And yet another chapter... I decided to start the second before I posted the first, it will keep readers happier, just in case I can't write for a while, whatever the reason, it IS summer, you know (at least where I am)
Thank you to those who reviewed the first chapter (Even though as I am writing this, there have been no reviews since the first chapter hasn't even been uploaded)
Disclaimer: Standard
Onto the next chappie!
Rachel and Jimmy stood staring at the studio at 24 LoveJoy Ave. at precisely five of noon. Both carried bags with a change of clothes, a notebook, and a pen.
"That's a pretty big dance studio," Rachel noted.
"McGuire said they were the best in the region," Jimmy replied.
As they talked, a group of schoolgirls came out in costume, all giggling happily as they finished their lesson.
'I hope they don't make me wear that,' Rachel thought, noticing the very pink tutu's the girls were wearing.
Chapter 2
"Let's go," Jimmy said, pushing the door and holding it open for Rachel.
Once inside, they were once again baffled by the overall size of the building. The front hall was large and circular with marble floors and cloumns. Two sets of stairs wound around the room finally meeting at one spot that appeared to be the landing to the second floor. Below said landing sat a large desk with an attendant. Jimmy walked up to this girl.
"Hello, ma'am. My partner and I have an appointment," he said, flashing her one of his smiles.
The woman blushed and Rachel scoffed. "Your name please, sir?"
"Jimmy, and this is Rachel,"
"Alright," she said, turning to the computer and typing in their names. She was so distracted that she didn't notice Jimmy hadn't given her their last names.
"Why didn't you tell her our full names?" Rachel whispered to him as he walked back to her.
"We're undercover, Rach. As soon as I say 'Kudo' everyone will know who I am. I just have to suppose McGuire told the teacher and that we'll be cleared until I can figure out a name,"
"Mr. Ikudo? And Ms. Wetmoore? You're cleared for pass," Jimmy and Rachel looked at her, somewhat surprised. "These are your passes," she continued, too flustered by Jimmy to notice his and Rachel's looks of bewilderment. "These will give you access to the elevator, up to the third floor only. That's where you'll be dancing. Hope you find the school alright," she turned around, unable to look Jimmy in the eye.
Rachel turned to Jimmy, confused. Jimmy mouthed, "Just take a passkey and go," Rachel obeyed.
Once inside the elevator Rachel asked, "Mr. Ikudo? Well it seems McGuire didn't have much imagination when coming up with our new names,"
"At least we get to keep our real first names. I'm surprised nobody here has recognised me yet,"
"You don't have a fan following everywhere, Jimmy," Rachel pointed out. Jimmy shut up after that.
"Are you Mr. Kudo and Ms. Moore?" A lady asked when they got off at the third floor. She had long dark hair pulled back into a bun, and was wearing dance clothes.
Jimmy and Rachel were instantly put on alarm. How did she know them?
"I'm Mrs. Avalon, the dance teacher. Inspector McGuire is a good friend of mine. He told me about the case and asked me to make you dancers, and that's what I intend to do. Who knows? You may even win that competition!"
Jimmy and Rachel just stared at her.
"Well, no need to be shy! I'm the only one here who knows your true identity, so you don't have to fear about that. Why don't you come in to Studio Eleven and we'll get started,"
Jimmy and Rachel had no choice but to follow her. The room they entered was a light green color It had mirrors on one side, and a ballet bar on the other. A piano sat in the corner with a stereo system.
"I still can't believe I'll be teaching the actual Jimmy Kudo to dance!" she muttered under her breath, but just loud enough for both Jimmy and Rachel to hear. They both sweatdropped.
Turning to them, Mrs. Avalon spoke again, "Now, do you two have hobbies that would give your legs and body a workout?"
"I do soccer," Jimmy supplied.
"And I do karate," Rachel replied.
"Well that's good, you both should have kicking down, although we may have to make it a little more graceful. Hopefully by tomorrow, you'll be learning your first routine! The competition had a list of dances you need to learn, so we'll be very busy for the next month!"
"How can she be so cheery?" Rachel whispered to Jimmy. Jimmy just shrugged.
"Er, Mrs. Avalon?" Jimmy asked.
"Just Rika, please,"
"Rika, then, what kind of dances will we be learning?"
"Waltz, tango, salsa, and the list goes on! But you only need to show five dances. The problem is, they pick what dance they do each week randomly, so you have to have the criteria ready at any time,"
"Joy," Jimmy said.
"Come now, Jimmy. It won't be that bad," the door opened and a tall man came in. He was middle aged, with brown hair and green eyes. "Now I'll introduce you to Mr. Jet Takino. He'll be helping me with the dances, particularly dancing with Rachel as she learns her part, whereas I shall dance with you, Jimmy. Mr. Takino, these are our newest students, Rachel and Jimmy,"
"Pleasure to meet you," he said to Rachel specifically, taking her hand and kissing it. She blushed. Jimmy fumed.
"Now, let's get streching! We only have a month and it would be a shame to waste it!" she moved over to the stereo, inseting a CD and pressing a few buttons. A popular rock song came over the speakers. "Now, line up over here, facing the mirror," she pointed.
Rachel and Jimmy changed, and then did just that.
"Now, lean over to your right, bring your hand over your head. Good. Now bring your hand back and lean to the other side..."
"I didn't expect you to do this well with the beginner steps, it seems you have a dancer in you after all, Jimmy," she said. "And Rachel, you are one of the fastest learners I've ever had. So, now I suppose we'll get started on the first dance," she walked again to the stereo, changing the CD and pressing a few more buttons, "After all, if we start right away, you have more time to get really good at the dances we do,"
A foreign song came over the speakers.
"This," Rika said, "Is a Mexican Bullfighting dance. Men are meant to dominate in this particular dance, and both partners must wear angry expressions. But we can work on that later, let's start to choreograph!"
Pausing the music, she came over to the couple.
"We'll need a starting position," she said absently. "Rachel, why don't you come over here, dear, right in the center, and stand leaning forward with your head down. You should point your back foot, dear, there you go. Hold your arms slightly bend and hanging in front of you. Good, I like it! Now, close your eyes. Ah! The perfect image of vulnerability!" she clapped her hands. "And that's what we're going for! Now Jimmy," she put her hand to her chin, "Perhaps, you should start over here in this corner. Hands on your hips, looking at Rachel with a fiery expression. Ah! Gorgeous!"
"Keep those positions in your mind," Mr. Takino reminded, staring at Rachel.
"Now, the start of the music, goes like this," she played a little bit of it. "And so, with those beats, Jimmy, I think you should stomp your foot, trying to get Rachel's attention. Rachel, after the first stamp, you raise your head slowly as if something's dawning on you. Yes, just like that! Very good. Let's try that with the music," she replayed it, "Now, stomp, stomp, stomp, raise... very very good, you two! Now Jimmy, I want you to advance toward her, briskly, but in time with the music. Very nice! Take her hand or wrist and forcefully turn her around, we want the audience to see that you are in charge of this woman and this dance!"
"Why don't we have him run a hand down her cheek when he get's to this position?" Mr. Takino suggested.
"Oh! I like it! Now himmy, take your hand- your left one, the one you're not holding her hand with- and run it down her right cheek,"
Both Jimmy and Rachel blushed as Jimmy complied.
"Now, spin her once with your right hand, and then catch her and bring her close...Tighter...tighter! There you go!"
Jimmy was red now, and Rachel was very hot he noticed.
"Now let's try this..."
"Very good! You learned it! Now, write it down so you don't forget it. Tomorrow we'll go over quickly what we did today, then we'll split up, me dancing with Jimmy and Rachel dancing with Jet. Then we'll come back here and put the two of you together! Be here by noon tomorrow!" she left the room.
Jimmy and Rachel were very hot and sweating. They had practiced their first dance step by step many times over.
"Good job," Mr. Takino said, forwarding it at Rachel.
"Uh, thanks," she replied.
"I shall look forward to dancing with you tomorrow," he said, leaving the room.
"Er- right," she said as he closed the door.
"...So..." Jimmy started, "How do you like it so far?"
"Oh, the dance is beautiful, Jimmy. I can't wait to see how it turns out. I didn't know you were a dancer!"
"If it makes you feel better, neither did I,"
Rachel giggled, then sighed. "Do you like the teachers?"
"Mrs. Avalon is okay, a little too peppy for me, though. But I can't shake this wierd feeling about that Takino guy,"
"I know what you mean, and I have to dance with him,"
"Yah, so just be careful okay, Rach?"
"Don't have to tell me, Jimmy!"
They left the studio for some well needed rest and relaxation before their next lesson.
"Now, I told you what we'd do today, so split up and go over the dance first with your partners, then we'll play the song and you can work on it to the music," Rika Avalon said. "Go!... Faster!" she practically shooed Rachel out of the room with Mr. Takino.
"Now, Jimmy," she turned to him, let's see how well you've practiced.
They took it slow, going step by step. Rika made comments on each step, noticing ways they could improve the dance slowly until they got better at it.
After doing it a few times, they stopped for a break.
"Very good, Jimmy. I didn't expect you to be so good at this this fast. Also, when in practice with me, you should know I don't expect you to show me all the emotion that the dance requires. For instance when doing the dance with Rachel, you have to dance with utmost expression and passion for the dance.
That's what I love about dancing. It is a great way to show emotion and feeling.
When I dance- for real, not just in practice- when I get up in fron of the audience, scared stiff and nervous, and start to dance, something miraculous happens. I don't think I can explain. I know you're a detective and not a dancer, but somehow, I want you to feel that feeling, for only then can you experience the true joy of dancung,"
"I think I get what you're trying to say," Jimmy said.
"Really?" Rika asked.
"I think so,"
In the other room, Rachel was having a tough time. Mr. Takino was a great dancer, no doubt, but she didn't get any criticism or comments.
"Do you think I should do this here?" she would ask.
"The way you're doing it is fine," he would reply.
Rachel felt awfully uncomfortable with him. He pulled her closer when dancing than she had ever gotten with Jimmy the previous day. Once, his hand slipped and found its way to her rear end. She had blushed and moved to stop and reposition, but he had blocked her, pulled her closer and continued dancing. Rachel was red and hot after the dance. She wanted to make a good impression and thought that his slip had been a mistake.
Maybe she'd let it go this one time.
But it kept happening. Little things that violated what she thought as her personal space. Rachel decided to try and push him to keep his distance, but he always pulled closer.
'Maybe he doesn't know what he's doing to me,' Rachel supposed.
And she went along with it.
When Rachel finally saw Jimmy again, he noticed that she was red, and not from exhaustion. He looked at her suspiciously, but she avoided his gaze. She really didn't want to talk about it right now, especially not when they were supposed to be practicing.
"Good. I trust you had a good lesson with Jet, Rachel?"
"Yes, ma'am," Rachel replied robotically.
Jimmy snuck a look at Takino. He had a smile on his face, one that Jimmy couldn't decipher. 'I'll have to keep my eye on him,' Jimmy resolved, and turned back to Rika.
"Now, since you two have worked on it, I expect to see full results, okay? I want proper technique, posture, and most of all, emotion,"
Jimmy and Rachel, who had seemed since she arrived to have found the ground very interesting, nodded.
They went to their starting positions, Rachel in the center and Jimmy in a corner.
"Ready?" Rika called, turning on the music, "1,2,3, and!" she counted, beginning the intro to the dance.
Jimmy and Rachel blushed horribly when starting the dance, unused to the intimacy the dance required.
'But,' Rachel resolved, 'At least he's not violating personal space,' she glanced at her partner, who gave her a reassuring smile as they plunged into the next combination, a tricky set of footwork that had taken both of them hours of practice the day before.
They made a few mistakes, but that was to be expected their first time doing the dance to the music together.
Jimmy knelt and Rachel came to rest on Jimmy's bended knee. She sharply turned her head and pulled her hand to make it look like she was pulling Jimmy's head toward her. They froze as the music died.
"Very good!" Rika complimented, "Although there are a few glitches here and there, right?"
Jimmy and Rachel blushed embarrased, and nodded.
"No need to be like that!" Rika said, "It was very good for your first time, wouldn't you say so, Mr. Takino?"
He nodded.
"Now, we just need to go over a few spots. Let's go back to that footwork combination,"
A few hours and a few dances later, Jimmy and Rachel were starting to get exasperated. Whenever they seemed to get one part, another would need fixing. They sighed with exhaustion as they tried to complete the dance again.
"No, no, no!" Rika said. "Rachel you're supposed to turn left here! Try it from the top!"
They sighed again as the all-too-familiar music boomed through the speakers for the upteenth time.
About halfway through the dance, Rika gave a cry. "No!" she took a deep breath, "Alright, I know this is hard-" she paused, then seemed to think of something else, "Rachel can I talk to you for a moment?" she finally said.
Rachel nodded.
"Take a break Kudo, I'll be right back," Rika said, taking Rachel by the arm and leading her out the door.
They went down a long hallway to an office. 'Mrs. Avalon's I presume,'
Rika sighed and sat behind the desk. "Rachel," she began, "You are one of the most talented of my dancers. I know you've only been here for a day, but since you are so good, I'm going to share with you a piece of advice,"
Rachel leaned forward and listened intently.
"Expression is one of the hardest things to learn in a dance. With all of those footsteps and concentration, you almost forget to show emotion. Not you specifically, but dancers in general. In ballroom dancing, which is partner dancing, there is one important piece to emotion...
... You have to dance like you want him..."
Rachel turned red. "W-w-what?"
"You have to dance like you want Jimmy, so badly you might burst,"
"Like I want him?"
"Yes, you know, want,"
Rachel reddened even more, and gulped. 'That shouldn't really be that hard, right?' she asked herself. Calming down, she answered,
'No, I guess not. You've been wanting him for years now. And when he left, you felt like your heart ripped in two. You just have to find a way to show your wanting,'
'Yeah, but you've been trying to find that for years now,'
'Yes, but maybe now I've found a way, in the form of dance,'
'But, what if he doesn't reciprocate? That's been your main fear from the beginning,'
'Well then, I'll finally know. And maybe I'll move on... I just hope he's moving with me,'
"Rachel?" a voice interrupted her thoughts.
He head snapped up, "Yes, Rika?"
"I, uh, had this made for you yesterday," Rika held up a dark bag. "It's the costume you'll be wearing for the dance. I thought maybe you should try it on and then it'll be a little easier for you to play your role,"
"You didn't have to do that," Rachel said.
"I know, but... Here," she said, tossing Rachel the bag. "There's a changing room there," she pointed to a door off of the office.
"Son," Jet said after the ladies had left. "There's an important rule for you to know so that you can properly ballroom dance. And that rule is: You have to dance like you want your partner,"
"Excuse me?" Jimmy asked, turning red and fully understanding the statement with his fully male teenage mind.
"You know exactly what I mean, I can see it in your face," he turned away.
Jimmy was left staring at the back of Mr. Takino, left to the thoughts in his fully male teenage mind.
He turned back around, handing Jimmy a package, "And this is your costume. Rika's getting Rachel's now. I can't wait to see what she looks like," Mr. Takino said, off in his own little world.
Jimmy turned sharply toward Jet after that last comment. His suspicions soared, but his thoughts were interrupted by being ushered into a changing room.
Jimmy changed quickly into the tight mexican sequinced shirt with gold ties, and black pants. Coming out, h esurveyed himself in the mirror, nodding in approval of the costume. He started as the door opened, and stared as Rachel came in. She was dressed in a floor-length dress. The top was sleeveless black felt with loops that went around the top of her arms. A solitary rose in her hair matched the color of the red skirt with a slit coming up to her thigh.
"Wow," he thought and mouthed silently. Rachel blushed at his reaction. A idiotic grin came to his face as he looked at his partner. "Jeez, Rach. You don't look very much like you,"
"And just what is that supposed to mean!"
"Now, calm down you tow. Oh! Is that the time? Jet and I must leave. The lesson's over, you can take the costumes home if you'd like. Otherwise you can hang them in one of the closets. Goodbye!" she said, pulling Mr. Takino (who was staring at Rachel) out of the room.
This left Jimmy and Rachel in complete silence.
"...Nice costume," Jimmy said after a while.
"You too," she replied.
"...It looks good on you,..."
"...Thanks,..." she said, blushing.
"...Uh, since we're here, you wanna-" he moved his head in the direction of the dance floor.
"Sure," she said, moving to the floor and getting in her position.
Jimmy trotted over to the stereo system and pushed the play button.
In a few second the music came on, only this time, the music that they had heard so much of seemed different... like it had renewed interest in both teens.
As Jimmy traced his hand down her cheek, Rachel's eyes closed and she shuddered slightly, stirring something inside Jimmy.
The dance felt different, as if the costumes brought something more to it, or was it the advice given by the instructors? About midway, Jimmy hooked one hand around Rachel's waist, with her back facing him. He brought her close as he was supposed to do, and Rachel closed her eyes, the feel of the dance overwhelming her.
Crouching lower to her ear, Jimmy whispered, "Do you want me, Rachel?"
Rachel moaned in reply.
Their movements became faster, more heated as the dance came to a close each person's movements mirrored by the other in perfect harmonization.
Jimmy knelt and Rachel pulled his face toward her while on his knee. Freezing again, they seemed to be in their own little world.
"Rachel," he sighed into her hand on his cheek.
Rachel smiled.
Jimmy smiled.
They started to giggle.
The giggling turned into full-out laughing as Jimmy lost his balance and he and Rachel toppled to the floor.
Gasping for air, the couple noticed their position. Jimmy lay flat on his back and Rachel was half on top of him, one hand on his chest. Both blushed hotly while scrambling for breath.
"Perfect?" Jimmy asked, out of the blue.
"Perfect," Rachel confirmed, breathing into his neck.
Jimmy pretended not to notice. "What is that they say, 'Dance as if no one's watching?' "
"Rachel giggled again. We'll just have to ask everybody at the stadium to turn around, and then we can dance,"
They started to laugh again.
Little did they know, someone was watching. A very angry someone.
TBC!
And another chapter finished. I gotta say, I like this fic! And it's totally fun to write.
Next Chapter: Competition starts and Jimmy and Rachel meet the other dancers.
animebookworm