"I thought the man was supposed to lead those things!" Derek complained stubbornly.
Jamie rolled her eyes at the comment. This would be a long afternoon if her friend kept antagonizing her. That's what you get when you praise your child too much, she snickered to herself.
"Well, technically, yes, that's true. For this lesson, though, you'll be following my instruction, so I'm going to lead, capische?" She responded with a smug smile.
Derek pouted slightly. He was beginning to wonder why he had even asked Jamie for her help. Of course, she was the smartest person he knew, a veritable cornucopia of knowledge, so it stood to reason that she would have some sort of answer to his problem.
Besides, he did not know anyone else who might know how to dance, so he had hoped his one shot would land. It did, so he should not complain that much, but he was a stubborn and prideful teen.
It was the day before the Homecoming Dance at his school, and it had only recently occurred to Derek that he had absolutely no clue what to do when it came to dancing.
At first, the thought did not seem to bother him very much, but, as the date approached, it soon became apparent that Derek's problem was bigger than he wanted it to be.
Although he had enough on his plate as it was, with college applications and scouts in every game, the idea of showing up to the Homecoming Dance and being the only one who did not know how to dance was not appealing, especially since he was elected King and all eyes would be on him and the poor soul whose feet would be smashed by him. So, Derek had asked the only person whom he felt would have a reasonable answer: Jamie. He did not expect a full-blown lesson, though.
"How exactly did you learn to dance?" He had asked Jamie when she had offered to teach him.
She hid her face on her long hair, as if it would protect her from his scrutiny.
"When I was younger, before the Holdens moved in, Elizabeth played golf at the country club and there was no-one who could stay with me at home, so Mom signed us up to a Mommy and Me dance class to pass the time. We just… Kept going until I was thirteen."
Derek had to admit, it was rather difficult for him to picture Jamie dancing. It all seemed so unlike her. Not that she was ungraceful or manly, but country club dance class seemed way too futile considering her other interests. However, considering that she was all he had, Derek felt that he would take her help even if she really did not know what she was doing.
"So, first off, you need to put your hand on my waist, and I'll put my hand on your shoulder. Come on, Derek." Jamie insisted.
He placed his hand on Jamie's side, but could not hide his faint blush as she pulled it lower to her waist. Much to his gratitude, Jamie did not comment on the colour of Derek's face.
"And now we hold our other hands like this." She continued, clasping his left hand.
Derek gulped. Other than the rare hug over special occasions, Derek had never been this close to Jamie. Oddly enough, it did not feel as awkward as he had expected.
"Okay." Jamie said, bringing Derek's attention back to the matter at hand. "For the first step, you take is forward with your left foot, while I go backward on my right. Does it make sense?"
Derek nodded. Sounds easy enough, right?
"Right then, so after that, you go sort of forward and right on your right foot, and then shift your weight to that foot."
Jamie carefully led Derek across the floor, making sure that he understood each step.
"Now you drag your left foot to meet the right foot, and then step back with the right. Now this time, step back and to the left with your left foot. Good!"
Jamie instructed Derek throughout the rest of the dance. Slowly the steps became more intrinsic and fluid. They went through the dance over and over again, hoping to perfect it as much as possible. As the girl spoke and moved gracefully with him through her cleared out living room, the football player silently watched his friend in admiration.
The slight embarrassment that he had felt at the beginning had melted away, and he was beginning to feel more and more at ease holding her in his arms. He idly let his mind wander, and began thinking about things that he knew he should not. One thought that simply would not leave his mind left him wondering what it would feel like to hold Jamie in his arms more often.
As Derek tried to shake the thought, he accidentally stepped to the right when he should have stepped to the left.
"Ouch!" Jamie squeaked.
She broke apart from Derek, causing him to look down at her in surprise.
"What happened?" He asked, slightly surprised.
She looked at him with a dismissive smile.
"Oh, it's okay, you just stepped on my foot. Shame, too. You were doing so well!" Jamie mused.
The light pouring in from the large windows overlooking the sea created a halo effect around her long, soft hair, and her eyes were bright. Suddenly, Derek felt that he was seeing his best friend in an entirely new light.
Perhaps it was the absence of a pile of books and schoolwork she was always trying to tackle, or of Cove's zealous oversight, or perhaps he had just been too daft to see it before, but something had changed in Jamie. She had always been pretty on an unincumbered kind of way, but it was here, now, that Derek was really noticing her. The sweet curve of her face, the joy in her smile, the gracefulness in her posture.
It was then that Derek really felt the need to hold Jamie in his arms again. Without hesitation, he moved closer to her, clutching her hand.
"Let me try to lead this time." Derek said softly, not knowing where his sureness was coming from.
Jamie wrinkled her eyebrows. "Are you sure? We haven't practiced for very long and…"
Derek lightly grabbed her waist and pulled her flush against him, effectively silencing her in the process.
"I'm sure." He responded boldly, what he did best, in fact.
Jamie raised her eyebrows, but did not protest.
With a deep breath, Derek began the rhythmic movements. At first, he could not help but count the steps in his head as he slowly led his best friend across the makeshift dance floor. After a few moments, Derek stopped counting. He actually understood the movements, and they were coming easily.
His eyes had not left Jamie's, however. She stared directly at him, as well, her colourful irises mixing with his green ones.
Neither of them knew what the other was doing. They both seemed to be playing it by ear. Derek noticed the corners of Jamie's mouth slowly and carelessly turning upwards. He could not fight the smile, either.
Ever so carefully, the two began to fall out of sync with the count of the dance, and began creating their own steps. Eventually, Derek and Jamie were simply spinning together, faster and faster. With his hand on her waist and her arm wrapped around his neck, they couldn't help but laugh. Dust kicked up with every step, creating a foggy, misty swirl.
Finally, they began to slow their pace.
Derek put both hands on Jamie's waist. She smiled and let go of his neck, leaned back into his hands, and stuck her arms out on either side of her torso. With her eyes closed as they spun, she felt the incredible feeling of flying without the fear of falling down. Derek marvelled at the look on her face. It was unadulterated joy. It was pure happiness. It was freedom. He smiled broadly.
As they came to a stop, Jamie lowered her arms and stood up straight. Derek let go of her waist with one hand, and brought it to her face. Her smile did not falter, but her eyes clouded slightly. As Derek brushed her cheek with his thumb, he heard her breathing become shallower. Her eyes flashed to his mouth. He did not wait a second longer before crashing his lips down onto hers.
Almost immediately, Jamie wrapped her arms around Derek's neck, and pulled him even closer. They did not stop kissing until breathing became an issue. As they pulled apart, Derek and Jamie locked eyes, both of them hoping that the other did not regret what had just happened. After a few seconds, they both smiled, assured of their feelings.
"I think that this was good lesson." Derek offered.
Jamie smiled and firmly pressed her mouth to his.
"It was a great start." She responded happily. "Lucky for you, I know many more dances."
Derek grinned. "Why don't you come down to the Homecoming with me, then? We'll test them all on the dance floor."
"Interesting proposition." Jamie smirks.
The green-eyed athlete winks confidently at her. "You know, I'm a pretty big deal on campus. I'm sure you'll be the envy of every girl there."
Jamie chuckled. "Aren't you a little too confident?"
"Why not? You can't help it when you look this good." His expression turned serious and demure. "Will you? Please?"
She kissed him softly. "I'd love to."