I dedicate this chapter to a good friend of mine named Sara. I've hit kind of a block with my writing, not just this story but all of them. She gave me a flash drive a few days ago and said it would help me. It was music! Over a hundred songs of brand new awesome music! I feel inspired and have some fresh ideas for songs our dancers will perform to during the show. Thanks girl I love you!
This chapter was written to "The Tango De Roxanne" from the musical Moulin Rouge. It's a very powerful song and I recommend listening to it as you read the end of this chapter to get the full effect of the dance.
Chapter 27-Back to Work
Pov- Bella
"Edward you've got to get lower when you move. Sink into your heels more."
"Bella your still missing those last two counts."
"Stop. Run it again."
I rubbed at my face as sweat ran down from my hair line into my eyes. I'd thought that Nat and Tab might go easy on us after the mishap we'd had yesterday. Ha! Yeah right. Tabitha was trying to unlock Edward's inner hip-hop dancer and Napoleon was running me ragged with the set I would have to dance with the handcuffs on. I'd never realized how much I used my hands when I danced until I suddenly didn't have them anymore
There was a move in the dance were Edward would slip the white flag around my wrists and I would have to dance with my hands tied behind my back. Napoleon moved back into the opening stance for my set and I stood in front of him. For right now he was playing the role of Edward. He loosened the flag and hit play. As the music started I ran through the counts of my earlier moves. The first set was only sixteen counts. Edward's set with the cuffs was twenty two counts after that. I would loosen the cuffs and we had a small set that was ten counts. Then it was my turn.
"Go" Napoleon tightened the cuffs and I rolled away from him. I used the momentum from my role to get back to my feet and we moved into an identical set of moves. Napoleon was just over my left shoulder as we moved in since.
As the set came to an end Napoleon grabbed my waist and I bent my knees for the lift. We ended our run right before the lift. Napoleon didn't want to try lifting me and I was secretly grateful. If someone dropped me with my arms tied I wouldn't be able to catch myself. This was an accident waiting to happen.
Roger pulled us both aside for short interviews and he asked about the brace and I had to re-tell the story of punching Edward once again so he could add it to our clip for the show on Wednesday. He smiled and told me he had great footage of the hit that was going to play so everyone could see it for themselves.
"Do you think your injury will affect your dance this week?" He asked adjusting the camera resting on his shoulder.
I shrugged. "Tabitha and Napoleon had to change a few of the moves but its going ok." Lies! The brace was making it very hard to slip the flag on and off and if I wasn't carful it could get caught. The last thing I needed was Edward pulling on the flag and yanking on my bad hand.
"You and Edward seem to be having a lot of bad luck so far. You almost got run over, there was the flour bag incident and now you hurt your hand. Do you think fates trying to tell you something?"
"We've had some bad luck but I think we'll be ok." Fate could kiss my ass if it thought I was going to surrender this contest. I wanted to be Americas favorite dancer and nothing was going to stop me from getting there.
We laughed a bit and he asked a few question about how I felt about getting on the show and if I was still enjoying myself. He called Edward out into the hall once my interview was done and it was back to work with Napoleon for me.
"Why don't we work on the opening again Bella? Take a little brake from the flag."
I nodded along and set up to run the start of the dance with Napoleon. He danced through the opener with me at half tempo making sure I remembered all of the moves and that none of them needed to be adjusted for my brace. When Edward came back from his interview we started running the start of the dance together.
"5, 6, 7, 8"
Tabitha gave us a count in and Napoleon started our music. The song started with a drum and we both tried to make our moves as sharp as we could, following the beat. As the lyrics started we slowly worked our way closer to each other.
The music swelled and I ducked into my role. I used the momentum to get me back on my feet and swung at Edward. He fell back as I hit him in the jaw and tried to grab me as I took my second swing. I pulled back and moved to take my third swing. He spun away like Napoleon had showed him and stopped, we hadn't worked out the next move yet.
"Ok Bella, I'll show you what's next." Tabitha stood next to me and showed me how to recover after Edward would dodge my last hit.
"You gotta stumble a little bit and then turn really fast and run at him." She spun quickly on her toes, her hair flying out around her face and she ran at Edward.
She stopped right before she reached him and Napoleon showed him how to catch her. Edward would bend forward right before I reached him so it would look like I was going to fly right over him. It was my job to bend my knees so Edward could grab me. Edward would grab my legs and I would end up hanging over his shoulder upside down.
"Ok, you got all of that?" Tabitha asked as she hung upside down off Napoleons shoulder. They had just showed us the lift.
"Sure." I said sarcastically wondering if I'd offended ether of these choreographers somehow because it was clear they were trying to kill me.
"Give it a try." Napoleon encouraged us. "We'll put it together with the music later."
I took a few steps back and Edward turned to face me. "Go ahead Bella."
I took a deep breath and nodded once. If he missed me I was going to fly over his back and land face first on the stage. The last thing I needed was a broken nose to match my hand. Just do it already you big chicken! I scolded myself. I nodded once again and started moving before I could talk myself out of it.
I jumped at Edward just as he ducked down and curled my legs. He snagged me just above the knee and pinned my knees to his chest. I jerked back and grabbed at his waist to keep from falling. Edward wobbled backwards as I grabbed him and I jerked to the side to avoid landing face first.
We toppled over backwards and landed in a very ungraceful pile on the ground.
"Bella, Edward, are you guys ok?" Napoleon asked as he and Tabitha rushed over to us. I glanced at Edward and lost it. I broke into a fit of giggles and Edward joined in moments later.
"I think their ok." Tabitha said rolling her eyes at us.
"I'm ok." I said rolling away from Edward trying to untangle my legs from his.
"How's your hand?" Edward asked as he pushed himself up to his feet.
"Sore, but that's not from the fall, I'll be good." I punched him in the shoulder. "This isn't the first time I've broken something and it probably won't be the last. I'm a klutz remember?"
We had to run the jump two dozen times before we could hit it every time and not fall over. Once we had perfected getting me up onto Edward shoulder we had to work on getting me back down.
"Ok Bella once Edward standing up again I want you to grab onto his hips and try centering your weight." I grabbed onto Edward trying not to think about the fact that I was practically sticking my face in his butt. He had a cute butt even covered with black sweat pants like it was.
"Ok Edward you're going to throw her legs over your shoulder. Bella I want you to spin around as soon as you hit the ground and wrap your arms around Edward neck." He waved at us when we didn't start moving. "Well try it."
"Ready?" Edward asked.
I tightened my grip on his waist. "Go for it."
He pushed my legs over his shoulder and I pulled them under me as I landed. As soon as I hit the ground I spun on my toes and locked my arms around his neck, using his body to regain my balance.
"Very good, just like that." Tabitha clapped her hands. "Now do it again."
By the time lunch rolled around we were hitting the jump every time and I was dizzy from being thrown around all morning. My hand was starting to hurt again and Napoleon had told me to keep an ice pack on it while we ate.
Edward opened the door for me as we reached the lounge and we both hesitated outside the door. Nothing happened. There hadn't been any pranks since Edward's sticky feathers and I had a feeling both sides were trying to find the time to come up with better pranks amongst all of the dance work.
"Bella you go sit down, I'll get us both trays."
I blushed as Edward went to get our food but didn't say anything. Tabitha had him under stick order not to let me use my hand for anything. I moved over to our usual table and fell into a chair next to Alice. Angela, Rose, Ben and Jake were all sitting with her and they greeted me with curious smiles as I sat down.
"How's your hand?" Rose asked.
I shrugged and showed them the ice pack. "It's sore but I'll live."
"You'll be fine B, after the motorcycles and the cliff diving you could probably handle anything." Jake said laughing. Everyone at the table shot me identical odd looks and I blushed at all the attention.
"What?" I asked more defensively then I ment to.
"You went cliff diving?" Ben asked. "No offence Bella but I can't see it."
I shrugged. "Yeah, there's a bunch of cliffs around Jakes house. We got board so we decided to jump off them."
Edward sat down next to me and passed me a tray filled with food and two aspirin. "Oh thank you." I said popping the two little pills like a long term drug addict. I had a lot of practice swallowing aspirin with the number of injuries I'd had over my years.
"What about a motorcycle?" Edward asked rising an eye brown at me. I had kind of hoped he hadn't heard about my reckless adventures with Jake. We had been two stupid kids looking for ways to irritate our dads and bring on an adrenalin rush. I was over that phase of my life, for the most part.
"Jake found them along the side of the road. He's a wiz with cars and things like that so he fixed them up. We road around in the woods and stuff." I shrugged it off and turned to my food hoping everyone would move onto another topic. No such luck. Jake started laughing and told everyone about the trip were I'd whipped out on my bike and he'd had to drive me to the hospital so I could get stitches.
"You still got that scare Bella?" He asked.
I blushed and nodded. "Yeah, thanks for bringing it up again."
He smirked. "Want to show it to us." I chucked my spoon at him and the others laughed as he caught it and tossed it back. "What's the matter Bella, I saw it last week."
I blushed even darker at the memory. When I'd whipped out on my old motorcycle a piece of metal had broken lose and stabbed me right in the ass. I had a nice little scare from the stitches and I could no longer show my face at Forks hospital. It was impossible to get twelve stitches in your butt and not become the talk of a small town like Forks. I couldn't sit right for a week.
"You walked in on me it wasn't my fault!" I said getting redder as Jake mentioned the fact that he'd seen me naked.
"You're the one who opened the door." Jake said defending himself.
"Wait, I think I missed something." Rose said putting a stop to the smart remark I had been planning to say. "Just where is this scare Bella?"
I flushed red and locked my eyes on my plate. No way in hell I was going to talk about it. I didn't have to, Jake laughed again and told all of them exactly where my scare was.
"When Bella fell of her bike it decided to give her a little present. She's got a nice little scare right the left side of her ass. The doctor could hardly keep a straight face while he stitched her up." He shot me a cheeky little grin, enjoying my embarrassment and I flipped him the bird.
"You better sleep with your eyes open." I threatened with as much venom in my voice as I could muster. He just laughed at me again knowing full well that I wasn't really mad at him. I'd never been able to really get mad at Jake. There were times when I wanted to slap him but he would always be one of my best friends.
Thankfully no one pressed the matter of my scare or asked any embarrassing questions and topics of conversation moved to the different dances everyone was working on. Leah never wanted to hear the word tango again. Apparently nether, she nor Emmett were very good at it so they kept laughing during their practice.
"Our choreographers getting frustrated with us." Emmett added as Leah regaled us with a story about how she's kicked Emmett in the crotch as they worked on some of the leg kicks in their number.
"Just wait until I try those leg kicks in the heels she's got me wearing this week. You'd better wear a cup if you ever want to reproduce." Leah suggested shooting Emmett a smirk.
Emmett winced and the table laughed. Jane and Erik were having a lot of trouble with their waltz and either one of them had high hopes for this weeks round of judging. Alice demanded to see the jump Edward and I had been working on after we told them about it and we got a round of applause when my shoe caught on the lounge carpet and I knocked both of us to the ground.
"Let's hope it goes better then that on Wednesday." Emmett said pulling us both to our feet. Edward laughed as he sat down and I blushed. My luck seemed to be gone so chances were good we would end up falling on stage.
After lunch Napoleon had us change into our costumes and we spent the rest of the after noon working on the dance. There was a pocket on my pants that I hadn't noticed before. It was my job to make sure the flag got on stage. I would be hiding the flag in my costume until after the first flip.
"Ok Edward when she locked her arms around your neck I want you to fall to your knees. Bella as soon as he goes down you need to pull the flag out and hook his arms back."
I tied Edward's hands behind his back and we worked on his next set. Throughout the rest of rehearsal we cracked crud jokes about bondage and laughed at each other as we tripped on the cuffs. I had one move were I was supposed to role with my arms tied together and slip my legs through my arms as I stood up. Not as easy as it sounds.
"Ok, ok your done for today." Tabitha said as I tripped again. "We'll start fresh tomorrow morning and get the rest of the routine down. You both did a great job today."
Edward and I shuffled upstairs to change out of our costumes. Alice and Leah were both in the dressing room when I walked in and I let out a low whistle as Leah spun in her tango dress.
"Leah that dress practically screams sex."
She smirked at me and hooked one of her legs over a chair next to her letting the thin black fabric work its way up her thigh. "It's fantastic isn't it? The dance they've got us doing this week is so strong. It doesn't even feel like Broadway anymore."
The dark fabric hugged her curves in all the right places and made her rustic skin glow. Her hair was braided back and she had smoky make-up around her eyes.
"You might not like your dance but that dress might just keep you in this competition."
She smirked and spun in a circle so I could see the whole thing. "I think Emmett and I will be ok this week. If I can get the kicks down and Emmett can keep a straight face we might not fall on our faces." She shrugged. "And this dress won't hurt anything."
We laughed and chatted about nothing in particular as we got changed and I found Edward waiting for me when we wondered back into the main room. We all wondered upstairs and I dismissed myself from the group so I could take a shower.
"Can I come back later?" Edward asked lowering his lips near my ear so the others wouldn't hear. I nodded. "Only if you want to."
"I'll see you tonight then."He said with a wink in my direction.
He climbed up the stars and headed to his own room. I took an hour long shower with ridiculously hot water and let Rose brush my hair while I dosed off on her bed. Alice had put in a tape of last years finals and we pointed out things we liked and things we didn't about each of the final four performances.
"My favorite from last season was Katee. I was bummed when she didn't win." I said as Cat announced that Katee had come in third place.
Rose nodded along. "She was excellent, but I was glad Joshua got the title. He was amazing."
"I was kind of surprised Twitch didn't win. He always struck me as a crowd favorite." Alice added plopping down on the bed next to me.
There was a knock on the door and Alice let Tanya and Angela into the room. They sat down with us and watched the rest of the movie. It was only ten o'clock when the tape ended but we were all falling asleep.
"Ok everyone out before you fall asleep in my room." Rose said shaking my shoulder. I grumbled at her but rolled off the bed and made my way back to my room. I must have left the door open because Edward was already waiting for me when I got their already in his pajamas.
"There you are." He said tossing his book onto the counter as I came in.
He pulled me into a hug and I tucked my face into his neck. His hair was wet and it tickled my face but his sent was worth it.
"Good night." I said sleepily slumping against him.
He chuckled at me and pulled me over to the bed tucking me in before turning off the lights. He slid under the covers next to me and I snuggled into his chest.
"Good night Bella."
The rest of the week flew by in a blur of hip-hop and bright colors. Edward and I were now masters of no handed dancing. My hand was still sore and the doctor said my healing process was going slower then he had hoped it would. I shrugged and promised I would take it easy. That was a lie, I refused to let my hand slow down our work and it only made me push myself harder so I could keep up with the progress Edward was making.
Emmett and Leah were now so excited to show everyone their tango routine they hardly ever shut up about it. Jane and Erik were still dreading their waltz. Alice was trying to convince herself that strangling Mike wasn't a good idea while I was avoiding him altogether. Mike and I still weren't on the best of terms with each other after our fight before round one and when ever we talked it got heated. Something about him just got under my skin.
We didn't have a group dance to worry about so everyone got extra time to work on their solos before the dress rehearsal. Edward and I were set up to go last this week so we got to sit in the seats and watch most of the other pairs practice their dance in costume.
"We'll finally get to see why Emmett and Leah won't stop talking about that tango." Edward whispered to me as the lights fell and Cat announced Emmett and Leah's song for their practice run.
When the lights came back up we all watched Emmett take his opening pose. He was standing center stage, his tight black pants showed off his butt and his ruffled red shirt left plenty of exposed chest. He snapped his fingers as the first notes of the song rang out in the empty auditorium and walked forward as the spoken words started.
"We have a dance!"
He waved his hand out to include the audience as his character told us a story. The heels of the dress shoes he was wearing were the only sound you could hear apart from the soft piano and the solo violin.
"In the brothels of Buenos Aires,
It tells the story,
Of the prostitute."
He spun around and held out a hand in the direction of were Leah was standing. She had been dancing slowly in the back ground while the audences attention was on Emmett. As the word prostitute rang around the room a dark red spotlight fell on her making the sequins of her black dress sparkle like bloody red diamonds. She chuckled to herself and started stalking towards him as he turned out to face the audience again.
"And the man,
Who falls in love...
with her."
They both stomped on the last word as the drum started. Leah stopped behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck as the music started to swell. He reached up and yanked her arm away from him pulling her out in front of him. Leah rose onto her toes and hit four full spins before Emmett pulled her back to him holding her as close as he could.
"First there is desire."
Leah kicked her leg up so her foot was above Emmett shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her waist so she could lean back. The neck line of her dress plunged so deep she practically flashed us but the tight corset waist kept the dress in place.
"Then... passion!"
Leah jerked back up and Emmett's hand fell to grab her ass as she lowered her leg and hooked it over his hip. Leah glanced over her shoulder and winked at the audience. Emmett shoved her leg away and grabbed her wrist holding her in front of him.
"Then... suspicion!"
They started to move across the stage in a very violent, passionate tango set. Every now and then Leah would turn away from Emmett and wink at the audience or make some obscene gesture at the empty seats. She was playing the part of the flirty prostitute very well.
"Jealousy! Anger! Betrayal!
Where love is for the highest bidder,
There can be no trust."
Emmett held Leah's hands above her head and Leah hit another set of quick, harsh spins. After the spins they moved into a close hold and Leah pulled off a couple of fast kicks around his legs. I could see what he would have needed a cup in practice.
"Without trust,.
There is no love!
Jealousy!
Yes, jealousy...!
Will drive you... will drive you... will drive you... Mad!"
As Leah once again pulled away from Emmett, he fell to his knees and threw his hands in the air. The music dipped and Emmett jumped back to his feet. He and Leah were now standing on opposite side of the stage, both facing the audience. As the music swelled back to the lyrics they started moving in a synchronized set of tango moves.
Roxanne!
"You don't have to put on that red light.
Walk the streets for money.
You don't care if it's wrong or if it is right."
They met in the middle of the stage and Emmett threw Leah up into their first lift. Leah kicked her leg out and wrapped her arms back around him as Emmett set her down.
"Roxanne!
You don't have to wear that dress tonight.
Roxanne!
You don't have to sell your body to the night."
They moved quickly across the stage in moves that were very traditionally tango. The music swelled around them and the deep Spanish voice of the lyrics worked well with the strength of the dance. The lights danced around the stage in various shads of red and orange. Their lines were strong and the passion in their moves had everyone one of us watching shell shocked. They were fantastic and we were all doomed.
Roxanne!
Why does my heart cry?
Roxanne!
Feelings I can't fight!
You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me,
And please believe me when I say, I love you!
Last week the judges had made comments that Leah and Emmett were both strong dancers. The judges hadn't thought they worked well together because they seemed to both be fighting for the led. That was the whole point of this dance and together they practically set the stage on fire.
Edward leaned into my side and moved his lips near my ear. "I didn't know he could move like that." He said softly his eyes, like mine, were glued on Emmett as he and Leah pulled each other around the stage in the passionate love story of trust and betrayal.
"They're fantastic." I agreed.
Alice was sitting on my other side and she elbowed me in the side. "Shhh"
"Roxanne!"
Why does my heart cry?
"Roxanne!"
Feelings I can't fight!
"Roxanne!"
You don't have to put on that red light.
"Roxanne!"
You're free to leave me, but just don't deceive me,
And please believe me when I say, I love you!
Emmett grabbed Leah as she turned away from him and tossed her into the air. Leah pulled her arms in against her chest and spun in the air. Emmett held his arms out and caught her as she fell back to earth makeing her apear weightless as he lifted her with ease. She hit the ground on her toes and spun back to him. Emmett grabbed her hands as she moved to hold him and held them above her head. As the last note of the song rang out Emmett spun Leah around to face the audience and let go of her. She fell to the ground and laid at his feet. The red spot light above them went out and the music faded away leaving them in darkness.
"Holy Hell." Erik said gapping open mouth at the stage as the lights came back on. Emmett helped Leah up and they took a bow, both breathing heavily but with big smiles on their face.
Alice jumped to her feet clapping. "What the hell was that?!?"
I stood up with her and some of the others as we clapped. Emmett and Leah bowed again both with smug smiles on their face and they turned to rush off stage so the rest of us could take our practice run. If they danced like that tomorrow we were all going home.
~Darkrose
Yippy, I was waiting to get a chance to write that dance. I wanted to find a very powerful song that would let both of those characters stand out a bit. I imagine that if Leah and Emmett really were dancers they would both be very powerful. Nether of them seems like the kind of person who would want their partner to lead.
I'm sorry the song wouldn't stay centered. I don't know why this sight hates my computer so much, but I can never get the song to stay centered and the text to stay on the right, it just wont listen to me and it's almost one in the morning and I don't care anymore. I'll try to get it to work later.
Drop me a review and let me know what you think. The next chapter will probably be round two and we'll get to see Edward and Bella's dance all finished.