I do not own Dirty Dancing.

Chapter Fifty Four

POV Lisa

Billy

"Sorry about the disruption, folks," Johnny's voice said to the audience from where he and Baby stood at the center of the stage. "But I always do the last dance of the season. And this year, somebody told me not to." Boy, was that the understatement of the year. Johnny hadn't just been asked not to do the Final Dance, he'd been fired. He'd left Kellerman's.

Johnny glanced at Baby, who stood at his side, and didn't look like she was too sure of what was going on. "So I'm going to do my kind of dancing," He said, "With great partner, who's not only a terrific Dancer, but somebody who's taught me that there are people willing to stand up for other people, no matter what it costs them. Somebody who's taught me about the kind of person I want to be. Miss Frances Houseman."

Johnny picked up the microphone and walked offstage with it. Many of those who'd been in the show walked offstage, myself included, eager to see exactly what Johnny had up his sleeve. One of the staff backstage turned out the stage lights, leaving Baby standing onstage in the dark, by herself. I hurry back to Mom and Dad's table, so I won't miss a second.

Baby couldn't dance, it occurred to me as I walked back. I'd seen her try, and quite frankly, she sucked. And Johnny thought she was a 'Terrific Dancer,' But then, he did teach people to dance. And he and Baby had probably danced at some point. Perhaps he had given her a crash course in dancing? In any case, I thought, seeing a spotlight land on Baby, I couldn't wait to find out.

"Isn't this exciting?" I whisper to Mom and Dad as I reach their table, and sit down beside Mom before turning my attention back to the stage.

"Did you know about this?" Dad asked me with a suspicious glare.

I quickly look at him, not wanting to miss what was going on up there. "Do you mean what's going on now, or that they were seeing each other?"

"You knew that they were seeing each other before Baby confessed!"

"Shh!" Mom and I answer in unison.

Dad began to protest, "Lisa-"

"Shh!" I cut him off, more insistently. I suppose I had known she was seeing someone, days before she'd fessed up. But I hadn't known it was Johnny until an hour or two before. So dad gets the idea, I pointed at the stage. Johnny was slowly walking over to Baby, beckoning to her where she stood in the center of the stage. Music was playing, and my ears pick up that it was the song The Time Of My Life.

In the hopes that he could get at least a few words in edgewise before we are too captivated by Baby and her boyfriend, Dad starts, "Robbie-"

Oh. That. "Yes, I know," I say quietly, not looking away from the stage. "Robbie's a scumbag. Now, shut up." With my words, at last, my Father looked to the stage.

Johnny stood inches away from Baby, hands around her waist. My Sister's hands rested at the Dance Instructor's shoulder. Without a second's warning, he dipped her back, earning a series of cheers and whistles in the back from the less high end staff. When Baby had risen, she stepped around so she was facing the audience, and glanced at Johnny over her shoulder, who stepped behind her, head peeking out behind the window of her shoulder.

Gently, Johnny grabbed my Sister's wrist, and took her arm up, wrapping it behind his head. Johnny's hand fell down Baby's side, brushing against her torso. Dad stiffened beside me, protective of her. Their hands settled together at Baby's waist, and a loving look was shared between the two. Johnny affectionately kissed her nose.

Johnny spun her away from him, holding her hand, and then pulled her back in, beginning the basic count to some dance I didn't know, immediately livening things up. Gracefully, she did an underarm turn and an open break, and in barely a blink she was facing the crowd, the pair stepping forward and back in synchronization.

They flawlessly returned to the basic, incorporating a few flashy kicks and side steps into it, before making their way right on the stage. "This is catchy," I say quietly, thinking of the music choice. I groove along to the music.

The Dancers kicked in unison, stepped back, and swiveled left, right, then left again, before turning ridiculously fast and making their way to the left side of the stage. Johnny turned Baby, then he turned, and led her in a basic without frame, in front of him, and then they changed directions with a few rather elaborate swirls. Baby swayed to the music as she did a few side steps, arms over her head.

After one count of the basic and an open break, Johnny lead her into a spot turn. "I think she gets this from me," Our Mother said with a smile, which only appeared to confuse my Father. I didn't blame him. It confused me, too.

Baby continued to twirl, hand held high over her head, spinning on the edge of the circle Johnny was walking. He pulled her back into frame, and I wonder how she wasn't too dizzy to see straight. They swiveled together, having fun at their dancing. There was another underarm turn, another open break, and a spot turn, the two seeming to move faster now.

Then the frame dropped, and they walked in a circle around each other, barely touching, his arm around her waist, hers at the back of his neck, free arms trailing behind them. They were so different, but those two just fit. Like yin and yang.

Johnny spun her once by herself, and then pulled her right to him, and for a moment, they were both still, and so close, and breathless. Johnny wanted to kiss my Sister, I realized. But he didn't. Instead, he spun her out, and back in again, and Baby laughed from joy, happier than I've ever seen her.

He guided her through a cross body lead, and two outside breaks, before another turn, and Johnny pulled her to him, wearing a goofy grin when he swung his hips to the music, taking hers with them, a sort of dancing that was incredibly modern and not what people generally considered appropriate.

I thought it looked like fun.

They did a few walks, and then a spot turn, when Johnny lifted her off the stage, and turned with her in his arms. Immediately after landing, she turned, and did an open break, then spinning to his opposite side. Johnny kissed her hand, and then took a running leap off the stage.

He landed, then jumped again, spinning twice in the air, and landing back in the aisle. He looked back at Baby, who laughed at him showing off. Steadily, her boyfriend walked down the aisle, kicking and turning, having fun with it, sliding on the floor, spinning. Like I said. Showing off. Once he reached the end of the aisle, he turned, and the rest of the staff joined him, dancing back down the aisle together, towards my Sister.

Midway through the aisle, Johnny stopped, looking up at Baby, while the rest of the dancers kept on moving. Baby nodded, beaming at him with certainty. Two staff men helped her off the stage as Johnny ran back to gain distance. Baby ran for him after he stopped, and at the last second before she ran into him, Johnny grabbed her hips, and lifted her up, high over his head. Baby grinned with joy when she was up there, her turn to show off to everyone.

The whole room applauded at the lift, all of them. Carefully, Johnny lowered Baby down from the air back to the floor, and the two of them shared a tight hug, laughing, looking happy together, and altogether, very much in love. They started dancing again, among the crowd of other dancers, which was rapidly having guests join in.

"That was amazing!" I said in wonder after the lift.

"She's wonderful!" Mom grinned. She was. Baby was so much better now than she had been. Dad could only smile at the incredible feat his youngest Daughter had done. That made me smile, too.

"Do you want to dance?" A boy about my age asked me as everyone else was starting to dance too, young and old, family and friend, staff and guest. He looked familiar to me, his voice was one I'd heard before. Thick red hair, tall, thin, friendly, bright smile. Green eyes, and a South Philadelphia accent. And then it hit me.

"Billy, right?" I venture cautiously. He was our Porter when we first got here. I remember him watching me, even if I'd hardly thought anything of it at the time.

"Yeah," Billy laughed with a smile. "I didn't think you'd remember me,"

"I wouldn't usually," I admitted. I never really thought much about the non Wait staff at Kellerman's, but I do remember Billy, if only because I caught him staring at me and thought it was sweet. I remember thinking that he was cute, but not holding out for him, because Dad would've wanted me to date a Doctor, someone important. "But you seemed to make an impression," I admitted cautiously.

"Is that a yes, then?" Billy grinned. I smile back, offering him my hand. Billy walked me out to our own spot on the floor.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'm not exactly the greatest of a Dancer," I said nervously, eyeing my feet. "I'm not my Sister," I add jokingly, nodding to where she was dancing with Johnny.

"Well, that's okay," Billy said, taking my hands in his. "Because I'm not my Cousin, either."

"Oh, who's your Cousin?" Billy gestured to Johnny. "He's your Cousin?" I ask, wide eyed. Billy nodded.

"Does that mean you don't want to dance with me anymore? Because your Sister is dating my Cousin?" Billy asked me shyly. I shook my head. "Good. Now, I'm not a bad Dancer, but I'm definitely no Johnny."

"Well, I've never danced like this before," I admit, looking around at the other couples. "I knew a little bit when it came to Ballroom, but even then, I was just okay."

"That's fine," Billy nodded, stepping to the side of me. "Now, you want to shuffle your feet to the music, and keep your knees bent, so you're using your hips." Obeying Billy's instructions, we shuffle along to the music, and I try to use my hips as best I can. "Right," Billy said. "Like that. Now, instead of doing it side by side, we're gonna try it face to face. Okay?" I nodded.

Billy stepped in front of me, and took both of my hands. As the song went on, I eventually began to get the hang of this type of dancing, and Billy and I started dancing a little bit closer. "So, what's their story?" I ask, nodding at Baby and Johnny who were dancing a little ways behind us. Billy looked over his shoulder to see who I was talking about. "I've known that Baby was sneaking out to see someone for a few days, but I didn't know it was him until an hour or two before Baby admitted that she was his alibi."

"And how'd you figure that out?" Billy questioned, a curious expression on his face.

"I may have caught her trying to sneak back in this morning, and guilted it out of her,"

"Nice," Billy nodded. "I can't tell it all to you, cause I wasn't there for most of it. What I do know is that the first night your family got here, after the thing with the Magician, Baby took a walk, and she made it into the staff quarters. She ran in to me, and wanted to help, since I had some rather heavy things to get to the storage facility. I knew her being there could get me fired, but I trusted her and took her with me. Inside the storage facility, we have these big dance parties. Like this, only a lot less clean.

"Anyway, Johnny was there, and he and Penny were showing off. But eventually, he noticed Baby, and after a bit he pulled her out to the floor to dance with her. She was terrified," Billy laughed. "No clue how to dance, and the Hotel Dance Instructor, who is so good looking it's not fair to the rest of us, comes up to her and drags her to the middle of the floor so he can teach her dirty dancing,"

"Wow," I laugh quietly. "I'll bet she was terrified. Until very recently, Baby sucked at dancing,"

"Yeah," Billy grinned. "Now, something happens, I can't tell you what, but Penny, the other Dance Instructor, needed a Doctor. But none of us can afford it, and he's only available the same night her and Johnny do this Mambo act at the Sheldrake Hotel. No one can fill in, and they get fired if they don't do it. Somehow, Baby found out about this. She came up with the money, and agreed to fill in, which meant that Johnny had to teach her to do all this stuff in about a week.

"So he teaches her," Billy adds. "Now it was fairly obvious that Baby had a big crush on Johnny before he started teaching her to dance. But eventually, it becomes clear to me that he likes her, too. So here these two are, making eyes at one another, dancing around the studio, with no clue that the other one likes them back."

"How could you tell that Johnny liked her?" I ask. I remember seeing how Baby acted around him, from the day at the wig stand, though I didn't think anything of it. She'd been curious and oh, so infatuated.

"Well, he's my Cousin, and we work in the same place. We hang around each other. Eventually, it gets to the point, where he doesn't want to talk about how that dance lessons are going with her, and it's not because she's bad, because Penny would help them occasionally, and she said that Baby was getting good. She would see them staring at each other, and when she was dancing, especially on the really hot days, I'm told that Baby didn't wear a lot for clothing. Like, nylons, underwear and bra at most, cause you get hot dancing. You see him staring at her at the parties, hear rumors that he's been taking a lot of cold showers after his lessons with her, and it's not that hard to figure it out.

"Especially because this is all Johnny has for a job right now. He hasn't found an open Instructor position anywhere else. It's either this or manual labor. He doesn't risk losing this job, not for anything or anyone except Baby. He didn't watch other guests at parties, didn't stare at them in lessons, he only did that with her. Johnny is crazy about your Sister,"

"It's really a shame that he got fired," I told Billy. "Nobody should be fired because of who they love. When I found out about them, Baby explained a lot," I recalled, looking up at Billy, studying his pale green eyes. "And I realized that she loved him, even if she wasn't sure of it yet, I could tell. And from what you've told me, he loves her too."

Billy clenched his jaw in thought. "I really hope they make it, even if Johnny just got fired from here," He says. "Baby is the best thing that's happened to Johnny since he got this Job. She's exactly what he needs, and it'd really stink if it stopped over some stupid reason,"

I catch Baby and Johnny dancing together over Billy's shoulder. The pair's movements slowed, Johnny's arms around her waist, My Sister's around his neck. They looked deep into one another's eyes, and shared a long kiss. I couldn't help but smile. "What is it?"

Baby was happy. And it wasn't because of our Father's attention. I was better than petty jealousy. I had somebody here, right in front of me, so obviously interested in me, and cute. I didn't need my Father's attention to be happy. I didn't need to do things that would make him happy. I needed to do what was going to make me happy, and right now, that could very well be right in front of me.

"Nothing," I shrug, smiling at this boy who I wanted to get to know now that I was free to do so. This boy, with red hair and green eyes, who had a sweet smile and had been unable to stop staring at me when he got our luggage, even though I never gave him a second thought. "I was just thinking,"

"About what?" He asked curiously.

"That since I've been here a while and not once made time to get to know you. It's also my last night here." I began, "I think I owe you a date,"

"Lisa Houseman," Billy grinned. "I'm very happy to accept,"

So, this is the end of what I'm doing with Lisa. I'm pretty proud of what I've done with her over this story, because I don't think I've ever seen one story on here that attempted to give Lisa any character depth at all. She's always portrayed as a dumb, boy crazy, shallow older Sister. I actually had to have her grow over time in this, and give her reasons for why she acts the way she does other than that she just wanted to have a good time and marry a rich Doctor. This way, It works out that she dates Billy and isn't a completely horrible person.

I know people who think that Billy and Penny get together, but I just can't see that happening. We barely see them interact in the movie, but when they do, they don't seem to have that kind of chemistry, whereas, at the beginning of the movie, Billy is totally checking out Lisa. She's his type, I think. Penny, I can see ending up with someone else, for reasons that will be explained in a sequel if I ever do post one. Maybe I will, maybe not, but I need to be ready before I do.