A/N: Okay, so things are heating up a little in this installment. I got some of the dance advice from the ever-popular Dirty Dancing, and the rest of it came from my friend Joel, who taught me to tango. In the last scene, I was inspired by the book: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky. It's great, I highly recommend it. Thanks to everyone for their reviews, this chapter is dedicated to Szmanda's Manda who always gives great reviews even though I'm not doing what she wants me to. I love you all!
Maddy
XoXoXoXoX
"Grissom," Maddy said sternly. She'd developed the habit of calling him by his last name, because she thought it "was cool." She tried it out with Brass, but found Jimmy a cuter alternative. "Grissom, you've got to lead Catherine, she can't do all the work herself! Now, put your hand here" -she moved Gil's hand under Catherine's shoulderblade- "and start again. Listen to the music, let it flow through you!" And with that, she danced away to where Nick, her partner, was standing. "Sorry about that," she said hastily, putting a hand on his chest and the other in his strong grasp.
Nick scowled over to top of Maddy's curly-haired head at where Greg and Sara were tango-ing with ease. "Who wants to bet Maddy and Greg cooked up some scheme to get Greg and Sara together," he thought, letting his arms slacken slightly.
"Don't look at Sara. I know I'm not the best alternative," Maddy said somewhat bitterly, "but you're going to have to look in my eyes. Concentration is the key. And straighten your arms, why don't you?"
Nick rolled his own deep brown eyes and allowed his gaze to settle in Maddy's green ones, behind the chunky black glasses she wore. Managing to keep his arms stiff, he let his mind wander. "What cause does Maddy have to be jealous of Sara?" he puzzled.
XoXoXoXoX
"Heather, come here," Maddy called from where she was standing, once again, with Grissom and Catherine. Heather was already an excellent dancer, and she'd managed to make her partner, Warrick, proficient in the art of the tango. "Switch with Cat," the diminutive dance teacher said. Heather smiled and took Gil's hand in her own.
"Ready to dance, Mr. Grissom?" Heather asked smoothly, letting her hand rest on Gil's chest. He badly wanted to get away from the things he was feeling, to dance with Catherine, like he was supposed to, but he knew he couldn't. He refused to be intimidated by a high school crush. That's all it was, anyway. A crush. "If this is how I get when I'm in high school, in my prime, what do you suppose I'll be like when I'm in my mid-forties?" he asked himself. He already knew the answer. He was destined to be an anti-social workaholic with no personal life. A geek forevermore.
"Hey, I knew I wasn't the only one who called him Grissom!" Maddy squeaked as she bounced back to Nick, who was glowering at Greg. "Yeesh," she said, reaching him. "Good thing I'm not the one going after Sara, you're kinda freaky."
About half an hour later, Nick was taking a turn with Sara while Greg and Maddy tried desperately to help Jim and Natasha. "Asha, I know you're way feminist, but you've got to let Jimmy lead you!" Maddy pleaded. Natasha sighed.
"Once Greg and Jim are done, can I try this again?" Natasha asked.
Greg and Jim were dancing, and Jim wasn't half bad. Granted, Greg was extremely easy to lead, unlike Natasha, but they were doing fine.
"Jim, you've got to take control! Girls dig that!" Greg said as Jim dipped him.
"Forgive me if I'm skeptical, " Jim replied, stepping forward as Greg stepped back, "but I don't want me and Tash to turn out like you and Sara. I mean, how immature do you have to be? Making elaborate schemes with your childhood cohort to set yourself up."
Greg blushed violently. "Who told you about that?"
"Gimme some credit, here. People could see through this set up from the moon!"
Another half hour went by, and everyone was feeling rather Swayze. Suddenly, Maddy turned off the Death Cab for Cutie album that they were dancing to. "'Kay, let's go explore Tamales Bay! We've got to get ice cream, and play at the beach, and go for DDR at the arcade! Then we've got lazer tag tonight!"
XoXoXoXoX
That night, they met in front of the local lazer tag place, and suited up. Greg glanced at Nick out of the corner of his eye, noticing the bigger boy had a protective arm around Sara. He secretly wished an unfortunate "accident" might hinder Nick enough to have him leave, giving Greg and Sara the chance to be alone for the rest of the twelve days. He knew, though, that Sara would insist they go to visit him, or that they all leave. It was just the kind of thing she would do, the kind of thing that made Greg love her like he did.
Sara ran through the dark room, hiding behind one of the obstacles. She could feel someone following her, but he seemed to be gone. She turned in relief and ran straight into a shadowy figure. A shadowy figure's lips, to be exact. Sara's eyes widened in the dark, her lazer gun dropping from her hand and clattering to the ground. She suddenly realized that she was kissing the person back, and, horrified, she pushed him away. They boy turned and hurried across the room and into the shadows.
"That could have been anyone!" Sara thought, appalled. "Jim, Gil, Warrick, Archie...or Nick or Greg..." She could feel a blush creeping up her neck, all the way up to the roots of her thick, brown hair. Grabbing her lazer gun off the ground, she scampered away from the wall and re-joined the game, though half-heartedly. She was almost instantly taken out by a brutal shot from Heather, and it seemed they couldn't get out of that dark, mysterious room fast enough.
XoXoXoXoX
Mia watched Sara suspiciously. The brunette had something on her mind, that was for sure. No one just lets themself get taken out of lazer tag without needing the extra time to think. Everyone could see that Sara was pensive, but, they assured themselves, she was always pensive. The twelve teenagers walked to the outskirts of Tamales Bay, feeling at the apex of their lives. Problems or not, there was a feeling of content instilled in the air around them. As they reached the bottom of Maddy's driveway, Greg spoke.
"I feel infinite."
