a/n-heyy everyone. so normally, in a real school they wouldn't have gym on friday and then again on monday, but for the sake of time, im making them have gym when i feel like making them have gym. lol ok, enough of that, here's the chapter. oh and by the way, is anyone else not getting alerts for anything anymore? whenever someone updates their story i never know, and i don't know when i get reviews either. i dont know whats going on, but i dont like it. haha ok, enough of my babbling. here u go. - 3-Erin

Chapter 8: Ballroom Dancing: Take Two

That night I dreamt that Lilly and I were about to go out, but then she said she liked someone else. I woke up confused as ever. I really liked Lilly, and I thought that kiss might have meant something. But it turns out she was just proving a point. She didn't really have any interest in me. Should I move on? If I don't give her up, I'm basically torturing myself. But…I just can't. It's the one thing I want most.

I took a shower, ate breakfast, you know all that good stuff. It was 11:30 when I realized I missed a call from Miley, so I dialed her number.

"Oliver!" she yelled, picking up her phone on the first ring.

"What!"

"I talked to Lilly." she said, sounding disappointed.

"Yeah, so did I."

"There's still hope, Oliver! Maybe she was lying when she said it meant nothing."

"Miley, it's Ok. It didn't mean anything to me either. It's not like I like her."

"Oliver, you're in denial."

"Anyway," I tried to change the subject. "What were you and Lilly fighting about?"

"Oh, well I told her how stubborn she was because she wouldn't admit to liking you. Now who does that remind you of, Oliver?"

"Very funny, Miley."

Miley laughed. "So she told me to mind my own business and I said I was just trying to help, and then she said she didn't like Jake, so I was all 'then who do you like' and that's when she walked out of the club. So then she was all 'I really don't like Jake' and I was all 'I know but I saw you and Oliver holding hands so do you like him?' And then she didn't say anything so I squealed, thinking that she liked you. But then she shook her head and I got all confused 'cause she acted like she liked you, but she just kept saying you guys were best friends so I was all 'yeah right', and that is when Jake came up and you know the rest of the story." Miley explained without pausing.

"Damn you talk fast." I said.

"So anyway, I don't think Lilly was telling the complete truth. I think you should keep talking to her."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks but I gotta go do homework."

"See ya," Miley said and hung up.

I lounged around the house all day, occasionally waving to Lilly, who looked to be doing the same thing in her room. At around 5:00 I decided I needed some air, so I went for a walk.

Lilly was on her skateboard on the sidewalk. "Hey, Oliver," she greeted happily.

"Hey," I said, trying to sound cheerful. I planned on walking right past her, but I needed to ask her a question. "Hey, last night were you crying?" I asked, referring to the faint sobs I thought I heard.

"What? No. I don't cry, remember?" she answered, which was true.

"Oh, well I thought I heard someone crying."

"Wasn't me," Lilly crossed her arms, but I'm not sure if I believed her.

"If something was wrong you'd tell me, right?"

"Yeah, but nothing's wrong."

I sighed. "Alright, well I'm going to the beach. See ya later."

"Hey, wait." Lilly said and I turned back to her.

"Yeah?"

"Is there something wrong with you?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine."

She nodded. "Me too. Bye."

"Later," I waved and went to the beach. I was there for a while, and Lilly called me on my way home. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, uh…you're not mad at me…are you?"

"No, never, why would I be mad?"

"I don't know…it just seems like you are."

"I'm not, really."

"Ok…"

"Are you mad at me?" I asked suddenly.

"No, not at all."

"Good."

"Good…So you promise you're not mad?" Lilly asked worriedly.

"Lil, honestly, I could never be mad at you. I have no reason to be."

"I know, but I feel like things are different now just because I kissed you. But I really don't want them to be different, I want things to be how they were when we were dancing, ya know?"

I was on our street at this point. "Yeah…" I agreed.

"So everything's still normal, right?"

"Of course, Lil."

"Ok, good." she said, right as I was in front of her house. She was still in the driveway, skateboarding away. I hung up the phone and started walking towards her, and she did the same.

I gave her a hug. "Thank-you!" she said.

"For what?"

"I really needed a hug. You're the best."

"Thanks," I replied, and walked next door.

The next day we had gym again, and we were still dancing. We all got with our partners and were ready to dance. But this time, we were going to be graded on our skills. So they made everyone dance closer and go up on our toes and everything. We had to look 'professional'.

"Start when the music starts, and just keep doing everything in the same order. You know, box step, hip turn, blah bla bla. Got it?" Miss Gold asked. We all nodded. I placed my hand on Lilly's waist and we held our hands near our shoulders. It was more a lot more awkward then I thought it'd be. To top it off, Mr. Armstrong pushed us closer together, because apparently you had to be touching each other.

I don't know about Lilly, but I was really uncomfortable. Don't get me wrong, I would have loved being in this position any other day, but today it was just awkward. I noticed Jake and Miley eyeing us from where they were dancing. I shrugged off the stares and made myself try to forget the awkwardness so I could get a good grade.

Lilly and I started doing the steps to the music, and we weren't half bad. We were actually pretty good. I memorized all the steps by now, so I didn't have to count or look down at my feet. Lilly didn't either, and we did the steps in sync. There's this one step where the guy steps to the side with his left foot, the girl with her right, and then you both turn your bodies inward so your hips touch, and then step with your other foot. Lilly loves that step because she says it makes her feel like she's doing the tango. She can never resist cracking up at it. Except this time. She didn't laugh at all.

"You didn't laugh." I pointed out.

She just shrugged. "It wasn't funny this time."

Finally the music stopped and we ended the step on just the right move. "Now that is what I'm talking about, people!" Miss Gold announced, and we all turned to her. "Oliver and Lilly, that was perfect! Would you mind doing it in front of the class?"

"Um, what?" I asked.

"Come on up you guys." Mr. Armstrong said. Neither me nor Lilly budged. So Miley pushed us to move forward.

Wow, how embarrassing does it get? Honestly. My face was beat red, and Lilly didn't like all the attention either. The music began and we did as we were told. Miss Gold didn't make us dance to the whole song; we only had to go through every step twice. But it still seemed like it lasted forever.

Everyone clapped, well mostly Miley, and we got to sit down. We both got A's for the unit, so I guess it made up for the embarrassment. But the awkwardness? Not so much.

"You guys really looked professional." Jake pointed out.

"Yeah, and you're the perfect couple too!" Miley just had to put in. As if it wasn't awkward enough.

Mr. Armstrong is a pretty cool teacher, and he's close with all his students. Everyone talks to him about anything they feel like, and he likes to be clued in on things. So of course, upon hearing Miley, he had to ask, "How long have you guys been together?"

Lilly and I both smacked our heads and said at the same time "we're not together."

"But they should be." Miley added.

"No we shouldn't." Lilly and I said together, both of us crossing our arms.

"Yeah you should." Jake laughed.

"No we shouldn't." we defended.

"Yes you should!" the whole class said at once.

"Shut-up!" we yelled, again in unison. "Stop saying what I'm saying! I'm not-you are!" we yelled at each other at the same time. Sighing, we both decided to just shut up.

"I see," Mr. Armstrong cleared his throat. "Sorry I asked."