Dancing Machine

Chapter Four

Rhythmatic, acrobatic
She a dynamite attraction
At the drop of a coin she comes alive, yea
She knows what she's doing
She's super bad now
She's geared to really blow your mind

Dancing, dancing, dancing
She's a dancing machine

Dancing Machine - Jackson 5

Here's number four. Things are starting to pick up. The dance Reid sees Hannah doing is something like Shauna Noland's solo on So You Think You Can Dance. The song is Everything by Lifehouse if you want to find the video on Youtube. I hope you all enjoy :)

Hannah believed that it was always a good sign if you sweated after a very intense workout. This practice was wonderful. They had perfected their dance, and had got through it five times in-a-row. They nailed it each time. Once the scheduled practice was over, and all the other dancers left, Hannah popped in her CD, and started her solo. This was the only time she could practice her audition number. She loved the routine. She had choreographed it from start to finish and must have practiced it at least one hundred times. She could have done this in her sleep by now. One more time through and she would be done for the day. Maybe she could make it to Paddy's after all.

Reid was freaking out. It wasn't like he was going to ask Hannah out on a date or anything. He was only going to ask her if she wanted to go to Paddy's to hang out with him and the guys. They weren't even going to be alone. With a loud sigh, he opened the door to the Fuller Arts Center and headed inside.

The renovations were nice. The building looked really good, except when no one was roaming the halls and the lights were out, the place was a little creepy. That's when he heard a faint noise coming from the end of the hallway. That must have been her. The music got increasingly louder with each step he took, and he soon stood right outside the door. Reid's jaw dropped as his eyes followed Hannah's movements. She was incredible.

It felt good when Hannah finished her routine the last time for the night, and it was only seven o' clock. She had plenty of time to go change and head over to Paddy's. Quickly, she stuffed her iPod into her bag, slipped her shoes on, and turned to leave.

"Reid," she froze. "What are you doing here?"

"I-uh," he shuffled from foot to foot. "You are a really good dancer. How long have you been doing it?"

"My parents put me in when I was three," Hannah pushed the bag further up her shoulder. "Thank you by the way. Now I don't mean to be rude, but what are you doing here?"

"I-well. The guys and I wanted to know if you wanted to come to Paddy's with us. Hang out, maybe get a few drinks."

"And by guys, you mean Devon, Kirby, Joey, and Rick right?" Hannah asked.

"Yes," Reid answered. "I understand if you don't want to. You are a busy woman after all." Reid shook his head, turning his heel in trying to exit, but Hannah reached for his jacket, spinning him back around.

"You aren't how I thought you were, Reid Garwin," she said.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" He asked.

"A good thing," Hannah smiled. "I'd love to go to Paddy's with you and the guys."

"Really?" his face light up. "I mean great. Um, do you want me to pick you up or something?"

"Um," Hannah thought for a moment. "Pick me up at seven-thirty."

"Perfect."

"Here," she reached into her bag and pulled out a piece of paper, a pen, and began to scribble something onto it. "It's my number and my dorm room number. You know, if you need anything."

"Ok than," Reid grinned, looking at her neat script. "I'll see you later then."

"Bye, Reid."

Reid was in heaven. She had said yes! The guys were all crowded around the television playing some video game that Reid didn't understand, so he flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"What took you so long, Garwin?" Rick asked, not bothering to look away from the screen.

"Yeah, man. We expected you to be here twenty minutes ago," Joey added. "Did she reject the invitation so you mopped around for a while?"

"No, as a matter of fact," Reid said. "She said yes, and she gave me her number, and I'm picking her up at seven-thirty."

"But that's only twenty minutes from now! Don't most girls take hours to get ready to go out?" Kirby asked.

"No, Hannah's pretty good with those kind of things," Devon switched the system off. "It's great to know she's coming with us. She need to let loose every once in a while."

That had to have been the quickest shower Hannah had ever taken. She wasn't a fan of rushing to get ready for things, but tonight wasn't just any other night now was it? So, in the time span of twenty minutes, she showered and changed. Quite an amazing feat she thought to herself. Then, right as she was slipping on her shoes, there was a knock on her door. He was right on time.

"I take it you found me all right then," she grinned when the blond entered her room. "Just let me get my keys and we can head out."

"Don't worry, there's no rush," Reid stated, shoving his hands into his pockets. "You look nice by the way."

"Thanks. You clean up well too, Garwin," Hannah smiled. "Ready?"

"Let's go," this was going to be a good night Hannah thought.

And a good night it was. The place was packed to its limits, and Hannah was so thankful she wasn't one of the waitresses tonight. The guys welcomed her in; not just because of Devon either. They were a good group. Rick was the youngest of the gang, a sophomore who was majoring in education. The pair seemed to have hit it off right away, much to Reid's dismay. Then there was Joey and Kirby. Reid was the second eldest, and Devon, but she was like a sister to him to begin with anyhow.

"So, how does it feel to be letting loose, Banana?" Devon asked her when the others left to go to the pool tables.

"Good. I haven't had this much fun in a long time. Thank you for inviting me," Hannah answered, sipping on her drink.

"Anytime," Devon smiled at her.

"Hey, Hannah, would you like to play with us?" Joey shouted from the tables.

"Excuse me, Devon."

"Going to put the boys in their places?" Devon joked.

"Don't I always?" Hannah, winked, joining the game. "You break, Reid."

"If you insist," the blond said.

The girl was pretty good. Reid had to admit. She and Joey made a good team. They both even won a game much to his surprise. Reid was even about to cheat during one of the matches. The group was having a blast until a loud shrill broke through the bar.

"Reid Garwin, what are you doing here with her?" Kelsey Verona shrieked. "Why are you even here, Davis?"

"Um, I do believe I have the right to be here," Hannah leaned against the stick.

"But you shouldn't be here with him," she pointed her freshly manicured finger at Reid. "What would a girl like you do with a guy like him?"

"Actually, Kelsey, she's here with us," Reid interrupted. "I invited her."

"Why would you bring someone like her along?" the woman spat. "You don't even-"

"Hannah, you did manage to come. I'm impressed," Lexi appeared from behind the crazy Kelsey. "Come on, I want to introduce you to some people."

"Um," she glanced up at Reid, who with a sullen look on his face, nodded. "OK."

Lexi pulled Hannah's arm, dragging her over to the two tables pushed together to become one. Hannah wasn't sure of how long the group was there, but she could safely guess that about 75% of them were hammered. And it was only nine at night.

"Guys, I want you to meet Hannah," Lexi introduced. "She's the one I was telling you about. Hannah, this is Allison, Eric, Tony, Stacy, Monica, Ben, Tyler, Kris, Tonya, Ellen, and Robbie." Hannah gave a small wave. How awkward was this? And Lexi, bless her heart and all, but there was no way in hell that she would ever consider being friends with this group. All of the boys had long hair, plenty of piercings, and ugh, all had on skinny jeans. How did that even work for men? The girls weren't that bad. They may have shown too much cleavage and have had worn really tiny skirts, but at least they had normal hair colors.

"Really," the one guy spoke. "This is it? Doesn't look like a knock out to me."

"Don't listen to Eric right now. He's drunk and high off his ass," Lexi whispered into Hannah's ear. "Have a seat and join in the conversation. We were just discussing Kelly Swims'' new perm. I have no idea how her salon stays open. That hair looks like shit." Lexi said, causing the rest of the group to burst into laughter. Personally, Hannah did not find the humor in the joke whatsoever. Kelly was a good friend of hers, and she would never talk about any of her friends behind their backs. And to be honest, her hair didn't look that bad.

Reid took a large sip of his drink and looked over at the far table. Hannah did not look like she was having fun at all. As her friend was chatting with her odd-looking friends, Hannah just sat there staring at her glass not paying attention to the conversation either. He couldn't picture her having any fun with that group.

"Tough luck, aye Garwin?" Devon patted the blond on his shoulder. "Having so much fun with Banana and then the Bitch comes and takes her from right under our noses."

Yeah, wait. You don't like her roommate?" he asked.

"Even though we all used to be all buddy-buddy, some of us like Lexi and I fell apart. I think she's a bad girl, and Hannah shouldn't associate herself with her. Why don't you go over there and save her? She looks so out-of-place. You know what you should do, invite her to the swim meet on Sunday."

"Does she even like swimming?" Reid wondered.

"She came to a few when we were in high school. Now go. All of the potheads are leaving."

"All right, all right, Jesus," Reid muttered, going to the empty table. "You okay over here? It didn't look like you were having any fun."

"No, not really," Hannah answered. "To be completely honest with you, I had way more fun when I was with you guys. I'm sorry for Lexi pulling me away."

"Don't worry about it," Reid said. "But I do have another question to ask you. Would you want to come to the swim meet on Sunday? That is if you aren't busy and all." The blond scratched the back of his neck.

"Sure," Hannah grinned. "Sounds like fun."