Ten: Dance Studio

They grabbed something to eat at a Burrito place not far from the studio. It all felt very casual and not at all felt like a date. They were just two friends hanging out on Saturday night because they both didn't have anything else to do, no one else to hang out with.

When they arrived at the dance studio, the day was already dark. He took his large backpack from the back of the car, he brought at least three sets of clothes for changing, knee pads, elbow pads, extra socks, shoes. She never realizes that being a dancer was similar to being an athlete.

The entrance of the studio was like a gym, they went through a narrow corridor all the way to the back and went into a double door where the dance hall was. It was a wide room, it was maybe half the size of the whole floor of the building, the walls were lined with mirrors.

All the other dancers that were already there greeted him warmly, and then they all turned to look at her. Most of them looked much older than him, in their early twenties. Lee said he was one of the youngest at the studio, only a couple of other dancers were in their teens.

She almost froze with all eyes staring at her. These dancers were like his family because they see him almost every day, it must've been a big surprise for them to see him bring a new face into the group.

"Hey there! Are you new?" Samantha came over her extending her arm to her.

"Hey everybody, this is my friend Hazel ... she wants to watch our practice today, I hope you don't mind," Lee said.

Samantha gasped, "Of course not ... Hi! ... Welcome ... welcome ...I'm Samantha, everybody calls me Sam, I've been dancing with Lee since he was 6 ... and never have I ever seen him bringing a friend ... this is so special."

She was almost like Lee's big sister, throughout the whole night she talked about how talented Lee was. She showed her a glass display of his trophies and medals that he won from multiple competitions to a point where Lee was actually blushing and asked her not to bore Hazel with his dance achievements.

Hazel was of course beyond impressed, but she kept it to herself. His passion for dancing was something she admires from her new friend. She enjoyed every moment she was there watching them all moving their bodies with the music simultaneously with each other. She sat on the floor, her eyes fixed on their movements with a wide smile.

Then he did a solo.

And his eyes were gazing at her time and time again. He was smiling, he has that dimple on his cheek. She hugged her knees on the floor, she pressed her lips together to hide her giggle. 

On the last note of the song, Lee did a flip and turned over and over towards her and ended up sitting in front of her with his sweet smile and his eyes looking right into hers. They laughed lightly.

"Impressive ... as always," she said.

"Thanks ... are you bored yet?"

"Never."

"I think it's time for me to take you home," he said.

She looked at the clock, it was 10.30. It's amazing how quickly time goes by when she was having a really good time.

"You wanna go?" he asked.

"Not really ..." she laughed.

He was silent for a moment, not sure how to react to what she said.

"But I have to," she added.

He nodded and stood up. He pulled up his sweater and there he stood half-naked, she'd never seen another boy without his shirt except for Max, and maybe Theo. She pretended not to look when he changed to fresh clothes, although she wanted so badly to sneak a picture and send it to Jan.

He extended his hand to her after he was ready to help her up. She took it.

They said their goodbyes to the rest of the group and Samantha pulled him away before he went out the double door.

"She's sooo cute," she whispered in Lee's ear.

He laughed lightly.

"You are exempt from your Saturday night practices, okay? Ask her out on a date or something," she said.

"Oh ... she's not interested in me like that ... I don't think ..." 

"What? What do you mean? She doesn't have a boyfriend, does she? She wouldn't be here on a Saturday night with you?"

His smile faded, "No ... but I think she likes someone else ... I have to go." Hazel was waiting at the other side of the door and he didn't want her to know he was talking about her.

"That can be arranged ... okay, I'll talk to you later ... remember ... exempt ..."

He waved at her and walked out of the door.

Hazel was so sure that day she submitted her letter for Theo that no one had seen her. Lee was right behind her when she walked out of the room, he went in to put in his own letter and saw that pink glittery envelope with TJ's name on it. He had his suspicion long before that because he'd seen her by the soccer field all the time watching with a twinkle in her eyes at the guy he bumped into right before they left her house.