Dance With Me
Description: As a college freshman, Sora faces a choice: the brotherly bond he has formed with his roommate or the possibility of love with a sophomore who loves to dance. AU, Amazing Grace crossover. SoraxRiku, LeonxCloud, ChristianxJustin, J'nelxIrene.
Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and all the Final Fantasy games belong to Square-Enix. Amazing Grace and its characters belong to me.
Eight: First Corner, Second Corner
First Corner, Second Corner: Special positions used in many different figures.
In a set of three couples, the second couple is the active couple. They stand back to back in the center, facing their partner's side.
The dancer on the active couple's right side is their first corner. For the woman, first man; for the man, third woman.
The dancer on the active couple's left side is their second corner. For the woman, third man; for the man, first woman.
This setup is used in many different figures including corner-partner, set and turn corners, reels for four, and parallel figure eights or reels for three.
Three days. That was all it had been. Three days. Seventy-two hours. Four thousand, three hundred, and twenty minutes. Two hundred, fifty-nine thousand, and …
God, I'm pathetic.
But dance class was finally here, and tonight I would meet Irene. I kept hoping that maybe Sora would change his mind and show up, too, but I tried not to get too excited about that thought. After all, I really doubted he had thought about me as much as I had thought about him. I doubt he had spent all of Sunday and Monday always scanning his surroundings for a glimpse of my face while still trying not to alert his friends who, by the way, would roast him alive with teasing if they knew.
Did I mention I'm pathetic?
"Hey, Riku, you gonna put your ghillies on or just hold them all night?" Chris looked up at me curiously from under the hair that had fallen forward over his face as he bent down to put on his dance shoes. I jumped and started putting on my own shoes, mentally cursing myself for spacing out. After a moment, he straightened up and looked at me curiously. "You okay? You've been acting weird since Saturday."
"I'm fine," I told him. Still bending down, I reached back to my bookbag and rummaged around until I found a hair tie. A couple of seconds brought the stupid stuff under control. I enjoy having long hair, but sometimes I completely understand why J'nel occasionally snaps and demands that I cut his off.
Chris's voice cut into my thoughts. "Did you meet someone or something?"
How the hell does he do that?
"Because if you did," he continued, "I'd love to hear all about him. I know I rag on Leon and Cloud all the time, but I wouldn't do that to you. Their relationship is solid and firmly established, so they can take it. But I wouldn't tease a new relationship whether it's you or J'nel or anyone. I actually have some tact in me."
Okay, now I was convinced he was from some alternate dimension where they could read minds. I finished lacing up my shoes and sat back to look at him. "I only met him Saturday," I said, still hesitant and slightly embarrassed in spite of Chris's calm, accepting expression. "I really don't know much about him yet, just that he's having trouble with his roommate and that one of his friends will be here tonight." I flushed as I admitted, "And that I'm crushing on him like a fourteen-year-old girl."
He smiled brightly at me. "Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's the best part of falling in love and it doesn't last nearly long enough. Enjoy it while you can."
"Yeah," I replied, "but I can't really enjoy it until I find out if he feels the same. Otherwise, I'm setting myself up for a broken heart."
Chris shrugged as if that were the silliest thing for me to concern myself over. "You shouldn't worry so much. It'll all work out eventually."
"And how in the name of all that's good and holy do you know that?"
"Because it always does."
"Excuse me?"
I looked up from my annoyed glaring at my close friend and into the sparkling eyes of a pretty Indian woman. She smiled at me. "Are you Riku by any chance?"
"Yes."
Her smile widened a bit. "I'm Irene. Sora described you to me and asked me to give you this." She held out a piece of paper which I took eagerly. On it, Sora had written not just his full name and extension but also his room number and email, all in a loopy cursive that fit him perfectly and made me smile. "And I'm supposed to ask for yours."
I nodded to her and went back to digging in my bookbag for the paper that I had written out earlier for him. But since he had given me extra information, I also pulled out a pen and amended my note. My sloppy, spiky penmanship looked like chicken scratchings compared to his neat handwriting. "Here you go," I said, handing it to her and rising to my feet at the same time. "It's good to meet you, Irene. This is my friend Christian."
As they greeted each other and proceeded into easy small talk, I took note of the large number of students that had filtered in to the church's small gymnasium. Many of them I recognized from last year, but quite a few I didn't. Idly I wondered how many of the new faces had been badgered by Yuffie to show up. I had overheard Tifa grumbling about the other girl, something about an abuse of trust. But really, Tifa had been foolish enough to trust Yuffie with the table in the first place, so she shouldn't have been surprised.
"Hey, Rikuuuu!"
Speak of the devil.
A body crashed into my back, and thin arms wrapped around my neck. Somehow I managed to keep us both from falling over and also keep myself from being strangled. Chris looked like he was going to die from laughing, the traitor.
"Hi, Yuffie."
I knew she was grinning even though I couldn't see her face. "Oooo, who's this? You got a new girlfriend, Riku?"
Irene's face flushed slightly at the accusation. "Oh no, we just met, really," she said with a small waving of hands.
Yuffie laughed in my ear. "I know. I was just teasing ya. Riku doesn't swing that way."
I swear I nearly fell over from embarrassment. It's not that I hide the fact that I'm gay, but I don't flaunt it either. And Yuffie had just spilled the beans to Irene who would get it back to Sora who was probably straight and who would think back on a couple of things I had said or done and would put two and two together and … . Shit, I was screwed now.
But Irene just laughed. "That's okay. My friend Sora doesn't either."
And at that, I did fall over. Well, not really. I just stumbled, and because Yuffie was still on top of me, I managed to pass it off as her fault. I also managed, after a little bit of effort, to get her the hell off of me. By that time, J'nel and Tifa had arrived, and we introduced Irene to everyone. She in turn grabbed another freshman woman by the name of Selphie to introduce to us. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about how one of my worries about Sora had been resolved in my favor, but that still left countless others that would undoubtedly hound me without mercy. A couple of times I even wondered if I would have preferred finding out that he was straight, just so I could give up on him before what I was feeling turned from a crush into something more complicated.
Eventually Jerry called the room to order and class began. The two instructors, Jerry and Mary Perry -- yes, I know and believe me, so do they -- had asked those of us who normally play instruments to dance instead for the first month or so to help the newcomers. So when Jerry ordered all experienced dancers to raise a hand and all inexperienced dancers to grab someone with his hand up, I turned to Irene, intending to offer to dance with her. To my surprise, I found that J'nel had already taken her. So I took Selphie instead.
The whole class was just basics: how to hold your body, the proper way to hold your partner's hand, some simple figures, a few comments on footwork with a promise that we'd work on that more later. It would have been terribly boring for me if I had been with any other partner. Poor Selphie seemed to be all feet. She tripped and stumbled all night, but she kept smiling and held on to her positive attitude so strongly that I was truly impressed. She laughed at herself often and actually frowned at me when I wouldn't laugh at her, too. When class finally ended, she threw her arms around my neck and told me I was the most wonderful guy in the world to put up with her. Then she bounced away, leaving me feeling slightly shell-shocked.
"Um, Riku?"
I turned to find Irene standing behind me, looking slightly worried. The expression seemed so out of place on her.
"Yes?"
"I … um … need to tell you something. About Sora."
I perked up immediately although her demeanor was making my stomach hurt. "What about him?"
Her eyes locked onto mine, and her voice became stronger as she continued, "I remembered during class that I wasn't supposed to say what I did. You know, to you and Yuffie."
What? My brow furrowed as I peered at her. "You mean that Sora is gay?"
She nodded. "Yes. Exactly. I shouldn't have told you, so could you please act like you don't know? And could you tell Christian and Yuffie, too? Yuffie especially. She seems like the talkative type."
I shook my head slightly. "I don't understand. I mean, yes, I can, but why? Is he not out or something?"
Her forehead crinkled, and she bit her lip. "Well, yes and no. It's complicated. I should probably let him explain it himself in his own time, you know."
I didn't get it, but it didn't really matter. So I assured Irene that I would "forget" what she had said and order Chris and Yuffie to do the same. As soon as I had, the smile returned to her face, and she went to gather her things to leave. I noticed that J'nel was waiting for her next to her bag and that the two fell into a comfortable conversation, but my mind was too confused to make much out of it. It wasn't until Chris came up next to me and made a comment about my shoes that I realized that almost everyone had left already.
When I sat down on the bench to put my sneakers back on, Chris sat down next to me and commented, "Something must be in the water. First you, now J'nel. I'd better watch myself."
My head snapped up to look at him. "J'nel? What are you talking about?"
He tipped his head at me. "You didn't notice?" Then, his face cleared as he remembered who my partner had been. "I guess you were too busy helping Selphie out." He leaned back a bit and explained, "Well, first you should know that Irene is a natural. She acts like she's been doing this all her life. So she and J'nel didn't have much to do except stand there and talk." He laughed. "And boy did they ever talk. Like there was no one else in the room. I swear I've never seen him so animated."
"That doesn't necessarily mean he's interested in her." Chris gave me a pitying look, so I defended myself by reminding him, "He knows better than to get involved with a human girl. His family will go nuts."
"Screw his family," he replied so easily and carelessly that my jaw dropped. He shrugged off my incredulity. "Seriously. Screw 'em. He should be allowed to be with the person he loves, and he should have the freedom to make that decision himself."
I sighed gently and went back to my shoes. "I'm so glad to see you have such an open mind and accepting attitude towards other cultures."
He snorted violently and stood up, apparently tired of waiting for me. Luckily, I finished a few seconds later, grabbed my bag, and followed him out the door and into the night. We walked the rest of the way to ML together in silence. I knew Chris was miffed at me for not agreeing with him, but I didn't feel like fixing that problem just yet. Instead, my mind occupied itself by dissecting and analyzing everything I had learned tonight about Sora.
He clearly wanted to be friends which was wonderful, and Irene's slip had given me hope that perhaps we could be more. But the fact that it was a slip was exceedingly worrying. Was he closeted to everyone except Irene? And why had she said it was complicated? I sure as hell didn't need complicated right now.
By the time we reached our dorm, I had had no epiphanies. I had, however, managed to give myself a headache. I decided to let it go for now. I had his number and he had mine. I'd call him tomorrow if he didn't call me first. For tonight, I'd just try to forget that confusing things like love and relationships exist and focus on simpler things instead.
Like my Data Structures and Algorithms homework.
Someone shoot me now.
