Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. But Sophia is mine.
Also, I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to my beta, Tendrilofthought. You rock!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next day, Kendra sprinted to Silver Toe, cursing herself for oversleeping. She burst through the heavy doors and sped to the dressing rooms. She threw on her dance clothes and stumbled into the practice area, breathing heavily and clutching her side.
The class fell silent when Kendra came in. She hoped that her red face concealed the blush that was creeping up her neck.
"Thank you for joining us Miss Mastiff." Ms. Sine said sharply. Great, she had to be late on a day that Ms. Sine was in a bad mood.
"Sorry" Kendra apologized
"No matter. We are about to start partner dancing, now that we've finished with the individual performances. I have chosen your partners." Loud groans followed this statement, but they were quieted by Ms. Sine's glare.
"These are the couples: Ashlee and Jackson, Lilac and Aaron, Cassandra and Mike, Sophia and Matt, and Kendra with Darren."
Kendra's heart skipped a beat. Her with Darren? This was a dream come true! And not only was she paired with Darren, but Sophia looked furious.
Sophia Cayden was the most popular girl at Silver Toe, and she was also really full of herself. But who could blame her? She had the perfect straight golden blonde hair and eyes like emeralds. She was skinny, but had enough curves to make her look gorgeous. Another public thing about Sophia was that she LOVED Darren. She stuck to him like glue and was super-possessive. The only flaw in her plan was that Darren didn't like her back. After he confided in her, Kendra found out that Darren though Sophia was a stuck up snob. But Sophia didn't know this. She thought Darren would be "by my side forever," "my one and only love" and "mine, mine, mine." None of these were true, but Sophia didn't have to know that.
Once everyone was standing with their partners, Ms. Sine explained the class's first dance.
"We will begin with a simple ballroom exercise," she said. "Gentlemen, place your right hand on your partner's waist and hold her right hand with your left. Ladies, place your left hand on your partner's shoulder and take his left hand with your right."
Kendra didn't dare look up at Darren as he placed his hand on her waist. As she blindly reached up to his shoulder, she heard Darren's voice."
"Kendra?" He asked.
"Yes?" She returned, still searching for his shoulder and staring at her feet.
"That's my face."
Kendra dropped her hand. Shyly, she looked up at Darren for the first time since they had been paired. His ice blue eyes were sparkling with amusement and a light smile was tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Sorry." Kendra said. She lifted her hand and gently set it on Darren's strong shoulder, blushing furiously all the while. She was surprised when he let go of her hand and lightly patted her shoulder.
"You're nervous, it's fine. But you don't have to worry. I don't bite." He smiled slyly, flashing his pearly white teeth. Kendra hoped she didn't faint on the spot.
"If everyone is ready, we will begin with a simple waltz." Ms. Sine instructed. She quickly explained the steps and began.
"Ready, and, one, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. Turn, two three."
Kendra was captured by the music as she and Darren glided across the floor. She stared dreamily into his eyes as the waltz continued. They were spinning, stepping, and sliding into eternity. It was then that Kendra realized that the music she was hearing was actually playing in her head. The actual music had stopped, and so had the other dancers. Darren and Kendra stopped their magical dance abruptly and both blushed when the class applauded them
"Miss Mastiff! Mr. Tawn! How beautiful!" Ms. Sine cheered. "That was the most amazing waltz I have ever seen from my students. There is a very strong connection between you two. You would be perfect for the lead roles of our dance recital. If I could, I would choose you both at this very instant!"
Kendra's heart skipped a beat. Her and Darren, lead roles in the recital? That would be the most magnificent thing ever. And what made it even better was that a certain blonde haired dancer was looking a bit more green- and not just in her eyes- than usual.
XxXxXxXxX
Kendra walked to the dressing rooms in a daze. She and Darren had done beautifully, especially since it was just the first day with partners. Ms. Sine was right- they did have a connection. When she stared into Darren's eyes and danced with him, Kendra felt relaxed and comfortable. She felt at home in his arms. And she loved every second of being with him.
As Kendra passed one of the dressing rooms, she heard muffled voices, one of which she recognized as Darren's. Curiously, she opened the door a crack and peered in. Kendra held in a gasp as she saw Sophia and Darren making out like there was no tomorrow.
"Come on, Darren," Sophia's sultry voice oozed, "you know you don't want to share the lead role with Kendra." She spat the word "Kendra" as if it were disgusting on her lips. "Don't get her hopes up. Tell her that you dance better with me. I think we both know that's what you want to do."
She began kissing him again, and her arms snaked around his neck while she ruffled his rich brown hair. Kendra was waiting for Darren to pull away, to confess his true love for Kendra. But he didn't.
Choking back a sob, Kendra ran. She didn't care that she was still in her dance clothes; she just had to get away from that scene.
As she ran, Kendra began to think. Darren had told her that he thought Sophia was a snob. Had he been lying? Was he just protecting her feelings? No way- Darren would never do something like that. He would never lie to her.
Would he?
Kendra shoved the doors of the dance studio open and was immediately soaked by the pouring rain. Hadn't it been a nice day earlier? But her surroundings faded as the picture of Sophia and Darren came back even stronger in her mind. The image was so glaring that she ran right past Sydney, who was waiting with an umbrella.
"Ken, finally! I've been waiting for yo- Ken? Kendra! What's wrong?" Sydney shouted, her voice getting caught in the thunder.
Kendra ignored her friend and kept running, tears pouring down her cheeks and mixing with the cold rain. She would run to the ends of the earth if it would help her escape the pictures in her mind. As Kendra tore through the park, her mind began to register some noise.
"Kendra! Kendra!" Blindly, Kendra turned around to see the outline of a person running toward her. She noticed that her legs had become weak from all of the running, so Kendra slowed down. The rain only poured harder as the figure came into view.
Kendra's bloodshot eyes took in the soaking chestnut hair, sturdy figure, and blue eyes of Darren Tawn. With disgust, Kendra turned to get away from the dancer that she had thought she "had a connection with". Kendra tensed when the hand that had lightly patted her shoulder before roughly turning her around to face its owner.
"Kendra, I don't know what you saw in the dressing room, but it's not what you think," Darren said breathlessly.
"Oh, so you and Sophia weren't all over each other?" Kendra spat.
"No! Sophia was all over me, but that was it!" Darren replied, as if that explained everything.
"Well, you certainly weren't doing anything to keep her off!" Kendra said venomously, not accepting his mediocre answer.
"I'm a guy, what do you expect?"
"I expect you to listen to your heart."
"But I have hormones and-"
"Heck with your hormones. You have a heart- I know you do! And if you were as kind as I thought you were, you would have listened to it and pushed Sophia away!"
By now the wind had picked up and it became hard to hear anything.
"But Kendra-"
"No, Darren, I don't want to hear it. Just go back to your girlfriend and leave me alone!" Kendra turned and began to run again. However, she didn't get far.
The events of the day came rushing back to her, ripping through her clouded mind. Finally, the fatigue consumed her and she fell into darkness, as the wind, rain, thunder, and Darren's voice all slowly faded away.