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Author's Note: I had several chapters planned out in my head, but I realized they are all pretty pointless. So this is my pathetic attempt to combine them so you're not bored. Here goes!

I own nothing from "Center Stage".

Five

Jody sat on her old waterbed and picked up the cordless phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi Charlie!"

"Oh, hey Jody! You're there already?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, I've been here for a few hours."

"Oh. So, how was the flight?"

"Pretty good. At least no one threw up, like when I first came to New York."

Charlie laughed. "Sounds good. And, how's everyone there?"

"Um, ok. Everyone's fine except my mom. She's really sick and they don't know what's wrong yet."

"Oh, Jody, I'm so sorry."

Jody shrugged. "Thanks Charlie. You wanna know something weird?"

"What?"

"We've gone 2 weeks with out seeing each other. But, for some reason, I miss you already."

Charlie smiled. "I miss you too."

"Look, my parents are paying for this, so I really should get off the phone."

"Ok. I'll see you Sunday night then, right?"

"Yeah. Bye."

"Bye Jody. I love you."

Jody smiled. "I love you too. Bye Charlie." Jody hung up the phone on the bed stand and smiled.

Michelle walked in and plopped down on Jody's bed. "I really like your bed."

Jody smiled. "So, how have you been? I haven't seen you in over a year!"

"I've been ok. No boyfriend though." Michelle said sadly.

"Well, you don't need a boyfriend to be happy… besides, I'm sure you'll get one soon."

Michelle shrugged. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yeah."

"That's not fair!!"

Jody laughed. "I'm also 6 years older than you."

"Well… how old is he? What's his name? What does he do? Tell me everything!!" Michelle commanded excitedly.

Jody smiled. "Well then, let me see. He's 19, just like me, and his name is Charlie. He's a dancer."

"Wow. What's he like?"

"He's a few inches taller than me and he has dark brown hair. He has these perfectly gorgeous light blue eyes. He's really really sweet, and he's funny too."

"Is he cute?"

"He's very cute." Jody replied smiling.

"How long have you been dating? Do you have his picture?"

"We've been together about 4 months."

"Oh! Are you gonna get married?"

Jody couldn't help but laugh at that. "Maybe, I dunno. We just started going out."

"Oh, but do you have a picture?"

"Probably, let me check." Jody picked up her purse off the floor and dug through it. She pulled out a picture and smiled at it. "I found one."

Michelle snatched it up and stared at it. "Oh! Jody! He's cute! He is… incredibly cute!"

Jody smiled and took the picture back. "Yeah… he's great."

"Is that who you were talking to on the phone."

"Yeah."

"So, do you love him?" Michelle asked slyly.

Jody smiled and looked at Michelle, not sure what to say. "Yeah, I do. But you can't tell anyone because I don't want mom and dad to get all freaked out, ok?"

"Sure!" Michelle agreed happily.

"Ok. Go on and go to bed, it's late."

"Ok. Night Jody." Michelle got up and left Jody alone.

Jody looked down at the small picture of Charlie. She tacked it up to the empty bulletin board on her wall and went to bed.

Jody walked out of the gate at the airport late that Sunday night. Charlie was there waiting for her, with a bouquet of roses. He kissed Jody and handed her the flowers.

"What are these for?" Jody asked.

Charlie shrugged happily. "Because I love you and I wasn't sure if you'd be ok with your mom and all. Come on, we have to get your bag. And we have to get you home, it's late."

"Oh yeah, I need my beauty sleep." Jody said jokingly.

"Not that you need it, you're already beautiful. Come on." Charlie took her hand and they walked through the airport.

~~~~* A YEAR LATER *~~~~

Jody returned from her monthly visit to her parents. She locked her apartment door and took a long shower.

She was going to have to break up with Charlie, leave the Cooper Nielson Dance Company, and move back to Indiana.

There was no way her dad could handle everything in that house, and his job, on his own. Both he and Jody's mom were teachers. Mrs. Sawyer taught elementary school and Mr. Sawyer taught at a high school. Now, he had 2 now-14-year-olds, 2 dogs, a very sick wife (who obviously wasn't working, and his job. Not to mention all the normal stuff he usually did, plus the extra stuff that his wife usually did.

Jody sighed and turned off the shower. She dried off and changed. She crawled under the warm covers like a bug and cried herself to sleep.