Page 26 of In Too Deep

DANCER

An Erotic

Lesbian Romance

By

Cassandra Cole

CHAPTER ONE

Stephanie Green hated Kiara Jackson from the first moment she saw her dance. Well, hated might be a little too strong of a word, especially since she had never met the girl before and knew absolutely nothing about her.

“Greatly disliked” would have been the more appropriate term, she supposed. It was a little less aggressive and offered the possibility of change, though Stephanie doubted that her opinion would ever be easily changed.

Stephanie stood in the corner of the dance studio, flanked by the other dancers whom she didn’t necessarily consider friends, but respected enough to call peers.

The owner of the studio, her aunt Moira, stood smiling in the opposite corner as the newest addition to their troupe showed off her solo skills to the group.

Kiara was talented; Stephanie had to give her that. The young black girl moved across the floor with the grace of a much more seasoned dancer. Her feet perfect, arms extended just right, the lines of her neck flawless.

Stephanie hadn’t expected much when she first saw Kiara sitting in the lobby waiting to see Moira. Stephanie had been immediately wary. Then again, she was wary of everyone. Life had forced her to be.

Kiara’s smile was too quick, her eyes too friendly, and her laugh a little too forced. She didn’t seem like a serious dancer, which Stephanie considered herself to be.

Kiara Jackson seemed to be more of the type of girl who came and went through the studio on a whim. They were there just to have fun. The cared nothing for the art itself: the art that Stephanie had worked so hard for so many years to master.

Stephanie took dancing seriously and detested anyone who didn’t.

Ever since she was six years old and had taken part in a small elementary production of The Wizard of Oz, she had realized that she was happiest when dancing.

Over the years her dancing skills had improved, but her social skills left a lot to be desired. She could be rude, cold, and unfeeling. She had no real friends to think of and always turned down offers from the other dancers to do something after practice.

They didn’t even bother inviting her anymore, but she didn’t care. Dancing was all that mattered. People came and went.

The dance stayed.

Her aunt, a lifelong dancer and the person Stephanie was closest to, had opened the studio when Stephanie was in junior high school. At first, the studio was in her garage, but that quickly grew into the thriving establishment that she was standing in right now.

Aunt Moira had dragged Stephanie with her to every session, concentrating on developing the girl’s skills as much as possible, pushing her to the limits. By then Stephanie’s father had walked out on them, and her mother had stopped caring what Stephanie was doing with her life.

Aunt Moira easily replaced her mother in more ways than one, and she was proud to be the face of Moira Green’s Dance Studio, feeling like she owed the woman a lot more than just her skills.

Over the past few years Stephanie’s standout performances at competitions and in small productions had brought the studio a fair amount of acclaim.

Moira was thrilled that her niece and star student was doing so well and seemed so happy, at least when she was on the stage. One of the benefits was that the studio often receiving contracts for various stage productions and music videos, Stephanie being the obvious first choice for many of these.

Now, watching Kiara Jackson dancing, she had a feeling that that might change.

The new girl finished her solo to a loud applause fro

m the rest of the dancers, including Moira Green who was clapping like she had just seen a miracle.

Stephanie frowned, she herself not applauding what even she had to admit was a spectacular contemporary piece. She just glared at the girl as she smiled and curtseyed to the applauding dancers.

A couple of the girls ran to Kiara and welcomed her in with hugs and cheers, the look on Moira’s face an obvious give away as to her decision.

Stephanie waited for her aunt to bring a little more order to the chaos, and when she realized that she wouldn’t, sighed and walked out of the studio to the lockers.

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