The next day, Emma drove to the nearest mall to stock up on dance gear. She hated shopping most of the time but she was all revved up for her next class. She reasoned with herself that it was not the same as the last few things she had tried. She had no expectations of her participation leading to a hook up and she really wasn't trying to impress anyone with her amateur moves. She had enjoyed the class and apart from the aches, which she figured would be worth it, she'd felt an inner peace in the lesson. For once, she didn't care if she looked foolish. She didn't mind being taught for a change either. It was quite a freeing experience to be shown how to move not have to think about anything but what her body was doing in that moment. It was a challenge and Emma loved to be challenged. Plus the instructor was really stunning. 'Ok, maybe M was a tiny bit right. Maybe I do have a little crush.' She mused. 'But it's still different and I needed tights anyway. How can a grown woman not have one pair of tights?'

She walked straight to the sports store, ignoring the saleswomen trying to spray her with perfume as she passed. Inside, she browsed the racks and grabbed a few items quickly. She never tried things on unless she had to wear a dress to a wedding or something like that, but that was pretty rare. Then, she walked over to the shoe section and tried to find some of the boot things she'd seen most of the girls and the teacher wearing in the class. She couldn't find anything that resembled them and paced up and down the aisle a few times to double-check before a salesgirl finally came to her rescue.

"Can I help you with anything?" The salesgirl asked.

"Yeah, um, I need some really ugly black boots for dancing. You know, like, really soft leather, with erm, laces?" She struggled to descibe the shoe. She never really paid much attention to footwear. As long as it was comfortable and waterproof, it didn't really matter.

"Ah, you mean jazz boots. They're in the dance section, follow me."

Emma obeyed and the salesgirl led her to a part of the store she had never seen before. There were all sorts of girly looking outfits along with knee pads, leg warmers and shoes. When she was a little girl, the ballet pumps would have excited her. Even know, she was still curious to know how they stayed up on their toes but didn't want to seem completely clueless to the salesgirl so kept quiet.

"Were you looking for split soles?" The girl asked.

Emma nodded. "Yup. Gotta have split soles, right?" She had no idea what she had just agreed to and feared she may have broken some secret dance world rules.

The salesgirl smiled and handed her a pair of boots. She took them gratefully and say down to try them on.
'Oh man these are so comfortable.' She thought to herself. She flexed her foot and pointed her toe like how Regina had taught her and smiled. "I'll take these, thanks."

Emma drove back to the dance school feeling pretty pleased with her purchases. It was five to four so she had just enough time to change out of her jeans. She pulls on the boots, laced them and shoved her hair back in a pony tail and headed into the studio smiling. Her face soon dropped when she looked around and saw almost everyone in the class was barefoot. 'Oh come on!' She screamed internally.

It was a different group from the previous day. They were all young girls with their hair slicked tightly against their heads in side buns or pony tails. Emma though she was in the wrong room and was about to leave when she felt a warm hand press her shoulder. "Miss Swan, back for more?"

"What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment." Emma snipped.

Regina laughed heartily. "Well I feel obliged to warn you, expect bruises."

Emma gulped. "Is that a promise?"

Regina straightened her face and said in a serious tone, "it's a guarantee."

Emma scrunched up her nose. "And there was me thinking you were a nice teacher."

Regina had already turned to walk away. When Emma spoke, she paused mid step and peered over her shoulder with a sly grin, "Oh, I have a dark side," and she continued walking to the front with a little extra wiggle.

Emma stood mouth open. It was rare that people could match her off the cuff comments and she liked it. A lot.

"Stretch it out everyone." She looked at Emma deliberately and added, "we're going to be doing a lot on the floor."

After the streches, the group again went to the corner of the room as instructed. "Ok Jasmine, slide, slide, fall, back roll into fishflop and pose."

Emma looked on in amazement as the first girl performed what appeared to be an effortless circus act. She'd seen something similar years ago watching the Olympics and just assumed they didn't have bones in their body. There was no way she would be able to do that move. She shuffled quietly to the back of the room with the intention of escaping. Regina rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "Come here please, Miss Swan."

Emma shook her head. "You know I'm old and I have a job which requires that I have full usage of my bones, right?"

"I wasn't aware of that no." Regina sassed.

"So, I can skip this part?"

"If you'd like. Or, you could stop being a child and get over here."

Emma reluctantly stepped up to the corner. "So, what do I do?"

"Slide your left foot forward, that's it. Now the right foot. Good. Bend your back leg as if you were going to sit down.. you're going to fall softly, with control, on to your left thigh and put your right hand down to support you."

*Thud*

"I feel like I'm playing Twister... with myself." Emma complained in a pile on the floor.

Regina lunged forward into position. "On your feet. Now watch me and try to do it at the same time."

Emma bounced up and struck the pose next to her instructor. "Like this?"

"Yes. Now bend this back knee in slightly. Put your right hand down on the floor, good, stop there, watch."

Regina waited for Emma to look up. "Watch where I place my thigh."

Emma watched as the brunette twisted slightly and gently made contact with the floor where her ass met her thigh. She nodded, still looking at the instructor's ass. "I think I got it." And she managed to perform the move.

"Great. Now pull your knees up to your chest. Yes, tilt your head to your shoulder and roll over your head."

Emma gawped at her like she was crazy. Regina smiled and showed her what she meant. "Remember, control is key. When you can feel your chest on the floor, slowly flip your body over like this."

The blonde watched as the instructor slowly lowered her body into a stomach down position on the floor. She made it look so easy. She tried it and to her complete surprise, she managed to pull it off.

"Okay that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

Regina pulled herself gracefully into a standing position and barked. "Again. And this time, try to follow the beats of the music."

Emma tried again more confidently knowing she wasn't about to break any bones and as she flipped over, she caught a brief glimpse of the instructor's eyes lingering on her own behind.

"Better, Miss Swan. Ashley, in position."

The rest of the class went without a hitch. Emma tried everything the instructor asked her to and only once lost her balance and tumbled on her ass. The choreography reminded her of Sia music videos and she felt a bit uncomfortable with it. In her mind, she decided she probably wouldn't be coming to another contemporary class again, no matter how sexy the teacher was.

At the end of the class, Regina beckoned to the blonde to come closer. "So, Miss Swan, what did you think of the class?"

Emma worried her lip. "It was fun but I'm not sure if it's really erm, me.."

Regina smiled and nodded. "Well, it is an aquired taste. However, you did well for your first attempt. Take some painkillers when you get home. I've been dancing all my life and this class still leaves me covered in bruises and aches in strange places."

Emma scrunched up her face. "I'm gonna be in agony aren't I? Yesterday I could barely step on the gas without screaming."

Regina laughed. "Think of it as life skills."

"Oh and where exactly would I whip out these moves?!" Emma asked innocently.

Regina pursed her lips together before drawling out, "I'm sure you can think of some way."

"Hmmm. I bet I can." Emma grinned back.

Regina looked down to the floor where they had been sitting. She concentrated on lacing her pumps but Emma could see the little smile curling at the side of the brunette's mouth. Emma pushed up off the floor and spoke.

"So ah, thanks for being patient with me. When is the next adult jazz class?"

"Monday's and Wednesday's at six, with me and Friday's same time with Mal." Regina answered now at eye level.

"Oh, so you get the day off on Friday's? That's pretty useful." Emma was fishing, just a bit.

"Not exactly. There's an adult class I teach on Friday's. It's just for women and it's two hours long. It's a heels class." Regina looked at Emma with an eyebrow slightly raised.

"Heels? What's that, like, tap dancing or something?"

"No, dear! Heels as in stilettos! Just normal dress shoes."

Emma's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, ok. God, I can hardly walk in those things. That sounds like torture!"

"Well, why don't you come and see for yourself. It's quite... sensual. And we don't use heels for the whole class. You can start in your sneakers or jazz boots and for the last 30 minutes we use heels." Regina's eyes were shining.

Emma thought about it. Regina in heels dancing sensually. Why was she still thinking about it? "I'll be there."