Vocabulary Lesson #2

La Cucuracha - a signature dance move in the Mambo - performed by rolling hips into a side step on beats 1 & 3

Tchaikovsky - Russian composer well known for the ballets: The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, among others works as well.

Chapter 3

Since Makarov gave Gajeel permission to seek out the blue haired ballerina as his partner, a plan began to take shape in his mind.

Class was still in session for another forty-five minutes and he strolled in to find every single student at the barre, struggling to perform the shrimp's routine according to her tutelage. She adjusted pointes, body alignment, and positions as she walked up and down the long stretch of mirrors.

A Tchaikovsky ballad came over the stereo when she twisted the knob for a lower volume.

"They're all yours," she widely gestured towards the row of students who eyed him expectantly.

"Water. Pair off," he barked.

Some scrambled over one another to rush into the hall towards the water fountain, others had brought their own.

The little woman had starting moving towards the viewing platform when he grabbed her wrist.

"Where're ya goin' shorty? I said pair off."

She looked at his restraining hand in confusion.

"I'm going to watch. I was only supposed to warm-up—"

He cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Odd number people. Yer with me."

He dragged her back to the barre, relinquishing her wrist at last.

"You can't just decide for me. I don't even know what you're studying!" she protested.

"Doesn't matter. We're startin' fresh today."

His students had returned and paired off as he asked, spread equally around the room for space. The amount of eyes turned in her direction made her nervous, butterflies battering against the inside of her stomach.

"Can you Mambo?" he asked quietly, directing his question to the ballerina. He smirked when he saw her cheeks blossom with rosy color. Apparently, she did.

"We will be dancing the Mambo today," he addressed the class with a confident air, "It is a four/four beat with steps following a quick-quick-slow pattern. Like so..."

Levy reluctantly complied with the studded giant that had turned to her. The Mambo was known to be a flirtatious dance with rolling hips and showy legs; some would even describe it as raunchy. She detested having to learn it with a partner she knew well enough, so dancing it with a total stranger by no means put him on her good list. He was making a statement.

He took her hand in proper form, palms facing one another, and held her at a comfortable distance with his other hand under her shoulder. He counted the beats for his students sake, stepping into her on the second beat, and retreating on the fourth. They repeated it, and stopped, allowing the class to mimic them.

Levy counted down the time on the clock to judge how many moves he could teach before class let out. They just finished the basic steps, which was followed by an underarm turn, a change in positions, and the Cucuracha. So she wouldn't be completely humiliated on her first day.

She would not admit that, even though she knew the steps, it was still fun. She couldn't keep the smile from her face when they changed places with a double turn. There was something about him that exuded a contagious energy. Of course, she was always happy to dance, but he didn't try to cop a feel and he kept the atmosphere professional. It was a relief to not be hit on and she removed him from her shit list. He had probably had the dance lined up before he ever knew her, so it was just coincidence that she happened to be there.

When class was dismissed, she waited for the majority of students to file out before she spoke. He had moved to the stereo to fiddle with the music selection.

"You're a wonderful instructor," she conceded. He turned slightly and tipped his head to her in a 'thank you'.

"I just wanted to thank you for letting me join your class. I had fun," she gave him a small smile, a little disappointed she would not be returning, but more so relieved that she would not be returning. She flitted out into the hall towards the clerk, only to pause when the studded man called for her to wait. He caught up to her and an awkward silence fell over them. She gave a light giggle to break the uneasiness.

"Did you want to say something..?" she hinted.

He blanched, suddenly remembering himself, "I'm actually done for the day. And Mira said you were new in town. I was wondering if you might want to get something to eat? With me?"

He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, trying to play off his nervousness as casual conversation. She was touched by his invitation until she remembered her truck.

"I-I actually can't. I need to move the rest of my stuff into my apartment this afternoon. My landlady is watching my cat for me," she stuttered at first and tried to let him down gently.

She recalled the couch strapped down in the back of her truck along with her horde of boxed books. Her dad had helped her load the couch, but she hadn't given much thought to how she was going to get it unloaded again. She clenched her hands behind her back, hoping her request wouldn't cross some kind of line.

"Uh...maybe instead, you could help me move into my apartment? Just the couch, really, because it's heavy and I don't exactly have any muscle," she gestured awkwardly to his musculature, which she had been intentionally ignoring while pointing it out, making her feel like the lamest person ever since they had just met, so she tried to tack on an incentive, "I'll pay you back with lunch, if you do."

To her surprise, he accepted.

"Sure, shrim—"

"Hey, Metal Breath! Let's go!"

A male voice called to Gajeel from the lobby. Within the second, a wiry boy with pink hair joined them.

"Hey! You're new. I'm Natsu. I teach the children's dance classes."

Levy held out her hand and he shook it, "Levy. Ballet instructor."

"Natsu! I have another class in 30! You owe me."

A curvaceous blonde in a sports bra and ponytail bounced into the pinkette, grabbing him by the arm until she noticed Levy.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Lucy. Aerobics instructor and temporary ballet instructor."

Levy shook her hand as well, feeling quite welcome.

"I'm Levy, the permanent ballet instructor."

Lucy's eyes widened as she clapped her hands together.

"Thank Mavis you're here!" she grabbed Levy into a tight hug, "I was starting to think you would never come! You have to have lunch with us. Natsu's treat."

The pinkette gave a strangled cough to suppress his disapproval.

"We have plans, bunny girl," the giant interjected on Levy's behalf. While she would have liked to get to know her coworkers, she really had to rescue her cat.

"Then next time for sure," the blonde responded with a smile, barely veiling her surprised expression. She grabbed Natsu by his hand and drug him out of the building.

"They're really nice," Levy commented. Gajeel shrugged in response.

"I have to get my stuff. So, I'll meet you outside?" she started walking backwards towards the women's changing rooms, receiving a toothy grin and nod from Gajeel.