The Bad Boy's Dance (5 page)

              “As long as she’s dancing with him. They’ve got great chemistry,” a student piped up.

              We did not have great chemistry. He was just a really good dancer.

             
Keep telling yourself that.

              Mrs. Knut split the class into partners. To my astonishment, I noticed that several guys had transferred into the class. Of course, if Asher Grayson was there, it was instantly the ‘place to be’.

              For the first time since I’d met him, Asher was quiet. I was starting to worry. What if he didn’t think I was good? What if he thought I was going to ruin his chances at graduating? Uh-oh, what if he was annoyed at how close we’d been?

              The instant the bell rang, I was out of there. I changed quickly and took the exit that would take me towards the bench. Dana was there, but Caleb was still in practice. I was itching to go home, but I couldn’t ditch him.

              Dana waited until I was sitting before the floodgates opened. “CARE TO TELL ME WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED DURING LUNCH?!” she screeched.

              Wow, I wondered how long she’d been holding that in. “Um, can I not? I really don’t want to talk about Asher right now.”

              Metaphorical steam was pouring from Dana’s ears. “Well I do! Ivy! I’m your best friend. Why won’t you tell me?” she sounded hurt. Oh no. I didn’t want Dana to think I was hiding something from her.

              Curse you, Asher!

              “It’s not what you think. I told you yesterday about Dance. Asher was trying to convince me to take the deal. I’m his ticket to ditching that class after a semester,” I explained patiently.

              “I don’t know, Ives. He seemed pretty intense in there.”

             
That was nothing. You should have seen him ten minutes ago.

             
I laughed it off. “Asher’s always intense. It’s a bad boy thing.”

              She shook her head, eyes faraway. “No, he’s a Plastic. At least in school he is. He doesn’t show any emotion. Even the girls he dupes know that they won’t be getting any emotion from Asher Grayson.”

              Argh! She wasn’t going to drop it. Dana could be like a dog with a bone when she wanted to, and this bone was particularly tasty.

              A blast of wind had me wrapping my arms tightly around myself. South Dakota was notorious for having early winters, and it didn’t look like this year was going to be any different.

             
On the other hand, this year has the potential to be something else completely.

Chapter Four

Till Dance Do Us Part

School was uneventful. Mrs. Knut had to teach us basic safety instructions and stretches that the state mandated she teach everyone, so I was spared the roller-coaster ride that was Asher. He didn’t bother me at lunch, and things were…normal.

It wasn’t until Friday that the relative peace was shattered.

              “Alright everyone, partner up!” Mrs. Knut exclaimed, clapping her hands. Honestly, I had no idea why that woman was always so excited. Maybe she inhaled a few cups of coffee too many?

              I heard a heavy sigh behind me. “Are you going to stand there all day,
partner
?” Asher intoned sarcastically.

              Turning, I crossed my arms over my chest and kept quiet. Whatever neuron that had taken over earlier that made me respond viciously to Asher had regained some sense. Keeping quiet was the best tactic in this situation.

              “Are we back to not speaking?” He pursed his lips.

              Cricket, cricket.

              Asher leaned against the wall, drawing my gaze to clothes. Only he could make low-slung sweats and a simple shirt that good. His dark was mussed around his head, and the muscles on his biceps bulged when he crossed his arms over his chest.

              “Done checking me out?”

              My cheeks heated, and I quickly averted my gaze. “You wish,” I muttered lowly.

              He stuck a hand behind his ear in an exaggerated motion. “Did you say something?”

              Mrs. Knut was walking around, instructing each group on their dance routines. We were the last group she’d be instructing, which meant I had to endure more of his teasing.

              “You know, usually I like it when there’s no useless small talk, but I get the feeling that you’re making a stand.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. 

              Oh schnitzel. He was going to start taking my silence as some kind of challenge. According to the bouncer Asher had shoved through a window when he wouldn’t let him into a club, Grayson didn’t like losing.

              “Huh. Maybe you can’t seem to speak because you’re too nervous. I do get that a lot.”

              Could he be more arrogant? It was kind of funny, actually. If he was trying to goad me, it wasn’t going to work.

              “
Or
you’re intellectually unable to keep up?”

              Disregard previous statement, because I was officially goaded. Did he think because I wasn’t in the AP classes he was in, that meant I wasn’t as smart or something? In my opinion, college classes should be taken in
college.

             
“What is
that
supposed to mean?” I asked angrily.

              He threw his hands in the air. “Finally! It speaks.”

              He’d called me an ‘it’ again! That was the second time in a week!

              Amused, he gestured at my stance. “Your reactions are hilarious. It’s impossible to resist.”

              Silently, I gave him the one-fingered salute.

              His smile dropped. Hah! Victory!

              “That’s not very nice.” Asher informed me dryly. “Why are you so fu-freaking defensive all the time? Take a joke, would ya?”

              From elementary school to this moment, I’d been told to learn how to ‘take a joke’ near a million times. Hey, I’m going to scare the crap out of you-learn to take a joke! Let’s swing Ivy up high up on the blacktop- why are you crying? Learn to take a joke!

              Who was the joke intended to amuse? Certainly not me!

              “How about you learn to make one? Why are
you
so rude? You called me stupid!” I shot back.

              “No I didn’t! It’s not my fault that’s what you thought. Everything I say comes out wrong with you!”

“How many meaning are there to ‘intellectually unable to keep up’?!”

“Stop acting standoffish and prissy every time I’m in the same room and none of this will happen!” He paused. “On the other hand, you do look adorable when you’re mad. Like a furious bunny.”

Oh my jalapeño chilly fries- did Asher Grayson just call me adorable?!

Technically, his compliment should’ve been negated by him calling me a standoffish priss, but heck, that was nothing new. I’d been called worse. How was it that he could make my blood boil with fury one second and make it heat with shyness the next?

Still, I couldn’t let him think he’d won. “I wouldn’t have to act standoffish and prissy if you weren’t an arrogant jackass.”

Asher took a step toward me, and I stumbled back.
Crap crap crap! You’ve done it now, Ivy!

“
I’m
an arrogant jackass?” His voice rose, layered with disbelief.

His anger fueled my own, but common sense hadn’t completely deserted me. “You
act
like one.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “That-you- wow.”

Ivy- one, Asher- six hundred, fifty-five thousand.

“Let’s get something straight here, shall we?” Asher moved toward me until he was only a foot away. My heart thrummed wildly at his proximity, and my capacity for speech flew out the window. “You don’t know
anything
about me. Maybe I am a jackass. Maybe I’m not. A girl who’s known me less than a week isn’t ready to make that call, you hear me?”

Oh, look, my vocals had returned. Half of me wanted to apologize, scamper to the door, and pretend that I hadn’t called the six foot four bad boy and head Plastic of our school a jackass. The other half, well…

My mother did always say I couldn’t keep my mouth shut when I needed to.

“Same goes for you, pal! You try to get me to talk, then when I do, you just insult me some more!”

At this point, we were shouting, and most of the class was riveted. We were too busy with our little Greek drama to pay attention, at least until Mrs. Knut cleared her throat.

“Start your routines, class!” Mrs. Knut ordered our audience. They slowly complied, but several kept shooting us curious glances.

Mrs. Knut turned to us, and she did not look happy. “I’m getting sick of this constant bickering with you two! If we’re going to have any chance at winning the NDT, you need to start working together cohesively. That’s why I’m going to assign you a project to do outside of school.”

“What?!” Our shouts were in unison.

Mrs. Knut’s round face curled into a radiant smile. “It’ll give you a chance to get to know each other. After all, dancing partners need to know every nuance of their counterpart, feel their slightest shift and understand the most hidden signals. You two aren’t going to accomplish that here. So, my assignment is…you two need to watch five dance-oriented movies and replicate a routine from one of them. And you need to record yourselves for at least ten minutes watching each movie,” she added.

“But-” I started.

“I won’t-” Asher and I were both cut off. Mrs. Knut gave us her Cheshire cat grin.

“Let’s not forget this class is the key to your graduation! Unless you want to be stuck here repeating your senior year?”

She couldn’t do that! Could she? No one else in the class had to ‘bond’ with their partner!

No one else in the class is constantly bickering with their partner, either.

“I expect the footage on my desk by…hmm. I’m feeling charitable, so next Friday?” Mrs. Knut suggested, then nodded decisively. “Yes, next Friday. I’d highly recommend getting started this weekend.”

And with that outrageous declaration, she flounced to another group.

Was that woman going loco with the Sharpie fumes? Her solution to two people who were fighting was to throw them together more? I sincerely hoped no one let her into the chemistry building.

“Great. Freaking great. Now I’ve got to cram everything I needed to do over the weekend into today,” Asher groaned.

Oh, and he didn’t say ‘freaking’.

“If it makes you feel any better, I was supposed to spend my weekend with Dana and Caleb, and now that’s shot too.”

“It doesn’t make me feel better,” he replied, voice thick with irritation. “This class is way more work than it should be.”

“Yeah, but we get to drop after first semester, so it kind of evens out.”

The bell rang, once again my saving grace. Before I could make my escape, Asher caught hold of my elbow. “Wait.”

“What?” I tried to shake him off, but he had a tight grip on me.

“Give me your number. I’ll text you my address, and you can come over on Friday.”

I stopped. Somehow, the fact that I’d have to spend all of Saturday with Asher at his house had eluded me. The budding nervousness and fear in my chest were not good signs.

“Why can’t it be at my house?” I tried.

He snorted, still not releasing me. “Let’s see, Marsha, the Brady Bunch are going to be too distracting for us to get the assignment done as fast as possible. We won’t have that problem at my place.”

What the-Brady Bunch? Seriously? And why was I Marsha? Well, it is better than the bitterly jealous Jan. Hmm. Should be getting called Marsha a compliment then? No, that would be more a compliment within an insult, which negates the-

“Robello?” Asher snapped me from my mental rambling.

“Fine,” I replied curtly. “But so help me God, if you try anything funny, you’ll be walking bow-legged.”

He dropped my elbow, surprised by my agreement. He didn’t seem a tad bit unnerved by my threat. Guess he’d heard a lot worse with his lifestyle. “I won’t try anything…unless you ask me too.”

Asher handed me his phone, a sleek Samsung Galaxy S5 with an expensive cover before I could reply with a scathing retort. I couldn’t figure out how to work the contraption.

“Stop stabbing the screen,” Asher said. “Give me, just tell me what your number is.”
              I recited my phone number, shuffling away slowly. Asher was watching my retreat with amusement. “You can go now.”

So I did.