"What was that about?!" Caitlyn fumed once Mrs. MacCarty had pulled away from the Gellar household.

Mrs. MacCarty gave her an impish smile. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked innocently.

Caitlyn gave her a look. "You live on the other side of town. Our house in nowhere near to being on your way home."

Mrs. MacCarty grinned again. "You caught that, huh?" she asked.

Caitlyn shrugged. "Doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure it out," she muttered. She was always uncomfortable around people that were praising or admiring her. In truth, her deduction skills had not been necessary. She'd been over to Mrs. MacCarty's house a couple of times to pick up some missing papers. "What I can't figure out," she went on, "is why you've decided to bypass all my warnings and put me in a dance class."

Mrs. MacCarty stopped at a red light and turned to Caitlyn. "Do you not want to go to a dance class?" she asked. "I only said what I did because it seemed like something you would enjoy."

Immediately, Caitlyn felt embarrassed. "No," she stuttered, "I mean, I do, it's just that I never thought my parents would let me." She turned to Mrs. MacCarty just as the light changed. "And now, on top of it all, you have my parents thinking that I'm some sort of mental nutcase who's feeling left out. You brought my teachers into it! My teachers!"

Mrs. MacCarty looked at her calmly. "Your teachers have talked to me about you," she told Caitlyn. "That was not made up. Some feared only for your wellbeing and asked me if you were getting enough support and attention at home. They said you were very shy and quiet and they feared that it was unhealthy."

Ciatlyn felt surprise flood her emotions. She had always felt like no one paid attention to her. Now, her principal was telling her that her teachers had not only noticed her, but that they were concerned for her! Since when were teachers concerned about non-disruptive students? She asked softly, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Mrs. MacCarty shrugged. "It never really came up. But after our talk earlier today, I figured that I could use that to my advantage."

Caitlyn grinned, no longer feeling angry. Perhaps this was the opportunity to branch out that she had been looking for. "Sneaky," was all she said.

They drove in silence for a while, and then Mrs. MacCarty said, "Caitlyn, if you don't want to do this, you don't have to. I didn't mean to overstep my bounds or anything. I just thought that a more…adult push might prompt your parents to let you try something you seemed to want to try."

Mrs. MacCarty turned into a small complex and Caitlyn shook her head. "It's fine," she assured her teacher. "Really. I do want to try it, and I think you were brilliant back there."

Her principal laughed. "Thanks," she said as she parked the car. "Ready?"

Caitlyn sighed. "I guess so." She slung her bag once more over her shoulder and stepped out of the car.

Together, they walked up to the small studio door and Mrs. MacCarty opened it for Caitlyn. She stepped inside the dim room and blinked. The small space in front of her looked very much like an office, but she could just barely see the mirrors lining the wall behind the front room. Caitlyn was struck by how quiet it was. Didn't dance studios usually have music playing? Weren't there usually other dancers milling around?

"Nate!" Mrs. MacCarty called, breaking the quietness of the room.

"Coming!" came a muffled voice, and Caitlyn heard the sound of boxes being pushed away and something cracking. Then, a young man appeared around the corner, running a hand through his curly brown hair.

For a moment, Caitlyn didn't know what to say. When Mrs. MacCarty had said that he was a friend of hers, she had expected a man about her principal's age, not this tall, thin, -dare she say cute?-young man. "Hi," she said lamely, and then cursed herself. Hi? Was that all she could think of?

He nodded absently, having been studying her as well. "Hi," he responded, and Caitlyn breathed a mental sigh of relief when his address came out just as lame as hers had.

Thankfully, Mrs. MacCarty stepped in and took charge. "Nate, this is Caitlyn Gellar, one of my students. Caitlyn, this is Nate Grey. I used to babysit him when he was younger." She winked at Nate and then whispered in a conspiratorial stage whisper, "Oh, the stories I could tell you about him!"

Caitlyn smiled widely, as did Nate, but Caitlyn noticed that his smile did not quite meet his eyes. "Nice to meet you, Caitlyn," he said. "But how about you keep those stories to yourself?" he suggested to Mrs. MacCarty. She only laughed, and he motioned for Caitlyn to follow him. "I wanted to take a few moments before the first class got here so that I could work with you." He shrugged. "You know, see where you are, how easily you pick things up. That'll tell me where I can put you."

Caitlyn nodded mutely and followed him onto the floor, turning to face the mirror once she and Nate reached the center. "So, what do I do?" she asked him nervously, not giving him a chance to speak. "I'm warning you that I've never danced before, at least, not an organized dance."

Nate nodded in understanding and then shook his head. "That's not a problem. Let's just start with the warm up." He strode over to the side of the studio and cued some music. Rich, traditional Irish music swelled through the studio, and Caitlyn felt something inside of her swell as well. "Ready?" Nate asked as he joined her.

"Ready," she said.

They began with a slow warm up, stretching out all of the muscles that would be needed for dancing. "You'll be sore tomorrow," Nate warned her, as he showed her how to stretch her hamstrings, "but hopefully, you won't be as sore as you would be if we hadn't stretched."

After they stretched, Nate showed Caitlyn her first step. She watched as he leapt into the air, one leg straight out in front of him and the other tucked under him. He came down, switching his legs at the last moment. "Try that a couple times," he told her, and offered to do it with her.

Together, they advanced on the mirrors in front of them, jumping in tandem. Caitlyn was so excited that she missed the surprised look in Nate's eyes as she jumped up, flinging her leg out and bringing the other one tucked neatly under her body. Her height in the jump almost matched Nate's, seemingly without effort. When they reached the mirror, Caitlyn smiled happily. "How was that?" she asked him.

Nate, still surprised, stared at her for a moment, taking in her flushed cheeks, her wide smile, and the curly chestnut hair that was already coming out of her ponytail. He brought himself quickly out of any wayward thoughts he might have. She was the student he didn't want. He needed to pull it together. He cleared his throat. "That was actually really great," he admitted to her. "Can you do it for me on your own?"

Caitlyn nodded and returned to the middle of the floor, quickly making her way to stand in front of him again. "Right?" she asked, making sure that she had done her steps correctly.

"Perfect," he admitted. "Let's try the next step."

By the time the rest of the dancers strode into the room, Nate knew exactly what part Caitlyn should play. With her legs lifting so high into the air, and her hair flying around her delighted, flushed face, he knew that he could never put her in the background. Somehow, someway, he would prep her in time for the bet. She could do it. She was obviously a quick learner.

She wouldn't be a "nobody." She would be his leading lady.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this! If any of you are curious about the steps I'm trying to explain, go to Youtube and type in Cry of the Celts. The one I recommend is under Feet of Flames. I think you'll like it! Please review, and yes, Krissy, I do a lot of traditional Irish dance, and love it just as much as Caitlyn will! Also, to those of you that believe that Caitlyn might be learning TOO fast, well, this IS fanfiction, but it's entirely possible to learn dances as quickly as she will. Some people just have the talent. Michael Flatley does! :)