𝓘𝓷 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓭𝓪𝓻𝓴 𝓭𝓪𝔂𝓼, 𝓳𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓽𝓾𝓻𝓷 𝓪𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓮.
𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝓶𝓪𝔂𝓫𝓮 𝓘 𝔀𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓰𝓲𝓿𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓪𝓷 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓪𝓵𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝔂 𝓱𝓪𝓿𝓮.
𝓑𝓾𝓽 𝓘 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓪𝓴𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓱𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝔀𝓮'𝓵𝓵 𝓯𝓲𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓰𝓮𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻. 𝓘 𝓹𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓲𝓼𝓮!

                   ~❤~

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The evening sun cast long shadows on the ground. The slanting rays of the setting sun gave a warm orange tinge to the sky. Kathleen admired the adorable environment in the campus. She was walking towards the dormitory from the dance studio since they had no practice for the day. Steve decided to teach ballet for them and they planned to start the session from the very next day.

Kathleen walked at a slow pace, enjoying the windy breeze, she wished she could listen to some music but it can't happen. She had no phone to do so.

She enters the room to find Laura cleaning her shelf.

"Hey, Laura!!", announced Kathleen, lying down on her bed.

"Had a rough day?? What's with that face?", enquired Laura, cleaning her study table.

"No, I'm about to have a rough night!! Have got a lot of statistics exercise to complete before tomorrow", concludes Kathleen with a pity face.

"Oh my gosh!!", exclaimed Laura, continued her cleaning process.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!! HE FINALLY CONFESSED", yelled Janice, entering the room.

"What??", Kathleen woke up from her bed, in shock.
Laura dropped the books onto to the floor in awe.

"Are you serious?", enquired Laura, adjusting her frames.

"Yes!!! Yes!!! Yes!",she beamed in delightment.

"So, love is in the air",Kathleen teased Janice, nudging her.

"Hold on!! I haven't said anything. Let me finish first", informed Janice, and continued narrating the incident that happened earlier today.

"Ahm.... so this is merely a confession!! He just said you are special, nothing more than that??", proclaimed Laura.

"Laura, it's obvious!! The proposal was captivating!! He can't be more specific than this. He loves you, Jay!!", said Kathleen with a smile.

"Actually, I'm confused!!", stated Janice scratching her head.

"About what? You have liked him from the start. You have been crushing on him for the past few months!! And what happens to you, now?", asked Laura doubtfully.

"Yeah, I was going crazy when he confessed this morning!! I couldn't control myself from bursting out into laughter", accepted Janice.

"Jay? Is anything bothering you?", questioned Kathleen, looking at her.

"I don't wanna spoil that beautiful bond between us in the name of relationship.

I'm not ready to be in any kind of relationships right now!! I just wanna be free!!

I admire him a lot, I like him tons, I'm fond of him, yeah I get jealous when I get to see him with other girls, but that doesn't mean I have to love him and get into a relationship!! He has confessed that I'm special and I haven't said anything to him. Maybe I'm gonna go along with that for a while. I need time and space", replied back Janice.

"I see what you mean!! I agree with you, Jay!! Have your own space and take as much as time needed. Whatever you decide, we'll give our fullest support", mentioned Kathleen hugging Janice tight. Laura joins their hug.

"You guys are the best!!", she cried.

"Of course, we are!!",said Laura with a chortle.

"Fine! Fine! I'm getting back to work!!", shrugged Kathleen, moving towards her study table.

"How long will it take to complete the work?", enquired Janice.

"Maybe a night!", replied Kathleen.

"Any help?", offers Janice. But Kathleen rejects her saying that it's manageable. Kathleen worked on the statistics sums overnight and she barely got few hours sleep.

.................................................

The sun poured through the windows. Another day has dawned, bringing with it new hopes and aspirations. Janice wakes up with a yawn and finds Kathleen sleeping over her books on the study table.

"Kath, kath!! Hey, wake up", she gently patted her on the shoulder.
Kathleen moved on her touch and opens her eyelids. She finds herself sitting on the chair with her head laid-off on the table over the books.

"Ouch, got a stiff neck", cried kathleen, rubbing her neck.

"Gosh, what happened to your eyes!! All red inside and you've got dark circles under your eye", mentioned Janice pointing out her eyes which looked terrible due to the lack of sleep.

"I stayed awake last night!", said Kathleen rubbing her eyes.

"Come on, let's get ready for the classes", informs Laura moving out of the room with the toiletries.

After a quick shower, they dressed up and left the room together. Kathleen was lacking the energy to groom herself. She put her hair into a messy bun leaving few bangs. It was time for her to attend her dance session.

...........................................

She walked up into the dance studio and finds everyone doing their own stuff. She moves to a corner and put her bag down.

"Alright!! Attention guys!! There is a small change in the dance partnership. Since, Amelia said she wanted to change the committee and Lucas said he wanted to dance alone, so there will be a change in the dance partners!!", announced Steve.

Kathleen was astounded on hearing steve. Her eyes widened in shock. She looks around to search Lucas and  decided to ask 'what's the matter with him?'. But to her surprise she finds him standing along with EJ and Liam who were in deep conversation. She was confused on the things that happened around her.

"So, EJ and Kathleen will dance together! No more changes for now. And we have decided to teach you all with ballet", informed Ava. Kathleen froze on hearing this appalling news.

'WTF!! What the hell is wrong with Lucas, today!! I just can't believe he said he wanted to dance alone. Traitor!
How can I dance with EJ!! I couldn't do something like this with the only person who disturbs me the most by making my life harder. I can't do this!! I'll speak with Ava about this,' Kathleen thought herself.

Her face wore a flabbergasted expression, she was speechless. She walks straight towards Ava.

"Hey, Ava. If you don't mind, can I have my dance partner changed?", asked Kathleen in a low tone.

"Sorry, Kathleen !! If we keep changing partners, then the other students would get pissed off. And we are going to dance ballet with need discipline and understanding between the dancers!! Try to understand my situation, please", said Ava. Kathleen nodded at approval.

Maybe she was right, she can't keep changing everything for her cause. And Kathleen doesn't want to make a fuss out of this situation and she doesn't want to create any mess as well.

"Yeah, I get!! It's okay", replied Kathleen and walked back to her place. EJ glared at her with a smirk on his face. Kathleen smirked back.
Kathleen knew that this wasn't going to end well for them both.

"Alright, now I want everyone to stand on the marks that I drew for each one of you! Come on, hurry up guys!! We need to practice a lot.

Kathleen walks towards the mark that had her name on it. EJ stands beside her leaving some space between them. She looks away when she see him standing beside her.

"You look terrible!! What happened to your eyes?", questioned EJ, looking at her.

"Thanks for the compliment", she said with a poker face. EJ let out a chuckle.

"Now, guys!! From tomorrow, let's get ballet shoes for everyone!! For now, practice it in your socks. Now follow these:

1. Do some stretching !!

2. Stand straight with your legs together and heels touching.

I want you all to stand with the tippy top of your toes like this", spoke steve, teaching them how to start dancing ballet. He was teaching them beginner steps.

They all follow his lead. They did the steps as he said. Kathleen and EJ practiced in silence without uttering a single word. It's wasn't hard for them since they knew ballet.

After few minutes of continuous practicing individually, they were asked to do few more moves together.

"Now, boys, try to do small lift with your partners by holding her waist!! Both do a small jump from the floor", instructed Steve, dancing along with Ava. He places one hand on her waist and the other one held her right hand, he lifted her and did a small round holding her in one hand.

Kathleen was shocked on seeing steve and Ava, she couldn't imagine herself with EJ in such a way. Kathleen never liked people touching her. That vision of them dancing like that made her uncomfortable.

She stood there startled. While the other pairs tried to do the step steve taught, EJ and Kathleen were looking at the ceiling, trying to avoid each other's gaze.

"Come on, guys!! You can do it", stated Ava looking at EJ and Kathleen.

She gulped and saw EJ looking at the others doing it. He turned around and looks at her with an weary expression on his face. He moved forward to hold her hand. Kathleen's face turned pale and her eyes widened. She can't reject him as well, since it's a dance afterall.

Letting out a huge breath, kathleen nodded at him, indicating that she was ready to dance. He put forward his hand to hold hers.

She stared at it in fright which made him uneasy. He could clearly see her discomfort on letting him touch her. He could witness her discomposed feel. He watched her  crossing his arm over his chest. She was trying to fight herself and bring her mind into the dance without the fear of his touch.

"EJ, let's do this!!", stammered Kathleen looking at him.

"Steve", shouted EJ, glaring at her. The whole studio stops practicing and looked at his direction. Kathleen jerked back by his deep voice and closed her eyes in fright.

"What?", asked steve, walking towards them. Silence prevailed in the room.

"How about we do tap dance?", suggested EJ. Kathleen was stunned to hear him say so. She thought he was about to make a big scene about her denial to let him touch her, but on the other hand EJ understood her and wanted to do something that she felt comfortable in.

"Why?? Isn't ballet good??", questioned Ava looking confused.

"Tap dance doesn't need a lot of practice like Ballet. It doesn't need lot of time and effort", stated EJ. Steve gave it a thought. EJ was right, tap dance was easier compared to Ballet. Everybody said a yes to his idea.

"So, if that's what you people need, then let's do it", informed Steve. Kathleen couldn't believe anything that happened around her.

'Woah, EJ has did something good for the first time!! Tap dance doesn't need a lot of practice and touching as well. He acted as a gentleman. He didn't touch me against my will, he didn't say me a word for not dancing along with him. Oh god!! Is this the EJ I knew', Kathleen was amazed by his sudden change in the attitude.

You can't make everyone think and feel as deeply as you do! But to have someone understand your mind is a different kind of feeling. Kathleen felt that in EJ. He understood her devoid of words.

Kathleen was about to thank him but steve asked them to assemble in the same line so he could instruct them about tap dance.

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ʜᴇʏ ɢᴜʏꜱ, ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏᴇᴅ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ!! ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴀ ʟᴏᴛ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ. ꜱᴛᴀʏ ᴛᴜɴᴇᴅ ꜰᴏʀ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇꜱ!. ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴛ ʙᴇʟᴏᴡ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴ ɪɴ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴡʜᴏ ᴜɴᴅᴇʀꜱᴛᴀɴᴅꜱ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴀᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ !

ʏᴏᴜ'ʟʟ ᴀʟʟ ᴡᴏɴᴅᴇʀ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟᴜᴄᴀꜱ?? ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜʏ ʜᴇ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ᴅᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴀʟᴏɴᴇ? ʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ ʙᴇʜɪɴᴅ ɪᴛ.

(At the boy's dormitory)

"Hey, Lucas let's have a talk", said Liam who blocked his way.

"What do you have to talk?", asked Lucas in a confused tone.

"I don't want to, he has to", replied Liam pointing at EJ, who was waiting for them near the entrance of his block.

"EJ?!!", Lucas walked towards him.

"Lucas, I don't want you to dance with Kathleen. Find a better reason to break your dance partnership", claimed EJ.

Lucas was astonished to hear this, but he had no courage to question him back. All he said was okay.

"And listen I don't want Kathleen to be the reason behind it. You say something like you wanted to dance alone, got it?", asked EJ sternly.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it", mumbled Lucas, thinking of a reason.

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