Hey everybody! I'm soooooo sorry for making you wait so long for this! But life just gets so hectic sometimes I can't believe it and then a serious case of writers block didn't help things at all!

Anyway, thanks to anyone who's stuck around for an update, I really hope you enjoy it and I'm looking forward to your reviews more than you know! (I swear I'll update again much sooner this time!)

Also I still don't own Dirty Dancing or any of its characters as I'm sure you all know, 'cause if I did I'd be extremely rich and probably wouldn't be writing this story because I'd be too busy making it into a movie! ;)

Chapter 13

Over the next several weeks Johnny and Penny stayed busy with rehearsals and lessons while Billy, Lisa and I took care of the final preparations for the show. Christian and I had been avoiding each other like the plague after what I'd been referring to as, "the incident". I really had nothing further to say to him and I know that Johnny was much more at ease knowing that he and I weren't in any kind of contact. The last thing that I wanted to do was get into another misunderstanding over Christian so staying away from him was the only way I could think to avoid it.

I couldn't believe how quickly the summer was passing, Lisa and I had spent the past two months at Kellerman's and if you didn't think about all that had already happened since we'd arrived it had felt like only a few days. The final show was approaching so quickly I was beginning to wonder how on earth we were going to get everything done in time and the thing that amazed me the most was the fact that we'd managed to keep everything we were doing a secret! It appeared as though neither Max nor Neil had a clue about what was going on or that any of us even knew about his financial problems. But I suppose nothing lasts forever and thinking that we could keep a secret this huge quiet forever was pretty naïve of me.

"Johnny, can I speak to you please?" Max's tone was unbelievably soft and polite as he entered the dance studio one afternoon while we were practicing and pulled Johnny off to the side of the room to speak with him privately.

Penny and I just stood off to the side of the room watching quietly and waiting for what was to come, thoughts were flying through my mind at the speed of light, 'what on earth could Max want?' 'Why would he come and interrupt Johnny in the middle of rehearsals?' 'Was Johnny in trouble for something?' I felt my hands clench around the water bottle I held as my nerves got the best of me and I waited for the inevitable yelling to begin, Max was never polite to Johnny so I knew something was up as soon as he entered the room.

At first it was quiet and I almost wondered if maybe Max was beginning to soften in his old age, but then, as I had expected his tone raised and his hands flew out to his sides as his face reddened and that little vein in his forehead began to pulsate with his increasing fury.

"YOU WHAT?!" Max hollered at the top of his lungs allowing Penny and I to hear every word of their conversation, "where do you get off poking your nose into my affairs? That's it! Johnny I've had it with you, I've looked the other way one too many times for you but this is it, I've had enough, YOU'RE FIRED!"

"What?!" I hollered in disbelief, "you can't do that!" I ran over to Johnny and Max with Penny close behind me.

"You just stay out of this missy, it's none of your business!" Max snapped back at me as I stopped next to him.

"You've got to be kidding me?" I screamed again, "someone does something completely selfless for you out of the goodness of their heart and even after you've been nothing but horrible to them and this is how you repay them? Wow Mr. Kellerman, was my father ever wrong about you." My tone softened as my words trailed of to a bare whisper.

"Listen BABY," the way he emphasized my name like that made me want to reach out and slap him, my face instantly turned down into a scowl of disapproval as I listened, "you're just a child who has no idea about the real world and I think that until you do you should just butt out!"

"Now Max," Penny interjected to try and defend me but I cut her off before she could finish.

"No! It's alright Penny, I can handle him. Mr. Kellerman, I think you've got it backwards, I am well aware of the world and how things work, I may only be 18 years old and I know that may not compare much to the 40 years you have on me, but I can tell you this. In all your years of experience you sure haven't learnt much about human relations, you may think you're a great businessman but obviously that's not the case or you wouldn't be in this boat and we wouldn't be having this conversation. I think it's time that you got over yourself and see yourself for the hypocrite and the fraud that you really are!"

As my voice got louder and louder with every word I glanced between Johnny and Penny who were both watching me in complete disbelief, I don't think anyone had ever stood up to Max the way I was and I could tell by look on Mr. Kellerman's face that he was even more shocked than they were.

I took a deep breath and before Max had a chance to say a word I kept going, "Yes, you may be right in saying that we had no business interfering in your personal affairs but it was all done with nothing but the best of intentions. This is a wonderful place you run here Mr. Kellerman, it truly is, and I'd hate to see it close so that no one else will be able to experience its magic! And it IS a magical place. People can relax here, people can make life long friends here, they can free their minds and make wonderful memories that will last a lifetime, and…" I hesitated glancing up at Johnny before finishing, "people fall in love here."

Max stared over at me for a moment I'd swear his eyes almost bugged right out of his head from the shock of someone finally having the nerve to stand up to him. After several moments of silence he finally took a deep breath and with a sigh asked, "so," he hesitated, I imagine trying his absolute hardest to be reasonable, "what did you kids have in mind?"

I almost laughed in relief, had I actually gotten through to him? It sure seemed that way, for the moment at least, time would only tell what would happen next.

The three of us spent the rest of the afternoon going over all our ideas and preparations we had made with Max and much to our surprise he was very receptive to most of them. I could tell he was still pretty leery about the idea of 'that' kind of dancing at his resort, but with the three of us bombarding him with the reasoning behind it I don't think he could do or say much that would win him the argument. I was just thankful that Neil wasn't around for any of this, somehow I just knew that once he found out there was going to be trouble. Anything that involved Johnny and I being together seemed to rub Neil the wrong way and I just had this feeling like he'd do anything to sabotage it, even if it meant ruining his grandfathers business, if it meant that he'd keep Johnny from being in my life, it would somehow be all worthwhile.

Over the next several days Max made contact with some of his friends in the business and after pulling some strings managed to get Johnny and Penny some gigs at some other hotels in the area. We soon found out that gigs like the Sheldrake were a goldmine for Max, he only paid Johnny and Penny the minimum he could get away with but what he was charging those other hotels was atrocious! So with a few of those in hand it was just one extra thing to help our cause.

We spent hours updating the old Mambo routine to include a few more risqué moves that Max wasn't completely comfortable with, but we somehow managed to convince him that it was the only way. We needed to give the people out there a sample of what was to come at Kellerman's and this was the perfect way to do it! The people needed to see what they were missing, they needed to see what changes were being made to keep Kellerman's up with the changing times and what better way to do that then to have two extraordinary dancers demonstrate it for them.

Johnny was so excited with all that was going on, he was so calm and cool all the time but he'd been letting his enthusiasm for this idea shine through. I knew he was just bursting with new dance steps and ideas that he'd been wanting to try for ages but with Neil holding the leash so tight he'd never had the chance. But this was going to be his moment, he was going to get the opportunity to get up in front of hundreds of people and really show them what he was capable of. Most importantly he would be in front of Max and Neil, two people who had never believed in him for even a second, but this time, this time was going to be a whole different ball game and Johnny knew it! I knew it too, and I couldn't wait!

"Baby!"

I turned to see Neil running down the white rock path toward me one afternoon while on my way to Johnny's cabin, "um hey!" I replied trying to sound enthusiastic to see him. I'd been avoiding him as much as possible since we'd arrived at Kellerman's and had been doing a fairly good job, really I'd only spent a minimal amount of time being bored to tears by his stories, but I suppose nothing lasts forever.

"Baby, wait up!" He called again as he drew nearer, "I want to talk to you!"

With a deep breath in I accepted my defeat and slowed my pace until I was stopped completely and turned to face him forcing a smile, "hey what's up?"

"So I hear you're helping to organize the final show?"

"Uh yeah, where'd you hear that?" I asked knowing full well that Max surely told him and feeling a little annoyed at only getting 'some' credit for something that I had been pivotal in planning.

"My Grandfather told me, but I wish it had come directly from you." He paused trying to catch his breath from running and then went on, "you know if you wanted to be involved you should've just asked me, you know I AM the grandson of the owner, I could, you know, pull a few strings here and there."

He smiled over at me with a little wink that made me nearly want to puke, I mean who did he think he was? Of course I knew he was Max's grandson, I mean he'd only reminded me of that fact like a million times, how could I possibly forget?

Finally I managed to force out a pleasant and perky voice to reply, "thanks Neil, but I'm managing pretty well on my own," I was going to stop there, but the temptation to really irk him was just too overwhelming to resist so I went on, "besides Johnny has some GREAT," I was sure to emphasize the word 'great' just to really bug him, "ideas and we're nearly finished with the preparations. Penny and a bunch of the other staff have been a great help!"

I stopped there when I could practically see the steam rising from the top of Neils' head and I think some was even trickling out his ears at the mere mention of Johnny's name, I knew that would get him and I had to fight hard to keep the look of smug satisfaction off of my face.

It was silent for several moments as I waited for some kind of response, then finally I got it, "uh yeah, so I hear… uh, listen I've gotta run, I uh, I'll see you later ok?" And with that he turned and was gone.

"Well he sure took all the fun out of that," I mumbled to myself as I turned and continued on my way down the path trying to stifle my giggles as I went, but it was no use, by the time I got there I was in tears from laughing so hard all the way down. Neil was too funny, bugging him was just WAY to easy now that I really knew how to push his buttons, I'd have to keep that in mind for the next time I ran into him.