Daniel

Daniel walked down the sidewalk, the cool ocean breeze blowing his hair in his face. The salty draft was probably his favorite thing about Freeman so far. He would probably always consider himself a city boy though. Even the lack of traffic made it hard for him to sleep at night, the silence was new to him. Sometimes he could hear seagulls barking in the distance, and if he listened hard he swore he could hear the waves crashing. It was all nice, yet very unfamiliar. He inhaled deeply, taking the salty smell into his lungs. He could tell his thoughts were a little clearer out here; with fewer distractions, perhaps that's what kept him up at night.

"Here we go," Daniel said to himself, pushing open the pearly doors of the dance studio.

He stepped into a large spacious room, with a carpeted floor. There was a door on either side and a large white counter with a wall of dance merchandise behind it. There was a room off to the side of the counter that appeared to be an office. A young woman who appeared to be somewhere in her twenties sat in it. She looked up at him from behind her notes that were spilling across the desk.

"Hi, can I help you?" she asked in a sweet tone accompanied by a smile, but he could tell that she was defending her territory.

"Um, maybe. I was just wondering if I could watch the class."

The cheery expression on her face was replaced with confusion. "Oh really? You interested in joining ballet?"

"Not particularly," he answered. "I'm interested in dance. I'm a breakdancer, and just moved here four days ago, and everybody has been telling me to come check out the studio here."

The dance teacher's smile reappeared. "Sorry, we don't offer that style here."

"All right, sorry for taking your time. Could you tell Anna that I tried? I don't want her beating me up at school or anything.

"Anna?" she asked, sounding interested.

"Yeah, the peppy redhead? She does dance here, doesn't she? She wasn't pulling a prank on me?"

Miss Kelly laughed. "No, she does dance here and that sounds like something that she would do. Tell you what, I know how she can be. Go sit in the back of the class, by the wall, it will be starting soon."

"Thank you." Daniel replied, bowing his head in gratitude.

"You're welcome."

He turned around rather awkwardly, not sure where to go. He scanned the area, there was a door that said locker room, which he knew he'd better stay away from. With his luck, he'd run into Erin, and then she'd accuse him of stalking or something incredibly ridiculous; like trying to steal her clothes, and use them to make a raft, and sail down the beach. All with the sole intention of embarrassing her nonetheless. He realized it was probably safest if he just steered clear of her altogether while he was here. He'd talk to her if he had to, but was hoping he could just talk to May if he was going to be forced to converse with anyone.

He looked to the other side of the room, there was a long pane of glass, with a distorted image, and the blinds on the inside were partially drawn. He could make out the figures of girls moving around inside. That must be the studio he was supposed to go in. Daniel opened the door and stepped inside.

He stopped dead in his tracks. His breath dropped, and his shoulders sagged. His very being gaining un enthusiasm as if it would help erase him from the situation. Erin. Why, why was he always running into Erin. They stood for a few awkward seconds. He thought about ignoring her and walking away, but he knew it wouldn't be that simple. She'd surely get mad that he blew her off, and he knew she wanted to say something.

"What are you doing here?" Erin asked, her arms crossed, her mouth likewise. Yep, typical hostile Erin. He had to wonder if this was all because of that fated wardrobe malfunction. Or maybe it was the time he sprayed her with the hose. Or shoved her into a towel hook, forcing her to sit through his unfortunate bathroom experience reenacting the tragedy of Pompeii. In his head, he had labeled that "The Feces Fiasco, Episode Two". Maybe she did have a reason to be upset. Every time they bumped into each other something tended to go wrong.

"Well, I heard there was a dance studio in town. Thought I would check it out." He responded trying to sound friendly, and avoid setting her off.

"You do ballet?"

He could tell that question was rhetorical and was meant to question his presence there. It was then that he realized many of the other girls were staring in their direction. He didn't blame them. It was probably weird for them too. Not as much as it was for him, but unusual all the same. He looked back at Erin.

"Maybe I do."

"I'd work on my flexibility then if I were you."

She spun around, speeding away quickly as if her last words were worthy of a knockout punch, though in truth they barely phased him. He laughed a little on the inside, he was pretty sure he was a lot more flexible than she thought. It was a shame he didn't have a chance to prove her wrong.

He watched for a second as she walked away, her hair was tightly woven in a bun which seemed oddly appropriate. The smell of fresh laundry and lavender hung in the air where she once stood. It was odd for such a calming scent to waft off such a stressed-out girl. The smell surrounding her was probably the sweetest thing about Erin.

"HEY!"

Daniel almost jumped. He knew that loud voice anywhere. It was May.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, walking up to him.

He rolled his eyes mildly annoyed. It seemed like everyone was asking him that question, despite being told to go there by her mother Monica, Benjamin, Anna, a random kid in class, and May herself. He was basically bullied into showing up, it wasn't like he had a specific reason for being there.

Daniel mentally calmed himself before answering. "Well, multiple people have told me to come check out the studio so I decided to see what it's all about."

May smiled. "Well, cool beans," she turned away, pleased, and joined up with Alexis and another dark-haired girl, he didn't know the name of. The students began stretching, and Daniel realized Erin might have had a point earlier. He was still sure that his flexibility would take her by surprise but knew he was nowhere near as flexible as these girls.

Alexis gave him a cold glare, he began to think the teen just suffered from resting bitch face syndrome. He chanced a friendly wave. He could practically hear the "Humph" as she whipped her head around, her hair shunning him from view. Nope. She's actually a bitch. At that moment, the teacher came in to break the tension, introducing the stranger to the class. After Miss Kelly announced his reason for being there he could feel most of the looks around the room turn away from him as if that sort of thing wasn't out of the ordinary.

He slumped against the back wall and let himself slide to the floor in a cross-legged position. His eyes caught Anna's and her beaming face in the mirror. She winked at him, maintaining eye contact, till Erin caught her attention. That was interesting.

He hadn't known that Anna and Erin were friends. He knew that she danced but that was it. Actually, the more he thought about it he didn't really know much about any of these girls other than the Mattli sisters, and Alexis. There were a couple of faces he recognized from class. An awkward but kind girl named Shelly, who was in history with him. At least he thought it was history, and then another girl named Hannah who was in math. There were a few others he recognized from the hall, but they were all strangers to him. He hadn't socialized with anyone too much yet. There was a group of guys who took him in, as culturally different as he was. Strangely enough, being accepted and surrounded by others, and not fitting in made him feel lonelier. He missed his old friends, Daniel let out a sigh.

His eye's traced away from the two friends and landed on a poster. Leap. That was the title the rest of it read, "Never fear the if's. Your dreams are worth the chance, leap into them without fear." The picture was of a woman with strong features. Not just in the insane leg muscles but in her face as well. She boasted an air of confidence, as she seemingly conquered flight. He rather liked the picture, he couldn't agree more. There were many times in his dance career that proved that statement true. If he had given up every time he thought he was gonna fail, there would be many dance moves he never would've learned. It was also true to his situation. His mother and he took a chance, leaving their old lives behind, plunging into this new world of Freeman. Sure, it had consequences for him, but it helped his mom achieve so much more. So of course, he leaped at the opportunity and tried his best to hide any negative feelings he had about the situation.

The girls moved away from the bars that they had been squatting at and crowded into one corner of the room. He watched as they took turns trying to recreate the poster he was just analyzing. It turned out that Shelly could really leap, the amount of air she got was ridiculous. Daniel studied her form. She had long legs, and while raising them into midair splits, the floor would naturally seem farther away from her body. Unlike May who was a bit shorter, so she was already closer to the ground. He also noticed May just wasn't that good of a jumper anyways.

May smiled as she did it. Knowing when she messed up or led with the wrong leg. May knew it wasn't her strong suit and she owned it. He appreciated that kind of confidence. Back home his friend Sparky frequently found a hard time finding her balance. As he suspected May had as well. Although, while she was practicing rotating on one foot, they were practicing spinning on their head. Sparky owned up and admitted her faults and never gave up just like May. Now she could head spin with the best of them. No doubt May worked just as hard. Daniel cracked a weak smile.

The next girl leaped across the room, her splits flat, and her muscles bulging. He was impressed she was probably the best at leaping in the class. Her form was nearly spot on. Or at least identical to the poster that he was basing them off. Daniel looked in the mirror to see her face. Erin. Well, I'll be damned. He thought. She may not care about school, but he could tell dance meant a lot to her.

The students performed some other exercises and practiced techniques, his eyes watching them all the while, breaking down their forms, analyzing the anatomy of how and why some performed better than others. After witnessing her move he had a hunch Erin was naturally gifted with hip flexibility. Possibly double-jointed. It seemed her legs could move wherever they pleased freely, he had to retract his earlier thought of one-upping her in flexibility. Though he might surprise her he knew she would be far from impressed. Alexis, as cold as she was, turned out to be very talented, as well as possessing a flexible spine. It was all impressive, back in the cities most of the dancers in his community were male. Here they were all female, and contrary to what many may think, their strength was no joke.

The girls soon moved to the end of their group dances, Miss Kelly asked them to practice a jazz number. The music blared and jolted Daniel from his trance. He was logging statistics of gender differences, and the genres of dance; but that all came to an end very quickly.

The girls before him started moving and swaying their hips. He suspected this was a classier version of jazz, but it seemed promiscuous all the same. He had been so focused on their form and the physics of their movement that he hadn't fully realized the reality of the situation. He was a teenage boy, sitting in a room full of girls wearing tights and spandex, watching them stretch, and bend in ways he never thought he'd see. He tried his best to avert his eyes but found them wandering, scanning the room. May had removed layers, having grown warm from practice. She now only wore a sports bra (that wasn't doing much to help her) and spandex shorts. He could feel his palms grow sweaty, he moved his eyes away, Alexis slid into view. The girl had no curves to speak of. This might be good. There would be less for him to daydream about, but his mind wandered, the girl's shorts were almost as tight as her abs, which were more defined than Anna's. The little demon was seriously hot. Now he looked at the fiery redhead that forced him down here in the first place. She wore some sort of sweats with a crazy print, and her hair thrown up on her head. She too wore a sports bra revealing a toned core. Daniel again had to avert his gaze, it seemed like almost every girl had cut down on the amount of clothes they wore. He couldn't blame them because they were working hard. Heck, it wasn't uncommon for him to dance shirtless, after a good practice session.

The odor that wafted through the room was more than unappealing and he welcomed it to clear his mind. Girls may try and uphold a certain image, but they sweat just like everyone else. He turned his attention to their feet just to be safe and tried to focus on the technique and discipline it took to pull off what they were doing. He couldn't help it though, his eyes traced up to their fit legs, and to their tight shorts.

The girls struck a pose and the music cut out. Daniel wasn't sure what he watched, but he was glad that they couldn't read his mind. Miss Kelly sent them for water breaks, which the girls were more than happy to do. He was pleased with what he saw, and not just the jazz. It seemed that ballet was the core of dance, and shared many things in common with his own style of breakdancing. They might not seem the same at first, given he was upside down half the time, and the girls maintained great posture, but each style of dance held many elements of geometry and especially physics; his best subject. They were applying the same concepts in different ways.

Maybe everyone was right in telling him to come here. It was nice to be surrounded by dancers again. They participated in the opposite style of his own but he still didn't feel lost. Daniel looked at Anna, he would have to thank her later. Just being able to watch dance again made him feel more at home.

"All right girls, let's run some solos. Who wants to go first?" It was Miss Kelly, rallying them back to the floor. These students really worked hard.

May raised her hand, "I have to leave for work miss Kelly."

Daniel felt a small sadness creep over him, which came as a surprise. There wasn't any real reason that he should feel bummed over her departure but the disappointment hung over him all the same.

The instructor excused May with a simple head nod. She took her leave crossing to her sister before exiting the room. She leaned in close to Erin, assumedly to whisper something, Daniel could only guess as to what. He watched as May disappeared without so much as acknowledging him.

"I'll go first."

He snapped his head to see Erin stepping out from the crowd. She put a lot more effort into dance than into school, he noted. The rest of her peers took up spots sitting in front of the mirror, while Erin turned her back on them. Her gaze connected with his own, and then like candlelight flickered.

Music queued and his neighbor began moving. Daniel was unfamiliar with this style of dance but Erin was mesmerizing. She was beautiful, graceful, even... gentle. Everything she wasn't when not dancing. Perhaps he didn't have her figured out as much as he thought he had. Her song was a sad ballad of abandonment, and her choreography reflected as much. He wondered if she came up with the moves herself, or if the teacher had created the dance for her. He watched as she twirled, maintaining control, and leaped with strength. The song grew in intensity and so did her movements, further captivating his attention. He was hardly noticing form and physics anymore. Her actions were smooth and fluent, stirring something inside of him. It was almost hard for him to believe that this was the same girl.

Erin leaped up, her hips switching direction in the air. She landed swinging one leg back. Daniel knew she wouldn't make it. Her body rotated, her head now even with the floor, at this trajectory she would land on her back, unless... Daniel nodded and smiled. Erin shot one hand out tapping the floor, giving herself just enough extra push to complete her rotation and landing. Unless she did that.

His neighbor rolled to the floor, her back to the audience. She spun right in front of him. Daniel pulled his legs in, not knowing where she might move next. As she twisted, her legs shot to either side using her hip flexibility that he had noticed earlier. It was only a split second but a second that would be burned into his mind for some time to come. The image of his cute, but ill-tempered, graceful, yet clumsy neighbor spreading her legs, no more than four feet in front of him. He felt a nervous pounding in his chest. No matter how much he tried to avoid her, how much he wished to just dismiss her from his mind, she found a way to reappear. This time in a bold manner. He could tell why she'd choose not to position herself facing the audience during this move, a good call, and his sitting choice a bad one.

It wasn't so much that sprawling girls in spandex bothered him, it was the fact that it was Erin. Hopefully, she was too absorbed in her dance to realize she just crotched the one person he was sure she hated more than anyone in Freeman. The music began to fade, concluding what he believed to be a truly beautiful dance. The rest of the class clapped, and Shelly raised her hand to give a correction. Daniel's eyes traced to the exit where he had felt a presence. May was just leaving dressed in what he assumed was a retail uniform. Looks like he wouldn't get to see the older Mattli sister perform a solo today. He turned his eyes back to the class, Erin sat down next to Anna and instantly locked eyes. Shit. She noticed.

Or maybe she didn't. Her face didn't look angry, just exhausted. Their eye contact held, and he figured he'd better let her know she did a good job. He wasn't sure what to look for, or what she did right or wrong, but as far as he was concerned it was a near-perfect performance. All she needed to do was stick her landing on the flip. He'd give her a nine out of ten, but knew how erratic she could be. Instead, he opted to give her a score of ten that he translated to her with the usual hand gesture. Wrong answer.

Erin's slightly red face grew darker. What'd he do wrong now? It's not like he had an eleventh finger to give her a higher score with, she was lucky to get the ten.

Ten? Shit. Apparently, Erin didn't forget things as easily as he did. No doubt her mind went back to the first time they had ever seen each other. Daniel put one hand on his knee pushing himself up. This girl was impossible, it was about time he took his leave before he dug a deeper hole. In any case, he had seen enough, and May was gone. It seemed things would only go downhill from there.

Harpy or not though, Erin had inspired him to get some practice of his own in. She was obviously training hard for something, and though there were no competitions for him around Freeman that he knew of, it was never a bad idea to simply improve one's self. Now the only question was where would be a good spot to practice. He pushed the doors open, stepped outside, and was greeted by a familiar; and not-so-happy face. Nate recognized Daniel first.

"What the fuck are you doing here squirt?" the six-foot-something jock asked.

The teen little more than towered over Daniel, and had easily hoisted him off the ground earlier that week. His arms were like redwoods, only tan. Oh, and they were big too, real big. But despite all this and their confrontation from before, the only thought Daniel had rushing through his head was, "Why is everybody asking me why I'm here?"

"I was just checking out the dance studio," he answered the question, for what seemed like the fourth time that day.

"That better be all your checking out."

"Dude, what's the issue? I'm a dancer, my teacher told me to check this place out."

Nate started up the steps towards him.

"I told you to stay away from my girl, you fairy."

"That was a girl?" Daniel asked sarcastically referring to Alexis. "Let's be honest, your man boobs are bigger than hers are. What are you a D cup?

"You little bitch. I can lay your ass out with one punch!"

Daniel tucked his thumbs into his pockets casually with a smile. "I'm sure you could, and I'm sure in the future you'll flip more burgers than me too. Any other fun facts? Or can I be on my way?"

Nate stepped to the side gesturing for Daniel to leave. "You're free to go nerd."

"Thanks, caveman," he said, taking his first step down the stairs.

The thought was just crossing his mind on how dangerous the situation could've been, when he felt himself fly forward, a not-so mysterious force being applied to his back. Daniel wasn't going to spin himself out of this one. He shot his arms out as he somersaulted down the stairs, his elbows and shoulders taking the brute of the fall. He rolled to his feet hiding the newfound pain that the steps had bestowed upon him.

"Have a nice trip?" Nate laughed.

How original.

"Tell me something Nate," Daniel started as he adjusted his glasses. "Am I special, or do you take all your men from behind?"

Nate stormed down the stairs. "All right jack ass you could've just walked away, but you wanna fight then let's fight. I'm right here," he stood with his arms spread wide, inviting Daniel to swing at him.

Daniel's muscles tensed, he wanted to. It wouldn't have been his first fistfight, and it probably wouldn't be his last. He looked up at Nate. The dance studio sign was displayed behind his head. He took a deep breath calming himself. Not here. The last thing he wanted was a group of gossiping girls, to watch him get knocked out. Was it possible for him to hold his own, normally yes, but against Nate, he wasn't so sure. What really bothered him was how disrespectful it would've been to fight outside the studio, especially after how nice Miss Kelly was to him. Daniel smiled, he wouldn't want her to ban him from ever visiting again.

Lastly, he knew his mom would be disappointed in him. They came here to start a new life, he'd better try his best not to repeat the past. He shook his head.

"Another time Nate."

"What are you chicken?"

"Whether I beat your ass, or get mine beat by you, neither scares me, Nate. What does though is if I do manage to knock you out, I'll have to date Alexis."

Nate opened his mouth but Daniel cut his words short.

"But you'd probably just move onto Erin Mattli wouldn't you?" he flashed a cocky grin, his shoulder begging him to stop antagonizing the jock before he sent him for another tumble.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Nate asked, sounding offended.

"Why else would you tell me to stay away from her the other day? Don't worry I'm not interested in Erin either. Definitely not. What'd you call me the other day? Faggot? Yeah. I'm not interested in girls, I like big strong men... Like you." Daniel said in the most serious voice he could muster.

Was he homosexual? Absolutely not. He thought Alexis and Erin were very attractive, more than most girls even, but he couldn't help himself. He loved the thought of homophobic confusion rushing through Nate's skull as he tried to figure out whether he was more uncomfortable than he was angry.

"Have a good day Nate."

Daniel turned down the sidewalk before Nate could answer. He was sure he was making the right choice walking away... but then why did he feel so bad?