Chapter 10:

                Andi stepped out of the walk-in closet. "What do you think, Emma? Mom?"

                Emma nodded. "I think that will do nicely. How does it fit?" Ororo just stood there with a surprised look on her face.

                Andi turned in front of the mirror, looking at herself. She was wearing a red spaghetti-strap tank top, a cropped black leather jacket, and a short black skirt. Emma wanted her to get the micro-mini, but Andi had insisted that she wasn't that comfortable with her body that she wanted to wear something that short, and had chosen a black leather miniskirt that came to just an inch above her knees.

                Emma was impressed. Andi had grown a lot, both mentally and physically. She had filled out her clothes, growing into a very nice set of womanly curves; her breasts, to her everlasting delight, were now a 36B. Not spectacularly full, but not flat, either. She had, however, kept her trim twenty-three inch waist, and her thirty inch hips. And she was now emerging with a definite sense of herself; as evidenced by her choice of clothing. She was no longer blindly wearing what Emma and Ororo bought her; she was choosing what she wanted to wear, and she definitely had good taste.

                She fiddled with the shoe nervously, unused to a heel higher than a couple of inches. Emma stood and looked at the shoe. "How does it feel?" It was a black leather sandal, with thin leather ties that wrapped up Andi's trim ankles. The heel was almost three inches high. Ororo looked at it.

                "Are you going to be able to walk, much less dance? It seems a bit high."

                Andi took a few steps, looking anxiously at the shoe, then turned and walked across the room and back. Her dancing had trained her body's posture; and a few sessions with Emma learning to walk in progressively higher heels had taught her how to put a bit of a seductive sway into her hips. "I think I've got it, Mom," she said with a laugh in her voice. "What do you think?"

                Ororo looked at Andi, her eyes suspiciously bright. "I am proud of you, Andi," she said. "You are a lovely young woman; you've gown so much in the last six months I hardly feel like I know you--"

                Andi wrapped her arms around Ororo and hugged her tightly. "I wouldn't be where I am if it weren't for you," she said into Ororo's ear. "If you hadn't rescued me I wouldn't be here; I would have died while I was with Dr. Hebron, or I would have committed suicide with my parents. I love you, Mom." Ororo hugged her back, her eyes bright; and Emma wandered over to the window, looking out, trying to give them a moment of privacy. As headlights turned into the driveway, she cleared her throat. "I believe your escort's here," she said.

                Andi stepped back hurriedly and straightened her jacket. "Do I really need an escort?" she said resignedly. "I mean, I have my license now, I can drive myself…"

                "Absolutely not," both Emma and Ororo chorused at once. Ororo said firmly, "Andi, as mature as I believe you to be, I am not sure you have enough experience with men to deal with this yourself. That is why I asked Remy to accompany you."

                There came a knock at the door; Andi opened it before the person standing on the other side could knock again. Remy stood there, smiling roguishly and holding a bunch of flowers. 'I know dis ain't a real date, p'tite," he said, "but when a boy does come here, he goin' have flowers for you; so Remy figure he bring you some so you get used to de experience." His eyes traveled approvingly up and down her figure. "Not bad," he said, grinning.

                Ororo dropped a hand on Andi's shoulder. "Go put the flowers in the kitchen, Andi," she said. "There is a vase on the counter; you can put them in there. I wish to speak to Remy before you both leave." Andi disappeared into the kitchen, Emma following, and Ororo faced Remy, hands on her hips. "Remy. This is not a date. You are merely escorting Andi to a local teen club and making sure that none of the boys there do anything to harm my daughter. This means you are responsible for her. If anything happens to her you will have to face me. If you do anything to her you will never know what hit you. Do you understand?"

                Remy nodded emphatically. "I understan', 'Ro. Andi is completely safe with me." She glared at him a moment longer, letting her words sink in, then turned away as Andi bounced back into the room.

                Emma grabbed Remy's arm. "Andi. Before you go, I want to show you something." Andi turned to face her; so did Remy."

                "Boys at this age, your age, can be quite…persistent…when it comes to a pretty girl like you. So here; if one of them is standing closer to you than you like, and he's facing you, do this." With a quick jerk, she brought her knee up between Remy's legs.

                Remy saw stars. He bent double, mouth open, gaping like a fish as the pain in his groin made itself felt. Andi watched interestedly. Ororo gasped and put a hand over her mouth.

                He straightened up, breathing hard. "Emma…" he started, but she didn't give him a chance to say anything.

She turned so he was standing behind her, and said to Andi, 'If they're behind you, do this." She raised her foot and pistoned it back into his groin. For the second time in as many minutes, Remy saw stars. He sat down heavily on the couch, eyes watering in pain. "This applies to any guy, Andi, including Remy. If he tries anything, do that. And when you get home, let Ororo and I know so we can…set him straight."

Andi nodded, eyes wide, as Remy got up. "Remy swear he goin' take care o' de p'tite! On my honor as a t'eif! I promise!"

Emma gave him a sweetly poisonous grin. "See that you do. Or," she purred, leaning over him and tapping his chin with one perfectly manicured nail, "you will face Ororo when you get home…and me." Remy swallowed hard, nodded, and got up off the couch with undue haste.

                Remy gallantly opened the passenger side door for Andi, and she flashed him a quick smile as she got in. He got in the driver's side, buckled his seatbelt, and they were off. "Remy," Andi said after a period of silence, "I wouldn't do that to you. Emma's nice, and a lot of what she says makes sense…but I'd never hurt you like that."

                "Would you do dat to a boy who get fresh wit' ya?"

                Andi considered that, and nodded. "Without a problem," she said confidently. Then she smiled, a wicked, predatory grin. "I don't have to do that to you. All I have to do is tell Mom and Emma…and they'd do it for me." Remy gulped, and scooted as far away from her as his seatbelt would allow. Andi laughed.

                'Nightlight' was crowded, as it usually was on a Friday night. Teens were gyrating wildly on the dance floor, while the 'bar' off to one side served sparkling cider, soda, and other non-alcoholic beverages. Andi walked in confidently, then looked around uncertainly. "Uh…what do I do now?" she asked in an undertone to Remy. He pointed to the dance floor and said, "You a dancer, p'tite. Go on and show dese amateurs what you can do." As she started to walk rather uncertainly toward the floor, he melted into the crowd and made his way over to the bar.

                Andi edged timidly through the throngs of dancers, scarcely noticing several boys turning to watch her as she edged out to the floor. The music was loud, a pulsing beat that made her want to move. The patterns in her head kept changing as the music changed; she sighed. At least she knew she wasn't crazy. Ororo had explained that her ability to 'see' music was called synesthesia; it was a trait that she also had. Andi closed her eyes, letting the beat settle into her mind, then started to move.

                She was all grace and sinuous curves, and the way she moved turned quite a few heads. A tall, handsome boy turned around at the table he was sharing with his friends to watch, though Andi was oblivious to his gaze. Another boy had stepped forward from the crowd, a slightly shorter, muscular, handsome boy, with the blond hair and high-school jock look, and was trying to match his dancing with hers. Andi smiled, never stopping her movement, all the while laughing inside at his clumsy attempts to dance with her.

                Remy sipped a coke as he watched Andi. She was a pretty girl; almost every boy in the club was looking at her, and quite a few of the girls were watching too, albeit with irritation in their faces.  He grinned, and was about to take another sip when he heard an amused voice at his elbow. "Quite the young miss, isn't she?"

                He turned, to see a woman slipping into the seat beside him. Remy looked at her appraisingly. Nice. Blond, blue eyes, skin-tight jeans that looked like they'd been poured on, and a low-cut peasant top gathered under her breasts, accenting her full bust. He smiled his most charming smile and turned to her. "Hello," he drawled.

                She extended a hand to him. "Alice Patton."

                "Remy LeBeau," he said, taking the offered hand and brushing his lips across the back of it. "Lovely to meet you, chere."

                Alice laughed, and hoisted herself onto the high barstool beside him. "You're a little old to be her date, so I assume you're here as a chaperone?" she said.

                "Oui, chere," Remy grinned. "And you are much too lovely t'be a girlfrien' to any of dose puppies out dere," he tipped his head back toward the dance floor, "so I assume you be doin' de same t'ing, non?"

                Alice laughed, and Remy felt his blood start pumping a little faster. He eased his hold on his reined-in sexuality, and let his feelings of appreciation and seduction out toward her mind. She responded.

                "I'm here as a chaperone to Vicky, over there," she said, nodding toward a pretty petite redhead standing off to one side of the dance floor, also watching Andi and her current partner. "Her mother doesn't quite trust her around the boys, so she asked me to watch her. I must admit, she's a bit of a flirt, but she's still a sweet girl." She turned to watch Andi, whose partner had just been replaced by another boy, whose attempts at dancing were causing the whole club to laugh. He was transparently not a good dancer; but Andi gave him a pat on the shoulder and stepped in close, putting a hand on his hip and slowing her pace so she could guide his body close to hers to match her movements. Remy wondered if he should go over there, considering the rapidly narrowing space between Andi and the boy; but Alice put her hand on his arm. "Don't," she said. "Your girl's not so sure about the boys; but this is a good experience for her." He settled back on his stool.

                Andi swung her hips invitingly back and forth, and the boy in front of her suddenly broke his rhythm to step in close to her. Andi blinked; she wasn't quite comfortable with this. She tried to push him back, but he pressed forward, shoving his groin into hers. Angry, she shoved him back. He became more insistent.

                She brought a knee up between his leg, sharply, as Emma had so recently shown her. The boy dropped to the floor, groaning as his fellows laughed, and a tall, slim boy with close-cropped brown hair detached himself from the rail surrounding the dance floor. "Serves you right, Greg," he said cheerfully at the downed boy. "Hey," he said, stopping in front of Andi. "I'm Ryan Harper. Wanna dance?"

                Andi took the offered hand. "Andi Munroe. I'd love to."

                Ryan listened to the music, then made a face. "Bad song," he said cheerfully. "Wait here." He went across the dance floor, jumped up on stage, and said something to the DJ, who nodded. Ryan jumped off and walked back to Andi, smiling, and the floor suddenly magically cleared for him and Andi. He stood across from her as the opening strains of the music started, and began to move with the beat. He was a phenomenal dancer, Andi soon realized. She began to move with him, both of them dancing with each other; a fast-paced pas de deux that left their watchers gasping.

                Across the club, Remy was impressed too. The girl had some really nice moves. Alice hmmp'd as she watched. "Your girl's great," she said appreciatively, taking another glass of sparkling cider from the bartender. "What school does she go to?"

                "School? She's privately tutored." Remy answered.

                "Prepping?" Alice saw his mystified look, and explained. "That boy's name is Ryan Harper. He's the star dancer at Julliard; Vicky's always going gaga over him. She's there on a music scholarship. I was wondering if her private teacher was preparing her for this year's scholarship competition."

                "Oh, dancin's Andi's hobby," Remy said, having gotten that much from listening to Ororo rave about Andi back at the mansion. "I don' t'ink her mother's considered de poss'bility dat Andi might try for a dancin' school. Her teacher's kinda groomin' her ta take over de…family business," he finished, not knowing how else to refer to Emma's corporation.

                Out on the dance floor, the dance had ended, and Ryan took Andi over to his table, where two other boys and two girls sat. "Andi, this is Frank and Will," the two boys nodded and shook her hand briefly, "and Eleni and Vicky."

                Vicky, a petite redhead, smiled and offered her hand to Andi. "You're pretty good," she said. "Do you major in contemporary or classical? Ryan here's a classical dancer."

                Andi turned, startled. "You're a professional dancer?"

                Ryan blushed, shrugged. "Not yet," he said. "I've been in a couple of Julliard productions, but I haven't been tapped by a major company yet. I hope to get an offer from NYCB before I graduate, though." He swept a glass of sparkling cider off a passing waitress's tray and placed it in front of her. "I haven't seen you here before, though your face does look kind of familiar. Are you here for the annual competition?"

                "Competition?" Andi decided not to tell them they'd probably seen her on the news for the trial. It wasn't something she wanted her new friends to know.

                "Julliard's having their annual scholarship competition in a couple of weeks. Are you planning on trying out?"

                Andi laughed it off. "Dancing's just a hobby for me."

                "You should consider making it a career," Ryan said. "Got any other plans?"

                "Well, my mom's friend said she wants me to go with her into her business," Andi said slowly. "Honestly, I've never thought of myself as a stage dancer."

                "Well you should," Ryan said. 'You're better than me, and I got in on a scholarship last year. You'd make it easily."

                "I'll think about it," Andi said.