Silver Beast: Let's Dance
(Tuesday - April 21, 9:20 AM Tama High - 5 months, 5 days and 19 hours remaining)
"I can't believe prom season is already here!" Ayumi squealed as she quickly changed into her gym clothes. "We have to get our dresses from the boutique shop before all the good ones are gone!"
"I know!" Yuka exclaimed as she quickly tied her shoelaces. "There's only a few days left in case we need to order anything from the Vancouver shops."
"I ordered my dress like, six months ago. It's the latest fashion from New York." Sabrina bragged as she adjusted her breasts in her overly padded sports bra. "You girls will be lucky to get yours here in time with the record our delivery guy has."
"No kidding. The last time we ordered from America it took three months to get here!" Eri sighed as she spun the combination on her locker door. "Kagome? Do you think your mom would be interested in doing our nails?"
"Yeah! She did such a good job for my birthday a couple weeks ago!" Ayumi agreed.
"I can ask her." Kagome shrugged as he pulled her hair up into a ponytail.
"What? Is my mom's work at the salon not good enough for you girls?" Sabrina huffed bitterly as she leaned against the locker room sink.
"No! You're mom does a great job!" Yuka chuckled nervously. "It's just that your mom is always busy at the salon and she's probably booked for prom season anyways! Since Kagome's mom does nails as a hobby we'll probably be her only clients."
"I see." Sabrina frowned as she noticed Kagome's red stiletto nails. "Don't you think your acrylics are a bit much for school? We are in Port Hardy after all. It's not like we live on the strip in California where there's hot pool boys to seduce."
"I know. It's just that I like the way they look." Kagome shrugged bashfully as they all began to walk out of the locker room.
"Whatever Washington." Sabrina scoffed. "If you want to look like a desperate housewife be my guest."
"Ugh!" Kagome gaped.
"Just ignore her." Eri rolled her eyes as they lined up with the boys around the edge of the basketball court. "I think they look cute."
"No, she's right. Cute or not, they are a bit much for everyday wear." Kagome sighed as she looked down at her nails. They were a bright red color with little black bows painted on them. She hadn't planned for them to stand out so much. Red just so happened to be her favorite color! Now that she thought about it however, they did look a bit ridiculous. "I'll see if my mom can trim them back tonight."
"Don't you dare let that bitch get the better of you Kagome!" Yuka demanded making Kagome's eyes widen in surprise. "It's your choice to have them look that way. Don't change your style just because she's jealous."
"Yeah, I bet her mom won't let her have nails that long." Eri agreed.
"They do look rather sexy painted red. I bet all the boys are wondering what they'd feel like clawing down their backs in the heat of passion." Yuka winked, making Kagome blush.
"Yuka! I can't believe you're a closet pervert!" Kagome gaped making the girls laugh.
"What can I say?" Yuka shrugged with a mischievous grin. "I'm a helpless romantic."
"Alright girls! Quiet down!" their gym teacher called. "Since prom is only a couple of weeks away we're going to learn how to waltz!"
"You've got to be joking…" Fred groaned.
"Yeah Mrs. Bryd! This isn't the 15th century!" Eddie pointed out.
"I am well aware of today's distasteful standards of bumping and grinding class." Mrs. Bryd mocked causing some of the kids to snicker. "You will thank me later for this lesson when you're slow dancing with your date. I imagine some of you are afraid you will accidentally step on their feet or look like idiots dancing?"
"That's true…" Yuka agreed. "I didn't think about that."
"Precisely! Now, keep in mind that your dancing will be graded. I expect full cooperation from everyone in class." Mrs. Bryd said, earning groans and complaints from everyone. "Is that understood?"
"Yes Mrs. Bryd." Everyone groaned together.
"Good! Now to make this fair I've assigned dance partners. I don't want to hear any excuse about me not properly assessing your improvement! When I call your name please go to your assigned partner." Mrs. Bryd said as she whipped out her clipboard. "Mr. Hojo!"
"Yes, Mrs. Bryd?" Hojo said.
"You will be paired up with Abbie." Mrs. Bryd said, making Hojo's smile wilt a little. He'd hoped to dance with Kagome but it appeared luck wasn't on his side today. As the curly red head walked over to him he forced a warm smile onto his face. "Excellent! Ms. Yuka?"
"Yes?" Yuka asked as she stepped forward.
"You will be paired up with Koga." Mrs. Bryd said as she scribbled on her clipboard.
"But Mrs. Bryd! I wanted to dance with Kagome!" Koga complained.
"No buts Koga!" Mrs. Bryd scolded sternly. "Now go to your assigned partner."
"It's alright Koga." Yuka smiled shyly. "I promise I won't step on your toes."
"Feh!" Koga pouted.
"Ginta!" Mrs. Bryd called. "You will be with Ayami! Hakkaku you will be with Lila and Sabrina you will be with Eddie."
"Ew, gross." Sabrina gagged as the geek with the braces and overly large glasses came to stand by her side.
"Let's see here…. who else has yet to be matched up?" Mrs. Bryd mumbled to herself. "Ah yes! Ms. Eri you will be with Fred, Jack you will be with Tammy and Kagome you will be with Inuyasha."
"What?!" Koga growled as Inuyasha casually strolled over to Kagome's side with his hands in his pockets. "You've got to be kidding me!"
His growl darkened when he saw the shy blush painting Kagome's cheeks as she looked up at Inuyasha through her lashes. He didn't like how close Inuyasha was standing next to her or the smirk curling the mutt's lips. If it didn't risk revealing his inner demon to the humans he'd punch that smug look clear off of the mutt's face.
"Koga! Do I need to send you to Principal Jones' office for being disruptive again?" Mrs. Byrd snapped with her hands firmly placed on her hips.
"No, ma'am." Koga growled as he glared Inuyasha down.
"Excellent!" Mrs. Bryd smiled as she checked off the last of her list on her clipboard. "Now class! I need you to watch carefully as I show you the first steps. Fred, please come forward so you can help demonstrate how the guys are supposed to move."
"Great…" Fred groaned.
"The first thing you need to do is face your partner." Mrs. Bryd said as she turned to look at Fred. "The next thing is for the boys to put their left arms out like this and ladies put your right hand palm to palm with his."
"Ok… that doesn't look too difficult." Kagome gulped as she turned to face Inuyasha.
She knew her face was as red as a tomato when Mrs. Bryd's next instructions were for the boys to put their other hand on the small of the girl's backs just below their shoulder blades. When the girls were then asked to place their left hands on the boys shoulders just below the junction of their necks, she accidently grazed her nails at the nape of Inuyasha's hairline. She could have sworn she heard him gasp and shiver at the feeling. Being so close like this had her heart pounding in her chest and struggled to steady her breathing. It was very intimate and a little intimidating being exposed like this.
It made her feel a little better knowing he was equally flustered about their predicament as she was. She could sense his uneasiness as well as a tang of pride and arrogance in his aura. Knowing Inuyasha, he was probably happy that he'd gotten to dance with her just to grate on Koga's nerves. When she heard Inuyasha clear his throat she looked up from his chest in confusion. She gasped in surprise when she realized just how close his face was to hers. From here she could see the golden streaks swirling in his brown eyes and admire the marble-like quality of his skin. Even disguised as a human he was gorgeous and it caused her brain to temporarily shut down.
Seeing him quirk an eyebrow at her and motion with his head towards the front of the class she realized that Mrs. Bryd was giving them instructions on how to move their feet. Her cheeks heated to a dark pink when she sensed his amusement and pleasure in his aura. She didn't doubt if she looked back up at his face he'd have a smug grin curling his lip. Now he knew that she was attracted to him and there wasn't anything she could do to take that back. Not wanting to embarrass herself anymore, she shook her head to clear it of its thoughts and watched Mrs. Bryd demonstrate the box step sequence. She took note of the importance of off setting from your partner so not to step on their feet.
It was awkward at first getting used to the rise and fall of the three beat movement. Especially when you were dancing with your crush. They both made a few mistakes, even stepped on the other's toes at one point. Thankfully they were able to laugh it off and keep trying. Once everyone had practiced the sequence with their partners a couple of times Mrs. Bryd handed off Fred to Eri and turned on the music. Poor Eddie had to constantly say the three beat movement out loud to keep up but eventually even he was able to dance along with the continuous beat of the orchestra. Soon everyone was having a great time waltzing around the gym.
Mrs. Bryd played classics upbeat waltzes from composers like Shostakovich, Rodgers, Strauss and Tchaikovsky. The tempo was fairly up beat and quickly had them sweating from the workout. When Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow came on however, the atmosphere in the gym changed completely. It was no longer about goofing off and dancing for fun. It became a slow dance of lovers. It was as if a spell had fallen down upon them and carried them away into endless space. For many of the student's it was like their eyes were opened for the first time and saw their fellow classmates in a whole new light. The beauty of the moment brought tears to Mrs. Bryd's eyes and a wobbly smile to her lips.
[End of Chapter 11]