HEY! Did you miss me? I'm finally updating! This chapter would've been up sooner but I went on an unexpected vacation ^_^ I really wanted to update so I skimmed the chapter so sorry if there are any spelling mistakes, grammar errors etc:

This chapter might shock you a bit… I really want to know your reactions to it! (:

Disclaimer: I do not own Night World, it belongs to L.J. Smith. I do not own the poem "Having a Coke With You" by Frank O'Hara. I own nothing except the plot!

The title didnt fit when I was uploading :/ Oh well!

Enjoy!

Chapter 9: Dancing, Starbucks, and Scheming

Two weeks passed by and I was actually looking forward to dance class now. Before it was almost torture having to be so close to Chase and being forced to cooperate with him. But now, it didn't seem so bad. It was tolerable now that Chase and I were somewhat friends and the class was becoming fun. The only downside was the "workout clothes" I was forced to wear at each practice. Even though I was enjoying the class, it didn't mean that I wanted to wear so little clothing. But I had to admit, though I would never say this out loud, they were comfortable to dance in and it was funny seeing Chase's expression whenever I walked into the room.

I smiled to myself as I was walking. It was nearing the end of the day at school and I was on my way to my favorite class. I walked into the locker room and headed to my locker. I put in my combination and opened it. Looking inside, I was trying to figure out which outfit to wear. Finally, I settled on a lime green sports bra with a white oversized shirt that had the sleeves cut off and the neck was cut also, making it have a swooping neckline, and another pair of short black shorts.

After changing, I walked into the hall as I was putting my hair into a ponytail. When I was finished I bumped into something. Looking up, I saw that it wasn't a something but a someone; it was Chase. He put his hands on my shoulders to steady me so I wouldn't fall. I felt an electric current run through my shoulders where his hands were touching me.

"Hey! Watch where you're going, next time you might run into a pole" Chase said teasingly.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, like I would walk into a pole."

"I'm pretty sure you would. I mean you just ran straight into me! Unless... you were doing that on purpose…" He said with a teasing tone and had on a huge smile on his face, "I knew it! You totally have the hots for me, don't ya?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes again. "Don't flatter yourself. You're not that good looking."

"Oh so I'm good looking, am I? Well for your information, about half the girl population has asked me out on a date since the school year started!" Chase bragged.

With a twinge of jealously I replied, "And you're telling me this because...?"

With a sly smile on his face he said, "'Cause I know you care. C'mon any other girl would kill to be in your shoes right now!"

"Well sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not like the other girls in this school." I turned around and walked down the hall to the dance room. When I reached it, I pulled open the doors and walked in with Chase not that far behind.

Paulo and Rosa stopped talking when they saw us walk in. They both had smiles on their faces.

"Finally you guys are here! Well we both have come to the mutual decision that you have mastered the Foxtrot! Well… you guys learned more of a contemporary version." Rosa said excitedly.

"That means that we are going to teach you a new style of dance. For the next few weeks you will be learning how to dance the Waltz. Now, the Waltz may seem like an easy dance at first but it's a bit tricky with your foot work. Although you will be moving gracefully and a bit slowly in the upper part of your body you will be moving quicker with your feet. So it'll be 1-2-3, 1-2-3," Paulo started clapping his hands to the beat, "You will have to move this quick with your feet."

"Alright let's stretch and we'll start teaching you some moves!" Rosa started jumping up and down in excitement, "You guys are going to look so great when you're done… I can already see it in my head…"

"Okay! So the story you have to tell for this dance is a good one. It's about a witch who likes to cast spells on men to lure them into her lair before she kills them. Sounds fun right?" Rosa said enthusiastically.

"So I get to act like a witch?" I ask.

"Yep. You're going to walk past him one day and then put him under your spell that makes him fall in love with you." Paulo said.

"So I have to act like a lovesick puppy?" Chase said with a frown.

"Looks like it, lover boy." I say to Chase.

"Great." Chase says sarcastically.

"Okay so let's start with the first few counts. They are very simple and you barely have to touch each other at first. Now Arella, you will be walking slowly past Chase and once you past him you look back then circle around, walk away, turn back, touch his cheek, walk away again. And you Chase, will not notice her at first then you will act shocked to see her, then watch her for a bit, and follow her before she leaves, then spin her around. Got it? Sound simple?" Rosa said with a tiny smile.

"Not really." I say back.

"Great! Now begin!" said Rosa.

I took a deep breath then started to walk slash dance to the other side of the room. Once I passed by Chase I looked back behind my shoulder and caught his eye. Playing the part, Chase looked shocked for a bit and stood there a bit dazed. I turned around and danced towards him. When I got to him, I danced around him, doing little twirls. He followed me with his eyes, still in a dreamlike daze. I got fairly close to him and lifted my hand to his face and held onto his chin, moving his face left and right before letting go and turning back around again. I started dancing away once more. I got 5 steps away before I felt him grab my wrist and twirl me around into his strong arms. I put my hands on his shoulders to steady myself from the sudden movement.

Suddenly, I heard clapping but it seemed so far away as I gazed into Chase's dark navy blue eyes. I shook my head as I realized that I was just staring at Chase and was lost in my own little world. I suddenly jumped out of his arms and looked at the person clapping.

"That was great! I liked that little improvise you did with touching and moving his chin. I like that better than just touching his cheek. Very nice, okay then the other part that I wanted to teach you today was the more difficult lift since that will take up the rest of the class today. Then tomorrow we can start the rest of the dance." Rosa said with a thoughtful expression on.

"This might be a bit difficult for you guys but let's try it. Okay, so Arella you are going to jump on his back, but don't hold on to tightly since Chase will grab your leg and pull you off but as your about to fall Chase is going to grab your hand, while still holding your leg, and is going start spinning around while still holding on. Then Chase, as you start to slow down you are going to let go of her leg and, still holding her hand, and you are going to be standing still while you spin her on the floor then pull her up. When you pull her up, start dancing to the left. Okay?" Paulo said explaining the complicated lift to us.

"Ready to start? Okay good. Begin!" Rosa said, still happy from our performance earlier.

I was a little scared about this lift, it didn't sound too easy. I looked towards Chase and said "Ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." He responded.

"Okay," I took a deep breath, "let's do this."

Chase turned around so I could jump on his back. I stepped back a bit, and then with a little running start, I jumped onto his back. Now that the easy part was over, it got a little complicated after that. I felt Chase grab my left ankle with his right hand. I felt him pull my ankle and then I let go too soon. I fell to the floor with a loud thud, my ankle still in his hand.

"Ouch…" I muttered to myself, rubbing the arm that I fell on.

Chase let go of my ankle then stuck his hand out to help me up, "You okay?"

"Yeah thanks." I accepted his hand and he pulled me up, "Let's try that again."

I ran at him again and jumped. This time when he grabbed me ankle, I knew better and had a better grip on his shoulder as he pulled me in front of him. As I let both my hands go, his left hand caught my right hand. But Chase lost his grip while spinning me and tossed me across the room, landing a few feet away from him with another loud thud!

"Chase!" I growled, still laying on the floor, "You are so dead! Why the hell did you let me go?"

Chase stood there for a bit, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Sorry."

Slowly, with a scared expression on his face, he walked towards me and helped me up again. But unfortunately for him, when I was back on my two feet I pounced on him, trying to hit him. He noticed a little too late and tried to shake me off. After about ten minutes, I finally stopped but was still mad.

"Let's try that again, you almost had it." Rosa said with a tiny smile on her face.

"Don't drop me this time." I said to Chase with venom in my voice.

He smiled sheepishly again, "I'll try not to. I lost my grip last time."

I took another deep breath and then, with another running start, jumped on his back again. He grabbed my ankle, and as I twisted around him, he grabbed my hand. This time, thankfully, he didn't drop me as we started spinning in circles. I felt him slow down, and then drop my ankle. Chase still had a firm grip on my hand as he twirled me on the floor for a bit before pulling me up. I fell into his arms and we started to dance to the left for a bit before we stopped at the sound of more clapping behind us.

"That was really good! And just in time too, the bell is about to ring in five minutes. Good, now tomorrow we will work on that again and add a few more moves." Paulo said.

I sighed in relief, happy that Chase didn't drop me. Again.

After I finished changing back into my dark wash skinny jeans and green halter top, I exited the girl' locker room to find Chase waiting for someone. Puzzled I walked towards him and asked, "Who are you are waiting for?"

"You." He answered back.

"Why?" I asked even more confused than before.

"'Cause I was going to ask you if you wanted to go get a cup of coffee with me. So do you?" He asked.

"Um, sure?" I said, but it didn't sound like an answer, more like a question.

"Great!" Then he started to walk off. And without realizing it, I followed in a confused daze.

The walk to Starbucks was pretty quiet. I didn't know why he wanted to go get coffee so I was just following him quietly with a suspicious look on my face. Chase broke the silence when we walked inside the coffee shop, "What do you want to drink? I'm paying."

"Well, if you're paying I'll take a Double Chocolate Frappicino with a muffin." I say as I look the menu.

Chase turns to the cashier and says, "I'll have a Caramel Macchiato, Double Chocolate Frappicino and a muffin."

When we received our order we sat down at a table in a corner, near a window. It was silent for a bit as we drank our coffee and I nibbled on my muffin. Once again, Chase broke the silence, "Okay so the real reason I bought you coffee was to apologize about dropping you and flinging you across the room."

"Mmhm, I thought so." I say then take another bite of my muffin.

"Why do you say that? I could've just wanted to hang out with you." Chase said with a curious expression on his face.

"Well… isn't it obvious?" I say back. When he didn't answer me and stayed quiet I sighed, "We never hung out before outside of school and, due to the fact that we argue all the time, we don't actually talk to each other, and if you haven't noticed we aren't exactly friends. We're more of acquaintances."

"Uh huh, that's true but how else can we get to know each other better?" Chase said.

"Right…" I said, not really sure what to say to that.

"What's your favorite color?" Chase suddenly asked.

"Huh?" I asked confused.

"I want to get to know you better. So answer the question: What's your favorite color?" Chase said.

"Um, purple. You?"

"Black. Favorite flavor of ice-cream?"

"Chocolate Fudge Brownie. You?"

"Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Favorite movie?"

"Beastly. I love the poem in the movie, 'Having A Coke With you' by Frank O'Hara," I answered and start to recite my favorite lines in the poem, "'We are drifting back and forth between each other like a tree breathing through its spectacles; and the portrait show seems—'"

"'-To have no faces in it at all, just paint; you suddenly wonder why in the world anyone ever did them; I look at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world…' Yeah, I like that poem also. It's very nice."

I sat there shocked, my straw halfway to my mouth, "You know the poem?"

"Yeah. Believe it or not I actually like poetry." Chase declares with a small smile.

After that, I became more attentive and wanted to figure out the guy in front of me. Every time I thought I figured him out, he would do or say something like that that makes me second guess my opinion of him.

Ashton POV

I was walking on the sidewalk, not really caring where I was going. The sun was starting to set and the sky was becoming a beautiful portrait of colors. I stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the red light so I could cross. I lazily looked across the street at all the shops, but the one straight across from me shocked me. I saw Chase and that girl Arella sitting in a Starbucks laughing and enjoying each other's company. If I didn't know any better I'd say that they were on a date.

Of course that had to be impossible. Chase was supposed to make her fall in love with him so I guess this is his way of doing that. But… from here it seems like he is enjoying himself. Maybe I should walk over there and remind him why he's there. Although, as much as I would love to embarrass him or to cause trouble, I think I should just stay right here. I don't want to ruin it if he does fall in love. That would give me the perfect excuse to kill the girl myself. I smiled at the thought of seeing her lifeless body in front of me with her eyes still open, her mouth slightly parted and a permanent expression of fear on her face. Yes, that would be much more fun than making Chase embarrassed.

The light suddenly turned red and I walked across the street. I continued my walk and continued scheming about how I could get Chase to fall in love with the girl, but suddenly I bumped into someone. Without thinking about it, I reached out to steady the person in front of me. I was snapped out of my reverie when I felt an electric current run through my hands and into my arms when I touched the person in front of me. I recognized the girl immediately. She girl had long, straight fiery red hair with the tips and bangs dyed black, and had a silvery-blue eye color. She was the one I bumped into the other day at school.

"Is this always how we're gonna meet?" I said rudely to the girl in front of me.

"What's that supposed to—Oh… your that guy from before." The girl said back with an attitude that matched mine. Her expression turned from one of anger to realization then to annoyance.

"Yeah… you remembered too, huh? Well next time watch where you're going!" I said rudely.

"Don't take that tone with me! It's not my fault that you don't watch where you're going! Maybe if you'd pay attention to the sidewalk you wouldn't run into me!" She nearly screamed at me.

"Right, it's my fault," I say sarcastically.

"You're darn right it is!" She shot back.
I stared at her for a bit, there was something different about this girl. She intrigued me. Usually people would back away from me cause I'm so rude to people. But this girl was being just as rude back and was standing her ground. Curious, I asked, "What's your name?"

"Why would you want to know?" She said with venom in her voice.

"'Cause I want to know what to call you when we bump into each other again."

With a little hesitance she said, "Atiyana."

"My name's Ashton."

Arella POV

I glanced outside and found that the sun had set and the stars were shining brightly in the night sky. I sighed and felt slightly sad. I was really enjoying talking and laughing with Chase, there was something so natural about it. I didn't want to leave just yet but I knew that I had to get home soon. Everyone is probably wondering where I am since I didn't tell anyone where I was going after school.

"Something wrong? You look all sad all of a sudden." I heard a voice next to me say.

I turn from the window and looked at Chase, "No, nothing's wrong. I was just noticing how late it was."

Chase nodded, "Your right, it is getting late. Wow time flies when you're having fun."

I stood up, "I should really be getting home soon."

"Yeah, I should too." Chase stood up also and followed me outside. We both stopped walking when we reached the sidewalk.

"Surprisingly, I actually had a lot of fun. We should do that again sometime." I said with a smile on my face.

"Yeah it was nice. Do you want me to walk you home?" He asked.

"No! I, uh, mean no, that's alright. I can take care of myself if a thug tries to rob me." I smile nervously. I didn't want him to walk me since that would be that I would be showing him the Daybreak Base, and Chase could still be the dragon… although I'm not so sure now. He seems too nice.

Chase seemed a bit suspicious, "Right… well if you say so. See you tomorrow then." He held out his arms as if asking for a hug goodbye. I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around him, giving him a hug. I inhaled his scent, he smelt so nice and I felt so comfortable and safe in his arms. I felt him rest his chin on my head as we hugged.

"You smell nice." I murmured. My voice was muffled since my face was buried in his chest.

I felt him laugh as his chest rose up and down. I smiled to myself, I was so comfortable and I didn't want the hug to end.

"Thanks," Chase said while still laughing, "So nice of you to notice."

I pulled away slightly to look him in the eyes, blushing a little, "Oh shut up."

We stayed like that, staring into each other's eyes, for a while. I didn't know if it was seconds or hours, I was completely lost in his beautifully dark navy blue eyes. Slowly, Chase lowered his head closer to mine. His face kept coming closer but slowly as if giving me time to pull away. But with a startling realization I wanted him to kiss me. I wanted to feel in lips against mine. I didn't understand this sudden urge to be closer to him, but what I did understand was that he was moving too slowly. Without thinking, I quickly closed the gap between us.

When our lips met, the same familiar electric current flowed through me. I snaked my arms around his neck and ran my fingers in his hair. I felt him tighten his grip on me as he deepened the kiss. After a while, we broke apart. I stared at him, shocked at what I just did. I just kissed Chase, I freaking kissed him! What is wrong with me? I don't like him; at least I thought I didn't.

I untangled my hands from his hair, and jumped back in shock. "I – That – I shouldn't have – That was," I was at a total lose of words, finally I just said, "I should go. It's late."

With that said, I ran as fast as I could before Chase could respond. He still looked as shocked as I felt. Right before I turned the corner I heard him yell out my name.

Cliff hanger!

XD Great spot to stop, huh?
Well, did you expect that? The story is starting to unfold a bit now. We're getting to the really good parts soon. Anyways, I still don't know anything about ballroom dancing so if there's anything wrong…tell me, I just got my information from Google (: And I've never been to Starbucks before so…. I don't really know if they have those flavors (they probably do)

Reviews are very welcomed! I would love to know what you thought

~~Cally ^_^