Elizabeth and Mark

Chapter 1

It was one of the hardest decisions I ever had to make in my life. I was eighteen years old at the time and in love. His name was Alex; we lived in a small town in Ohio and seniors in high school. Alex wasn't exactly a dream boat but wasn't unfortunate. He was extremely smart and I guess that was what attracted me to him. He was a tall brown eyed, brown haired boy with a 4.0 grade point average. His plan was to graduate with a PHD in law from Brown. I on the other hand was a pretty red haired girl with blue eyes and I wanted more. I was a trained dancer and I did it all. Jazz, ballet, hip hop, and even a bit of ballroom dance too. I could also sing a little and act so naturally I was in every musical our high school put on. I wanted to go to the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, one of the best colleges for musical theatre in the country. Then I fell in love, so of course I sacrificed my dream. I went to Brown with Alex. The hard decision was what I was to study. Brown wasn't exactly the best school for theatre, so I studied law with Alex. So here I am 4 years later, graduating with a BA in law, did I ever mention that I hated law school, but I loved Alex so I was happy.

That night at a graduation party, Alex and I had a conversation that made me regret every decision I had made. Alex told me he planned to transfer to Boston College to study for his PHD. I asked him if it should be a decision we should be making as a couple and he told me no because he was going alone. He was breaking up with me. He said I was a distraction and he needed to focus on his studies. Seven years of my life was wasted on something I thought was going to be forever. So I went back to Dublin, Ohio, 22 years old, BA in law from Brown, lost and confused. I went back to my old dance studio and began to take dance classes again and my parents were very gracious to provide for me. When I came home I was expecting disappointment, but instead I was met with sympathy and love. Dancing helped me cope with the pain I was experiencing. Now I'm getting to the point where my life was officially starting to begin.

"Elizabeth, are you signing up for the pro ballroom classes" My dance instructor asked me. By the way my name is Elizabeth

"I don't know Mary. I don't have a partner, besides it's been years since I've done Ballroom." I responded taking my dance sneakers off.

"It's Latin Ballroom, and not having a partner isn't a big deal. Two young guys and a young lady are coming to instruct. The two best dancers in the workshop will receive a week of private lessons. You should register." Mary responded trying to convince me to sign up.

"It's been awhile Mary. I don't know if I should." I said looking up to her from where I was sitting on the floor.

"Rubbish. I'm signing you up." She smiled at me. I agreed and left.

That following Monday I arrived at the studio early. Workshop didn't start until 1:00 but I got there at 9:00am. I needed to brush up on some of my Latin. I was in the process of finishing a turn when I heard clapping come from behind me. I looked up in the mirror and I saw two young men standing in the doorway smiling. Both stood the same height, one blonde with blue eyes and the other dark hair and brown eyes, bother equally attractive.

The blonde spoke "That was great. Are you signed up for the workshop?" he asked walking towards me.

Unfortunately." I said looking down at me feet.

"Why unfortunately?" Asked the other guy asked walking towards me as well.

"It's been years since I've done any ballroom, let alone Latin." I said sitting down and stretching my legs.

"It's like riding a bike." The brown haired one said sitting down next to me.

"Are you guys here for the class?" I asked. They looked at each other, smiled and responded yes.

"I've never seen you guys here before." I said continuing to stretch.

"Yea were only here for a couple weeks. By the way I'm Derek." The blonde said extending his hand to me.

"I'm Elizabeth." I responded taking his hand. I looked at the other. "I'm Mark." He smiled at me. Mark was cute. Derek was an obvious kind of hot, but Mark, when he smiled he looked as though he was keeping a secret.

"So Elizabeth, you only ballroom?" Derek asked.

"No I actually have training in ballet, jazz, hip hop, and a little ballroom." I smiled at them.

"Are you better at the ballroom stuff, or the Latin?" Asked Mark

"I don't really know. I think Latin. I only did it for fun." I said standing up, they followed my lead.

"Which Latin are you favorite?"Asked Derek taking my hand. I gave him a strange look.

"I like to salsa, and samba, but my favorites would have to be the Argentine tango and the Rumba." I blushed and then Derek pulled me to him. I wrapped my arms around him and hitched my leg over his hip. I knew he was testing me. I heard Mark say 'nice' from behind me. For some reason the reaction from Mark prompted me the bend backwards and slowly extend the leg over Derek's hip in the air. When I was bent as far as I could go I opened my eyes and they met Marks. He had a devilish smile on his face and my smile matched his.

I wondered to myself if I was flirting with Mark. Then I had a inner panic moment. I stood up strait and smiled at Derek. I excused myself from the guys and ran to the bathroom. I didn't understand the feelings I was having. I only had one boyfriend in my life and Alex and I started dating when I was 15 years old. It's been 5 months since Alex and I broke up and this is the first time I've looked at another guy. I think I was flirting with Mark. I never really flirted with anyone before so this was all very strange to me. I didn't even really know Mark and he was already wrecking havoc on my feelings. I washed my face off with cold water and went back into the studio. I saw Mary was speaking with Derek and Mark as dancing to a song I never heard before. I went over to the ballet bar to do some more warm ups. While I was warming up I watched Mark dance. At first glance Mark appears to be a nice, sweet guy. When he dances though, he oozes sex appeal. I couldn't help but gawk at him. When he finished his turn he looked up at me. I blushed and looked down; he caught me gawking at him. I noticed him walking over to me.

"Rumba, huh?" He asked when he reached me.

"I never really danced it before, but it's my favorite to watch." I smiled at him.

"Why have you not danced it before?" He asked taking a drink from water.

"Well my boyfriend didn't like when I danced with another guy. So I only really did the classic stuff, like the waltz and the quick step and the jive." I responded.

"And your boyfriend is ok with you doing the Latin stuff now?" I could hear the hint in his voice. He wanted to know if I had a boyfriend.

"Nope, no boyfriend. So I'm free to do all the Latin I want." I realized the double meaning in what I said and blushed. Mark laughed.

"Do you have a partner??" He asked

"No. That's why I didn't want to sign up. I shrugged. I noticed the room starting to get fuller. The class was going to begin soon.

"Well I don't have a partner either so we can be partners" He winked at me and walked over to Derek. I looked at the doorway and noticed Julianne Hough walk through the doorway. We took a few dance classes in LA a long time ago. She recognized me and walked over to me.

"Hey girl!" she said hugging me.

"Hey Jules, what the heck are you doing here?" I asked her hugging her back.

"My brother, I and a friend are instructing the workshop. Who's your partner?" She asked

"Well about two minutes ago, that guy offered to be my partner." I laughed pointing at Mark. She had a big smile come across her face.

"Okay, well see ya in a couple minutes." She said and walked over to Mary. I went to a corner of the room to stretch more.

"Okay everyone listen up!" I heard Mary yell. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Mary.

"Welcome to the Latin dance Workshop. Mail classes will run for a week. After the first week our instructors will choose two females and one male for a private workshop that will last a week. I want to give you some history on out instructors. Miss Julianne Hough Is a Latin champion along with her brother Derek Hough. Our last instructor is Mark Ballas. He's a world champion dancer and son of Corky and Shirley Ballas." Mary concluded. Friggin figures I though. Shirley Ballas was one of my idols. I took a summer ballroom class from her one summer when I was 12 in London. Jules, Derek and Mark gave a welcome speech and broke everything down by each day.

Monday, today, was the cha cha cha, Tuesday would be the mambo, Wednesday would be the samba, Thursday would be the salsa and Friday would be all about freestyle. They announced that the individual workshops would be the Tango, Paso Doble, and the Rumba. Each instructor would be taking each form of dance and the student won't know until the first day of class.

For the first couple hours, we did specific hip exercises. I pretty much got it right away. I loved Latin dancing and I'm glad now Mary signed me up. In the middle of a hip roll Mark approached me.

"Nice hip action. It will come easier if you release your core." He said. I tried it again and it felt exactly the same. Mark walked right up behind me. I felt him place his hands on my hips.

"No, try again." He said softly into my ear. I shivered when I felt his breath hit my neck. I tensed up. No other man has ever touched me before except for Alex. It was terrifying and exciting at the same time.

"You're to tense Elizabeth. You've got to relax." I heard a faint hint at an English accent when his breath hit my neck. I inhaled and exhaled and tried again. When I opened my eyes and looked up at Mark in the mirror and he was smiling at me.

"Good?" I asked a little breathless

"Good" He smiled at me and moved onto another dancer.

When it came to the partner stuff later, Mark grabbed me. The cha cha was fairly easy dance, so it came easy to me. Mark was a great dancer. I'm not going to lie, by the end of the day I had a tiny crush on Mark. I couldn't tell if he was flirting or he just was a really nice guy, so I just went with it.

At the end of the day, after everyone left I decided to stay after and go over the day. It was about 11:00pm when I felt a presence in the room. I looked up to see Mark.

"What are you doing here?" I asked turning around to look at him.

"I forgot my phone." He said holding up his blackberry. "Why are you still here? You were here when we got here at 9:00am." He said leaning against the wall, crossing his arms.

"I like to dance. It's the only time I feel like me." I said leaning back against the mirror.

"How long have you been dancing?" he asked

"Since I was three, but recently I took a 4 year break." I sighed looking down. I felt sadness wash over me and I could tell Mark noticed my sadness.

"Why the 4 year break? Injury?" he asked walking towards me.

"No, love." I said feeling the tears welling up in my eyes.

"Love?" he questioned.

"I was set on going to CCM." I STARTED

"Great school." He added.

"But my boyfriend of at the time three years wanted me to go Brown with him. Since I loved him, I went. Brown has a crappy theatre program so I studied law. Four years later on graduation day Alex broke up with me and went to Boston. All I wanted to do when I got back to Ohio is dance. So five months later, here I am." He reached over with the pad of his thumb and wiped my tear away.

"You're a great dancer." He said smiling a me and patting my shoulder.

"Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. Did you know I studies under your mom?" I said looking at him.

"Really?" he blushed

"Yea, I spent a summer in London studying under her." I smiled

"Are you Lizzy?" Mark asked.

"She did call me Lizzy." I replied

" Me mum loves you! She has a picture of you in her dance studio." Mark said with excitement. I blushed then yawned.

"I better get home." I said to him.

"Yea, you look a bit tired." He laughed at me. He walked me to my car.

"It was nice meeting you today." I said unlocking my car.

"See ya tomorrow partner." He smiles at me and got in the car and left.

And that was the day I met Mark Ballas.