Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas) (23 page)

“Awesome
,
Elena!
I think we’re done.
Drink?”

Elena nodded. Why not? There was no reason to be thirsty when rejected.

“The songs sound really good. You have such an incredible talent.”

“It’s not different to how you express yourself through dance and hopefully through singing too, now that you’ve had some personal tuition.”

“Getting there.”

“How about you return the favor by showing me some moves.
I don’t want to embarrass myself at my senior prom.”

“Sure!” Why not?
She
might as well be useful.

They headed downstairs
to
the living room for some refreshments and put some on R&B. When he came back from the kitchen with two glasses of
P
epsi
, she started showing him some basic grooves. 

“Nice rhythm, Jay,” she said as he placed the glasses down on the coffee table and followed her movements. As they danced in unison, he came closer, placed his leg between hers and pulled her in from the waist. She felt his leg touching her
inner
thighs and her body reacted immediately. She felt fire down there that was driving her crazy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair as he kissed her. They were kissing as he caressed her back and her butt. Elena’s whole body was burning. She felt his tongue play with hers and pulled back in surprise.

“Just trust me, OK,” he said as he kissed her again. This time Elena opened her mouth and let her tongue find his. He groaned loudly and caressed her back and buttocks while maneuvering her onto the sofa.  He lay her down and continued to kiss her on the lips and her neck. It was sensational. Elena had never experienced anything like it and was surprised how her body reacted, arching instinctively. She touched his back and gripped his wonderfully tight butt as she felt the weight of his body. He felt so good.

“Oh Elena,” she heard him groan.  She heard herself groan again but this time she didn’t care. She just wanted more of Jay.

“We have to stop,” he said as he pulled away, panting. “You’re driving me crazy!”

“You’re driving me crazy, too!” she said as she pulled him back down. He kissed her again and moved his hand along her body.

“Elena, you need to go!” he said sitting upright and moving away from her. “This isn’t right.”

She stood up dazed. She knew he was right but her body was craving for more. What was wrong with her? She hadn’t even kissed a boy before Jay and now she had lost all sense of reason.

“Don’t you want me?” she whispered.

He scoffed. “
I want you more than you know and I don’t feel in control.  I don’t want you to do something you would regret.”

Elena gulped. She felt amazing but she never thought it would go that far, surely. “I guess I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” she said as she
rose from the sofa and
lingered at the door. He waved at her from his position, several meters away. Elena took a good look at his flushed face and heaving chest before she left.  She was so confused. When she arrived at his apartment, she thought she had done something wrong because he wouldn’t touch her. Then when he did, she was like a slut. She didn’t even have the common sense to see the danger.
He
had to stop it.  Her whole body was tingling.  What was happening to her? Jay. Jay was happening to her.

“He’s my boyfriend,” she said hugging herself, squealing.
“School tomorrow.”
She sighed.

Shit!
She hadn’t told Sebastien yet! Oh no. He couldn’t find out from someone else.
And Letitia.
She grumbled.
They never talked about how they would handle that. They
’d been
a bit distracted. It was like they had been living in an alternate universe for the last two months.

Sebastien was back from Italy so she decided to go straight
to
his place. Jay would need to handle Letitia.

“Hey stranger, you’re looking tanned,” Elena said as he opened his front door. He hugged her tight.

“So good to see you!” he said. “They had me working twelve hours a day. You know what a stretch that would be for me.”

Seeing him was like a reality check
-
a reminder of her other life.

“So what’s been happening since we last spoke?” he asked her.

“Oh you know.
Same, same.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ve been doing some singing.”

“Singing?
”

“Yeah well, I didn’t see why Letitia should intimidate me into not doing something I enjoy. I want to be confident with it
,
you know?”

“Yes I know. You don’t want fear to be an obstacle to doing something, right?”

“Exactly!
And how was t
he whole movie experience?”

“It’s definitely an experience. Not very glamorous at all, though. The director really pushes you and you have to get it right because every time they delay it costs money. It’s draining! I can’t imagine this film winning an Oscar
,
but I think it will be out for Christmas holidays.”

“I’m so proud of you, Seb. You really are living your dream.”

“It’s one movie. There will be time for you, don’t worry.”

She shrugged.

“Have you been doing any more
songwriting
?”

“Actually, yes.
I have been meeting up with Jay and we have been writing songs. He’s the one that’s been helping me with my singing too.”

“Right
.
Anything else?”

“Actually, Seb, there is.” She paused for a moment, looking at her nails. “Because of the songwriting and singing, I have been spending a lot of time with Jay.”

“
Mmmm
.”

“And well, we’re kind of dating now.” Elena looked at him to gauge his reaction. Sebastien’s face was impassive
,
so she continued.

“I sort of liked him from when we had begun working together before the break but I sort of underplayed it because I was embarrassed
-
I didn’t think he felt the same.”

“Right,” Sebastien said. “Amazing what can change in a summer.”

She nodded desperately seeking a reaction.

“I don’t know him, but does he treat you right?”

“Yeah, he’s met my mom and everything.” She wasn’t sure about how “right” their making out was.

“And Letitia?
She’s his sister, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, we haven’t worked that one out yet.”

“I’m happy for you. If you really like this guy, I am always going to be there for you,” he said. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Oh thank you
,
Seb,” she said as she hugged him tightly. “It’s so important to me that you are there for me.”

“Always.”
He said the words but Elena sensed he was
holding back
. She should never have kept it a secret.

“You probably have
tons
you need to do to get ready for school tomorrow?” he said.

“Of course, yes. I better get going. I haven’t thought about school at all!”

“Things have changed then?”

“Very funny.
  See you tomorrow morning?”

“Sure.”

She was happy Sebastien was so supportive but she left there with a heavy heart. Maybe it was the realization that they were changing. Who knew?  But he wasn’t angry at her for lying to him
,
so maybe he was just her conscience. She was sure she was
overthinking
it.

Letitia stood in the doorway of her brother’s room, glaring at him.

“You’re dating who?” Letitia yelled
.

“Elena. I believe you know who she is,” he replied calmly.

“She is the one person I hate most in the world!
Of all the girls in the entire school, why her?”

“Why not?
She’s cute, she’s smart and sexy.”

“I feel sick,” she said, covering her mouth as if she was about to vomit. Jay didn’t react.

“She is a piece of work. Right from under my nose, she goes for my brother.
Unbelievable.
I bet she did it just to spite me.”

“Letitia, this may surprise you, but this is not about you. I doubt Elena is a spiteful person and highly unlikely she is the type to go out with me to get you back. She’s not that conniving.”

“You don’t know her.”

“What is your problem with her, anyway?”

“She gets under my skin.”

“You mean she doesn’t worship the ground you walk on.”

“Shut up
,
Jay. You’ll learn your lesson the hard way. Look at how she has Sebastien wrapped around her finger. Those two are very tight, you know.”

“Yes I do know, Letitia, and she has the right to have friends.”

“Just friends?
Is that what she told you?”

Jay just looked at her angrily, like a snake uncoiling. 

“That’s not what I heard -
and that’s coming from Frankie
,
who used to be friends with both of them.”

“Well, from what I heard about the party before summer, Frankie is
n’
t a very good friend
,
so I wouldn’t be holding out on what she says as being gospel
.
” He rose from the piano stool and walked towards her.

Letitia knew he wasn’t playing.
“Back off, Letitia.”

She stared back at him defiantly
,
but could feel his anger rising and knew this was not the time
to push him
. She stormed off in a huff and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

She paced her room, clasping her hands. That Elena! How dare she? Letitia felt proud of her work to date. She had already made one lackey out of Elena’s friend Frankie, ruined the play of her other friend, kept Elena out of the show choir competition group and was making progress with Sebastien.
But for Elena to date her brother?
That was something she hadn’t counted on. She needed a new strategy.

Twenty-nine

Elena couldn’t help but have an extra spring to her step. She was back at school, where she could act and dance to her heart’s content, she had wonderful friends, and now
she had
a sexy new boyfriend. Life was looking good.  Neither Frankie
n
or even Letitia could bring her down now.

She met Sebastien in the morning as usual. “It feels like forever since I walked past your place.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve just been in Italy for three months.
Now, back to high school in New York.”

“First day of school.
You know how I love the first day of school.”

“Yeah
,
I know.”

“Auditions, competitions, the usual.
Though I haven’t been doing as much training as
I should have
over summer.
You know, I’ve been a bit distracted.” 

Elena saw Sebastien clench his teeth. She wanted to apologize again for lying but then she saw Jay, waiting for her at the gate and all else was forgotten. She jogged to him and kissed him tenderly on the lips.

Sebastien shuffled his feet and looked away.

“You must be Sebastien,” Jay said as he offered his hand. “I’m Jay.”

“I gathered.” They shook hands and glared at each other.

“Hey boys, time for class,” she said as she pried their hands apart. She then held Jay’s hand as they walked into school together.

“Hi Sebastien.
I heard you were in a movie over summer,” a girl said as she approached.

“Yeah, we can’t wait to see it,” added another equally cute,
starstruck
girl. Soon there was a small group of them adoring Sebastien and telling him how they looked forward to watching
his movie
. Sebastien creased his forehead.

“Thanks, girls.”

His face changed from glum to proud. Her first reaction was to tell the girls to get a grip
,
but then why shouldn’t Sebastien be appreciated? She looked up at Jay. Seb deserved to be as happy as she was. 

“So Jay, are you coming to sit with me at lunch?”

“I usually have to meet up with other students to work on projects during most lunch breaks. Senior year, you know. But I always have Fridays off.” Elena looked down at her feet. “Why don’t you
come
sit with me on Fridays?”