Coaching Dance

"Alright Ladies, now hold in position three.... 8..7..6..5.. keep holding Sarah...4..3..2..and relax..." Kali smiled as she watched her class of 15 girls drop from their held dance position...seeing the tired look in their eyes. The class was made up of 15-17 year old girls. Kali had graduated high school and been accepted to the New York Dance Academy from there. She had gone on two tours with the company before her father, her only living relative had had the accident on the job site. She had dropped her dream of the dance company and rushed back home. It had turned out to be her lucky day, the karate studio had failed and closed its doors and she had purchased the building for next to nothing. Now Kali not only owned the studio but she also taught at it as well. This was her favorite class, the older age group, and ballet. The girls were all extremely committed and knew what they wanted. She dismissed the class, telling them to stretch it out before they left for the day and she walked over to grab her water from the corner. She watched as all the girls either took out their car keys and left or left with their parents. However, one girl remained.... Megan. Megan was a very skilled dancer and held so much potential.

"Megan, are you alright? You need a ride or anything?" Megan shrugged, explaining that her car was dead and her older brother was supposed to pick her up but must have forgotten

Jake had gotten caught up at his last meeting of the afternoon and was desperately trying not to leave his little sis waiting for him after her dance class.

Megan was 7 years younger than he was, almost to the day, but she was probably the closest person to him in the world. They had great parents, but they both worked so hard to provide for their kids that as Jake had gotten older he was left to do more and more around the house and for Megan.

As a teenager he was anything but happy about it, all of his friends would be out partying and he was stuck home with his little sister playing with her dolls. Looking back now though he wouldn't trade that time or her for the world. Being home all the time made him study, which got him into a good college and in the end into a great job back in his hometown.

He finally pulled up in front of the dance studio and jumped out of his car. A quick glance down at his watch...damn...20 minutes late. He pushed through the door and immediately saw Megan sitting with her teacher waiting patiently. He hurried across the room and gave her one of those I'm so sorry smiles..."Sorry sis, won't happen again I promise."

He had been in such a hurry to apologize to Megan he hadn't really paid any attention to her teacher sitting next to her. His eyes moved to her, that silly I'm sorry smile stuck on his face. Wow...she was beautiful...he wondered for a second how he hadn't noticed her first and then realized he was just standing over her staring at her now.

"I um..." he paused for a second to gather himself. "Hey, I'm Jake, Megan's brother. So, so sorry I was late."

Kali sat on the floor stretching with Megan. Typically this was her time... The time she took for herself but she didn't mind sharing it with Megan. She knew Megan was gifted and she loved spending the extra time getting to know her. She heard the studio doors open and what had to be her brother hurried over already saying how sorry he was. Kali smiled because she could tell he genuinely felt bad... It also gave her a minute to appreciate just how good looking he was. She smiled as he turned his attention to Kali. She pushed herself up to her feet and smiled, "it's nice to meet you Jake. I'm Kali. I know things come up, I didn't mind hanging out with her."

Megan laughed and bumped her brother, "jake- quit staring at her, it's awkward!"

Kali but her lower lip to keep from laughing she she could tell she was blushing a little at his sisters comment.

He looked back over at his sister for a second..."I wasn't...I mean...I wasn't staring at her was I?"

Megan laughed..."Smooth Jake, real smooth."

He turned back to Kali. "I didn't mean to make it weird or anything...I just wanted to say thanks for looking out for Megan. She has nothing but great things to say about you and now I see why."

He paused for a second as he thought about offering to take her out or something to make up for her time, but that wasn't really his style and he didn't want to make things strange for his sister.

"So...I guess we will let you get out of here...I hope we didn't keep you from getting to anything too important."

Kali laughed as he stumbled thru his statement. She smiled at him and shook her head, "you didn't keep me from anything. I'm typically here a couple of hours after the girls leave working on my own stuff.. Not a big deal."

She pushed up to her feet and grabbed her bag, "plus it's kinda nice to have somebody else to walk me out anyway." She smiled as they all headed towards the door. As they walked Megan began talking excitedly about how Kali had been with a dance company and she was going to show the girls some of the things she did there... And she kept going on and on. As they reached the door Kali locked the door and turned to face them, laughing- "Megan you make me sound like some super star. I was just a dancer..." She blushed a little, "but it's sweet of you to see me that way."

"Just a dancer huh?" Jake said with a smile. "Megan has mentioned before that you danced in New York and went out on tour, I'd say thats pretty amazing."

Kali looked a little embarrassed at all the praise but Megan just kept heaping it on, "Seriously Jake, she is Amazing! Don't let her tell you otherwise she is just being modest, I'm so lucky to have her as a teacher."

Jake laughed, "I completely agree...we are definitely lucky she is your teacher."

Kali smiled, "well thank you both." She looked over at Jake, "even if you've never seen for yourself." They walked towards the only two cars in the parking lot, "alright you two... Megan-I will see you tomorrow now get that homework done.. And jake, it was nice to meet you... Hope to see you around more often." She had run out of excuses to put off departing at this point, not wanting it to be obvious she smiled and pushed the button to unlock her car door

Jake heard the lock on Kali's door click and instinctively reached down and pulled it open for her.

Megan laughed..."Aren't you just such a gentleman."

Jake just smiled. "Yeah...I really am and you know it." She nodded her head knowing that was really just the way her big brother was.

Jake looked back over to Kali as she slid into her car. He couldn't help but stare as he realized again just how beautiful she was. Probably way out of his league, I mean she had to have a boyfriend right? Either way it certainly wouldn't be the worst thing to spend a little more time with her and his sis for that matter.

"So Kali!" he said with a chuckle, "I'd love to be around a little more often...um... with my sis, and you mentioned I hadn't seen you dance yet. So whens the next chance to see it?"

Kali had just slid behind the wheel when he started speaking again. She smiled as he mentioned wanting to be around more, "well honestly I don't do a whole lot of dancing like that anymore.. However, I will be performing at the recital we are having in a few days... That's why I've been practicing after the girls go home at night... Trying not to make a fool of myself and to give the girls a sample of what they can do or achieve if they stick with it... Are you planning to come?" She smiled at Megan and then at her good looking older brother.

Jake laughed. "Something tells me you will certainly not be making a fool of yourself.

"Yeah" Megan beamed "She is awesome, we are all just hoping we don't look awful dancing next to her."

"I'm sure you will be fantastic Megan." Jake said confidently. "And Kali, I wouldn't miss it for anything. Is it here at the studio and how early can I get here to have a great seat?"

Kali smiled, "the performance is actually at the high school. The last one ended up being such a success that we had to get a place with more room. The doors open at 7, but I know someone so I can probably reserve a seat for you." She winked at him playfully.

"Well if you know someone, then front and center please." He said with a smile.

"Does Megan need to be here early or anything? Anything I can do to help out?"

He figured the chance to maybe spend a few extra minutes with Kali certainly wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.

"Just don't ask me to dance" he said laughing. "Nobody needs to see that!"

Kali smiled and laughed as he admitted that he couldn't dance. "I will get you your front and center seat, if you wanna show up a half hour earlier than the call for the dancers then I could put you to work, no ballet shoes will be required, I promise."