“Seems a bit extreme for troublemakers. I’ll talk with the chief about stepping up night patrols.”
Hunter groans good-naturedly. “I had a feeling you might say that. Bring on the overtime night shifts.”
I push away from the table and stand, dropping some money to cover lunch. “Hey, you’re the one who told the deputy chief about a potential threat. You brought this on yourself, my man.”
I slap him on the shoulder, wave at Kat, and head out into the sunny afternoon, my footsteps carrying me down the sidewalk to the dance studio automatically.
Standing outside, I watch her for a few minutes. She’s got a group of little kids in there, but it’s not Violet’s class. Still, her beauty and passion for dance is evident, even from a distance. Eventually, duty calls, and I make my way back to the station.
But not without wondering how, or when, I can get Serena to myself again. My body and soul crave her, and my heart is desperate for another chance to show her I’m in this forever.
Chapter twenty-one
Serena
The chatter of women fills the studio, different from the normal noise and chaos of my younger students. I’m trying to seem busy, fiddling with the sound system, but the reality is, I’m nervous.
It’s the first adult intro to ballet class tonight. And while I might have brushed it off with my friends as just being frustrating having to teach adults, the truth is, it raises a lot of self-doubt and insecurity in me. Kids don’t judge the same way adults do. They don’t know when you mess up or fail.
It’s harder to hide mistakes from grown-ups.
My friends all wanted to sign up, and honestly, I would have loved to have them here, taking some of the pressure off. But to my surprise, the interest in this class was so high I had to start a wait list. Which meant my friends had to pass for now since pulling in new students is the priority.
Turning around, I survey the room. There are a few familiar faces from town, some mothers of current students, but there’s a lot of people I don’t know. Apparently Ashley’s idea to advertise in Westport was a good one.
Closing my eyes, I take one last second to center myself, and to my surprise, Violet’s face pops into my head. Thinking of her and how shy she was at first is exactly what I need to find my own inner courage the same way she did.
“Alright everyone, let’s form three rows facing the mirror, and we’ll begin with a simple warm up.”
I’m a little taken aback when they all immediately quiet down and listen to my instruction. “Great, thanks. Umm, well, I’m Serena. I guess you guys know that.” I laugh awkwardly, but the women in front of me just smile.
Find your freaking backbone, Serena.
“So, we’ll be together for the next eight weeks, learning the basics of ballet, jazz, and a little hip-hop. I should be upfront with you all that my specialty is ballet, so please don’t expect great things when we get to hip-hop.”
There’s a light laugh, and it helps me relax. I got this. Maybe grown-ups aren’t so terrifying to teach.
“By the end of the set of classes, my plan is for you to have learned some basic choreography that we’ll put together in sort of a freestyle dance. Just for fun, no recital or anything. But yeah. Hopefully, it’ll be a good time.”
I get a smattering of applause, and plenty of smiles, and finally, I’m feeling excited to teach. I turn to the sound system and press play on my usual warm-up playlist.
“Let’s begin with some stretches and basic movements. Put your heels together, toes turned out, in first position.”
Just like that, my mind and body go into dance mode. Turns out, teaching adults isn’t all that different from children. I give many of the same corrections and encouragements and lead them through a very similar set of exercises and movements. When I finally glance at the clock, I’m shocked to see our hour is up.
“Wow, ladies, well done for our first night together.”
“Are we ballerinas now?” a woman calls out from the back row. I bite back what would be my usual sarcastic response in favour of a tilt of my head with a small smile, letting the other women’s laughter do the work for me.
“Next week we’ll work on some more basic positions and movements, and then try putting them together.”
“Thanks, Serena, this was a lot of fun,” one of the ladies from town, Mary, I think her name is, says as she walks out of the studio.
“Yeah, who knew at my age I could learn something new?”
“I’m so glad you’re finally offering classes for us.”
“Your ad popped up at the perfect time; I was looking for something new to try.”