Author's note: My bestie and fellow writer writingbutunpublished gave me a Clizzy prompt were Clary takes a dance class taught by Izzy. This is the result.
Happy reading!
Clary had never been to a dance class, though she always wanted to. When she was a kid, she wanted to be a ballerina. Of course she was never able to convince her mother that it was worth it.
The class was led by a very attractive young woman with dark hair and red lipstick. She wore a pair of heels that looked way too high for any dancer. But as she moved around the room, she did so gracefully as she showed off a dance.
She stopped and smiled at the gathered students. "Hi, I'm Izzy. And this is just a beginner class, so don't feel intimidated. We'll go slow at first and by the end you'll do almost as well as I just did."
Izzy smiled and showed off the first few dance moves, walking everyone through them.
Clary was struggling through the moves. Izzy came over and showed her step by step. Izzy was standing very close. Clary kept messing up the moves due to nerves, but Izzy stepping in to help only made her more nervous.
"Let's take a break and then we'll try it again." Izzy called to the group.
Clary hesitated a moment before she walked over to her bag and took out her bottle of water.
Izzy walked over, her heels clicking on the wood floor. "You're good. You just need to get out of your head a bit."
"You think I'm good?" Clary asked, feeling a little flustered.
Izzy laughed. "I do. This really your first time in a dance class?"
"Yeah." Clary took a sip of her water to hide her anxiety.
Izzy leaned against the wall. "I can give you some exercises to clear your head. If you want."
Clary nodded. "Yeah, okay."
"Hang around after class and we'll have a talk." Izzy walked back to the front of the room. She called everyone to order. "Let's run through it a few more times and then we'll call it a night."
They ran through and Clary was able to get through with only a couple missed steps each time. At different places.
Izzy stopped after the third time. "Okay, next week we'll add some more. You guys did great."
Clary packed her things and waited for the room to clear out before she made her way over to Izzy at the door. She talked with a tall man who looked a lot like her.
"Clary, this is my brother Alec. Alec, Clary is new to the class. I'm going to show her some techniques to clear her mind." Izzy said with a grin.
Alec looked her over and leaned toward his sister. He didn't try to lower his voice too much as he said, "You're not usually into gingers." He straightened up. "Next class starts in ten minutes." He turned on his heel and walked out of the room.
Izzy rolled her eyes. "Come have a seat." She sat on one of the benches arranged around the room. "The main thing is to just breathe deeply and try to let everything outside go away."
Clary nodded and watched as Izzy closed her eyes and rolled her shoulders. She relaxed and took several deep breaths.
"Just relax and think about nothing but picturing the dance steps you just learned." Izzy said softly. "Focus on that."
Clary tried, but her mind still ran with all the things she was doing through the day. She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry. It's not working."
"Not your fault." Izzy said softly. "It takes a bit to figure it out. Just keep practicing." She looked up at the clock. "I have to set the room up for the next class. You're free to watch, if you want."
"No, I need to go." Clary picked up her bag. "Hey, I have a question."
Izzy stopped in her tracks and flipped her hair behind her shoulder. "Anything."
"How do you dance in those shoes?" Clary asked.
Izzy laughed. "I have this overall rule: nothing less than seven inches." She inked. "Some exceptions apply, though." She turned and walked to the farther end of the room and started unstacking chairs from the corner.