And just like that, I was famous.
Well, I was famous adjacent.
Come Monday morning I had a whole new appreciation for what it felt like to be famous. I was not a fan.
“So he’s single then?” Tilly asked for the tenth time from the other end of our lunch table.
“I don’t know,” I hedged. “I think so.”
The academy’s cafeteria was crowded, and for the first time ever I was the center of attention. How much worse would it be if they knew that Derek Taylor was one of the Taylors? That he was a freakin’ rich-as-Midas celebrity with an entire wing of his own back at his house in DC?
If I thought I was famous-adjacent now, I could only imagine what it would be like if Tilly and her friends got wind of that. I squirmed in my seat as Tilly gave a huff and a “Whatever” before dropping this latest interrogation. I breathed a sigh of relief when they started up on a new topic that had nothing to do with Derek.
It wasn’t like I was shy or terrified of attention. But I was awfully tired of the never-ending questions about my new houseguest.
When I glanced up from my yogurt to see Collette wincing, I rolled my eyes. “You don’t have to keep apologizing. I’m over it.”
“I didn’t realize it would be such big news,” she said.
I arched my brows. “That the hot new guy in town is crashing at my house?”
She winced again. “Touché.” She leaned forward, partially blocking Tilly’s glare.
My vague answers were not what she was looking for. Tilly wasn’t my favorite, but I could kind of understand where she was coming from. She and I were among that nearly extinct population of single people in our school. Of course she’d be intensely interested in the hot new guy.
Not that I thought of Derek as hot. But still...he was. It was an objective fact. It was a fact that Collette, Bianca, and Cora had been all too eager to share with the other girls at the academy.
Eve didn’t have to share. I imagined every girl at Oakwood High was already well aware that they had a new hottie in their midst. They were probably clawing each other’s eyes out just to get his attention.
“You’re still mad,” Collette said with a sigh.
I glanced up. “What? No, I’m not. I told you, I’m over it.”
“Then why are you scowling down into your yogurt like it just went bad?”
I looked back down at the yogurt. Had I looked that angry? Yeah. I guess maybe I didn’t love the thought of all those girls hanging all over Derek. But it wasn’t like I was jealous.
My phone dinged, and I scrambled to grab it out of my bag. Finally!
“What’s up?” Collette asked.
“Nothing, just…” I trailed off because he’d done it. Derek had finally sent me a selfie.
I laughed at the unamused face he was making, which was followed by a text.
Derek: Happy now?
I quickly typed back.
Me: Have I been a pest?
Derek: Twenty texts in last the two hours asking if I’m okay on my first day? Nah. That’s totally normal.
I snickered. I had been a little crazy this morning, but in my defense, I was worried. He wasn’t used to normal school. Besides, a first day at a new school would be nerve wracking for anyone.
Me: I’ll take it from that beautiful selfie that you’re over the moon happy at your new school.
He sent a smiley emoji back and then another text.
Derek: It’s been good so far. You’ll be happy to hear you don’t have to murder Ethan. He’s been an excellent tour guide.
I laughed again, and Collette sighed with impatience. “What is going on over there?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
I didn’t look up, but I could hear the amusement in Collette’s voice. “Nothing, huh? I don’t think I’ve ever seen this smile.”
I glanced up to see her waving a hand in the general vicinity of my face. “This smile? It does not say ‘nothing.’”
I waved a hand back, as if I could shoo her away like a fly and ignored her comment about my smile. “Your boyfriend gets a gold star for being such a team player on Derek’s first day.”
She beamed, like she always did at the mere mention of Ethan.
Oh crap. Was that how I’d been smiling?
“So his first day is going okay?” she asked.
Cora sat down beside me, and Bianca joined us a minute later. “What did we miss?” Cora asked.
Collette answered before I could. “Derek is having a good first day.”
“Oh good,” Cora said.
“Now Olivia can stop fretting over him like he’s a little kid on his first day in kindergarten.”
“I was not—” I stopped when I took in their expressions. They were all staring at me with arched brows, as if just waiting for me to deny it.
“Fine,” I said, jabbing my spoon back into the yogurt cup. “Maybe I was a little worried.”
Cora patted my arm. “He’s not a little kid anymore, Olivia. I’m sure he’s going to fit in just fine.”
I nodded, pretending not to hear Bianca’s muttered comment about how no woman in her right mind could miss the fact that he wasn’t a little kid.
If everyone could just stop pointing out how hot Derek had become for just one freakin’ minute, my day would be so much better. But nooo. That’s all any of my friends wanted to talk about.
It was irritating that they were obsessed with how hot he was, but at least they were in happy relationships. There was no chance that any of them would want to date him. What was more frustrating was the fact that word was spreading. Oakwood High was full of girls who had a front row seat to the hot Derek show. Why couldn't he have shown up as Dorky Derek? My life would be so much easier if he had.
Sure, even to me, this seemed like it could possibly be jealousy at work, but it wasn’t. It was concern. Derek might have lived in a different city, but it might as well have been a different universe. He was totally out of his element here, and no one knew that better than me.
I glared down at my phone, but it was impossible not to smile when I saw that selfie. I was used to seeing his smile at this point, but this brooding look?
He wore it well.
I wasn’t sure how long I sat there staring at the picture, but when my phone buzzed in my hand with a new text, I jumped.
Derek: What are you doing after school?
I felt my lips curving up in another grin, and then I smothered it. I didn’t need Collette asking me why I was smiling again.
I typed back quickly that I’d meet him at home later because I had to stay after school to rehearse a new choreography routine for a scholarship competition hosted by The San Francisco Ballet.
He texted a frowny face, and I went to reply, but the bell rang. Needing a break from worry about Derek and what I couldn’t control, I slipped my phone into my backpack and hurried to my next period.
By the end of the day, it was a relief to escape to an empty studio. Most of the girls had either gone back to the dorms, gone home, or were in the football dance class down the hall. I finally had a moment of peace.
Which was a good thing, because I had a ton of work to do. Mrs. Boucher had let me skip some of the dance classes to pursue my own private study in choreography once I’d proven that I was dedicated. But I never wanted to take advantage of that perk I’d been given, and I meant to make her proud.
I thought of my parents who’d given up everything when we’d all uprooted our lives, so I could come here.
I planned on making them all proud.
I turned on the music I was choreographing my piece to as I stretched, giving myself some time to listen to the music and feel it.
Yeah, that would have sounded corny if I’d ever said it aloud, but that was how I felt about music. It wasn’t just something I heard, it was something I felt.
I blamed Patrick Swayze. When he’d held Baby’s hand to his heart and made her feel the beat, I could have sworn I felt it too. And in that moment, music and dance—it clicked. I got it in a way I never had before then.
That’s what I wanted audiences to experience when they saw my dances. I wanted them to see it, hear it, and feel it.
I set out my notebook, where I kept notes of my ideas as I worked out new routines, and drew in a deep breath. With my eyes closed, I let myself go.
Like always, the rest of the world went with it. Thoughts faded, sounds from the other studio ceased to matter, the ache in my left calf dulled, and every concern was replaced by the rhythm that moved me.
I danced like that once, twice...by the time the song was set to repeat for a third time, I opened my eyes and shrieked.
“Sorry!” Derek’s eyes went wide, and he held his hands palms out in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I clapped a hand over my heart. “How did you even get in here?”
He gestured to the hallway behind him. “The guys were all coming here for practice, so I thought I’d tag along and surprise you.” He winced. “Surprise?”
Now that my heart had stopped ricocheting against my ribcage, I started to laugh. Walking over, I smacked his arm. “Don’t do that to me.”
He rocked back on his heels with a funny little grin. “I don’t remember you being such a scaredy-cat.”
I laughed harder. “I’m not a scaredy-cat. I just don’t like creepers sneaking up on me unannounced.”
“Creeper, huh? I’m not the one who snuck up on me when I was shirtless.”
“What?” I gasped, my jaw dropping as my eyes widened in horror. “I didn’t mean to—I mean, I wasn’t—” I stopped abruptly when I realized he was laughing at me. I let out a loud sigh. “You’re joking.”
He laughed harder. “Of course I’m joking.”
I smacked his arm again, but this time I winced as my hand connected with a rock. “Ouch.”
“Sorry.”
“You should be sorry,” I muttered. “When did you get so many muscles?”
He shrugged. “I had nothing better to do than lift weights once my best friend moved away.”
I smiled. “Good answer.”
“I thought so.” He nodded toward the center of the studio where I’d been dancing. “You were amazing out there.”
My cheeks heated. I couldn’t believe it. I never blushed. But try telling that to my flaming hot cheeks. I dipped my head and shuffled my feet. “Thanks.”
His hand came under my chin and gently lifted it, so I was forced to meet his gaze. “I mean it, Olivia. I’ve always known you were talented, but that…” He nodded toward the dance space again and dropped his hand. “That was incredible.”
Then his blue eyes were back on me, and I could have sworn I felt his gaze as surely as if he were touching me.
For a second, my lungs forgot how to work. The air felt too thin, like I couldn’t get enough oxygen as his gaze held mine. There was something there. Something I’d never seen before.
Was that change in him? Or was it the way I was seeing him? Or was it...us?
And then he blinked, and it was gone. “I’m jealous of you, you know.”
He’d tucked his hands into his pockets as he said it, and he wore this rueful smile that was just a little sad.
“You?” I said, my eyes widening. “You are jealous of me?”
He laughed softly. “Is that so hard to believe?”
I blinked a few times. Was he serious? I glanced down at my second-hand clothes and pointed meaningfully at the hole in the tights that I kept meaning to replace. “Yeah. That’s...kind of hard to believe that you could be jealous of anything I have.”
“I’m jealous of a lot of things you have,” he said.
I held my breath for a second because I’d never heard him speak so seriously.
He shrugged. “Your family is so supportive. Your friends are so loyal.”
I swallowed hard when he gave his head a shake and looked away over my shoulder. Almost like he didn’t want me to see whatever it was he was feeling.
“But that…” He gestured again to my dance space. “You have such a natural talent and a passion for a dream that you’ve never doubted.”
“You have football,” I offered.
He sighed. “It’s a pastime. Not a passion. But mostly I’m jealous because you have the freedom to pursue what makes you happy.” He muttered something under his breath that sounded a whole lot like, “Who makes you happy.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
He shook his head again, and his smile almost made me forget I’d seen a hint of true sadness.
Almost.
“Come on,” he said, his voice changing to his far more typical tone. “Show me how you do what you do.”
“I... I…” I looked from him to the dance space. “I don’t know how.”
“Sure you do.” His eyes glinted with...something. Something I wasn’t sure how to define—and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to. It was almost flirtatious. Maybe. But maybe not.
“Olivia.”
Oh man. His voice was so deep and rumbly it made my belly flutter. “Yes?”
He leaned forward like he was letting me in on a secret. “Your favorite movie is about people learning how to dance. Surely you’ve picked up a thing or two.”
I burst out laughing at that. “You’re right. First lesson.” I held his arms out like we would waltz and then mirrored the gesture. “This is my dance space. This is your dance space…”
At the same time we both said, “Spaghetti arms.” Then we burst out laughing.
“I am so glad none of my new teammates witnessed that,” he said.
I laughed even harder. “What? You don’t want the world to know that you’ve watched Dirty Dancing a hundred and twelve times?”
He looked thoughtful. “I think it’s more like a hundred and thirteen.”
I grinned. “But who’s counting?”
He laughed. “Okay, seriously. Say I want a dance lesson, where would we begin?”
“Okay, in all seriousness…” I took his hands and dragged him to the middle of the floor. “Let’s start with the basics.”
He nodded, but I hesitated. I couldn’t shake his earlier sadness, and I didn’t want to ignore it. Not if there was something I could do. “Derek, I know how lucky I am to have a passion, and to have a family who supports that,” I started slowly. I was standing slightly behind him as I shifted his feet, so he was in a good starting position. Our eyes met and held in the mirror. “But you have the world at your fingertips,” I said. “That’s not nothing.”
“I know,” he said. “I don’t mean to sound ungrateful.”
I squeezed his arm because I hadn’t thought that for a second. “No, I just meant, I know your family has expectations, but maybe it’s time to think of the good you can do with your family’s money and influence, and not just what they want you to do with it. You know?”
He nodded. “Yeah. That makes sense.”
“Even if they don’t always support your decisions, I know your parents love you,” I said. “And you’re going to graduate soon. They can’t keep you under their thumb forever.”
His gaze bore into mine in the mirror. “Do you have any idea how much I appreciate you? You’re the only person who seems to accept me for me. And to love me exactly as I am.”
I swallowed and willed away the stinging sensation in the back of my eyes. “Well, hopefully here in Oakwood you’ll meet even more people who see how amazing you are.” I leaned forward and rested my head against his shoulder. In the mirror I watched him tilt his head down until it brushed against mine. “Until then,” I whispered. “You’ve got me. I’ll always be in your corner.”
Our gazes held for a long moment. Just when the silence started to feel too heavy, too tense, too...something, he smiled at my reflection and whispered back, “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.”
My head fell back with a laugh because that right there?
That was why I loved my best friend.