Summary: Bella and Edward meet. Bella is a Zumba instructor by night and a student and nanny by day. Edward is coerced into trying Zumba by little sister Alice. Sparks fly, but each bring problems to their fragile, budding relationship...
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Warnings: Some f-bombs are dropped.
EPOV
'I am not doing this. Uh-uh. No way.'
I was sitting in a diner sipping my skinny latte while my over-excited little sister attempted to convince me to join her in her latest craze.
'Edward. Zumba is the best thing that's ever happened to me.'
'Here we go…Alice, wasn't that interior design course the best thing that ever happened to you?'
I loved my sister. Truly I did, and anyone who didn't know her would have said she was flighty. Not Alice. She was as tenacious as they came but her penchant for changing careers, men and clothes was easily mistaken for indecisiveness borne of immaturity.
'Zumba is just too…girly.'
Alice glanced pointedly at my coffee. Before she could comment, I covered the cup with my hands as if to protect it. Yeah, I like my skinny lattes. So sue me.
Alice's eyes met mine. I wasn't going to cave. I wasn't going to cave.
'You'll cave.'
'Fuck. Alright, I'll go. Just once. And I'm standing at the back. And I don't want any photos of my dancing to go onto ANY social networking sites'.
Alice just grinned.
And this is how, one week later, I was lacing up my runners and attempting to smooth down my hair as I mentally prepared myself to go into a room full of what I imagined to be extremely coordinated, beautiful women. As I am not extremely coordinated, or beautiful, or a woman, this was a daunting exercise to say the least.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the room was the mirror. It was full-length and heaven help me, wherever I stood, SOMEONE would be able to see me. Shit.
It seemed as though everyone had a preference for the back, as there was a small crowd of women bunched in the bottom left hand corner of the room. Alice dragged me to the second row and I immediately began to fidget.
'You promised we could stand at the back', I hissed to her.
I didn't hear what she replied because the instructor, who had been fiddling with an iPod turned around. She was pale-skinned and thin, with brown hair she'd done the discourtesy of twisting into a practical bun. Instead of jewellery, she'd opted for a sweatband on her wrist. Her sneakers were white with purple laces and her top was pink and said 'Zumba'. She was a walking fashion nightmare.
And then she smiled.
BPOV
I finally selected my playlist for my 7pm Zumba fitness class. It takes some choosing, I can tell you. Usually my students (read a particularly keen girl called Alice) email me to tell me which songs and routines they like, so I can include them again.
I'd had no emails this week, however. After deliberating a little longer than usual, I chose the high intensity workout. Plenty of merengue to speed it up, some salsa and cha cha to bring the heart rate down.
As I turned around to greet the class, Alice caught my eye and waved cheerfully. I raised my hand in return, and then my eyes fell on the man next to her.
He stood out, that was for certain. Not only because he was male, although that in itself was a rare-ish occurrence, but because he was fidgety, and had hair that stuck up in random directions, and he was tall, and had a crooked smile. The overall effect was altogether pleasing.
I sent a small smile his way to make him feel more at ease.
'Good evening everyone! Before we begin, does anyone have any injuries I need to know about?'
When no one raised their hand, I asked the next standard question.
'And is anyone new to Zumba today?'
I looked straight at the Guy with the Hair for this one. He sheepishly half-raised a hand, and I smiled.
'Okay, well Zumba is generally pretty easy to follow. You might find in the first few weeks you get confused with the steps, or that you can't copy exactly what I'm doing. That doesn't matter. The point is that you keep moving and have fun.'
I paused here, and grinned.
'Are we ready to have some fun?'
'Yeah!' everyone cheered, and Guy with the Hair grinned.
I hit play.
Well, this is just a little taste of what the story is going to be like. I really enjoy lighthearted banter so that will feature, but I love angst even more. Of course, there will be a developing relationship between Edward and Bella. As this is the first time I've ever written for Twilight, I would really, really appreciate any reviews and constructive criticism you can throw my way.
