A/N:Another day, another chapter. I'm really sorry for always taking so long for the updates- I'm really trying to update as fast as possible.
So I hope you all didn't lose your patience with me yet :)
Okay, I have nothing ramble about so I'm just gonna let you go on and read- I'll be at the bottom ;)
Bella Pov
"You look stunning, Bella," Alice gushed.
I sat down with my tray and rolled my eyes at her.
"Good morning to you too," I retorted, before I took a bite of my toast.
"Ready to rock the dance floor today, Bella?" Emmett asked me, grinning widely.
It still confused me a little how I ended up sitting with them all together at breakfast but I didn't comment on that. Instead, I glared at Emmett.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said.
Rosalie let out a sigh but didn't say anything.
She just continued to poke around in her salad.
"Today is going to be fabulous," Alice squealed.
She shot a quick glance in Jasper's direction and smiled lightly to herself.
"Alice, it's still early. Could you be a little less hyper?"
I froze at the sound of this voice.
I hadn't seen Edward since I had been spying on him yesterday. For some reason he didn't appear at dinner last night.
When Alice had asked Emmett, he only told her that Edward wasn't hungry.
I had been pretty sure that Edward just didn't want to see me.
Not that I minded. I didn't need to have him around me anyway.
Edward got seated at the table as well, completing the group.
Forcing my eyes not to wander in his direction, I continued eating.
"Not everyone can be as moody as you are," Alice replied and stuck her tongue out at him.
Way to show your maturity, Alice!
"Ask Rosie, she's worse than Edward," Emmett piped in, earning a death glare from Rose almost immediately.
Emmett didn't seem to be affected by it at all and just shrugged it off.
Out of the whole bunch, I liked Rose and Jasper the most at this moment. At least they were quiet.
I really wasn't a morning person, but today my mood was even worse - thanks to the awesome new pairings that the school provided for us.
Maybe I should call Charlie and tell him that I've seen the light and will change for the better if only he got me out of this mad house.
The chances that he'd do that, though, were next to non-existent.
Sighing, I continued with my breakfast. The bickering that was going on between Alice, Emmett and Jasper was easy to ignore since I was too distracted by the unpleasant feeling in my stomach.
The food helped quench it a little, but the nerves were still present.
When breakfast was over I was ready to crawl into a corner and curl myself up in a ball.
"Come on, Bella. Today is going to be a wonderful day," Alice cheered, while she tugged me along to our first class.
Her word in God's ear. I really doubted that today would be anything even remotely close to 'wonderful'.
When we got to class, the room was already filled with students talking excitedly to one another, as if this was their first dancing lesson ever.
Alice pulled me into a quiet corner with Rose following us. We had lost the boys on our way, which probably had to do with the fact that Alice had been in such a rush to get here.
"Okay now, let's get you motivated," Alice announced.
"There is nothing in the world that will motivate me," I told her dryly.
Rose made an agreeing sound. At least I was not the only one who had to suffer.
"Could you two please stop being so negative," Alice complained. She turned to Rose.
"You should be happy that you got Emmett as your partner. He might not be your favourite person, but he's a good dancing partner. No one has ever complained about him and he's pretty good with the lifts. See this as your chance to improve your grade."
Rose grimaced.
"And you, Bella, you have the best dancer in our class as your partner. Edward's technique is solid, he knows how to lead and more importantly - you two will look great together."
Rose and I exchanged pointed looks.
I had to hand it to Alice; she really was trying with the whole motivation thing. The sad thing was that she had to motivate us which was just about as complicated as convincing a cat to take a bath.
Alice looked at the two of us for a moment.
"At least act as if you think about what I said," she sighed after a moment of silence.
Rose sent her a tight-lipped smile. "I'm gonna go and stretch."
Alice groaned, but followed her to the barre anyway.
I looked after the two of them and decided that I would not join them. Still, I had to stretch as well. For a moment I just stood there. Despite the fact that I had been doing more stretches in my time here than I've ever done in my entire life, I'd always kept to the basics and now I felt weird of having to face the task of doing my old warm up routine.
I looked at the clock that hung above the mirrors.
We still had ten minutes until class actually started.
Biting my lip, I tried to channel the nerves that were flaring up again.
"I know that you hate stretching, Bella, but I don't want you to hurt yourself. How am I supposed to earn money with you then?" Mom asked, smiling jokingly at me.
I rolled my eyes at her.
"Come on, I'll even stretch with you."
The memory of my overly enthusiastic mother made me smile lightly.
Might as well get it over with.
I slowly slid my legs apart until I touched the ground in jazz splits.
It used to be fairly easy to do that - it still was - but it felt a little weird.
Pushing down slowly, I felt the familiar pull in my body. Much to my surprise I was still able to face flat on my leg. I stayed like this for a little while, resting my elbows on the ground, before I slowly unbent my back leg.
"Looking good, Bella."
I looked up to find Victoria smiling down at me, before she split down on the floor in a centre spit.
I got out of my current position and mimicked her motion, earning another smile.
"You need to turn out a bit more and point your feet," Victoria instructed.
Nodding, I followed her instructions.
"So, are you nervous about today?" she asked casually.
"Why should I be?" I shot back, right away.
Victoria looked a little surprised.
"Well, I would be nervous if I had to dance with Edward Cullen all of a sudden. He's pretty good. I still wonder why he and Rose didn't get along. They're both really good."
I shrugged in answer.
"I guess you don't worry about this much, do you? You're probably a brilliant dancer."
"Wouldn't say that," I mumbled.
Victoria quirked an eyebrow at me.
Sighing, I brought my legs back together and sat on my feet. I took one leg out in front of me, straightened it, and grabbed my foot with both hands.
"I haven't danced Ballet in a year," I admitted.
"Are you serious?" Victoria inquired. Now she was mimicking my motions.
I switched the legs before I answered, "It would be a pretty bad joke if not."
"Didn't your Mom die around that time?" Victoria blurted out.
She immediately looked to the ground, a faint shade of pink colouring her face.
"Did you Google me or something?" I asked her.
Her blush intensified.
"I was curious," she muttered.
For some reason I didn't want her to feel bad about it. She was most likely not the only one who did her research and I couldn't blame her. It was only natural to be curious.
"Yes, she did," I answered softly.
Victoria looked up, obviously relieved that I wasn't angry at her for bringing the subject up.
"She was an amazing dancer," she said.
I nodded and crawled over to where I had dropped my bag to retrieve my pointes.
"Maybe it'll help you to know that Madam Cope will most likely go easy on us today, since we all have new partners," Victoria said encouragingly.
That didn't really help me but I didn't tell her that.
I busied myself with binding the pointes.
Just then Rose appeared by my side.
"Ready to face eternal doom?" she asked me, holding out her hand toward me.
I took it and let her pull me up.
"Not really."
"Good, me neither."
She grinned, but I could tell that she wasn't really into it.
"I'm going to give you a few pointers," she took a deep breath, "First; you need to make sure to tell Edward where exactly your centre of gravity is. All the guys think they know, after having been taught theoretically - they obviously don't. With Edward you might need to tell him more than once because he doesn't listen. Second, don't feel sorry for hitting him- he deserves it and he's supposed to be handling it. And never wear any slick leos. He'll complain for ages about it."
Rose face took on a sour expression.
"Anything else?"
"Well, as much as I dislike him as a partner...You need to trust him. Don't be scared that you might fall or anything. It's his job to keep your face off the ground."
"Thanks Rose."
She opened her mouth to respond, but Madam Cope chose that moment to make her appearance.
"Good morning class," she greeted.
"Good morning, Madam Cope."
I didn't join in on the chorus.
Rose pulled me along to the middle of the room, where Alice and the others stood.
"Get positioned," Madam Cope instructed.
Immediately, everyone in the room moved.
I felt my arm being grabbed once again and I was pulled a little to the side.
Looking up, I saw that it was Edward. He wasn't looking at me and let go of me as soon as we stood in the right place.
Looking around the room, I saw that all the couples stood in respectable distance to the next, waiting for the next instruction.
Once again, the nerves made themselves known. I felt like puking right there on the ground.
Madam Cope looked at each of us before she continued," Very well. Since most of you have a new partner, we will do something a little more basic today. In fact, we will be re-starting this entire class- I hope this time I will get better results."
With me being amongst the dancers, her hopes were going to be crushed pretty soon.
"Now boys, stand behind your partner."
It was already weird having Edward standing so close beside me but when he stood behind me, I felt like having to step away.
He wasn't even standing very close, but I still felt the heat his body was radiating.
"Alright, I want all the ladies to do a pirouette. Boys, you might want to stand back for this. Just watch her to get a sense of her technique. On the count of three..."
Taking a deep breath, I prepared myself for the turn.
I felt Edward taking a step back, which should have made me relax a little but it didn't.
My hands were shaking a little and I bit down on my lip again.
In the corner of my eyes I saw how all the other girls were already in position.
"Un, deux, trois!"
Before I could even move myself into position, all the others had already completed beautiful pirouettes - all of them more or less in sync.
I felt like a stupid little child in the midst of all this.
"Ms. Swan, why didn't I see you move?" Madam Cope demanded.
Everyone's eyes settled on me, which really didn't help me with my nervousness.
"I...uh...sorry," I stuttered right away.
Wherever it was that my confidence had gone to, it should return to me quickly because I was a lost case without it.
"Well, do you mind doing as I asked you to do now?"
I gulped and quickly shook my head.
Madam Cope clapped her hands. "Into position."
I quickly got into position and raised my arms.
"Un, deux, trois!"
I spun around once and brought my right foot down to end the turn neatly. It just didn't really happen.
I lost my balance and stumbled a bit to the side.
A few quite giggle went through the room. My cheeks started to heat up, announcing a blush.
"Ms. Swan, I hope this wasn't the best that you could do. Again please," Madam Cope instructed.
This time she didn't bother to count.
I did the pirouette again, but the result wasn't much better.
Madam Cope sighed and shook her head sadly.
"Again!"
Biting my lip harder than before, I got into position again.
I was just about to turn for the third time when I felt Edward's presence behind me again.
I didn't know how I could tell that it was Edward, but I knew that it was him.
Just when I was about to turn my head and look at him in question, he said, "Don't look at me. Just do your pirouette."
Frowning, I stood there for a moment not sure what to make of this.
Then I decided to just let it go and get it over with.
So I spun around once again but this time it was different.
In the middle of my turn, I felt Edward's hands on my mid-riff.
A strange electric jolt went once through my body
I stopped the turn and this time I ended it neatly with Edward's hands holding me in place.
He wasn't even really holding me. His hands barely even touched me, but it was still enough to balance me properly.
"Thank you, Mr. Cullen for demonstrating the next step," Madam Cope said.
Edward's hands left my body and a weird burning was now there where his hands had rested.
I didn't even dare to turn around and look at him.
By now my entire face would probably be rivalling a tomato.
"I want you all to do the same now and this time I want Ms. Swan to participate."
She counted once more and I turned swiftly.
Edward's hands came up to guide me again so I ended the turn as gracefully as the one before.
Madam Cope nodded at me in approval before she scolded a few others for not getting it right.
I turned my head to the side so that I could see Edward from the corner of my eyes.
"Thanks," I muttered, not wanting to seem ungrateful.
I was very grateful for his help; otherwise I might have continued looking like a complete fool for the rest of the lesson.
I saw him shrug in answer.
After a few more turns, Madam Cope announced it was time to do something more challenging.
"Now I want to see an échappé en pointe- three times and then turn and back into first position. Boys, remember not to hold on too tightly and don't turn her too hard. I don't want any injuries in class."
Edward had his hands on me again, while I tried to get my fuzzy brain to work.
I knew what I had to do, but I had problems to get it done with Edward being right there.
Madam Cope counted us in once more and we all got started.
I bend my legs into a plié and wanted to back up but Edward's hands hindered me.
He was keeping me down.
I tried it anyway but didn't land on my pointes as I had intended to.
Madam Cope was walking around inspecting each couple, giving a few pointers, while I tried again.
I failed once more and Edward sighed.
"This is pretty simple, you should be able to do this," he muttered, probably not even to me.
"Well, if you weren't holding me down, I might get somewhere with this," I snapped back.
It was more out of reflex than anything else.
I looked up into the mirror and saw Edward's facial expression change for a moment, before he loosened his grip a little more.
Trying the whole thing again, I was ready to weep in joy when I finally made it.
When it was time for the turn, Madam Cope had reached us.
Edward repositioned his hands a little, guiding my turn.
When I faced him for a short moment, his eyes met mine almost instantly.
His eyes were truly unique.
He was in deep concentration and didn't seem to really acknowledge me.
When I was facing away from him again and got down unto the ground again, I felt a bit dazzled.
Where did that come from?
"Very nice," Madam Cope approved.
She turned to the next couple and Edward let go of me.
Alice was suddenly by my side.
"You are doing so well," she said, smiling at me.
She seemed to be glowing with happiness.
"Yeah right," I scoffed, turning to see where Edward was.
He was talking to Jasper.
I hadn't even noticed that Alice and Jasper had been right beside us.
"No, you really are. No one expects you to be perfect- it's your first day after all and you're really doing well," she insisted.
She seemed to genuinely believe it so I just smiled back at her.
"Thank you, Alice."
"You really shouldn't worry about messing up every now and then. It's normal. Having a new partner is always a bit weird at first and it effects your dancing."
I just nodded.
"Alright class, you are dismissed," Madam Cope announced at the same moment as the bell rang.
All tension left my body right then. I had survived the worst part of the day.
"I survived the worst part of the day, who would have thought?" Rose said as she joined us.
"Not me, that's for sure," I replied.
Alice rolled her eyes at us.
"You two should stop being so dramatic. It's no big deal really."
Rose responded something about not being dramatic, while I quickly took off my pointes and retrieved my bag.
"Let's go and surprise Madam Justins," I said, ready to head to the next class.
Technique class really wasn't all that hard most of the time, so I was pretty positive that I might do better there than I just had.
Alice and Rose got their bags as well and said their good-byes to the guys before we headed to our next class.
Apparently, today was a barre-work day. There were barres lined up in the entire room and everyone went to find herself a spot.
I found myself between Alice and Rose, who were both talking about pedicures and massages whilst stretching. I half-heartedly did the stretches as well, but didn't contribute anything to the conversation.
Madam Justins walked in a few moments later and her eyes immediately zeroed in on me.
She seemed to be pleased with finding me at the barre and started her lesson.
This time it wasn't too difficult for me to keep up.
It was easy for me to fall in step with all the others, but my body wasn't used to these motions anymore.
I felt muscles that hadn't been used in a long time and I knew that I was going to be sore at the end of the day.
I kept a straight face though, not wanting to seem like a whiny bitch.
Madam Justins was walking around correcting and voicing her approval in rare cases.
When she passed me she nodded and gave me a "Very good, Isabella." before she moved on.
I had almost forgotten how it was to get the approval of a Ballet teacher.
We all fought for it, so it was pretty much the most important thing in the entire education.
I couldn't help the smile that formed on my lips and when I saw Tanya scowling into my direction, I pulled a grimace at her.
When we got to Classical Ballet it was a bit more difficult for me to keep up.
I had watched the routine many times, but I still had to find my spot in it.
Madam Houston kept on encouraging me anyway and after half of the lesson had passed I finally managed the routine.
By the end of the lesson, I was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next two days.
My entire body was hurting and my feet felt like they were starting to swell.
So much for keeping in shape with Hip Hop dancing.
I made my way to the cafeteria, my legs protesting with every step I took.
Alice and Rose were already seated and Alice was waving at me to come and join them.
Why did they have to choose a table so far at the back?
With heavy steps, I walked over and got seated.
"How was your last class?" Alice asked me right away.
"Painful."
She shot me a sympathetic look.
"Your entire body must be aching," she noted.
"You have no idea."
"Tell you what, we go and get a massage after class. I could use some spa treatment and it'll be good for your muscles."
I had to admit that it sounded appealing.
"Sure, why not?"
"We're not taking the boys with us, are we?" Rose asked.
Once again, she was poking around in her food.
"Why? Where are you going?" Jasper asked.
He and Edward just appeared at the table.
"Shopping," Alice answered him with a wide grin.
Jasper made a face.
"I don't think that I have time for that today," he said. "Take Edward with you."
"I'm busy," Edward claimed, although it wasn't very convincing.
"Too bad," Alice pouted but quickly resumed eating.
"Hey guys, guess what is going to be the event of this weekend?" Emmett's voice boomed as he approached the table.
"You learning to speak at normal volumes?" Rose guessed sarcastically.
"Nope."
"What is it? Twinkle-town musical is coming to town?" I asked him.
"No, but that would be pretty nice," Emmett mused. "Anyway, it's a party. The Ventura's are out of town."
"And why would we care about that?" Rose asked, sounding bored.
"Err... because every time the Ventura's are out of town, their kid throws the most amazing parties?"
"And to how many of those parties were you invited?" Jasper pressed.
He seemed to be as unimpressed by this as his sister.
Emmett's enthusiasm faded and he looked down. "None," he replied quietly.
"Well that's settled then," Alice commented. "So what are we going to do this weekend?"
"Wait, wait, wait," I interfered. "So someone in this town throws the best parties and you're not going?" I inquired. The word party had instantly gotten my attention when Emmett first mentioned it.
Alice let out a sigh. "It's not like we don't want to, but we won't get into the house. They only let people with invitations in- which would be the whole town, except for the people at the Academy."
She sounded almost wistful while she said this.
"I take it that this person is not a student here?"
"Umm...no."
"Can't we just go there anyway? There has to be a back door or something."
"It's not that simple. The Ventura's live a little outside of town. Do you know why?" Rose continued speaking instead of Alice.
I shook my head. Of course, I didn't know. Why did she even ask?
"Their house is too big to actually fit into this town. It's the biggest mansion around here. There are about three unnecessarily big buildings around here. One is the Academy, which is actually very necessary because it's a school. The other is the Cullen House and of course the Ventura Mansion. We are already privileged to have access to two of these houses."
"So we can't crash the party?" I clarified.
"Only if partying with the security guards is what you had in mind."
I frowned. So much for that.
We finished lunch discussing what we'd do on the weekend. I didn't participate in the discussion, but I was involved in all of their plans. In the end nothing useful came out of it.
As far as I remembered, they planned a movie marathon at Alice's and Edward's place. Fun.
The afternoon classes were by far the most painful part of the day.
I was exhausted and my entire body was screaming at me to rest, yet I had to sit in a classroom and pay attention to the unnecessary things that the teachers said.
We wouldn't need most of this stuff in our future lives anyway.
Once classes were over, I went to my room and collapsed on the floor. Climbing up to my bed was way too much work.
The door opened and Irina walked in.
She looked down on me but didn't look like she found it unusual to see a half dead girl lying on the floor.
"You need to move to soothe your muscles. It gets worse if you rest for too long," she said casually and made herself comfortable on her bed.
"If I could move, I would have moved up to my bed," I retorted.
The door opened once more and the face of Alice appeared in front of my face.
"Come on, Bella. Time to get a good rubbing," she squealed happily.
Whatever it was that she was taking, I needed a dose of that.
"Carry me," I said weakly.
"Oh, stop being so whiny. You think you're in pain now? Wait until tomorrow."
Rose's words were the furthest from encouraging that you could get.
"Just shoot me. I have no more reason to stay amongst the living," I sighed.
"Get up now. I want my massage," Alice instructed and kicked me.
Yes, she actually kicked me.
With a groan I sat up and sent a quick glare in Alice's direction.
She just smiled innocently back at me.
Shaking my head, I got off the ground.
"Let's go then," I sighed and gestured for them to lead the way.
How I even motivated my body to follow them to the spa was a mystery to me, but once I was seated in the comfortable chair with my feet soaking in a small tub I was more than happy to have come here.
"Are you sure you don't want a massage?" Alice called from behind me, where she and Rose were lying on massage tables.
Much to their disappointment their masseuses were female.
"I'm not going to let anyone touch my body today. Besides, I'm more concerned about my feet."
If Alice decided to respond to that, I didn't hear it because my phone started ringing.
"You brought your phone with you?" Rose asked in disbelieve.
"It was in my pocket," I informed her before I answered the call.
"Bella, what are you doing this weekend?"
"Hello to you too, Leah," I said slowly.
Leah just let out an impatient sigh. "Yeah, yeah. So what are you doing?"
"Err... I'm not sure. It seems like I have to go to the Cullen's place for a movie mara-"
"Forget that shit," Leah interrupted. "You're going to party with me."
"Say what?"
"Party. You and me. Totally awesome," she said slowly.
"And when is that party supposed to be?" I asked her.
"On Friday night. I asked Chris if you could come as well and she was cool with it."
"How is it that everyone is throwing parties this weekend?"
"Everyone?" Leah questioned. "I only know of one and that would be the one at Chris' place."
"Wasn't there supposed to be some kind of major party in the Ventura residence?"
Leah giggled. "Oh Bella, you still have so much to learn. Chris Ventura invited us to her party."
That was when I finally understood.
"It finally pays off to be dating Paul," Leah gushed.
"Good to know that there is a use to your boyfriend," I said dryly.
"I know. So you are coming to the party with me, right?"
"Yeah, sure. It's about time that something interesting is happening in this town."
"Coolness. I'll pick you up so we can get ready at my place."
"Sounds good."
"Alright, see you then."
She hung up before I replied to that.
"Who was it?" Alice asked me right away.
Why is she being so nosy?
"Just Leah, she invited me to a party."
"Really? When?"
"Friday night."
Alice let out a squeal. "Do you think we can come too?"
"Umm...Probably not. It's the party Emmett was talking about earlier," I replied slowly.
"You're invited to the Ventura party?" Rose all but screeched.
I had already been wondering if she was still there.
"Seems like it."
Rose muttered something that sounded like 'Lucky Bitch'.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so jealous," Alice said. "I wish I could go as well. It would be the perfect opportunity to wear the dress that I bought last month..."
She continued her blabbering and I just stopped listening to her.
"You are invited to the party?" Emmett's voice boomed.
"Yes," I sighed and pushed my plate away from me.
I wasn't really hungry.
"How come you are invited?"
"I've got connections."
"No academy student is ever invited to that party- you are the only one," Emmett pressed.
"Not the only one. Leah is invited as well."
"Emmett could you stop being so dramatic? It's just a party," Jasper threw in, seemingly bored with the whole conversation.
"It's not just a party," Emmett and Alice pressed at the same time.
Jasper sighed at them and Edward rolled his eyes.
Rose didn't even participate in the conversation- she was just staring at her plate.
I got up.
Rose's head snapped up.
"Where are you going?"
"Need to make a few calls," I replied curtly and left the cafeteria.
I made my way to my room.
As soon as I reached it, I pulled out my phone and dialled Leah's number.
"Hey Bella, what's up?" she greeted right away.
"Do you think you can do me a favour?" I asked her.
"That depends...what do you want?"
"Can you get Chris to invite a couple more people?" I asked her slowly.
Leah stayed silent for a moment.
"Let me guess...the Cullen Clan wants to come to the party as well?"
"Exactly."
She hummed thoughtfully.
"I'll see what I can do. Just don't get your hopes up."
"I'm not. They are just getting on my nerves," I retorted.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I'll try to convince Chris."
"Thank you, Leah."
"You'll owe me though," Leah warned.
I rolled my eyes at her.
"We'll see about that."
"Oh, I need to hang up now. Paul wants my attention."
"No problem. Talk to you soon."
"Yeah, sure. Bye."
She hung up quickly.
Seeing that I didn't have anything better to do, I decided to call another person.
The phone rang several times but no one picked up.
I frowned.
It seemed like my father didn't care about me to call or even pick up the phone.
I threw my phone on my bed and scowled at it.
After a few minutes of doing nothing, I grabbed my iPod and blasted the music at full volume.
I crawled up on my bed and just enjoyed the familiar sounds.
There was nothing better to do anyway.
My body was rejoicing at finally being able to lie in bed and I knew that I wouldn't get up again today.
With that knowledge, I started to drift off.
"Time to get up," Victoria sang.
I groaned and opened my eyes slowly.
"How is it that you always fall asleep early in the evening?" Victoria asked. She was currently busy rummaging through her clothes.
I yawned instead of giving her an answer. There was no real explanation for it, though it might be the fact that this place was pretty boring so between dancing and school, sleep seemed like the only interesting activity.
Thank God that it was already Friday and that I had something to do tonight at least.
I had to get some spice back into my life. Although, thinking about it- this past week had been everything but boring.
Just the fact that Edward was now my dancing partner was worth an entire week of partying.
I got out of bed and went over to the closet to find something to wear.
Grabbing a black unitard and purple tights, I left the room and made my way to the bathroom.
By now I was a pro at the daily routine here.
Freshly showered, dressed neatly and still brushing my hair, I went back to my room to get my bag.
Irina and Victoria had already left the room, so I went to the cafeteria alone.
Like always, Alice and the rest of them were already sitting there with Alice waving at me like a lunatic.
I got my breakfast and went over to sit with them. At this point it was already an old habit.
"Good morning, Bella," Alice greeted me, cheerfully.
The others grumbled their greetings as well and I mumbled something in response.
"You know, we were all worried about you when you left so abruptly yesterday," Alice said to me with a serious expression.
"I even came to visit you in your room, but you were sleeping. Did you not feel well?"
"Didn't I say that I needed to make some calls?"
"Yes, but still..."
I just shook my head at her. "I was just tired that's all. You try dancing Ballet again after a year of retirement."
Alice pulled a grimace and thankfully didn't say anything else.
Breakfast was a more or less quiet affair.
I was starting to wonder if Rosalie ever ate and whether or not Edward was mute.
How come he never said anything?
I didn't occupy my mind with these thoughts for long though, because it was time for us to get to class.
The nervousness I felt yesterday was not completely gone but it was a lot easier to ignore today.
Alice didn't rush the way she had the day before and we entered the class room with the boys together.
I stretched together with Rose and Alice, put my pointes on and was ready for class when Madam Cope entered.
I looked around in search of Edward only to find that he was already next to me.
I let out a small yelp, not expecting him to be so close.
He looked down on me with raised eyebrows. I couldn't help but notice again how truly stunning his emerald green eyes were.
Shaking my head, I turned my concentration to Madam Cope, who was already starting to give us instructions.
We had to do the exact same thing we had done yesterday.
"You ready?" Edward asked me gruffly.
He had spoken!
I probably looked at him as if he had grown a second head, because after a few seconds he started shift on his legs and asked, "What?"
Shaking my head again, I mumbled quickly, "Nothing. Let's just start."
Edward sighed and moved to stand behind me.
"Un, deux, trois," Madam Cope counted and set us all into motion.
The same electrical jolt that I had felt yesterday went through my body when Edward touched me.
Not letting it distract me, I went through the motions and was happy to realize that my movements were a lot more fluent than yesterday- despite the fact that I was still sore.
When we got to the turn, I instinctively held my breath, knowing that I would come face to face with Edward again.
I tried to avoid his eyes, but there was a difference to yesterday- he was staring right at me.
His gaze was powerful and it didn't let me look anywhere else.
I felt my knees softening.
And suddenly I was falling forward.
The spell of Edward's eyes was immediately broken when I catapulted us both to the floor.
I was lucky though, I landed on top of him.
"Shit, I'm so sorry," I gushed, scrambling to my feet right away.
What the hell just happened?
I looked around and saw that everyone had stopped moving to see what had occurred here.
Edward groaned and got up as well, shaking his head before he ran a hand through his messy hair.
"What the hell was that?" he barked at me.
I flinched.
"I said that I was sorry- no need to bitch at me."
He narrowed his eyes at me.
"Are the two of you alright?" Madam Cope asked.
Edward and I were busy glaring at each other but still we both nodded.
"Good, make sure that this doesn't happen again."
Edward took a step toward me, still glaring.
"Whatever that just was, make sure it doesn't happen again," he hissed.
He stood so close to me that I could practically feel his breath on my face.
"It's not my fault," I defended myself.
He cocked an eyebrow at me. "So whose fault is it? Mine? I wasn't the one who suddenly was incapable of standing."
"No, but you distracted me," I blurted out. Right after these words were spoken, I clamped a hand over my mouth.
Edward's angered expression changed to one of surprise.
He opened his mouth only to close it again.
I could feel the blush slowly creeping unto my face.
"Alright, now I want you to do this but leave out the turn. Instead the ladies will go into arabesque and then I want to see a promenade."
I quickly turned around not wanting to have Edward in front of me any longer.
Madam Cope counted us in once again and I went through the same motions as before.
I was almost happy about the fact that Madam Cope had changed the routine, that way I wouldn't have to look into Edward's eyes again. I didn't really want to have a repeat performance of that embarrassing fall.
Without thinking much about it, I went into arabesque- lifting my right leg, whilst tilting my upper body to the front.
It was weird how easy it was for me to balance my body on just one foot, until I remembered that I had Edward to hold me.
Then again, he wasn't really holding me. His hands were merely resting on my waist.
"Freeze. I want all of you to stay in that position," Madam Cope called.
I didn't turn my head to look at her; I just tilted my body a bit more forward.
"Miss Denali, you need to lift your leg and not stick it out. And Mr. Whitlock, you need to keep your arms straight otherwise you'll be of no use for your partner."
Madam Cope let out a sigh.
"Everyone please stop," she instructed.
I moved slowly to bring my leg back down.
"Everyone except Ms. Swan and Mr. Cullen," she continued.
I halted in my movement, before I got back into my earlier position.
My left leg was starting to feel a little jittery.
"Now I want you all to look at them. What do you see?"
"Her leg is too far up," I heard Tanya reply almost immediately.
"No, Ms. Denali. Her leg is exactly where it is supposed to be and Mr. Cullen is standing just the way he has to," Madam Cope corrected. "Now, Mr. Cullen, could you please do the promenade before Ms. Swan falls again."
I couldn't help but grimace at that and a few giggle went through the room.
Edward's resting hands tightened their grip, before he moved to walk in a small circle, turning me by doing so.
I got to look at everyone in the room and didn't even have to move an inch for that.
Alice smiled proudly at me and I couldn't help but smile back.
"Very nice. That is what I call a beautiful arabesque- the perfect position for a fish dive."
Madam Cope almost sounded dreamy.
As if on cue, Edward slung his arm around my waist.
I turned my head to look at him in question, just when his other arm wrapped around the thigh of my working leg.
I opened my mouth to protest, when he lifted me slightly off the ground.
Out of instinct I bend the leg that I had been standing on.
"What are you doing?" I hissed at Edward.
He turned his face to mine at the same time as he tilted me forward.
Our faces were only inches apart.
"That's a fish dive," he whispered back to me. "I noticed that you have a strong back, so I wondered if it was possible to do with you."
"You could have warned me before you invaded my personal space," I muttered.
Something strange happened then. Edward chuckled and a crooked smile placed itself on his handsome face.
I couldn't recall a time when I had seen him smile before and it was truly breathtaking.
"There is no personal space in dancing."
Madam Cope said something in the background, but I didn't hear it.
My entire attention was with Edward, who was looking at me in that intense way of his again only this time it was combined with his smirk.
Is it normal for my heart to skip a beat?
A/N:All done :) I hope you liked it... in case you were wondering: I was listening to the song by Olly Murs- My heart skips a beat.
Special thanks goes as always to my beta justareaderfan. She is amazing and saves all of you from reading the horrible unbeta'ed version :) *sends virtual flowers*
Now... I still don't have much to say so I'm just gonna ask a few questions:
1) How did you like Edward and Bella together?
2) Anyone notice what is going on with Rose?
3) Should the 'Cullen Clan' get invited to the party as well?
Okay, that's all :) Leave me a review, it'll make my day :D
Lot's of love to all of you- xoxo *Star*