Chapter 5, Enjoy!

This is one of my new and improved chapters. It's been revised a bit from the first draft.

Chapter 5~ Kelly
What does one wear on a smoothie date before dance class? Kelly wondered. Dance clothes probably…but what if Alex was in street clothes? Street clothes then…but what if Alex was in dance clothes? Somehow Kelly couldn’t see Alex wearing dance clothes in public…but what if? Kelly wondered why it suddenly mattered so much to her that she look good for Alex. They had been friends for years, why was she so nervous now?
“Kelly!” yelled Brian from downstairs, “I have a date with Abby tonight, if you want a ride get a move on! We’re leaving in ten minutes!” “Don’t get you panties in a wad,” she muttered, slipping on a pair of jeans. She grabbed her black “Shut Up and Dance” shirt and pulled it over her head. What to do with her hair?
“Kelly, hurry up!” Brian shouted again. “Hold your horses!” Kelly snapped, “I’m coming!” “Come faster!” he called. Kelly pulled her hair into a sloppy ponytail. She’d fix it in the car. Makeup? No way, let’s not go overboard, she thought. After one last head to toe check, she pulled on her sneakers, grabbed her dance bag, and raced down the stairs, nearly colliding with her father halfway down.
“Sorry Dad!” she hollered, already at the bottom of the steps and racing out the door. “Be careful Kellabell, and have fun on your date!” her dad yelled back. “Will do! Thanks!”
The minute she sat down in the car, Brian gunned the motor and sped out of the driveway. “Chill Brian,” Kelly snapped. “I’m nervous enough already, don’t add to it by driving like a maniac!” “Abby hates it when I’m late,” Brian’s girlfriend was infamous for being punctual to the second. “Why are you so nervous Kel? You’ve gone out with boys before.” “It was always in a group. Middle school crushes don’t count,” she muttered, “All the girls did was giggle while the boys stole our stuff and we slapped them.” Brian rolled his eyes. “This probably won’t be so different,” he said. “Apart from the fact that Alex is a bit more mature than most boys your age. He won’t bite you Kel. Kiss you if you’re lucky, but no more or he’ll have me to deal with!”
Kelly smiled; it was so cool to have an older brother with a car! It meant she had the benefit of his experience without the drawback of parental nagging. It rocked.
Brian pulled the car into Alex’s driveway. “Go get ‘em Kel.” Kelly took a deep breath and tried to still her furiously pounding heart. Her nerves mounted as she stepped out of the car, and began the walk to Alex’s front door.
When she reached it, she knocked and waited. A moment later, Alex’s mom appeared let Kelly in the house. The two knew each other from years of dance. “Alex! Kelly’s here!” Mrs. Kereta called up the steps. After a minute or two of small talk between the two, Alex came bounding down, dance bag slung over his shoulder. He was wearing jeans and a plain navy blue t-shirt. “Let’s go,” he said grinning. “Have fun you two,” said Mrs. Kereta smiling. “Alex, I’ll pick you up at eight when dance is over, okay?” “Thanks Mom,” Alex said. Then he followed Kelly out the door.
As they walked down the sidewalk to Brian’s car, Alex flashed Kelly a smile, which she returned. Then she frowned, “Alex are you okay? You look kind of tired.” “What, oh. It’s nothing,” he said covering a yawn, “just didn’t get enough sleep last night I guess.” Kelly nodded, her concerns appeased.
When they got into the car, Brian greeted Alex warmly, and the three made small talk for the few minutes it took to get to Super Smoothie at the strip outlet across from Lena’s. As they got out of the car, Brian said, “Kelly I’ll pick you up after dance okay?” “Thanks Brian see ya then.” “Have fun Kellabell,” said Brian, grinning wickedly. Kelly blushed at the use of her nickname and flashed Brian a nasty look. I’ll get you later, she mouthed.
“Kellabell?” Alex inquired as Brian drove away. Kelly grimaced. “Family nickname.” “Aww, it’s cute. How ‘bout I call you that from now on?” “If you value your life, I suggest you never repeat it again,” she said, whacking him on the shoulder. He jumped, and Kelly thought she heard a sharp intake of breath. Had she hurt him? But then he laughed and began perusing the smoothie menu. The two ordered, and then sat down in a booth to wait for their drinks. For awhile, they sat in silence.
When their order was called, they both headed to the counter. The cashier gave the m the total, and they both simultaneously reached for their wallets. Each saw what the other was doing and grinned. “As the man in this situation, I insist on paying for you, my lady.” That was the wrong thing to say to an independent woman. “Well as the feminist woman in this situation,” said Kelly firmly, “I insist on paying!” Alex raised an eyebrow and attempted to stare Kelly down. Kelly stared right back, neither giving an inch. “Today please,” said the cashier, annoyed.
“Well,” said Kelly finally, “if yon gentleman insists on paying, then I have an idea.” “Yon gentleman insists,” said Alex gravely. “Then I will pay for your smoothie and you will pay for mine. Does yon gentleman find this acceptable?” “He does indeed,” said Alex in mock seriousness. Each grinned, and placed the appropriate amount of money on the counter. “Finally,” muttered the cashier, pushing their smoothies at them.
Still laughing, Kelly and Alex walked back to their table. “So,” began Kelly, “I’ve been thinking of some new moves we could add to our choreography.” “Yeah, me too,” Alex said enthusiastically. They talked animatedly for awhile about dance, then school, teachers, and friends.
“How long have you known Kevin?” Kelly asked. “Gosh, I’ve known him a long time. I met him in the same class I met you and Lily,” Alex responded. “Oh,” said Kelly, “I thought maybe you knew him before. I met Lily that class also. We’ve been best friends ever since.” “Kevin and I were the same way,” Alex alleged. “When…my dad died, Kevin didn’t leave my house for like, a week. He was there for me. You and Lily were too, but Kevin, Kevin and I got really close…”
Kelly was quiet. She remembered that time all too well. She’d been twelve, and on the junior dance team. They’d been warming up when Lena came in looking sad. She’d gathered the dancers in a circle and told Kelly and the others that Alex’s father was dead. Everyone had sat in the circle for a long time in stunned silence. Kelly remembered thinking of her own father. What would it be like to lose him? What would she do without a father?
That weekend had been the funeral. It was the first, and Kelly hoped the last, funeral she’d attended. Alex had looked so small and sad there in the pew beside Kevin and his mother…
Kelly snapped back to the present, taking Alex’s hand in hers. There was still a barely discernable trace of sadness in his serious brown eyes. He squeezed her hand and smiled sadly. They sat quietly, just looking at each other. “Oh my gosh!” Kelly suddenly exclaimed, looking at her watch. “It’s like, five ‘til six! We’ve got to go!”
They jumped up and raced across the street. Once inside the studio doors, Kelly and Alex raced off in opposite directions to the different changing rooms. As Kelly put on her dance clothes, she relived the date second by second, word by word. She decided it had gone quite well. She pulled on her ballet slippers and laced them up. Aside from the leftover euphoria from being with Alex, Kelly always felt joyous putting on her ballet shoes; it meant she was going to dance!

Chapter 4, whether you want it or not! MWAHA

Here it is, the unrequested but hopefully waited for......Chapter 4!


Chapter 4 ~ Alex
Oh my God, Alex thought, I still can’t believe she kissed me. He’d been grinning like crazy ever since it had happened.
Now he was sitting in first period English class beside Kevin. They had been passing notes back and forth for ten minutes and now Kevin was grinning goofily as well. “Well Alex finally made the move on Kelly,” he said as the bell rang. “This day will go down in history!” “Oh shut up Kevin.” But Alex was still grinning from ear to ear. As they walked to second period, they continued their conversation. Alex was hesitant to ask the question that had been gnawing at his mind, but it was Kevin, and he knew Kevin wouldn’t laugh.
“So Kevin, voice of experience, what’s the next step? I mean, after you asked Lily to start going out with you, what did you do?” “Well,” began Kevin in an instructional voice, “When you see Kelly at lunch today, just sort of nonchalantly sit beside her.” “But she usually sits by Lily and I sit by you!” “Yeah? Well you get there before Lily don’t you? And besides, I want to sit with Lily anyway. So, sit beside Kelly and then just casually reach over and take her hand.” “What if my hands are all sweaty?” “Alex, if she’s really as head-over-heels as she looks at dance, she won’t notice!” Alex rolled his eyes and bit his lip.
While he knew that Kevin was trying to help, his “take her hand” instruction had totally freaked Alex out. Alex was timid by nature, unusual for his age and gender. Kevin, on the other hand, was loud and outgoing. Alex knew it would be no sweat for Kevin to just reach out and take Lily’s hand. It was a different story for Alex though.
As the teacher began her lesson for the day, Alex hardly caught any of it. His stomach was tied in knots. Between the blissful kiss he and Kelly had shared and his confusion over the next step, Alex was up in the clouds all day. Luckily there were no tests he had to take!
When the bell rang at 12:36 to dismiss Alex to lunch, his stomach flip-flopped. He mechanically opened his locker, put his books away, got his lunch, and began the long walk to the cafeteria. Part of him was really excited because he really liked Kelly. He kept telling himself to breathe; it was just Kelly for crying out loud! They’d been friends for years! Why was he suddenly so nervous about seeing her? Surely one kiss hadn’t changed everything that much!
When he finally reached the cafeteria, he took a deep breath, pushed through the double doors, and stepped inside. He saw Kelly look up as the doors opened. The moment she recognized him, her face broke into a smile that melted all of Alex’s apprehensions and fears. Looking in to her beautiful smiling face, Alex could see that Kelly was nervous too, and that no matter what he did, she wouldn’t judge him. She really did like him as much as he liked her! Alex returned her smile and walked over and sat down next to her.
Her grin got even broader and she slipped her hand inside his. Alex felt his heart leap. He looked in her gorgeous brown eyes. Though he wanted to kiss her right then and there, he refrained.
At that moment, Lily walked in to the cafeteria and got in to eh lunch line, Kevin behind her. They held each other’s hands. Alex saw Kelly smile and slowly shake her head. “What?” he asked. “Oh it’s nothing, I was just thinking about how happy Kevin and Lily look.” “I know what you mean,” said Alex quietly, “They make it look effortless don’t they?” Kelly nodded, still smiling. “Do you think we’ll ever be like that?” “I hope so Kelly.” They simply gazed at each other for a few moments until Kevin and Lily sat down across the table from them.
“Aww, you two look so cute together! It reminds me of how star-struck I was when Kevin first asked me out. What was it, like, a month ago?” “Month and a half,” Kevin murmured quietly, slipping his arm around Lily’s waist. Lily sighed, smiling, and laid her head on his shoulder.
Alex felt a little uncomfortable. It was like Kevin and Lily were setting a standard that he and Kelly were expected to follow. To his immense relief though, Kelly just rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand tighter. “Get a room,” she muttered as Kevin and Lily began making out. They paid her no mind.
Kelly turned her body towards Alex so her shoulder blocked Lily and Kevin from view. Alex followed suit. “So,” she began hesitantly, “are you coming to dance tonight?” “Of course.” Alex wouldn’t miss it for the world! Any time spent holding her was to precious to miss. “Um, I was wondering if, I mean uh, do you want to go out for smoothies before class? My brother could pick you up and drop us at that little smoothie place across from the studio…” Kelly trailed off looking apprehensive. Alex smiled, “I’d love to. What time should I be ready?” As Kelly outlined the specifics, Alex could see the uncertainty melt off her face. All of her brightly colored braces were displayed as she grinned at him.
Alex began laughing for no reason at all. He was so in love with her. “What’s funny?” Kelly asked, but she was laughing too. “I have no idea!” said Alex, and they both laughed helplessly. Alex felt his stomach muscles seizing up. He hadn’t laughed so hard in a long time.
Across the table, Kevin and Lily detached themselves and looked with amusement at the crazy lovers laughing hysterically. “I think someone got bitten by the loooooooove bug,” teased Kevin. That just made Kelly and Alex laugh harder.
When they finally stopped, Alex was out of breath, but he’d never felt more ecstatic in his life.

Chapter 3

Ello my loves. Here is Chapter 3. Diana, I love you for leaving me a comment! :)

Chapter 3~ Kelly
Kelly was walking on air with her head in the clouds. She was giddy. Again tonight she would get to dance with Alex. They’d been following Lena’s schedule for about two weeks. Kelly loved how Alex danced. He was amazing. The way he held her was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It was like, a new sensation. As she stretched and waited for Alex to arrive at the studio, she thought about these new, foreign feelings. She was certain she was in love with Alex. Though this was the first time she’d ever really felt it before, the love was easy to recognize.
Kelly sighed and stood up. She was done stretching. At that moment, Alex bounded into the classroom. “Sorry I’m late.” Kelly grinned and rolled her shoulders out. “You know sorry might not be good enough.” Alex smiled. “Well it better be, I came here to dance and you did too!” “Indeed I did, so hurry up and stretch!” Alex shook his head. “Guess I can’t argue with that.” He sank in to a split.
While he stretched, Kelly did some random little made-up dances. She loved ballet. Her point shoes were perfectly broken in. It made sense, she danced all the time. When she was in the middle of a pirouette, Alex came up behind her, grabbed her hips and spun her around. Kelly shrieked. As soon as she was firmly on the ground again, she playfully shoved Alex. “That was not nice!” she said. He laughed. “Oh come on Kelly, you know you liked it!” Kelly rolled her eyes and turned away. “Where’s the CD Lena gave us? We should get started,” she said in an aloof voice. “Aww, Kel you’re not mad are you?” Kelly didn’t respond. Instead, she leaped over to the stereo and began leafing through a pile of CD’s. Alex followed. “Kelly, I’m sorry. I’d never do anything on purpose to scare you. You know that.” “Yeah, I do,” said Kelly smiling widely. “It’s just fun to watch you sweat it!” Alex looked indignant. “My you’re funny. I’ll get you back, you watch!” Kelly waggled her eyebrows. “I doubt it.” Then she found the CD and put it in. “Come on, we’ve got to get to work.”

At eight o’clock, Kelly said goodbye to Alex and walked to the dressing rooms. She smiled at the ceiling as she got undressed. Dancing with Alex was so fun! Just being in his presence left her feeling happy. She packed her clothes away and walked out of the dressing room. She grinned as she saw Alex leaning against the wall ahead of her. “Hey!” she called. It was almost as though…had he been waiting for her?
“Kelly, can I talk to you for a minute?” Kelly smiled. “Yeah, sure.”
She followed him into an empty, darkened classroom. Oddly, Alex didn’t turn the lights on when he walked past. Kelly uncertainly watched him slide down to sit on the hard wood floor against the wall of mirrors, then followed suit. They sat in silence for a moment, then Alex’s soft voice gently penetrated the darkness. “Kelly, have you ever liked somebody so much you have trouble sleeping at night because you can’t stop thinking about them? Every move you make, every single thing you do reminds you of that person?” “Yes,” Kelly whispered. “Well I feel that way about you,” murmured Alex. “Do you feel the same, or are we just friends?” “I feel the same Alex. I really like you.” “I really like you too Kelly.”
As if in a dream, the two moved closer. Kelly felt that at that moment Alex could see into her very soul. Then their lips met. The two dancers sat there and kissed for a long time. When they finally broke apart, both had flushed cheeks and glowing eyes. “I’ll see you in school tomorrow,” said Alex, “Goodnight.” “Goodnight Alex,” said Kelly softly. When Alex reached the door of the classroom, he looked back at Kelly and smiled. Kelly smiled back. Then he was gone.
Kelly sighed happily and leaned her back against the cool studio wall. She held her fingers to her lips and swelled with happiness. Finally, she stood and walked to the front of the studio and to the car where her eighteen-year-old brother Brian was waiting in his car.
Brian and Kelly were very close, and Brian had been told the extended version of the Alex drama, complete with sighs, dramatic pauses, and giggles. When he saw the dreamy look on his little sister’s face, he guessed there had been more drama than usual tonight. How right he was.
“Brian, Brian, Brian!” She giggled as she hopped in to the front seat of the car. ‘You’ll never guess what happened!” “I’m guessing you’ll tell me,” he said with a laugh. “He kissed me! He told me he had trouble sleeping at night ‘cause he thought about me so much!” Kelly sighed and leaned her head against the seat. Then she giggled. “He kissed me! I can’t believe he kissed me! Brian? Are you listening? He freaking kissed me! Hey! Are you laughing at me?” For Brian had begun to laugh quietly, almost to himself. “No Kel, I’m not laughing at you. I’m thinking of my first kiss. I acted the same, but with a little less giggling.” He took his sister’s hand. “I’m so happy for you. I know you like Alex a lot.”
Kelly sighed and giggled again. “You have no idea.” As Brain parked the car, Kelly hopped out. She did a huge pirouette in the driveway. “HE KISSED ME!” she yelled to the night sky.

The next morning, Kelly was awake hours before her 6:35 alarm rang. She’d barely slept a wink. She had smiled in to the darkness of her room all night. She could still feel his lips…see his smile…hear his voice… She sighed for the millionth time.
At 6 o’clock, she gave up on sleep and got dressed, taking extra care to look good. At 6:45 Brian was knocking on the bathroom door telling her to get a move on. At 6:55 she ate breakfast and said goodbye to her mom, dad, and Brian. Then she grabbed her book bag and walked to the bus stop.
Kelly had never before realized just how beautiful everything was in the morning. When you are in love, your whole world becomes extraordinarily gorgeous. Even the big, smelly school bus seemed like a precious gift today. As Kelly bounded up the bus steps, she said good morning to the bus driver and immediately spotted Lily’s blonde head. Kelly walked down the aisle and plunked down in the seat beside her friend. Lily yawned sleepily. She was no morning person.
“Lily you’ll never guess what happened at dance last night!” Kelly squealed. Lily half raised an eyelid in Kelly’s direction. “Oh come on Lils, this is important!” Lily opened her eyes wide enough to roll them. “Can’t it wait until oh, say, fifth period when I’m actually awake?” “No, it can’t. Will you at least fake it?” Lily sighed, “Only for you Kel.” She opened her eyes and sat up. Kelly smiled. “Thank you. So, after Alex and I finished practice last night, I came out of the dressing room and he was waiting in the hall for me.” Lily perked up. “He was waiting for you? This is big!” “Tell me about it! But wait, it gets bigger!” Kelly detailed the rest of what had happened. By the time she was through, Lily was wide awake. “Oh my gosh! He kissed you?!? That’s amazing!” Kelly giggled. “I know!” “This is so cool!” Lily said, “Now it’s me and Kevin and you and Alex! It’s like a dance date club thing!”
Kelly smiled happily. Not only was she going out with possibly the cutest guy in the entire universe, she also had an awesome best friend. Then something occurred to her that hadn’t crossed her mind before. “Lily, what am I supposed to do now that Alex and I are a couple?”

The next chapter! Finally! Here it is!

Chapter 2~ Alex
As he stepped away from Kelly, Alex quietly cursed himself. What a klutz! Kelly moved as though she were weightless while he, Alex, had stomped around like an elephant! Hadn’t he learned anything in nine years of dance?
“Wow,” Kelly murmured. “What?” said Alex. She looked at him, awestruck. “You’re an incredible dancer.” Alex rolled his eyes. “What, are you fishing for compliments? You’re tons better than me!” Kelly rolled her eyes and grinned, “Quit being modest!” Alex laughed threw his hands up in the air. “I give up! Let’s listen to our music and get started on our choreography.” “Good idea,” said Lena, from the doorway. “How long have you been there?” asked Alex nervously. “I caught the tail end of your dance. You two work spectacularly together!” Alex gave Kelly a sideways grin which she returned with a glowing smile.
For the rest of their class, the two worked on their choreography. When 8:00 rolled around, Lena called the senior dancers to one classroom. “Alright guys, excellent work tonight. I saw some real progress. Keep it up! Now I know you all like working together, but for the sake of getting these dances together by April 16, I’m assigning each pair a certain time each evening.” The four dancers groaned. “But Lena,” Kevin began, “I won’t have any time to tease Alex about his total lack of muscle.” Alex grinned. He and Kevin were best friends. “Yeah Lena, I mean, someone has to make sure Kevin doesn’t fall over from the weight of his enormous head!” Lily, the other dancer and Kelly’s buddy, laughed and whacked Kevin on the head. “No worries Alex, I’ll watch this one for you!” Kevin smiled and put his arm around Lily. He sighed, “Well, I guess as long as I have Lily I’ll try to survive…” Lily leaned in to Kevin. The two had been dating for a few weeks. Kelly rolled her eyes. “Oh bring me a barf bucket you two!” Alex laughed. “Don’t worry Kel, I’ll save you from the swollen headed monster!”
Lena broke into the conversation, laughing. “Sorry to interrupt this little love fest, but you all have to get out of here before your parents come in here and yell at me. So, Lily and Kevin will practice from four to six each evening, and Alex and Kelly will be from six to eight. Does that work for everyone?” No one objected, so Lena let them go.
Alex and Kevin walked to the boys’ changing room together. Alex’s thoughts were in turmoil. When he and Kelly had been dancing, he’d felt something…odd. It was hard to describe…he’d felt flashes of it for her before, but never as intense. It was, he decided, a pleasant feeling. Very pleasant. It was almost like…a combination of all the good things he’d ever felt. Then the realization hit him like a thunderbolt.
He was in love.

So! That's it. Please leave me ocmments, besides the fact that that was the whole point of setting up this blog in the first place, it makes me so happy. :) You know you love me, so LEAVE ME A DAMN COMMENT. That is all. Thank you.

Blah

Well so far, no one has read Chapter 1, so I won't put out Chapter 2 yet. Because I have no apparent life, I have enjoyed checking for comments every ten seconds. None today. Ah well. I'll post more of the story eventually.

Chapter 1

Okay, so that was the prologue to my brilliant story. Here is chapter 1. Enjoy. Oh, and just to warn you, it's a bit sappy. That is why this is only a first draft.

9 years later
Chapter 1~ Kelly
Kelly couldn’t believe her luck. Lena had paired her with Alex Kereta for the Spring Fling Recital! As senior dancers, the two of them would have to choreograph routines to the music Lena had set them. Normally, Kelly danced solo. On the rare occasions she was paired, she had danced with Kevin. Lena had obviously decided to mix things up this time.
Kelly smiled inwardly as she began her warm-up exercises. Just as she lowered herself into a split, Alex came over and crouched beside her. “I think Lena’s going to give us today to work on our choreography together,” he said. “Yeah,” responded Kelly, “that’s what she told us yesterday.” “Oh, right,” he said, “got any ideas?” “Nope,” said Kelly grinning, “You?” “Nope,” he grinned back.
At that moment, Lena stood up and clapped her hands. “Senior dancers, you attention please!” The friendly chatter stopped and the four dancers looked at Lena expectantly. She went on, “I’m giving you guys today to work on your choreography.” Alex raised his eyebrows at Kelly as if to say, “Toldja so!”. Lena continued, “When you are finished stretching, divide into your pairs and go find an empty classroom. Once there, I suggest you work on some known dances to get used to the way your partner moves. Then sit down, listen to your music, and try to come up with some ideas for your dances. I’ll be around to each pair individually to provide assistance if needed. Any questions? No? Good, now go get to work!” she said with mock sternness.
Kelly slowly got out of her split, wincing only a little. She’d had all her splits as long as she could remember. Alex watched her get up, then he motioned for her to follow him. Both of them knew every classroom in the studio, it was only a matter of finding an empty one.
Kelly peeked around the next corner into a classroom. To her surprise, she found it empty. “In here,” she said, ushering Alex in to the room. “Awesome,” he said, grinning. “So, we’re supposed to do some ‘known’ dances first. Want to start on that?” “Sure,” said Kelly nonchalantly. Inside though, she was jumping up and down with excited nervousness. They would have to touch! After they picked a song, she hesitantly took her starting pose. She felt Alex do the same behind her after he put the CD in. Her heartbeat quickened. As the first few bars of the song floated out, Alex placed his hands on Kelly’s hips. She felt her breath hitch in her throat. Why did his feather light touch suddenly have the ability to make her feel giddy? She had no time to ponder this, as the dance had begun.
Whenever she moved, Kelly was conscious of how clumsy she must look next to Alex’s graceful motions. She had never before noticed how good he was. He moved as though he were weightless. Every time they touched, Kelly felt as though she’d received an electric charge.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity contained in a moment, the dance ended. The two struck their final pose as the music faded away. When they broke apart, Kelly was breathless. She’d never seen anyone dance so beautifully.

So yeah, very mushy. But ah well. With your help, it can be improved.

Light Up My Dark

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for. *drumroll please* The first portion of Light Up My Dark, an original story by....ME! MWAHAHA. Ahem. Moving on. The good news about this story is that there is enough of it to keep you busy for awhile. The bad news is that I haven't written on it in months. Ah well. Enjoy.

Light Up My Dark
Prologue
Kelly Hunter’s mother pulled her minivan into the parking lot at Lena Morgan’s dance studio. She turned to face her daughter and said, “Come on Kelly sweetheart, it’s time for your ballet class.” Six-year-old Kelly smiled and leaped out of the car. She had wanted to take ballet lessons since she was four years old and her mother had finally consented. Kelly was so excited.
As soon as they entered the studio entrance though, Kelly took up her customary post, behind her mother’s legs. Kelly was painfully shy, and the thought of being around so many other people scared her. Before Kelly had a chance to look around at the actual magnitude of people there, a young woman came up and introduced herself as Lena Morgan, owner of the studio, and instructor of Kelly’s class. When she was finished speaking to Kelly’s mother, Lena knelt down to Kelly’s height and said, “So, what’s your name?” “Kelly,” whispered the little girl. “Well Kelly,” said Lena, “are you ready to learn ballet?” Kelly nodded eagerly. “Good,” replied Lena happily, “we’re just about to get started! Come with me!”
It was a still scared but smiling Kelly who kissed her mother goodbye and followed Lena across the room.
“Okay everybody!” called Lena, “let’s get in a circle.” But before she could finish giving the direction, the classroom door opened and a mother walked in, her little boy in tow. “Oh!” exclaimed Lena, “looks like we have a late arrival.”
Kelly couldn’t take her eyes off the boy. She had never seen such a boy. For one thing, he was beautiful. He had lovely blonde hair, deep brown eyes, and a slim build much like her own. What caught Kelly’s eye most though was that he looked just as scared yet excited as she.

Alex Kereta trailed closely behind his mother as she entered the dance classroom. All faces turned his way and he felt himself blushing. A young woman came bounding over to them from across the room. “Hi, I’m Lena Morgan,” she said beaming, “would you like to join us for ballet class?” Alex nodded and followed Lena across the room. “We were just about to get started on an exercise to help us learn each other’s names. Why don’t you join our circle?” said Lena. Alex chose a place between a girl with white-blonde hair in a rigid bun and the only other boy in the class, who smiled at him. There were an awful lot of girls, he thought. Then his eyes landed on one girl in particular. She had to be the loveliest person he had ever seen. Her dark brown hair was back in a loose bun with wisps framing her pale face. Her dark brown eyes were just quietly taking everything in.
Lena’s voice interrupted Alex’s study of the girl. “Alright, I’m going to start this exercise by telling you my name and age, then I will squeeze the hand of the person sitting next to me, who will tell us their name and age, then squeeze the person sitting next to them, and so on and so forth. Everybody understand? Good. Okay, my name is Lena Morgan and I am twenty-five years old.” The girl next to Lena was Lily, and was five and a half, and on around the circle it went. The boy beside Alex was Kevin, six. Then Alex announced his name and age, and waited for the circle to get to that girl. It finally did. “M-my name’s Kelly,” said the girl in a tremulous voice, “and I’m s-six years old.”
Then Alex and Kelly’s eyes met for the first time. They blushed and turned away. Each saw something beautiful and impressive about the other. Kelly would later describe what she had for Alex as a crush. For now though, they were content to just sneak sideways glances at each other.


Yep, that's all you get for free. Kidding. There will be more. I know you're dying for it. Tell me what you think!

First Post!

Hmm.. What to say in this, my first post? I guess I should establish that I'm going to use this blog to post my poems and stories for your criticism. I've never done anything like this before. I usually keep my written stuff private. Time for that to end. So, umm, first poem. Here goes *holds breath, jumps int abyss*

Livin' lovin' laughin' life,
Getting rid of all the strife,
Making memories good and bad,
Rememberin' stuff, happy and sad.

I look at the faces sittin' 'round me,
All spillin out their memory
Trusting each other,
Going out on a limb,
Each sharing a little, of herself or him.

To people before who we barely did know,
To friends of ours who've said they know,
We gave more of ourselves than we ever thought we had,
As we traversed the memories,
Happy and sad.

While livin' and lovin' and laughin' our life,
We learned from each other,
That through all the strife,
It helps to talk,
So give a listening ear,
Even if it's something you don't want to hear
Listen to them for they've listened to you,
And know that Rememberin' Stuff is what we all do.


~so yeah, that was the first one. I'll start posting parts of a story I'm writing later.