One Touch

18: Magnetic Repulsion

I couldn’t explain with words how deep my hatred for dance was. It was the third day I danced with Caspian, and it felt more like a roast party than dance practice.

He wore gloves, black satin gloves similar to Atlanta's, and Zavian's before he went off to be Amber’s partner. They got off on the wrong foot since Amber was giving me jealous, death looks. Later on, Zavian got the hang of her and had her laughing. They were on good terms, but Caspian and I weren’t. At all.

Eddie claimed us ready for the waltz today, and had us form neat rows across the room. He was the counter, and we had to dance according to the beat. I stared at my footing as Caspian took my hand and our arms wrapped around each other. We maintained the closed-dance-hold, where I was a smudge to the right of my partner. It was to prevent our knees from hitting each other as we moved, but they did anyway.

“Keep those backs straight and postures elegant,” Eddie bellowed. “We’ll start on the count of three. Remember, three seconds, three steps. It’s that simple. Before we start, remember to get the feel of ballroom dancing." He placed a hand on his heart. “Imagine that you are the world’s most beautiful person, and you’re dancing with the other most beautiful person.”

I glanced at Caspian and his eyes shifted to meet mine. Our gazes stilled on each other and I wondered if I’d ever look beautiful to him. He was, no doubt, a robust, handsome person, but it didn’t feel right with a crooked twig like me as his partner.

“Imagine you met and instantly locked eyes,” Eddie continued with passion. “That feeling, that love-struck expression, those moonlight kisses, everything should be projected through your dance. Especially at the competition.”

Eddie started the countdown, and I became nervous. It was slow, but went off like an alarm in my ears. Caspian wasn’t helping by teasing me and blowing strands of my hair on my face.

“Hey, knock it off,” I hissed, brushing it back to the sides.

The dance started. Please don’t mess up. I moved gingerly but in all the right directions with decent timing. Caspian held me tight, and he brought me with him when he moved. He did fifty percent of my dance for me, which was a great help but made me feel useless.

“Keep at it guys, I’ll put some music on,” Eddie said. Music was the last thing I needed when I was concentrating on my feet.

The music was soothing, the kind you could find your lost dreams and picture a bright future in. With this kind of atmosphere, I couldn’t focus on the ground. I wanted to look at Caspian and know how he felt. He was staring at me, watching my every move and helping me stay in position by pulling or pushing me according to the beat. I bit my lip, trying to find the pattern on my own.

“I-I got the hang of it,” I told him. In other words, I wanted to try this on my own. His grip loosened on me and I felt my control vanish the second he did. On second thought, this was a bad idea.

We moved without mistake for about ten seconds, and I lost the beat. He moved backward as I moved forward, and by the time I moved backward, he moved forward. We collided and I balanced myself using his shoulder. The dancers near us looked at me and my cheeks flushed. I messed up again. Eddie, who was watching from the front, stopped the music and clapped his hands.

“Well done, everyone!” he said. “We’ll take a short break. Try going at a faster pace once we get back.”

A sigh escaped my lips and my hands slipped from Caspian’s shoulder. Our other hands, however, stayed connected as we dropped them. I could feel the warmth of his palm through the satin glove, and I could feel the warmth of his body whenever we danced. It was everywhere, overwhelming, and his scent was divine. Not strong, but pleasant. It was hard to resist.

“I’ll tutor you,” Caspian said, and I looked up in surprise. “If you want, that is. You seem pretty upset with failing.” I had no spirit anymore, and it was a waste teaching me. I told him exactly that and he brought me in. “We’ll see,” he said.

“You’re never usually this nice,” I said with a raised eyebrow, and he smirked. “What? Saving up your jerkiness for another time?”

Before he could respond, Eddie appeared and told us to separate. We did, but our hands didn’t. Eddie eyed our hands, and my grip loosened. Caspian didn’t get the hint.

“Eve, I was examining your movements and your inability to keep track of the beat while dancing,” Eddie said to me, “and thought you might need some help from the expert.”

“Wait, you’re going to help me?” I said, shocked. Eddie nodded, giving me the offer. He put out his hand for me to take and I took it. This was…was I going to dance with Eddie Emilio? No way. I felt the jealous looks burning on my back.

“Eve…” he said, “It’s the other hand.”

“Oh!” I pulled my hand from Caspian’s strong grip, and he shot me a glare before I turned to Eddie. His face that second etched in my mind when Eddie pulled me into position. It wasn’t pleasant, and I got the feeling I might’ve done something wrong. “Eddie…I think, maybe I should—”

“We’ll count the beat together, alright?” he said, smiling at me. His arm was strong, and his hand joined mine perfectly. “We can do this without the box, can’t we?”

I nodded, my cheek nearly brushing Eddie’s t-shirt. But being here wasn’t as amazing as I first thought it’d be. My feet were moving on their own, by default, but my mind was elsewhere. The others continued to dance and I glanced around in search of Caspian. I couldn’t see him anywhere. I was distant and could barely hear anything Eddie said.

“Focus,” Eddie said, and I looked straight ahead. Eddie was much taller than me, so I wasn’t able to look over his shoulder. He didn’t mind the height, since he moved me across the floor with zero effort.

I found Caspian sitting on a chair to the very corner of the room. One of his feet was up on the chair and an elbow was resting on his knee. From across the room, our eyes found their way to each other and it didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right for me to dance with Eddie.

I’d rather have the jerky one who made my heart flutter now and then, and made my heart hurt with every insult he hit me with. It wasn’t until Caspian’s hand released mine and that glaring expression smouldered on his face I realized, I’d pick him any day. We were like a magnetic duo, yet repulsed each other the closer we came.

Once Eddie was done dancing with me, he handed me back to Caspian. “Buena suerte,” he said, grinning and trotting off. I waited for Caspian to start our dance, but he didn’t move.

“Had fun with the hottie?” he asked, with a mix of sarcasm and solid abomination. I crossed my arms across my chest, and he faked a smile. “Of course you did. Are you all set now? Did he teach you everything?”

“What’s wrong with you?” I said bluntly. “Firstly, why do you care so much? And why do you have to treat everything I do like a joke? I wasn’t able to concentrate with him and no, I didn’t learn anything. Why? Because I wanted to dance with you, not him.”

Caspian's mouth fell jar. “You said he was ‘gorgeous’."

“It doesn’t matter what you think about me,” I said, “and it doesn’t matter how good-looking he is. Or you. It has nothing to do with that. So don’t say s**t to me just to protect your monstrous ego.”

Caspian slipped a thumb under his glove and removed it. “I don’t have that big of an ego,” he said, and I rolled my eyes. “It bothered me.”

“Why?” I said, but he didn’t answer. He took his other glove off and walked to the other side of the room. He was replacing his gloves.

The rest of class sped by, and the bell rang. Atlanta was coming home with me today, and she asked me about my gloomy self in the car. I didn’t tell her much, but she guessed it had something to do with Caspian. She, on the other hand, blabbered on and on about Ronald and how of a gentleman he was. It wasn’t annoying, but I wanted a break. I didn’t want to think about dance class.

When we reached home, I saw Odelia and mom conversing on our driveway. Did dad get another interview with the psychiatrist, or was it a normal meet and greet?

“Hello, girls!” Odelia said when we got out the car. “Cassie and I were just talking about you.” Atlanta and I shared a look as a bright smile spread across Odelia’s face.

“The weather’s not too bad this weekend,” mom said, nodding in agreement of something. “If she doesn’t have heavy homework, then I don’t see why she can’t come.” Where am I going?

“Perfect. It’d be a great change and Atlanta has a friend to tag along with,” Odelia said. I was bundle of confusion. “Ah, I wish my eldest son was here. You guys will have a blast.” I asked her what this was about and she had mom explain to me. “I’m running late for my client, so I’ll be heading off now.” Then, she took off. Huh...

“Some of your friends are going to a camping trip I believe,” mom said. “Is that right, Atlanta?” Atlanta nodded uncertainly. “Odelia wondered if you’d like to go with them, since you’ll be home alone. It’s a long weekend after all, and you’ll back by Monday.”

“And you decided this for me?” I asked.

“You’ve never gone camping, or anything like that before,” mom said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “I want you to go and spend some time out there. With your friends. It’ll be fun.” I was about to disagree but mom asked Atlanta to convince me.

“Come over to my house,” Atlanta said, taking my arm. “We’ll talk about it in my room.”

A camping trip? That in the middle of the school year? That at the beginning of autumn? What were they thinking, and who was going on the trip? Why was I invited? It all was too sudden, but as Atlanta told me about it, I relaxed a little.

“So you guys want to see the sky,” I said, my stomach lying on her mattress. “Like stargazing.” She nodded and shrugged. “But why now of all days? Won’t it be cold?”

“Not on the mountain,” she said. “Besides, the sky looks like that for only a day and comes once in two years. It’s beautiful. There is so much moonlight, so many stars, so many nebulae and colours.” I had to admit that sounded spectacular. “Come with us. It’ll be fun. Not cold. Promise.”

“Okay,” I said with a grin.

We heard thuds downstairs and the slight creaking of stairs as footsteps neared Atlanta’s bedroom. There was one knock on the door and it opened. It was Caspian, and he had his backpack still on. “Why’s she here?” he asked, eyeing me.

“Why not?” Atlanta said, leaning back on her pillow. “Mom invited her to our camping trip tomorrow, so we were talking about that. We’re leaving in the morning, right?”

“Mom did what?” Caspian said, surprise colouring his face. “Is she thinking right? We can’t invite Eve to our camping trip.” That kind of stung a little, but I shrugged it off.

“I want her to come!” Atlanta whined. “The last time we went, I had nobody. She won’t know a thing, and besides, mom is okay with it.”

Caspian whipped out his phone, dialed a number, and put it to his ear. The minute the call was answered, he bellowed into his phone. “Mom, what is this about?” he said. A pause. “Are you crazy? You can’t be serious.” I sat up into a cross-legged position, watching him talk back to his mother. He cut the call.

“Why are you so disrespectful to your mom?” I asked Caspian.

He shot me an icy look. “You don’t know a lot, so stay out of it.” I asked him if I was allowed to come. “You can, but I’d rather you not.” Then, it was settled. I was going.

I rocked back and forth, going back to what Odelia had said a while ago. “Hey, do you guys have an older brother?” I asked, and their eyes flicked to me in seconds. “I mean, did you?”

“Who told you that?” Caspian asked, suspicion rising in his voice. I said Odelia mentioned it while she talked to me on the driveway. “Yes, but we don’t talk about him. Ever.”

“What happened to him?” I asked, although I should’ve kept the question to myself.

“He died,” Atlanta said, sharing a look with Caspian. “In a car crash.” That was the most common reasoning for death it sounded too unreal for me. But if she said so, then I had to believe that was the truth.

“Sorry,” I said. She smiled, but Caspian left the room. He was peeved, but I didn’t know about what. I didn’t want to worry too much. “Now, tell me more about the camping trip. What should I bring? What will we be doing?”

Atlanta eyes widened as she began to unravel information like a travelling brochure. I listened, and got interested and excited with every passing minute. I couldn’t wait to tell dad about this. He probably wouldn’t care.

I kept going back to why Caspian didn’t want me on the trip, like I would cause them bad luck. Was he being his same old Caspian self?? He was yelling at his own mother for it, so he must be serious. I didn’t cause him any grief, and though I wasn’t a notorious adventurer, I liked tourism and landscapes.

When Atlanta told me Amber, Zavian, and the rest of the kingdom would come with us, I got a bad feeling. I didn’t want to call for trouble, and hopefully, they wouldn’t cause any for me either.

It all seemed sudden—a rushed event. But I wanted to go.