Love's Sporting Chance: Volume 1: 6 Romantic sporting novellas

by Janice Thompson

  “Stop that, right now. You are excellent at what you do! And never forget that.”

  I snort and open the door. “Yeah, yeah. Thank you for stroking my ego.”

  Dodge waves at me as I close the door and head down to my bike. It’s too far for me to walk, but navigating New York City’s sidewalks and streets are my specialty. As I bike ride I hum softly to myself in order to keep myself distracted from the people talking amongst themselves. Sometimes real life seems like it’s more like fiction.

  As I pull to a stop at the bike racks outside the visiting area and lock it up I shake my head. I still feel like it’s my fault April even ended up here. I had wanted to get those pills tested before but then I’d have to explain where I’d gotten them from and why I hadn’t even known what they were and I couldn’t think up a good enough reason as to anything.

  I know it’s silly and even April would have told me that. I rub my arms gently as I enter the visitor’s lounge and wave to the receptionist as I take my seat.

  I’m about ten minutes early, like usual so I take out my camera and start cleaning. I hear April chuckling a little bit beside me and I look up.

  “Should I give you and the camera some time alone?” she teases.

  I snort as I put it back together. “No, at some point I’m going to get some time alone with you,” I say.

  April blushes. “Wow, Dodge is an influence on you, isn’t he?”

  “A little,” I say with a tiny laugh as I put my camera away and tug her into a hug. “You feel like you’re back to a good weight again, April.”

  “Thanks, Luke, that makes me feel so much better.”

  I wince and turn bright red. “I didn’t mean it like that!”

  “I know,” she says softly and kisses my cheek. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you for saying that.”

  April takes her seat beside me and leans against me until I wrap my arm around her.

  “Soon, you’re getting out of here soon,” I tell her. “And then you and Jennifer have the contest! It’s going to be amazing and I’ll be there clapping the loudest when you finish your dances.”

  April blushes. “Really, Luke, I’m not that impressive.”

  I snort. “Are you kidding me, April? You’re amazing! And I know you’re going to go far!” I hesitate, looking down towards the ground with a sigh.

  “Luke? What is it?”

  I rub my arm gently. “What are we going to do if you do win the contest? Am I going to go with you to France? Or am I going to stay here?”

  “Honestly, Luke, that’s your decision,” she says softly. “If you want to come with me, I’d be very happy with that. After all I love your company and I could see myself spending the rest of my life with you. So what will you decide?”

  I hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know.”

  “Well,” she says with a small smile. “You could see if there’s a college there that does your degree with camera work and come with me. Dodge and Sarah will be fine on their own for a semester, right?”

  “Dodge, sure. Sarah, I’m not so sure on.”

  April chuckles a little. “I know what you mean.” She sighs softly. “Sarah’s always been a little out there.”

  “By a little, you mean a lot.”

  She laughs at that. “Good point. But I think with Dodge around her she could do a lot better. After all he seems to be doing wonders with her already. I haven’t seen her flirting with another guy since she started dating him.”

  I raise an eyebrow at her. “She’s done that before?”

  “Yeah,” April says with a small sigh. “Her last two boyfriends didn’t last too long since she flirted with other boys in front of them. So of course the guys pretty much dumped her for that.” She rakes her hands into her hair and sighs. “I just don’t know what to do with her.”

  I lean over and kiss her cheek gently. “Just smile and get through it? You have a better head on your shoulders, a killer smile, and a pretty okay boyfriend.”

  “Luke,” April says and pokes my arm. “You’re more than just pretty okay. You’re amazing. Not to mention you got an A+ on the documentary you did. Which says to me that you’re going to be the one that ends up ruling the camera world! That’s pretty dang impressive.”

  “Compared to you, little miss rising ballerina star, I’m just playing around with a camera and trying to make things work.”

  April shakes her head, snorting at me. “Hardly.”

  I shrug at that and grumble at the orderly who’s giving me a pointed look. “Looks like it’s time for you to return to your prison, April.”

  “I know, tomorrow you get to hug and talk to me as much as you want! So look forward to that before I’m whisked away in the arms of another man.”

  I laugh. “Right, I don’t think that Jason is going to steal my girlfriend from me. But nice try, April.”

  She winks and sticks her tongue out at me as she follows the orderly back into the main part of the mental institute. As I bike ride home, I suddenly realize how blessed I am with my current life and smile to myself.

  Chapter Eighteen

  I had never been more happy to be standing on a stage in my entire life! After my stint in the mental institute, standing in front of people and dancing for them in tights and really short dresses didn’t seem all that bad!

  Jennifer chuckles a little behind me. “Pretty good, huh? I love this stage! It’s so wide and open.”

  I smile a little at her and she holds out a small red box with strange looking sticks with chocolate on it. I blink as I reach a hand out and take it.

  “What’s this?”

  “An apology. Take it. It’s not laced with anything and it’s not dangerous at all. Just good old pocky.”

  I blink. “Pocky?”

  She grins a little. “It’s a Japanese treat that my mother gets imported. I love this stuff. And I’m giving you my last box. So savor it. It’s a chocolate covered unsalted pretzel stick! So it’s just amazingly good.” Jennifer laughs a little. “Hey, maybe one day you’ll see it in stores everywhere.”

  I nod. “Thanks, Jenny.”

  “Anytime. Well, maybe not anytime, since I’m certain if my plan works I’ll be shoved out of my inheritance. This is why I have a bag packed here with all of my expensive jewelry for if things get too tight.”

  I wince a little. “I’m sorry about that.”

  “I’m not. My mom’s been controlling my life tightly since I was born. I’m just trying to stand up for myself.”

  I nod as I start pacing, where is my partner? He’s needed for the dress rehearsal but he hasn’t shown up yet! It’s been half an hour I run my hands along my dress and sigh.

  Jennifer winces. “Hey, I’m sure that—”

  “I got bad news I’m afraid, April,” Ashley says with a sigh, cutting Jennifer off with a look of apologies.

  I groan a little. “What is it, Ashley?”

  “Jason’s sick! He just called the school to let them know.”

  My eyes widened in horror. “Do you think he’ll be better by tomorrow?”

  “He has the flu, so I don’t think he will.”

  “Great,” I whimper. “This isn’t good. I’m going to have to throw the contest.”

  Jennifer crosses her arms. “There’s another way.”

  I blink. “What do you mean?”

  “Wait right here, I’ll be right back.”

  I watch her walk away, graceful in her toe shoes and blink again. What is she up to? She comes back with Luke in tow and I raise an eyebrow.

  “What are you up to? He’s not even a ballet dancer.”

  Jennifer shrugs. “So? The contest only says that you need a partner, not that he has to be a dancer. Besides,” she says with a smirk. “Luke, how well do you know the pas de deux that she has been learning with Jason?”

  Luke raises an eyebrow. “Actually, I know it pretty well. How did you know, Jennifer?”

  She smiles a little. “You’re alwa
ys watching people through your camera, it only makes sense that you would have been looking at her.”

  It clicks in my head when I remember Luke mentioned he has a photographic memory. “You still have the tapes of when Jason and I were doing the practice runs.”

  “Yeah, sorry if that seems almost like I’m a stalker or like I’m a little creepy.”

  I shake my head and grin at him. “No! In fact your attention to detail and the fact that you record absolutely everything might actually save my career! I could kiss you!”

  Luke smirks at me and kisses me gently. “There, now I’ve kissed you.”

  “Wait, wouldn’t this be against the rules of the contest? They state—”

  Jennifer interrupts me. “They state that you need a partner, not that he does ballet.”

  “Alright,” I say with a small laugh.

  Ashley chuckles a little beside me. “Alright, why don’t you guys try dancing together? Because knowing something and doing it is different.”

  “Not to mention we need to make sure that he can fit into an outfit for dancing in,” Jennifer said.

  Ash tapped her chin and smirked a little. “Do you think the spare outfits are still in the back of the school?”

  “I think so! Do you want to grab them for us, Ash?”

  She nods and grins as she heads off with Ashley. Jennifer places a hand on my shoulder.

  “You get warmed up and do your Giselle dance.”

  I glance at her. “Don’t you want to practice your dance?”

  Jennifer winks at me. “I’ve been practicing with James when everyone is gone. I want my reveal to be a surprise.”

  “Of course. The whole, I’m not going to dance for your pleasure but mine, plan!”

  She smirks at me. “You got it. Now go get warmed up, I’ll put on some music. Though. What size shoe do you wear?”

  “I wear size eights,” Luke answers. “Why?”

  Jennifer shakes her head. “We need to make sure that you don’t scuff up the floor with your street shoes. They always have spare ones because our shoes wear out a lot. It’ll have to do…” She goes over to the little room and pulls out a box of used shoes for Luke. “They’re white if that’s okay.”

  He nods. “I don’t mind.”

  I smile as I tug on my toe shoes and lace them up my legs and watch as he changes from his shoes into the ballet ones.

  “They’re tight…” he says.

  “Take off your socks,” I inform him. “Otherwise you’re going to kill your feet.”

  Luke grimaces but tugs off his socks and puts the slippers on again.

  “Better?”

  “Yes.”

  He sighs as he stands and I smile a little and take his hand gently as Jennifer goes over to start the music. I show Luke how to warm up with the music so that he won’t hurt himself picking me up or doing the dance itself. Believe it or not, dancing is some hard work to do. I leave him to continue warming up as Giselle changes the music so I can practice my Giselle dance.

  I take a deep breath and let it out. I can do this. My foot isn’t in pain anymore. I performed the dance perfectly so much so that even Jennifer applauded, grinning a little at me.

  Luke chuckles. “Oh, you’re going to win, April, I know it.”

  I blush a little. “Really?”

  Jennifer smirks. “If he’s as good as I think he is. Most definitely! You warmed up, Luke?”

  “I think so.”

  “Alright,” she says. “Then get into position. We’re going to do a trial run to see if you two can at least dance together.”

  I nod and take my position far away from Luke. The dance starts out with us circling each other after walking. The dance went well, Luke only faltered a few times since he didn’t know our tricks yet so Jennifer showed him how to fix that. Not to mention he was still wearing his jeans and couldn’t move as fluid as I could.

  After three more practice runs Ash had returned with the costumes.

  “Go try them out. And then we’ll do three more runs. It needs to be perfect for tomorrow,” Jennifer says. “And all of them will match hers so you just need to pick one that fits.”

  Luke nods and runs off with the three costumes Ash had brought to him. I head into the changing room myself. Changing into the lilac dress and having Jennifer zip it up for me. Luke walks out of his room wearing white tights and a long sky blue tunic that is embellished with gold to make him look more prince-like. Jennifer taps her chin.

  “He’s missing a crown.”

  Luke blinks. “I don’t think I can dance while wearing a crown.”

  Jennifer laughs. “Go sit down.” She looks through the crowns that are among the things that Ash had found before finding one that seemed to fit with the style. It was cloth so she was able to take her bobby pins out of her bun and pin it to Luke.

  “There. It shouldn’t move.”

  Luke does a quick twirl which made him look like a ballet dancer and I chuckle a little.

  “Nice, looks good. We’ll need your help during the contest,” I say.

  “Of course, that’s the main reason why I’ll be there.”

  Three more runs of our dance and April deemed us ready for tomorrow but wanted to do one more run through before the contest just to make sure.

  Luke and I changed back into our street clothes and placed the costumes back into their plastic bags to keep them safe. I was the one in charge of them and I couldn’t be happier.

  Chapter Nineteen

  I can tell April is nervous so I place my hand over hers. “We’re the last ones to go up,” I whisper. “We’ll be fine.”

  April whimpers. “But there’s nine more in front of us. I don’t know if I can take the pressure.”

  “Nine including Jennifer. I can’t wait to see her dance with James. She’s forgoing her solo dance just to do that.”

  I smile a little. “Yeah, that’s going to be fun to watch.”

  I rub her back gently, from our place backstage we can go and watch the competition if we want. April didn’t want to watch them so we sat back and waited the fifteen minutes per contestant until it would be our turn. She did stand when Jennifer came up for her turn on stage.

  April hugs her gently. “This is going to be exciting for you, isn’t it?”

  Jennifer nods. “My whole family is here to see it.”

  “Are you going to be alright?”

  “I’m with James, I’ll be just fine!” Jennifer grins before she heads out on stage.

  I stand beside April as we watch her on stage. The person announcing us looks a little shocked to see Jennifer wearing a simple black leotard, black toe-shoes, and a small pink skirt.

  “Where’s your partner Miss Jennifer?”

  She smiles a little and holds her hand out towards the audience. “My partner is James.”

  The shocked gasps as her boyfriend came up onto stage were audible even back here. She took his hand gently as the music started. Their dance was a mixture of both ballet and a tango. The two of them were telling their love story on stage.

  How he had met her in a bar, how they had spent the night together, how her mother had yelled at her for bringing this boy home, how she had lied to him to give the drugs to April, how she confessed to him, how she had tried to commit suicide, the fact that he knew sewing was her dream, everything all the way up to now. The emotions put into the dance were amazing and I doubt anyone had ever seen a dance put together like this.

  There were a few scattered claps but that wasn’t what their story was about. Her story was about getting away from her mother and starting the life she wanted. Not the one she had been forced into.

  April applauded. This had been amazing even to her. Even if Jennifer’s dream wasn’t dancing she still had a good amount of talent. She had forfeited the dance because it had to be a traditional ballet dance and she went out of her way to create something new.

  Jennifer was panting as she came back stage and she took April’s hand.
“Knock ‘em dead, Scholarship Girl.”

  April smiled a little as she walked on stage with me. I squeezed her hand before I went to take my spot.

  “April and her partner Luke,” the announcer introduced.

  The dance started and the two of us did our dance this time we did it perfectly in front of everyone and I was so proud of her. I was also glad I didn’t stumble over my own two feet like I had the first time we practiced. The sound of cheers filled the air as we took our bow.

  We both headed into the back and I helped her do her quick stage change for Giselle. All she had to do was put her skirt on over the leotard she had been wearing under her lilac Cinderella dress.

  She made her way back on stage bowing again before the music started. I watched her with love in my eyes, this girl was amazing and I just wanted her to win and live her dreams.

  Jennifer places her hand on my shoulder. “She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”

  I nod. “If she doesn’t win the judges are blind.”

  “I agree,” she says.

  “I thought you were leaving.”

  Jennifer shakes her head. “We can’t. We can’t leave until the contest is over and then James and I will have to try and sneak away during the commotion. That’s if my mother doesn’t storm her way back here while the judges are judging.”

  “Right,” I sigh. “This is going to be a battle, won’t it?”

  “I hope not.”

  Chapter Twenty

  I take my bow as the music finishes and grin. This was amazing. I can’t believe I have done that. I make my way off stage and hug Luke.

  “Alright, Judges! You have seen your contestants! Now it’s your turn to decide who wins. Good work everyone!”

  I laugh nervously, something I have been holding in since I had gotten onto stage in the first place.

  “You did great!” Jennifer says. “I swear you have to win the contest at this rate.”