Summer Intensive (Summer Kisses! YA Short Story)

by Frase, Lisa

“Then I’ll turn away and dance on my own. I could throw in a pirouette à la seconde, grande, and you could stop and stare at me with your hands on your hips, then you could chase me.” Travis’ smile messed with my concentration.

  “As if.” I rolled my eyes then did a double take. “Can you do that? A pirouette à la seconde, grande?” I asked in disbelief.

  “Can I do that? Of course I can. Watch.” He jumped up and executed perfect spins.

  How did he go from clumsy jerk-off to amazingly wonderful? If anyone would have told me a week earlier that I would be sitting here crushing on Travis after the most incredible kiss, I would have thought they were on crack.

  My head was spinning. Travis sat down next to me and grinned like a little boy who’d just won his first video game. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “That was awesome,” I said.

  “Thanks.”

  He squeezed my hand, and, for a moment, I could feel my heart beat pulsating through me.

  “It’s getting late. I’ll walk you back to your dorm,” Travis said.

  We changed shoes, gathered our bags and headed out the door. Chanie and Brian followed. As soon as we reached the girl’s dorm, I turned to tell Travis goodnight, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the two lovebirds behind us.

  We walked around to the side of the building where Travis took my bag from me and set it alongside his on the ground then pulled me into a knock-me-off-my-feet kiss.

  I took in a deep breath of air as we parted. We looked into each other’s eyes, just stared for a moment before he pulled me into a hug and held me there. I liked being in his arms with my head rested against his chest.

  “What are we doing, Travis?” I whispered.

  “I don’t know, but I like it. I like you.” He pulled back and looked at me then smiled.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. This whole thing with Travis was crazy, mixed-up, and completely unexpected.

  “I like you too,” I said.

  He kissed me again. His lips were soft, and sweet, and he made me want more. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed my fingers through his thick, dark curls. He tightened his hold around me and ran his hands up and down my back. We kissed like that for a long time, then we just held each other.

  “I wish I could stay right here, but we both need some shut eye if we are going to be any good for classes tomorrow.” Travis stepped away and ran his hand through his hair. Then he picked up his bag, kissed me one more time, and turned to go. “Goodnight.”

  “Goodnight.” I was in a dreamlike trance all the way to my room. I plopped onto my bed and sighed, then giggled, and screamed into my pillow.

  ***

  “It’s not going to work.” I put my hands on my hips and gave Travis my best you’ve-lost your-mind look.

  “It will work. Trust me.” He imitated me with his hands on hips and his best puppy dog eyes.

  “I have an aversion to broken bones. Let’s just do the lift and leave it at that.” I walked over to the iPod and hit play. The music keyed up as I got into position.

  I could tell Travis was annoyed with me, but, really, he was nuts if he thought I was going to let him swing me around like a monkey swings in a tree. I could just see myself landing on the floor and my body cracked open with blood splattered all over the dance studio. It wasn’t a pretty picture.

  I tried to pretend that Travis was another partner, someone I wasn’t crushing on, but it was impossible, especially since he had to touch me in order for us to dance.

  We moved together in a perfect sequence across the floor–spinning, leaping, moving apart, and coming together again. It was as if we were one in the dance.

  It wasn’t like this two years ago. He wasn’t like this. All of this mushiness was going to my head.

  Thinking about Travis caused me to lose my concentration on the steps and stumble, but he caught me, and, instead of continuing the dance, he turned me towards him and kissed me. I was positive I’d just died and gone to heaven.

  As his mouth moved over mine, I melted like chocolate in the hot sun. He tightened his hold on me and plunged his tongue into my mouth before he broke the kiss. “Trust me, Marianna. Lift, roll, swing, land. We can do it.”

  I pushed on his chest to move away from him. “Are you trying to seduce me into getting what you want?”

  His smile nearly knocked me on my butt –again. I could have stared at his sexy smile forever, except that I wasn’t going to let him win. “It’s not going to work. I’m not going to do it.”

  “You will if you love me.” Travis grinned from ear to ear, and kissed me again.

  I almost fell for it.

  Almost.

  I knew he was joking. “Really? Seriously? Well, I don’t love you. I’m not even sure I like you right now.” I poked him in the chest with my finger, then went over to the wall and slid down to the floor. “I think I liked you better when you were a bumbling jerk. Why can’t you just give it up already?”

  He sat down next to me. “Because, it will be spectacular. What are you afraid of?”

  “Oh, I don’t know…broken bones and my blood spilling all over the studio floor.”

  Travis put his arm around me and pulled me close to him. He smelled musky and sweaty, and something about it made me want to crawl into his lap; but, of course, I didn’t do that.

  “I promise I’ll catch you.” He kissed me on the top of my head, and it made me not want to dance anymore. I just wanted to sit there with his arms around me.

  I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths before responding to him. “Okay, but, if you drop me, I’m going to kick your ass.”

  Travis moved his arm from around me, then jumped up and held out his hand. I was hesitant, but I took it. He gave me a quick kiss, hit the play button, then we got into position. At first, everything was going well, then I started to feel sick inside right before he lifted me into the air.

  I flew, but, when it was time to roll down, I lost my nerve and grabbed onto his shoulder.

  Ballet is risky business. I’ve suffered broken toes and ugly feet. I’m not afraid of a little pain, but I am scared to death of falling.

  It’s stupid, but I can’t help it. Falling totally freaks me out. Travis dropped me before.

  I rolled in what seemed like slow motion. He grabbed me around my waist by one arm, but he stumbled and, together, we went down. I fell on top of him, but I reached out to brace myself and broke my fall with my hand.

  I cried out in pain.

  “Are you okay?”

  “No.” I rolled off of him and sat on the floor. “I think I broke my wrist.” Tears streamed down my face. It hurt like the devil.

  “Let me take a look.”

  My wrist was already turning shades of green and purple, and it made me furious. “This is your fault. I told you it wouldn’t work!”

  “You’re the one who grabbed my shoulder. You didn’t roll.” He stood up and offered his hand to me, but I refused to take it. “Come on. We need to go get that iced,” he said as he gathered our things.

  I sat on the floor and cried. “You promised you wouldn’t drop me.”

  “Look, Marianna. I have my part and you have yours. I was prepared to catch you, but you changed the movement at the last minute and caught me off guard. I’m sorry.” He threw his ballet shoes into his bag and shoved his feet into a pair of loafers. “Let’s just go.”

  “Some things don’t change. You’re still a jerk.” I spat at him. I was hurt and angry that he’d pushed it. I didn’t want to do the roll in the first place.

  “You’re right. I’m a jerk. What does that make you?” His face was red, and, now, we were both mad. At the moment, I didn’t care.

  “I don’t know. What does that make me Travis?” I slipped my ballet shoes off and threw them at him.

  “Nice.”

  “Whatever,” I hollered.

  “You’re acting like a child, Marianna,” Travis said.

  I got up, we
nt over to my bag, and grabbed my slippers out of it. Putting them on with one hand was kind of tricky, but I managed. I grabbed my bag and started walking. Travis followed.

  We didn’t speak to each other on the way to the infirmary. I was torn between wanting to grab his hand and wanting to give him a piece of my mind. I stomped out of the studio and down the long hallway to the outside doors.

  My plans for the summer were screwed. They didn’t include Travis or an injury. I probably should have sucked it up and acted more mature about the whole thing, but I just didn’t care. I was hurt, and I was mad.

  The scene that popped repeatedly into my head was the reality of it all. I was letting a boy get to me. He made me crazy. My emotions tumbled over a cliff.

  I needed to step away or risk crashing and burning. “You know, I’m really fine. It’s probably just sprained. You can go back to your dorm.”

  “I don’t want to leave you,” he said.

  “Please, just go, okay? I need some space right now.”

  “Yeah, space. I get it, but I’m not going to go until I know you’re okay, Marianna.”

  “Suit yourself.” I made my way into the infirmary with Travis behind me. The physician’s assistant diagnosed a sprained wrist and placed a wrap on it. My wrist would heal, but I wasn’t so sure about my heart; I was certain it had just cracked a little.

  ***

  “How’s your wrist?” asked Travis.

  “Sprained,” I said. I walked over to my bag, sat down on the floor, and put on my ballet shoes.

  “At least you can dance,” he said.

  And, this was the sum total of our conversation. We were both quiet in class and never whispered to each other while we awaited our turn. Afterwards, we went opposite directions to our bags. I left with Chanie, and Travis left with a group of girls.

  I tried to block out all of my confused feelings, but it was harder than I had imagined it would be.

  Chanie and I went to the salad bar across the street for dinner before we headed back to the dorm. Brian was in bed sick with a fever, so she was unable to rehearse her choreography project.

  “Hey Marianna, Chanie!” called Alyssa, one of the other dancers in our group. “Do you want to go to the movies tonight? A bunch of us are meeting up in the rec room in an hour then walking to the theatre. It’s five blocks away from here.”

  “I’m game,” said Chanie.

  “You go ahead. I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll crash,” I said.

  “You’re not meeting up with Travis?” she asked.

  “No. Not tonight.”

  “But the choreography demonstration is tomorrow. I can’t believe Brian is sick. He’s dancing tomorrow –fever or not.”

  “Slave driver,” Alyssa laughed. “Are you sure you don’t want to go? I’m ready for a break and some fun.”

  “I’m ready for some sleep, but thanks anyway.” I made my way to my room and fell across the bed at the same time my phone dinged.

  It was a text from Travis.

  r u coming

  I groaned and set my phone on the bedside table. I was half asleep when it dinged again.

  where r u

  I put the phone under my extra pillow and turned away from it. My stomach hurt almost as bad as my wrist. I wiped a tear from my eye and tried to go sleep.

  Ding.

  Another text. I hesitated for a moment then rolled over and yanked the phone out from underneath my pillow.

  we need to practice

  I set it on the bedside table.

  Ring.

  Ring.

  Ring.

  I turned my phone off and cried myself to sleep.

  ***

  “Where were you last night? I waited for over an hour. I texted you and called, but you never picked up.”

  “My phone was off. I was asleep.” I turned away and started warming up for class.

  “The demonstration is today,” said Travis.

  “I know that.”

  “We needed to practice. We still haven’t gotten that one part down.”

  “You lift, I roll, you catch me, I swing around you and land on my toes.” I did my froggy stretch to help with my turnouts.

  “So, do you trust me to catch you?” Travis sat down next to me. He was so close I smelled his scent. We didn’t touch, but I felt his body heat.

  I looked down. What could I say? Sometime, in the middle of the night, I woke up and thought about the real reason I was angry. I was mad at myself, but I took it out onTravis. I realized that if I intended to dance in the professional world, I had to have confidence in my partner. Giving someone my complete trust was a scary thing to do, but I’d made up my mind to try. “Let’s just do it, okay?”

  “What changed your mind?” asked Travis.

  I chewed on my lip–my way of hesitating. I didn’t want to admit the truth, but I knew that I had to. I couldn’t stay mad at Travis forever when it was really my fault. “I’m afraid of falling. I hate it. It’s like how some people are scared of heights.”

  “You’re a great dancer, Marianna. Don’t focus on your fear. You need to trust yourself, and me.” Travis grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. I liked the feel of his hand on mine –all warm and tingly.

  We sat on the floor at the front of the studio to watch the other dancers. Two other instructors came in to watch and judge our performances. Each couple drew a number to decide the order of the fifteen dances. Travis and I drew the last number.

  Chanie sat down next to me and whispered, “Brian is here, but he still feels bad and has a low grade temp. I’m kind of worried.”

  “Brian won’t let you down,” I said. I prayed that Travis wouldn’t let me fall.

  The music started as Craig and Natasha took the floor. Her pirouettes were amazing. A bit of jealousy settled into my chest.

  I watched as couple after couple danced. Everyone was really good. Chanie and Brian rocked, but, when they were done, Brian was ready to collapse.

  Then our turn came. I took some deep breaths before we began. Into the zone.

  The music started. We flowed across the floor. Every movement was precise. Our eyes connected, and he flashed me a hint of a smile.

  The moment came for the lift. I flew through the air. His strong hands held me up as he turned.

  It was time.

  For a split second, I faltered, but I rolled. This time he caught me, but my moment of hesitation made it seem awkward.

  We’d never tried the swing around. I should have met him the night before. We should have practiced. I should have trusted him.

  He swung me around him just like he said he would, and it worked. Relief washed through me as I landed on my toes. No broken bones or blood.

  I knew the whole thing was kind of messed up. It wasn’t perfect. We were sloppy. I put my whole being into the end of the dance in an attempt to make up for our shortcomings. The music ended, and we took our bows.

  The instructors stepped out of the room to discuss their decision. My heart pounded in my ears.

  “You did it,” Travis started to touch me but pulled his hand back down to his side.

  “I’m not broken or bleeding, but I still messed up.”

  “Yeah, it was a little off, but the important thing was that we did it, and it was kind of cool.” Travis sat down next to me.

  I didn’t say anything. We both just sat there. Everyone else chattered around us. I don’t think either of us knew what to say –at least I didn’t know what to say.

  “What is taking them so long?” asked Chanie as she plopped down next to me.

  The door opened at that moment, and everyone got quiet. Nervous tension crackled like static in the air.

  “This was a very difficult decision,” began Mrs. Lipinskii. “Your pieces were some of the finest I’ve seen in all of the years I’ve taught at this intensive. The body of talent here is quite amazing, but we can only choose one couple to perform their dance at the informal showcase. We have selected Crai
g and Natasha.”

  Natasha squealed. The other kids clapped and cheered. My heart sank. Travis reached over and squeezed my hand, then we both clapped along with the other kids.

  I took a deep breath and fought the tears that wanted to spill over. It took everything inside of me to plaster a smile onto my face and give Natasha and Craig a hug. They were amazing. I knew that. Natasha had that rare talent that would eventually launch her into super stardom. Craig was the guy I had my eye on before Mrs. Lipinskii partnered me with Travis.

  “Can I treat you to lunch?” asked Travis.

  “I’m not hungry.”

  “We need to talk, Marianna.” Travis grabbed my hand. His large, warm palm dwarfed mine.

  “About what?”

  “About us.”

  I pulled my hand away, turned around, and grabbed my bag. I didn’t want him to see the runaway tear I swiped, so I started walking, but Travis fell into step with me.

  “There’s no us, Travis. We are here for one more week, then we go home to California and New York.” I didn’t stop walking.

  Travis followed me for a few minutes before he grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop. I rolled my eyes and gave him my best annoyed look. “What?”

  He looked at me for a long moment. “We live in the same world. We will see each other again, and there’s texting and email and Skype and Facebook.”

  “And don’t forget prom. I’m not going to prom with a picture of you in my purse.” This time an errant tear escaped. Travis brushed it away with his thumb then pulled me into his arms.

  I dropped my bag and wrapped my arms around him while I made a wet mess of his shirt. He rested his chin on top of my head as he ran his hands up and down my back.

  We stayed like that for a while. “You’re not in my plan, Travis. I’m not ready to have a guy in my life. Dance is my life.”

  “You weren’t exactly in my plan either, Marianna, but I’m crazy about you. I know we can’t date like normal people, but we can make the most of the time we have left here, and stay in touch after we leave.” He kissed the top of my head.

  Then he kissed my temple and cheek and nose and mouth. Our mouths came together like long lost lovers. We kissed for a long time. If I didn’t need to come up for air, I think my mouth could have been attached to his forever, but we had to part.