Chapter 14
As we're waiting in line to dance Monday night my heart is about to beat out of my chest. With all of this weekends drama I want to do good on this dance. We have a double elimination tomorrow.
" Shawn calm down. I can see your heart beating all the way over here." Derek says laughing
" I can't help it. I'm so nervous. Maybe we should go over the dance one more time."
" We have went over it 3 times and you made no mistakes. You've got it. You will do great. Do you trust me?"
" Of course."
" Good, I have your back. If you start to mess up I will be there to pick you up."
" Okay" I say my nerves settling a little bit.
" I love dancing with you." Derek says
" I love dancing with you too."
" So lets dance together." We say in unison.
We go out there and nail our performance. We got a 9 from Carrie Ann, 8 from Len, and a 9.5 from Bruno. Bruno said it was the best dance he had ever seen. My heart leaped out of my chest when he said that. It's the best feeling when you nail a dance and hear great things from the judges.
" I told you that you would do great. I believe in you 100 percent."
" Same here. I have put my trust in you completely."
" Let's go home and get some rest. I will see you tomorrow." Derek says
" Bye."
He leans down and gives me a hug and kisses my head. We both walk out to our cars and drive away.
We have just found out we made it through to week 4. They have just informed us that we'll be picking the dance for our competitors. We get to pick for Helio and Chelsie we give them the Charleston. They give us the Mambo. Derek and I head straight to the studio as soon as the show is over. We are going to my hometown this week.
" Are you excited about going home to visit this week?"
" Of course I love being home."
" So we got the Mambo this week. Its going to be sexy, sexy, and did I mention sexy?"
" Oh goodness."
" You will do great. Before Monday night you'll be comfortable moving your hips and being sexy.
" I hate these kinds of dances. I hate having to be sexy and put myself out there like this."
" Shawn, you just don't realize how sexy you are. You don't have to have this type of dance to be sexy. Your sexy with any dance we get."
I cant even look at him. My face is red as a tomato.
" I love seeing you blush."
" It doesn't take much." I say blushing even more.
" Okay, one more thing to talk about. The costume."
" Oh great." I say smiling
" One thing I want to do with you this season is to bring you out of your shell. Your 20 now and people don't need to look at you like your 17 again. You're a woman now and can wear adult outfits."
" I want to stay classy but be sexy. I don't want to look like a slut."
" You won't. You will look like a hot sexy 20 year old that has a bagging body. You have a nice body and we're going to show it off."
" Okay, I trust you."
" That's what I like to hear."
We discuss what we are going to wear for what seems like an hour.
" Hey if we're done I'm going to go home and go to bed. We have a early flight tomorrow." I say
" Of course. I will see you bright and early in the morning."
I reach up and give Derek a hug.
" Bye"
We're still on the plane. We have a while before we get to Des Moines.
" Hey Shawn are you awake?"
" Well I was sleeping."
" Oh sorry for waking you. I just can't sleep."
" Why?"
" I don't know. I have never been one that can sleep flying. I get so bored on long flights."
" At least we're flying. You know how long it would be if we drove."
" Your right."
" I am going back to sleep. We have a busy week ahead. Goodnight."
" Goodnight."
We have arrived in Des Moines. They have a car waiting for us. I immediately hop in the drivers seat. Derek frowns when he sees me.
" I have to drive and show you around. You don't know how to get to my house."
" I guess your right."
" Are we going to your house or your parents house?"
" My house. I moved out last year. I have been on my own ever since and I love the freedom."
" I bet."
We get to my house and get our bags unloaded and in the house.
" I will show you your room." I lead Derek down the hallway and show him the spare bedroom. He will be staying in here for the next two days. I head to my bedroom to unpack my bags. I hear Derek saying something but I can't quite hear him.
" Derek I can't hear you." Derek comes in my bedroom.
" I said did you hear about Paula being a guest judge this week."
" Yes I heard. I'm excited."
" Me too. What time do we have to be at the gym to meet the girls?"
" In an hour."
" Do you want to go grab a bite. I'm starving."
" Yes, because I don't have anything to eat here. I'm driving." I say smiling
" Okay"
I pull in at MacDonald's. We get our food and then head to the gym. We walk into the gym and I see the girls standing in the middle of the floor talking. I run up and hug them all. I'm so happy to see them.
" I'm so happy to see all of you." I see Derek walking up behind me.
" This is Derek, Derek the girls."
" No introduction needed. I know all of them." Derek says he goes up and gives them all a hug.
" It's so glad to see all of you again. I have missed ya'll so much." I say
We stay and talk to the girls for a couple hours.
" Are you ready to go to practice?" Derek asks
" Yeah. Come here guys." I give them all a hug and we say our goodbyes.
" Do you know somewhere we can practice?" I ask
" Of course. The show found us a place for the next few days."
" Okay"
I drive maybe ten minutes with Derek giving me directions of the gps. We finally reach the studio where we are going to be practicing. We walk into the building and one of the rooms that's suppose to be ours. I stretch while Derek puts the cd in the radio. I get done stretching and wait for Derek's instructions for the beginning of the dance.
" I have a really good idea to start of the dance." Derek says
" Okay. What is it?"
" Well I listened to the music last night and I didn't like the song. Its all one line of music instead of having some upbeat parts in the song. I stayed up and worked on the song a little bit. I changed the beginning of it to where I have some drums and I play that and there is a curtain behind me. I play the drums for a couple seconds then they curtain drops and your behind it in your itty bitty outfit." Derek says smirking
" Are you smirking at me Mr. Hough?" I ask blushing
" Why yes is am Miss Johnson."
" Okay I like the idea. Go ahead."
" Okay so then we can do this really cool trick to start the dance."
" I love doing tricks."
" I know. This dance is going to have quite a few."
" Good."
We do the flip at the beginning of the dance. We lay some mats out so if I fall it wont hurt to bad. Derek explains some more of the dance that he wants to do.
" Instead of relying on these mats why don't we go to Chow's gym and do it on those."
" Would he be okay with that?"
" Yes, I will call him to make sure."
I call Chow and of course he has no problem with us coming to practice. We drive to the gym. I haven't been here in what feels like years. I will feel more safe falling on these mats then the ones we were practicing with.
" Okay here we go."
" I'm excited."
We do the flip and he doesn't drop me. I'm not to worried about him dropping me I feel safe. We practice some of the dance and some more of the flips that Derek wants to do. I don't learn the whole dance. I don't even learn half of it. Derek is giving me some good choreography this week but I love a challenge. We take a break and I go onto the beam and sit down.
" What is the agenda for today and tomorrow?" Derek asks
" We have the girls tour show tonight. Then tomorrow I guess we will have practice and then get on a flight back to LA that night."
" Okay I'm excited about watching their show tonight."
" Me too. I love watching them. They may want us to dance for the crowd."
" Well what dance would we do. We don't have this one learned. All we have learned are the tricks."
" I guess we could do that for them."
" We could, but I don't want you to get hurt. We don't have them 100 percent perfect yet."
" Okay, then I guess we could just say something if they asks us to."
" There is one more trick I want to practice. Then we can leave to go get ready for the show."
" Okay."
" I'm going to explain it before we try and do it. Your going to stand in front of me. I will run and jump over your head and you will grab my belt buckle. I will hopefully land on my feet and you will do a backbend. I will the kick your head up with my foot."
" Are you serious. I understand all of it but grab your belt buckle. You know how hard that will be."
" That's why we have 5 days to practice it before the show Monday."
" I just don't want to miss the belt buckle and grab something else." I say blushing
" And what would that be?" Derek asks smiling
" You know exactly what I'm talking about." I say getting redder by the minute.
" Okay I wont make you say it. That will be bad if you miss the buckle. We will just hope you don't miss it."
" Okay I'm fine with the rest of it. That is just the one thing that freaks me out. I trust you with the rest of it."
" I trust you to grab my belt buckle." Derek says laughing
" Well lets try it." I say smiling
We try the trick three of fours times. We finally get it done with no mistakes.
" That wasn't so bad." Derek says
" Yeah, just a little uncomfortable for me." I say smiling
" Are you ready to go back to your house?" Derek asks
" Yeah lets go."
We stop by a fast food place and get something to eat. Then we go back to my house.
" Hey Derek I am going to get in the shower. Make yourself at home."
" Okay. Let me know when your out. I need to take one too."
I have a shower and just have a towel wrapped around me. I also have my hair wrapped in a towel. I walk out of the bathroom walk down the hallway to my bedroom. While I'm walking to my bedroom Derek is walking the opposite way and we collide into each other.
" Oh my goodness, Derek!" I scream
" I am so sorry. Are you okay?"
" Umm besides being wrapped in a towel naked and laying on the ground I am perfect." I say blushing
" I didn't mean to run into you. I think you look pretty good. I wish the towel would have came off when you landed on the ground." Derek says smirking
I get up from the floor as graceful as I can without showing anything.
" I can not believe you just said that." I say while smacking him in the arm.
" I couldn't help myself I love watching you blush. Why aren't you dressed anyways."
" I forgot my clothes. I had to come back to my bedroom to get dressed. I was also going to tell you I was out of the shower."
" Well we can clearly see that. I am going to take a shower." Derek says smiling
" Okay." I walk into my bedroom to get dressed.
I have been waiting on Derek to get out of the shower. He has been taking for ever and I still have to dry my hair and do my make up. I finally decide to knock on the bathroom door.
" Hey Derek I need to dry my hair and put my make up on. How much long are you going to bed in there?"
" I cant hear you. I'm still in the shower. You can come in here and tell me."
I stick my head into the room and repeat what I just said.
" You can come in here and dry your hair. I will tell you when I'm done so you can leave." Derek says
I am half way done drying my hair when I hear the water cut off.
" I am done. It wont take me long to dry off then you can come back in here."
I leave the bathroom and sit on the couch waiting for him to come out. I look up and see him walking out of the room. He has a towel wrapped around his waist. He turns around and looks at me.
" I figured since you could run around in your towel I could mine." Derek says laughing
" Okay fair enough. I'm not complaining. You look pretty good." I say trying to hold back from laughing
" Touché Miss Johnson."
We finish getting ready and head to the stadium to watch the tour.