Hot White Chocolate

"I very much hope that you're as bored as you look." The murmur fell carefully on my ears, draped in amusement. All I sensed was his warm breath on the back of my earlobe, warmth rolling off of the skin not two inches behind mine. But I knew almost immediately that somehow by a beautiful, blessed twist of fate the voice beside me belonged to Ryan. Spinning around I smirked at him, curious as to how he'd ended up at the same party as me and what exactly was in his plastic, red Dixie cup. Eyeing him for a moment, I gave up a small laugh and shook my head as I tried to ignore how good he looked in the dark light of this pathetic frat house.

"And why is that, Mr. Evans?" I asked, looking at him from under my lashes as I took a sip of my drink.

"So you'll be less inclined to stay when I ask you if you'd like to go somewhere with me, Ms. Brunswick."

"Oh really?" I asked, my eyebrows raising.

"That's the plan." He shrugged, smirking devilishly.

"And if I accepted your request, what someplace would we be visiting?"

"I thought we might grace Starbucks with our presence. Unless your sick of drinking things, of course." It was his turn to quirk an eyebrow. Carefully, I set my cup down on the counter and continued to eye him with curiosity, crossing my arms under my chest.

"And if I am?"

"I hear Regent's Park is nice this time of year. But it's up to you really. For all I care we could ride the subway all night…Just as long you come with me."

Blinking a few times, it took me a moment to gather myself. This boy was good at charming what he wanted out of a girl. It was so odd too…considering that flamboyant outfit and how he filled it out. Not that Ryan had a bad frame…he just wasn't really what anyone would peg as my type. I liked athletes with plenty of muscle who could handle a six pack of beer and knew their way through a hand of poker. Macho men. It was a weakness, what can I say? Other than: The blonde, pale, mess of performing arts in front of me wouldn't have even gotten a smile out of me normally. But lucky for him, he was irresistible and I was half-way to drunk.

"So this drink is amazing. You're going to have to come with me every time I go to Starbucks to help me order it."

"It's just a grande white hot chocolate." He chuckled softly, "But I would gladly be your coffee house entourage."

"Haha, thanks. Much appreciated." Smiling, I took another sip before rolling my eyes. "Thanks for rescuing me from that party by the way, that was such a mess."

"Aw, don't worry about it. I saw you at the game and thought, hey. It's worth a shot right? Lucky for me that party was lame."

"Agreed. So you saw me at the game?"

"Second cheerleader from the left, first row on the sidelines. Yah, I saw you."

"Oh." Looking down at my cup, I tried to hide my smile as well as the intense blush covering my cheeks.

"Was I not supposed to notice you while you jumped up and down in a mini-skirt and screamed?" He asked, obviously confused but easing into it with a joking tone before making a 'eeech' face. "My bad."

"No!" I laughed the slightest bit and shook my head, "It's not that, I just had no idea you saw me. I was kind of gawking at you like an idiot, so I felt a little embarrassed is all…you were really amazing."

"Thank you." He nodded with sincere gratitude and I could tell from the look in his eyes, even though he'd heard it a thousand times he really appreciated the feedback.

"You know, my sister was classically trained. You are too, I could hear it in your diction. Very impressive."

"Well, well, well. A cheerleader who knows her stuff. You're not the only one impressed." He jabbed my side playfully as we continued down the sidewalk.

"Speaking of…why were you at the game today anyway? I mean, you don't go to Columbia right? I didn't think we even had a musical department."

"You don't." He assured me, smirking wryly. "But Juilliard does. As well as a dance department, which is what I'm studying."

"You're studying dance at Juilliard?!" I nearly choked on the words alone.

"Yep." He nodded, looking proud in a way that was the antithesis of obnoxious. He just seemed happy with himself and where his life had taken him. No arrogant chip on his shoulder, no hint of hope that this news might help him score. Just a sweet, simple smile.

"That's kind of amazing." I nodded, trying to get used to the idea that I had a friend at Juilliard. Like the Juilliard. The one from the movies. After the shock wore off however, I decided to go in for the kill, hoping he'd be able to take it. He'd lasted this long right? What was one more tiny jab from some kid cheering at Columbia? "So what are you like…a ballerina?"

He looked very unamused for 2.8 seconds before chuckling.

"Actually, I'm concentrating in modern jazz as well as voice. But if you have a tutu I could borrow…"

"Shut uuup." I shoved him playfully this time, nearly off of the entire sidewalk. He just snickered, quite happy with himself as he fell back into pace beside me. "So, if you're such a good dancer, why don't you show me a lil somethin' somethin'?"

"Right now? On the sidewalk?" He asked, stopping a few steps before I did the same and turned to him.

"That's right, princess. Let's see what you got!" I egged him on, doubtful he was going to go beyond tap dancing. Suddenly, he'd popped the collar on his dark brown leather jacket up and was using the slickness left behind by cleared snow to moonwalk away from me. Just as I was cocking an eyebrow, he stopped and crossed his ankles to spin around in three perfect circles before pretending to trip backwards and somehow making it took graceful. Coming out of the trip, he shook his hips a little and let the shimmy flow down into his legs where he ended things neatly with a jazzy, little hand thing.

"Bravo!" I shouted as I clapped loudly right there on the street corner.

"You wanted a performance." He shrugged, fixing his collar and walking back over to me with a very obvious smile on his face.

"And I certainly got one, Usher. Talk about your hot white chocolate." I snorted a giggle through my nose as I bumped my hip against his and we looped arms.

*Thanks to Val. B for the review! Two reviews and i'll post the next chapter :-P