled through the steps like a klutz.  At this rate it would take a year before she stopped stepping on people’s toes.

After complaining about needing to get more exercise, she hadn’t expected Reiji to respond by gifting her a membership to Maiami Dance.  While she knew Asuka taught ballroom there, dancing had never been her thing.  Still a gift was a gift, and being best friends with an instructor would make it easier for her, wouldn’t it?  Why should she have passed up the chance?

The answer soon became clear after a few weeks of lessons: she was a terrible dancer.

At first Ray have blamed it on just being new to the activity.  But as the other students moved on from the basic steps, she still couldn’t wrap her head around the idea of a box-step.  Second, she could have blamed the partner she had been assigned, but that would ignore the fact they rotated partners near constantly, and even when Asuka herself lead, Ray still had two left feet.  Third, she had just hoped that maybe waltz just wasn’t her dance, but even though cha-cha was entirely different, Ray still couldn’t get the tempo right.

Honestly, she doubted Asuka would be too hurt if she went ahead and threw in the towel, but the idea of just giving up after so long didn’t sit right with her.  Akaba’s weren’t quitters, and they certainly weren’t able to skill she saw eight year-olds accomplish with ease.

Unfortunately as she continued to review the same steps over and over again, maybe she did need some training wheels of sorts.

“Don’t think I’ve ever seen someone try and dance both parts at the same time.”

Ray swiveled around to face the voice so quickly, she nearly fell smack on her face.  Standing in the doorway was Asuka’s partner, Zarc.

She had meet him before in passing, but outside the studio when going out with Asuka or inside when he popped by class.  For their ease with shit-talking each other, they were acquaintances at best, knowing little about each other’s personal life.  Still Ray knew three important facts.

1. He was hot.

2. He was single.

3.  The last thing she wanted was to look like a fool in front of him and give him more ammo.

But she also knew she had a smart mouth, so before she could hold her tongue, she was already snarking back.

“Didn’t know I was putting on a performance.  I’m sorry, did I forget to bow as well?”

“Please, I don’t expect practice to be perfect, just don’t know what you’re even trying to practice.”

Ray’s face burned.  “I’m trying to be a lead.”  She brought herself up to her full height and tried to regain some confidence.  “It’s unfair that the women are not only expected to wear high heels, but have to do all the spins and flips.  Y’all have it way easier.”

Zarc cocked his head at that.  “Oh?”

“Why does it matter to you?  Worried about having to compete with me when it comes to wooing cute girls?”

“Well i’m not sure just yet,”  He laughed, and she felt sparks crackle inside the pit of her stomach.  “How about you give me a test run?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t know any advanced stuff, but I can follow, myself.  Gotta make sure I can woo cute guys away, you know.”  He winked, and Ray couldn’t tell if this still counted as flirting or not.

But, Akaba’s weren’t quitters, so she grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the dance floor.

“Alright, let’s start simple.”  Ray placed her hand on her shoulder as she usually did while dancing, but immediately something felt wrong.  “Wait a sec,”  She tried to remember what the lead’s hold was like; by now she had danced with plenty of guys, why was it so difficult to recall?”

“Here,” Zarc guided her hand to the small of his back with an easy confidence. “Now what are you leading me in?”

“Let’s start with a waltz I guess,”  Tentatively she tried the box-step, and to her miracle, it was a success.  Well to be fair, she stepped on his toes a few times, but nobody fell.  Ray was so proud of that accomplishment, she almost missed his next remark.

“You gonna take me anywhere?  The waltz is a traveling dance after all.”

Horror consumed her. What steps besides a box did she know?!

Methodically, she racked her brain.  While she had enjoyed the idea of leading and being able to make her own decisions rather that having to guess what her partner wanted, she had vastly overlooked one thing.  Leading required actually knowing things.  For the most part as a follow she had just prayed a few times and tried her best at the moment rather than memorize any specific maneuvers.

Carefully she waited, gathering up her courage.  Then she tried to do the impossible, make the box-step move forward.  Painfully they inched across the floor, bumping knees and tripping over each other.

“We’re getting off beat Ray--”

“I know--”

“Come on we can get back to it, one-two-three, one-two-three--”

“I don’t need your help--”

“Spin me, Ray!”  He twirled and fell into her arms, knocking them both to the ground.

Well, talk about a way to kill a crush...

“Hope I didn’t go too far,” Zarc gave a surprisingly sheepish smile as he crawled off her.  “I just wanted to try out a bit of teaching myself.”

“Teaching what?  That I am an awful dancer and will never get it?”  Ray groaned as she curled herself into a ball.  “Because I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but I know that pretty well already.”

“Gheez there’s no need to be melodramatic,”  Slowly he dusted himself off and stood.  “Leading and following are two different skills, but they’re equally difficult.  Rather than try and search for a short-cut, you just need to know what you want to do and commit to that.”  He extended his hand down towards her.  “We can try again if you like, but if you just want to guard your ego, it isn’t gonna go any easier.”

Ray studied his hand.  Akaba’s weren’t quitters, but maybe she shouldn’t be saying that like it was a good thing.  Nobody had forced her here.  Why torture herself for nothing?

But when she looked up at soft golden eyes, she remembered the pure joy Asuka and he had shared as they glided across the dance floor.  Even her classmates, as clumsy as they looked in comparison, had shone with the same glow while she kept finding excuses to keep from joining them.

“I’m willing to try,”  Ray took his hand.  “Just promise not to be a little shit this time.”

“Ah come on you can’t blame me for wanting to get to spin some too,” He laughed and those sparks burned hot once more.  As he switched positions this time and rest his hand against the small of her back, it seemed it might take more than just some tomfoolery to damper this attraction.  Ugh.

“Now I’ve seen your type before, so you’re far from a lost cause.  Let me guess, you’re used to be good at things aren’t you?”

“Yes...” Ray pressed her chin against her chest.  “I’m a perfectionist, so sue me.”

“Well there is a lot to be a perfectionist about in dance, but you really can’t worry about it now, especially when you’re just doing it for fun.  You gotta accept it when you’re out of your depth.”

“Easier said then done,”  She blew a strand of hair out of her face.

“I mean, you seem to be doing pretty ok now.”  Ray looked down and realized that they were doing a perfect box-step right then and there.

“How did you do that?!”  She tried focusing on their movements, but just ended up tripping up before, Zarc steadied her.

“Just had to get you in your element, which seems to be anything else but dancing.”

“You know you would be so much cuter if you didn’t have to open that mouth so much.”  

At that, Zarc stumbled and nearly plummeted into her again.

“Wait, what did you say?”  A flush painted his cheeks, and it seemed this time it was his turn to be out of his element.