Run, Girl (If You Can)

A lot more waist spinning and lifts followed as they moved across the stage. Noah was barely able to follow along with the video at this point.

Then came the part that really got to him. Cinderella and the prince were supposed to fake kiss; in the video their faces got so close their lips almost touched but not quite. And then the prince spun away from underneath Cinderella's nose.

Violet's face got close enough to his that their lips actually brushed for a millisecond before he jerked back,  unable to perform the spin. She didn't notice how affected he was and continued dancing around him.

Thankfully Noah recovered his wits in time to follow along with the next part of the video. More waist spins. Having Violet drape herself across his hands during an overhead lift as he walked across the floor. At least he didn't drop her that time.

The whole thing ended with a dip, more waist spins, and the prince wrapping his arms around Cinderella's waist as she dramatically leaned into him on one foot. Noah's heart was a complete wreck by the time it ended.

Violet clapped her hands together, pleased. "Wow, I can't believe that was your first time doing those overhead lifts! Most people can't do that. I can't tell you how many times I got dropped in high school."

"I don't break boards in half for nothing," he joked, trying to cover how much that one dance had affected him.

In their entire lives together Noah had never touched Violet like that. They nearly kissed! And to her, it was nothing!

Suddenly he understood why she held romance to such a high standard. She had been surrounded by men from a young age and had been dancing out romantic scenes like that without batting an eyelid. Typical intimate gestures didn't even faze her because they were a part of her job.

Violet was completely immune to touch. What made him a blushing mess didn't so much as make her heart skip a single beat.

She had told him she was affected by seeing guys do cute things but she always changed her mind shortly thereafter. No wonder they didn't measure up once the original cuteness stopped! She wanted her heart to race like in the novels but how was that supposed to happen when she was completely used to being touched?

Noah really had his work cut out for him. There had to be something he could do that would make her heart race. Compliments, maybe? But she was used to being complimented. People had been complimenting her for her entire life.

Ah, why was this so difficult? 

"Can we go again?" Violet asked sweetly with pleading dark blue eyes. "I want to do this part at least three times before I move on."

She was seriously trying to kill him. Noah sighed and put on his best approximation of a smile. "Sure, Vi."

===

Violet was amazed by how good of a sport her best friend had been by the time the prince and Cinderella's sequence was finished. He was no ballerina but he had caught onto the basic gist of what was needed as a stand-in surprisingly quickly.

Noah had always gotten his katas down about as fast as she memorized dance steps but that was in a completely different type of physical activity. Both required a lot of exertion and artistry though.

Maybe that was part of why they had always related to each other so well. Their passions were similar at their core.

"What do I owe you for today?" Violet asked as she stretched in preparation for her next practice sequence.

"The year of my life I lost when I dropped you," Noah said with a wheezy laugh. "Seriously, that was terrifying."

She reached out and patted his shoulder. "I'm okay though. Really, what can I do for you?"

He looked at her seriously. "Come to Coney Island with me on Saturday."

"Ooh, it's been forever since we've gone! That doesn't seem like all that much of a favor though."

He shrugged. "I want to do something fun to make up for the stress of nearly killing my best friend."

Violet rolled her eyes at him. What kind of logic was that? But if he wanted to go to Coney Island she would happily oblige. It was a fun place to go, especially with all of the thrill rides.

"Alright, enough with the nearly killing me thing. I'm alive, you're alive, and we're going to Coney Island. I still have about thirty minutes of rehearsal left and then I'm going to kick your butt in UNO!"

The next half an hour passed quickly. Since Violet was the last one in the building, she figured it would be easier for them to play cards there and then go their separate ways when it was time to go to bed. She could lock up when they were done playing.

Her cockiness hadn't been off-base. She completely destroyed him five rounds in a row.

"Earth to Noah! Are you even paying attention?" Violet demanded, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, I guess I'm a little tired," he apologized.

She frowned. "You do look a little out of it. Were those lifts too much for you?"

"Something like that. I better call it a night. You can continue destroying me in UNO tomorrow after work."

"Sure thing," Violet replied, biting her lip.

Suddenly she felt guilty for making him help her. It really had been a lot of help though! The practice had been necessary. Tomorrow things with the prince would flow much smoother because of it.

As they made their way to their individual cars and bid each other goodnight Violet was still worried about him. Noah had seemed pretty out of it during the dance practice too, even before getting tired out from all of those lifts.

She wondered what his deal was. Something one of the few male dancers in her high school ballet class suddenly came back to her.

"I only joined ballet because it would give me the chance to touch pretty girls all the time."

That guy had been a total creep. No one liked being his partner.

But Violet had forgotten something fundamental about men and women since becoming a ballerina. Most of the men she danced with were gay so touching a pretty girl didn't affect them at all.

She was used to being touched from years of practice but Noah might have been a little weirded out from having to touch her waist and having his face touched. It was strange when a random person touched you for the first several times.

But she wasn't any random person, right? They were best friends. They hugged, shoulder patted, high-fived, and even held hands sometimes for comforting purposes. Why would it be weird for them to do dance touches to each other?

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