Waltz
Waltz
"…And so, for the Christmas party, all sixth graders will be required to dance."
The teachers really hadn't considered the possible outcomes of this decision, had they? As soon as the words had left the P.E. teacher's mouth, all hell broke loose in the gym.
"No way!"
"I've got two left feet!"
"Do we have to dance with boys?"
In the midst of the crowd, a girl stood quietly, oblivious to the chaos around her. She knew that for the dance they would be put into pairs based on height. This did not bode well.
"Komui, I'm home!" Lenalee yelled as she entered the apartment her brother had rented, backpack dropping to the floor with a thud. A Chinese man stuck his head out from behind the living room couch, his white beret crooked.
"Lenalee!" He squealed like a teenage girl, jumping up and hugging his little sister. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was thirteen years older than her. Lenalee tore her self away from his grip, frowning.
"Brother," She started, trying to put it in a way that wouldn't upset Komui. For Komui Lee did not like any males even being within three kilometers of his precious baby sister. Touching darling Lenalee would result in instant death.
"In school, we're going to have to dance. For the Christmas party. We'll be practicing during gym class and we'll be dancing at the party on December 20th. That's only a couple of weeks away. Is it okay?"
Komui was not pleased. The fact was made quite obvious by the scowl slowly creeping its way across his face.
"Whom, may I ask, are you dancing with?" He asked, attempting to sound curious and failing spectacularly. Lenalee stiffened, knowing what her brother might do to "whatever" unfortunate boy who she danced with. Komui had an extensive collection of various instruments of torture in the attic.
"The teachers will decide on our partners on the day we dance." Even though I already know whom I'll be dancing with. Lenalee wanted to add. With that, she picked up her backpack and locked herself in her room, cell phone in hand.
Ring. Ring. Ring.
"Hello, Lenalee?"
"Hi Miranda! You know about the dance? For the Christmas party?"
"Yes. I think I'm going to ask my mom to write a note. I can't dance!"
"Funny, Komui would just die to do that for me, but the school no longer accepts any notes or anything at all from him. Not after that accident with the robot." A giggle could be heard from the other end.
"Anyways, my point is, we'll be getting partners based on height, correct?"
"Yes. Wait…you're only a centimeter taller than Allen, right?"
"Exactly."
"He's your best friend, isn't he? So it shouldn't matter."
"I…er…that's not the point, Miranda!"
"Aha. Lenalee-chan's…"
"Miranda!" Lenalee exclaimed, blushing furiously. Miranda giggled again, said her goodbyes, and hung up, leaving a flustered Lenalee babbling nonsense into her phone.
Two weeks passed by much too quickly for Lenalee's liking. The majority of the class had learned the waltz quickly, save a few poor souls who were then forced to stay after school. One of those souls was the Allen mentioned in the phone conversation. He was a fairly short boy (which led to his being called moyashi by fellow sixth grader Yu Kanda) with white hair and a strange scar on his face, which quickly made him popular among the girls, especially Road Kamelot. A spiky-haired demon in the form of a twelve-year-old girl, she had immediately assumed the title of his "number one fan" and proceeded to follow him around constantly. Lenalee couldn't help but think, with a smug smile on her face, that Road's height was much closer to John's than to Allen's.
However, things were ever so slightly awkward between the girls and boys, a feeling created by the teachers' stupid idea. Though Miranda was not one to give away a person's secrets, rumors about that Chinese girl and the albino guy were spreading through the school like wildfire, making things even worse for Lenalee and Allen. What had once been a stable friendship was now falling apart at the seams. At least Road was happy.
December 20th came, bringing with it the pairs for the dance. Nobody seemed to be too excited though; anybody who cared about his or her partner had already figured it out.
"Daisya Barry, you will be dancing with Miranda Lotto."
"John Russell, you will be dancing with Road Kamelot."
"Allen Walker, your dance partner will be Lenalee Lee."
People started whispering, the rumors confirmed. Allen's face was scarlet and he was mouthing curses as the copper-haired boy next to him teased him about his partner. Lenalee only had to deal with the possibly lethal looks from Road. Hadn't some people said that she had some freaky criminal family? Lenalee forced that thought out of her mind. Something as trivial as a dance wouldn't call for such measures.
As soon as she got home, Lenalee set about finding a dress in the piles of clothes Komui was constantly buying her. It took the better part of two hours, but the girl discovered the perfect outfit. It was a simple black and dark purple knee-length dress, with a silver scarf to complete the look. Komui suddenly yelled that she had half an hour to get ready. She bit her lip, wondering if it was enough. While she wasn't vain, Lenalee wanted to look as close to perfect as she could get. The whole time, while she was brushing her coal-black hair, or while she was applying just the tiniest bit of mascara, she tried to deny her feelings for Allen. Komui came into the bathroom, car keys in his hand.
"Time to go."
The car ride took no time at all. Hardly a second passed between Lenalee's leaving the apartment and her arriving in the gym, which had been decorated with twinkling lights, fake snow, and baubles for the Christmas party. She stood with Miranda, who had obviously failed to get her mother to write a note excusing her from the party. The vice principal welcomed all the parents and relatives to the party, announced that the sixth graders were going to dance to some wedding waltz.
"May I have this dance?"
A white-haired boy appeared in front of Lenalee, gloved hand outstretched. Cheeks tinged pink; the Chinese girl took Allen's hand and put her other arm on his shoulders.
Despite the smooth start, once the music started, Allen had some trouble actually dancing. The extra lessons hadn't helped him at all. Lenalee ended up leading and Allen's cheeks had turned eleven shades of red, three of which were previously unknown to mankind, every time he accidentally stepped on Lenalee's toes. As the song ended, he spoke again.
"I…sorry about that. Two left feet." He apologized, grey eyes staring at the ground.
"It's no big deal." Lenalee said quickly, equally embarrassed. The rest of the students were slowly heading back towards their places near the stage, leaving only Allen, Lenalee, and a few stragglers.
"You look nice tonight." Allen suddenly complimented his partner. Lenalee blushed and smiled. Allen's expression changed, looking as if he were struggling to decide on something.
So it was there, in the middle of the gym with every single pair of eyes on them, that they shared their first kiss.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. Katsura Hoshino created all of the characters except for the P.E. teacher. The rest of the story, however, is mine.
A/N: Hehe. Written for Language Arts, but not peer-edited, which means I lose 10 of my grade if the teacher doesn't give me another few days to get it peer-edited and everything. I'm not quite satisfied with it, but please, review! And show no mercy! I might be able to get these reviews to count as getting this thing peer-edited. XD Probably not, but I need to improve!