Summer Intensive (Summer Kisses! YA Short Story) (2 page)

"I know I was kind of a jerk to you, and
,
well, I sucked at dancing
,
too –at Joffrey, I mean. I'm sorry for that, and I'm sorry for busting your butt."
He apologize
d
with a cheeky grin
on his face
.

"You were a jerk
,
and you did suck, and you dropped me on my butt more than once." I grinned back. I couldn't help myself
as I said,
"
But
,
y
ou're better now."

"I've worked hard. Doubled up on classes, took privates,
and
,
well, last summer at Kirov really helped. I've worked out
,
too, so I'm stronge
r now." His facial features changed from light hearted to hard and determined. Th
ere
was a
side to Travis
that I'd never seen
. "I want to dance, Marianna. That's all I've ever wanted to do. I changed to a pre
pro studio where I'm not the only guy, and the ballet master is a former professional who danced in New York."

"When we were at Joffrey, one of the greatest ballet studios in the country, you acted like it was all a joke. You didn't take anything serious, and tha
t pissed me off." I stopped and really looked at this new Travis
.

"Before Joffrey, I was at a
studio where I was the only guy
. It was hard. Some kids at school thought I was gay." Travis ran his hand through his hair, sighed, then placed his hand on his hip. "
They called me Twinkle T
oes, and
,
once, I was cornered by a couple of guys and beat up. I wanted to dance, but I couldn'
t handle the pressure."

I grabbed his arm.
"Dancers are
athletes
too. Some people are just idiots."

"
Yeah, it took me awhile to figure that out.
Going to Joffrey helped me to s
ee a whole new world.
I moved schools, checked
my attitude, and started working out. Things are different now. I'm comfortable in my skin, and confident in my ballet shoes."

Maybe he
really had changed.
"That's cool, Travis. You shouldn't let other people form your reality. At least that's what my dad always says to me." I dropped my hand from his arm.
I wasn't ready to trust him, or
the new feelings that
stirred inside of me. I wasn't prepared to like Travis
, or any boy for that matter
in that way
.

To have a career in dance, I
needed
to do it while I'm
young and strong. I didn't want to hook up with a boy. My best friend dropped out of dance over a guy then she got knocked up. Her life went into crisis mode.
Now, i
nstead of dancing next to me, she was changing diapers.

I didn't need a boy
in my well
-
ordered life
to complicate things
. I had a plan.
And m
y plan
did not
include Travis.

***

"Lift. Extend your arms. Watch your feet,
" bellowed
Mrs. Lipinskii
.
Travis and I made our
way across the floor
,
the
n I stumbled and
Mrs. Lipinskii
chewed me out
.

When
we partnered
at Joffrey
, I
'
d
spent my time seething o
ver Travis' clumsiness. Now
,
I was the clumsy one. It was
like having f
irst date jitters, except we were
n't dating.
"You're trembling, Marianna. Are you okay?" he whispered.

I shivered
a
gain.
"I'm fine. I just stumbl
ed a bit." I smiled up at him
,
and h
e smiled back. I turned into a puddle of mud.

The next time our turn came up to move across the floor, I focused all of m
y energy into the dance and pushed thoughts of Travis out of my mind. S
omehow
,
I managed to leap
flawlessly
through the air and turn in perfect pirouettes
.
Mrs. Lipinskii
complimented me.

I just needed to go into the zone.

It worked.

Almost.

As soon as we made it to the other side of the floor, Travis pulled me into a
hug and wrapped his strong arms around me.
His hard chest pressed against my soft
one
.
My cheek touched his shoulder.
It shocked me to realize how much I liked being in his arms.

He
pulled away. "That was awesome.
We are so much better than we were a couple of years ago."

"Yeah, I like staying on my feet rather than getting dropped on my butt."
I gave him a
sarcastic
grin
,
but immediately regretted it when his face fell.

"Sorry about that." He let go of me and moved away.

The space b
etween us expanded into nothingness
. I went from warm to cold in a heartbeat. My stomach churned. All of these mixed up feelings
made
me nuts
. I liked it better when I didn't like him.

I like him.

I wasn't
about to admit that
to him, so I turn
ed
away and
laughed half
-
heartedly
. My laugh
sounded
so
cold
that h
e prob
ably thought I was laughing at him
.

When class ended
,
Travis
looked at me and
said, "Later," and went to hang
with
another group of kids. Okay...so I was a hurt, but I sucked it up and met up with Chanie and Brian. I
didn't need a boy
to mess with my head. It was obvious
that Travis wa
s still a jerk.

I took off my pointe shoes and tossed them into my bag. I threw my shirt and shorts on and slipped my feet into a
pair of Keds.
Then I heard
Mrs. Lipinskii
's familiar clap. Everyone stopped and turned towards the teacher.

"We have decided to feature one pair from thi
s class during the showcase
performance at the end of the intensive. Each of you will need to use your free time to choreograph and prepare a three minute ballet dance. In three weeks, we will audition the dances and select one."
Mrs. Lipinskii
raised her chin and gave an authoritative nod.

Excited chatter
fill
ed the studio.
Chanie
dragged Brian behind her as she
ran over to me.
"This is so cool. We get to choreograph and perform a piece, and we don't even have to share partners."

"This is the first intensive I've ever been to with enough guys to go around. At Joffrey, I had to share Travis with three other girls," I said.

"
But t
his t
ime you get him all to yourself. It's so cool that Mr. Chaz is here this summer to teach the men's classes. I think it's possibly the first time ever that the guys had to compete for spots at a summer intensive.
" Chanie squeezed my arm and hopped up and down on her toes in her pointe shoes.
She was like a ball of toddler
energy
after a long nap
.

"Yeah,
I heard there was actually a waiting list. It's one of
the reasons I came here. I figured
there would be more guys for partnering, but I didn't expect
to get
one on one,
" I said.
This time was different.
This time Travis was all mine.
I'm not sure how I managed to be elated and frustrated at the same time. On
the
one hand, I was excited about the chance to create my ow
n choreography and perform it during the showcase
, but
,
on the other hand, I knew this meant countless hours with Travis –
alone
.

***

We decided to mee
t after dinner each night.
Travis brought his laptop and iPod.
We chose
the music
Ritual Fire Dance from "El Amor Brujo"
for our piece.

"I don't know about you, but I need think time. Let's go to opposite sides of the studio, play the music, and dance to
it
alone first then come together with our ideas," said Travis.

When we moved apart
,
I noticed a draft in the studio. I wrapped my arms around myself and rubbed my arms vigorously. I turned away from Travis, so I wouldn't look at him or think about him. Ri
ght now, I needed to go into my mental dance
zone. The music began.

I closed my eyes and moved to the beat.
The music pushed and pulled at me. I imagined a chase. The idea of Travis chasing me was rather appealing, but I knew
as I danced
he would
win. M
y body moved across the floor in a
j
eté entrelacé
, and
,
as I landed
,
strong hands
wrapped
around
my waist.

W
e
moved together across the floor to the music
. He led
,
and I instinctually followed. To dance together
to
the music, knowing each other's heart
beats, but not knowing what w
as about to
come
next seemed impossible,
yet it
was happening
.

We
were happening
.

The music came to a crescendo
then
stopped, and I found myself in Travis' arms
as I looked
into his eyes. We were breathing hard.
His hands were on my waist, and h
is mouth was so close to mine his breath
touched
my face. For once in my life, I didn't need to analyze
the situation
.

I pushed up on my toes until my lips reached his mouth.
Our kiss started out slow and tender then changed
as he
hugg
ed me tighter
,
and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We kissed like we danced.

I'd been kissed before but never like this.
At my grandparent's fiftieth
wedding
anniversary, my mom let me have a glass of wine. The
alcohol
warmed me all over and made me feel flushed and tipsy.
Travis made me feel the same way.

The
door crashed open and we tore
apart. Our eyes connected
,
and a
n electric
current passed between us. I
force
d
myself to look away as
Chanie and Brian came into the room.

Chanie gave me a knowing smile. I didn't want to share
what h
appen
ed
between Travis
and me with
Chanie, but I knew she would keep me up tonight if I didn't spill every detail.
If a person can truly groan inside of themselves, then that is what I did.

"Sorry to intrude, but we need to work on our choreography project
,
too. We'll take this end and leave the other end of the studio to you guys, okay
?
"
aske
d Chanie.

The studio was open to ever
yone,
so Travis and I sat down and sketched out the sequence of our dance.
The entire time we worked on the choreography, Travis
look
ed
at me
like he expected me to disappear
, and p
art of me wanted to disappear.
We
'd
just shared
an
intimate moment, possibly the best moment of my entire life,
and
then we were back
at
work as
usual
. It was weird
, and I was
excit
ed
at the same time.