Chapter 9 Chapter 9

The following Wednesday, I woke up at 6:30am. I quickly took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs. My mom was in the dinning room sitting at the table when I got down. Tamara had left already because she had a science trip that was today. "Hey Mom." I said as I passed her on my way to the kitchen for breakfast. "Hey sweetie." She answered. She took a sip of her coffee that was on the table as she read the newspaper in her hand. I came and sat in front of her with my breakfast when I was done. "How is dance practice coming along?" "It's going great. I practiced everyday last week." I said taking a bite out of my waffles. My practice was coming on fine. I have gotten a head start on my routines and I was more confident. There was nothing that Ramona can say to get me down. "That's good." Mom smiled and looked at me. Her face turned into a frown. "What's wrong?" I didn't realize that my face has turned into a scowl until now. I decided to tell my mom about Ramona. "Mom, do you remember Ramona Dawkins?" I asked. Mom thought for a second. "Is that Kathryn's daughter?" I nodded. "What about her? I thought you guys weren't friends anymore." "We are not. She transferred to Wesley high two weeks ago." I explained. Mom placed the newspaper on the top of the table and took her eyeglasses off. "Really?" "Yes and guess what? She is in the competition as well and she is making my life a living hell." I sighed. "I guess she hasn't changed then." Mom speculated. "No she hasn't. She is trying to make me quit the competition." I replied, then ate the last of my waffles. "What did she do?" Mom asked, suddenly serious. "Nothing really. She was just saying that she is better than me and I should quit now to save embarrassment." I explained, as I got up and took my empty plate to the sink, but Mom stopped me in my tracks. "Jessica, just don't let her get to you. Ignore her because you know what you want and I know you are going to do your best to get it." Mom said encouragingly. "I will Mom, thanks." After taking my plate to the kitchen, I went upstairs to brush my teeth and came back over to my mom and hugged her. "I'm leaving for school now. See you later." "Bye honey!" She called after me. "Be safe." "I will." I left my house and got in my car. Thank God it was back from the garage. I drove to school and was about to turn into a parking space close to the school door when a blue convertible sped passed me and edge its way into the space. I glared at the car in annoyance, before the car door opened and Ramona stepped out. She smirked in my direction, before she placed her sunglasses over her eyes and strut away. I shook my head and turn around to find another parking space. After I found a parking spot, I got out of my car and went inside the school building. I spotted my friends at the end of the corridor chatting away and I made my way over to them. After meeting up with them, we head to our classes. When fifth period came, I decided to head to the library instead of the dance room. My dancing was coming on good anyways and I needed a break. I stopped by my locker to get my precious Agatha Christie mystery book that I was currently reading. I am a sucker for mystery novels. I love a good mystery and Agatha Christie, Sherilyn Kennion, Nora Roberts and James Patterson?writes the best. When I got the book from my locker, I closed it and turned around to a figure behind me. I gasped and jumped back against my locker. The culprit started laughing as I tried to calm myself. "Are you crazy?!" I asked, my hand placed over my heart. "You scared the living daylights out of me!" "Oh God, that was priceless. You should have seen your face!" Ethan grinned. "Whatever. What do you want by the way? Are you stalking me now?" I asked, crossing my arm over my chest. "Me stalking you?" He said as innocently as he could. "Now why would I do that? I was just walking by and saw you." He smirked. I shake my head at him. "I don't have time for this." I said, turning away from him. Before I could take another step, Ethan stopped me. "Wait! I was kidding." I stopped and turned back to face him. "Do you live to annoy me?" I asked rhetorically. He just smiled and I lifted my eyebrow at him, waiting for him to say what he has to say. "I remembered that you had a free period now and I have a free period now, so I was wondering if you want to come with me to get something to eat." He replied. "We just ate lunch an hour ago." I said, giving him a 'are you serious?' look. "I know, but I just want to get out of this place for a while. Come on, you know you want to say yes." He persuaded. I looked at the book in my hands and back at him. The offer did sound appealing and it was better to leave the school building for an hour than to stay here. I sighed and placed the book back in my locker. "Okay, fine. Let's go." I said and he grinned again. We walked to the parking lot and Ethan indicated his motorbike. "Let's take my bike. It's easier." "Of course you were going to say that." I mumbled, but got on his bike nonetheless. Ethan gave me his helmet once again and after It was secured on my head, he sped off. We were only riding for five minutes, when Ethan turned his bike into the parking lot of a small ice-cream shop. I got off as soon as he stopped and took the helmet off. Ethan got off also and we both walked to the door and entered the building. "What flavour do you want?" He asked, as we walked up to the cashier. "Surprise me." After we ordered our ice-cream, we sat at a booth in the shop facing each other. I took up my spoon and brought the vanilla ice-cream to my mouth and sighed. It tasted heavenly. I loved vanilla ice-cream. Ethan made a good choice. "What were you going to do by the way? I thought you would have practised." Ethan brought me from my thoughts. "I decided to read today instead of practising." I responded with a shrug of my shoulders. "Oh, I really was hoping for you to practise. I was going to come and watch you dance again." He said wriggling his eyebrows teasingly. "Of course you would." I rolled my eyes at him. "The only reason you want to come is to feed your perverted mind." "Yeah maybe." He laughed and then looked at me. "Seriously though, you're pretty good. Really good." "Thanks. I'm glad you think so." I said. "Where did you learn to dance like that?" He asked. I looked at him and saw that he was genuinely curious. I also notice that he was actually having a decent conversation, instead of being the annoying idiot I was used to. "Self taught mostly. My first experience at dancing was when I was small and my mother took me to ballet lessons. I fell in love with dancing then and after that I started dancing on my own and trying other dances." I shrugged then put another spoon of ice-cream into my mouth. It tasted heavenly. "I also went to dance classes. The more I danced, the better I got at it." "It seems like you really love dancing." Ethan observes as he watched me intently. "Yeah. I guess I got that from my dad. My mom tells me he loved to dance as well." I explained. "He must be proud and happy that you are in this competition then." Ethan stated. "My dad died when I was three years old. Car accident." I decided to tell him. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear." "It's okay. I barely remember him as I was only three. Thanks though." I smiled, letting him know that it was okay. "You know, I do remember Dad letting me stand on his feet and we would dance. He would do that a lot." I smiled at the distant memory I had of my father. Ethan nodded his head in understanding. We were quiet for a while before Ethan spoke again. "What would your boyfriend think if he saw us eating ice-cream together?" His voice was light and teasing. I looked at him confused. "What boyfriend?" "The boy that you are always with. You guys look like a couple." He explained and I couldn't help but burst out laughing. He was talking about Dylan. He thought Dylan and I were dating? The thought made me laugh harder. Ethan looked at me with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What's so funny?" "You!" I said laughing again. I was laughing so hard that tears were coming to my eyes. I finally contained my laughter and wiped my eyes and looked at him. He still had a confused look on his face. "Dylan is not my boyfriend. He is my best friend." I said to him. "Okay. So why was that funny?" He asked. "Well, Dylan is gay and the thought of you thinking we were dating was hilarious." I giggled again and shake my head. "He is gay?" He asked shocked. It was evident he was surprised. I nodded my head, "Yep." I can't believe that he had never noticed before, but then again, Ethan did not noticed my friends and I until recently. "Oh, I didn't know." He said and I nodded. We had finished eating our ice-cream and I looked at the time on my phone. "Let's go. We have ten minutes before last period."? Ethan nodded his head and we stood up from our seats. We threw away our cups and left the shop. We mounted the motorbike and Ethan sped off in the direction of school. To be honest with myself, I had a great time with Ethan. It is evident that he could be a decent person, if he weren't being a arrogant jerk most of the time.