Christian was standing alongside Gabriela as part of a circle that was formed around the dance instructors as they were lecturing about what they were going to learn in that session. The sessions were planned in advance. One every session they were going to focus on different dances and different techniques. Once the lectures and demonstrations were finished, it was time to practice. Every single person in the room had experience of dancing as both the Italian School and Irish School had dancing components available for every year group. So they were not a class of beginners. The class was quite advanced. They were now meant to dance and the instructions were going to circulate, watch and give advice to students to how to make their dancing better and add more complex elements to what they did.

Gabriela said "Christian let's go to that corner and practice. I do not want to bump into anyone."

Christian wanted to roll his eyes. The dance studio was massive. There was no way they were going to bump into anyone. There was enough space. Besides, he was certain no one in their right mind were going to block their paths.

As Gabriela and Christian reached the corner, the music started playing. Gabriela stood in front of Christian and said "Let's begin. Shall we?"

Christian said "Yes. Let's begin." But he made no move to start. He waited for her to start the next move.

Gabriela said "Christian. I am waiting..."

Christian said "Why are you waiting? Start. Ladies go first."

Gabriela said "No. Actually. Ladies do not go first here. This is ballroom dancing. Hello? The man leads in this dance... in every way... Please tell me you know what you are doing."

Christian was waiting for her to initiate the invite for him to dance. He smiled "Worry not... I know exactly what I am doing. Let's take our positions."

They then took their positions and Christian felt like he was in a dream. He was standing close to Gabriela and they were looking into each other's eyes as they started moving to the music. They were supposed to start slow. So their steps were well defined and accurate. This was warm up.

Gabriela was impressed how good Christian was in dancing and how well he controlled his steps. She said "This is a relief you are not a beginner. How come you are so good in this dance?"

Christian said "I think we both know why Gabriela. I have had lessons..."

Gabriela said "I know you have had lessons. Everyone has... in our schools. But you just do it so well... Ballroom dancing is one of my favourites you know... I am glad you know so much about it..."

Christian said "I know how to do it... But the names of techniques and theory never interested me... I get the job done. I do not care for the dance itself." He wanted to say "I just live for the moment here ... and just want to stand close to you and look at your eyes this closely... I do not care if it's ballroom or tango..." He added "All dances are the same to me..."

Gabriela said "Really?" She chuckled.

Her laugh and smile made him so joyful on the inside. What made her happy made him happy.

Gabriela said as they were dancing "How can all dances be the same?"

Christian said "Dancing is just movement. You move to the music... That is job done... It is nothing special to look forward to." He then said to himself "But looking into your eyes is what I look forward to and being this close to you is what is special to me..."

Gabriela said "The theory of every dance is important..."

Christian said "Not to me... It is not..." He said to himself "But the colour of your eyes are."

Gabriela said "Hm. You have no passion for dance I see. At least you are good at it..."

Christian said "I have passion alright... Just not for dancing..." He said to himself "I have passion for making you mine and making you happy..."

Gabriela said "Can we move faster? This waltz can go faster."

Christian said playfully "No. We move slow for now....You said it yourself... The man leads here..." He preferred to move slow. It was more convenient when he wanted to just hold her gaze and take his time with every step. If they moved too quickly then he could not be as satisfied.

Gabriela could see Christian's cocky and playful side resurfacing now. She said "Oh... So now you are applying theory... Tell me what is ballroom dancing exactly..."

Christian said "The male leads... The female follows..."

Gabriela said "Wow... That is all you understand from it..."

Christian smiled "Now... It is what it is Gabriela. In this dance... The male dictates the steps, the timings and the direction..."

Gabriela said "And what does the female do? Do you know that part?"

Christian said "Yes. I do... The female responds to the male and follows whatever steps he dictates for the pair..."

Gabriela sighed "You could say the word "decide" rather than "dictate" you know..."

Christian said "I can't..."

The music stopped as the instructors asked everyone to gather around them again.

Gabriela let go and took a step back."You can't?"

Christian took a step back too after he let go "I dictate when I lead. I always do..."

Gabriela said "Ok... Of course..." He was a Kavannagh heir. Of course he was raised to rule and dictate. She then walked away towards the direction of instructors as they were calling everyone over. Her mind was so jumbled up.

They made their way towards the instructors. The circle was forming already but as they noticed the two approaching, they made plenty of space for them in the circle to join.

Gabriela took a deep breath. Now that the closeness with Christian was gone, she could breathe easily again. The entire dance had been quite intense. The whole experience had been unlike anything she had experienced. She had never been this close to Christian before. Ever.

A mixture of emotions were going through her. When he looked into her eyes there was an emotion in them that she could not read. There was something. She could not understand it. The feelings she had were the same as always towards Christian... She felt wary of him.... But she felt safe with him. Like she always did. When she was with him, it was as though there was no danger in the world that could harm her. It was as though there was nothing that could make her feel hurt in anyway. She trusted him, he could protect her and she could rely on him in everyday. That had been established. But lately, there were sparks inside Gabriela when she encountered Christian. She could not explain what it was. She could only describe it as... feeling connected to hims somehow. They were forming some kind of bond.

Gabriela shook her thoughts.

****

The bell rang to signal the beginning of the break. Eden made her way to the cafeteria.

As she entered the cafeteria, she spotted Luigi sitting next to a window seat as he was talking to a friend of his and sipping from his lemonade.

Eden had not seen him all morning. She had no idea why he had been absent during the periods before the break. She had seen Lena in the morning and had asked her why her brother was missing and she had shrugged off his absence saying sometimes he was absent because he had to attend business commitments with his father. Eden knew Luigi's father was a businessman. One who worked with her aunt's husband's family. But she did not know anything else.

Eden walked towards Luigi. Eden watched as Luigi made eye contact with her as he spotted her walking towards him. He said something to his friend who got up and left most likely because he told him to.

Eden watched as his serious expression dissolved into a smile as she approached him. He said "Hi."

She sat down opposite him "Hi Luigi." She then reached into her bag and pulled out her apple that was wrapped in a paper bag.

She unwrapped her apple as Luigi took a sip from his lemonade. Eden said "You were absent this morning. Lena said you were most likely with your father because of his business commitments." She then took a bite from her apple.

Luigi said "That is correct."

Eden said "Do you think it is wise to miss school because of your father's work?"

Luigi said "Family takes priority over everything Eden. Besides I can catch up later on whatever I missed."

Eden said "You missed nothing. The teachers went through our recent assessments in the first lessons. You know explaining the difficult concepts that students got wrong. You got A+ grades. So here you go. That should put your mind at ease."

Luigi said "My mind was already at ease. Trust me."

Here it was the arrogance. Eden thought to herself. She took bites from her apple as he was taking sips from his lemonade watching her. She looked at him thoughtfully. She was curious about him.

Eden said "You have high very grades. You even get 100% scores. Is there anything you are not doing well in at school?"

Luigi said "Of course there is."

Eden said "What is that? I am curious?"

Luigi stated "Convincing you to go out with me and be my girl." He then got on with the work.

Eden gasped "You are so unbelievable."

Luigi stated"Whenever I aim for anything I achieve it. You saying no to me when I asked you out was the first time I failed."

Eden said "You failed because you asked the question too soon... I was not ready to go out with you then..."

Luigi asked hopefully "And now? Are you ready?"

Eden said "No. Not yet... But you are getting closer... I agreed to be your dance partner in the upcoming homecoming dance... That is as close as you can get to becoming your official date and girlfriend for now..."

Luigi said "I will be waiting..." He then carried on sipping from his lemonade.

Eden said "But seriously... You are just too perfect."

Luigi raised an eyebrow and gave her a cocky smile "I am too perfect. Huh?"

Eden closed her eyes and sighed. She opened her eyes "You did not let me finish."

Luigi chuckled "Sure. Go ahead. You were saying... I am perfect... Maybe I am perfect enough to be your man... So maybe you should go out with me..."

Eden shook her head "That is not what I was saying. Stop it."

Luigi said "Alright... Go on... What were you going to say..."

Eden took a deep breath "I was saying... You display perfectness... But you must have some cracks somehwere in your perfect nice guy act... I like to see that side of you... That vulnerability..."

Luigi said "So... You want to find a weakness of mine to do what? Plan my downfall." He laughed.

Eden sighed "No... That is not it... I don't know... You know... When you came to see me the other day after I found out my aunt had been lying to us about her life... You comforted me... You assured me you will watch out ... You know... I just felt like I wish I could return the favour... There must be something I can do... In a friendship, the support can't be one sided...."

Luigi said "hm... Only if you said the word "relationship" rather than "friendship". I guess I will have to wait until you agree to be my girl... Then your change of vocabulary would be so satisfying..."

Eden said "Luigi... I am being serious here... You and your male ego... Actually now that you mention the word relationship... It reminds me... Did you have anything to do with the fact that Linda and Ethan have stopped their their flirting? They act more formal now around me... They do sometimes joke around and I can see they like each other but that behaviour that made me uncomfortable is no longer there..."

Luigi said "Why do you ask? Are you complaining they are bothering you again with their new behaviour?"

Eden said "No... Actually. I am glad. I can now be around my brother without feeling like I am interrupting something when that Linda girl drops by... She is very polite and lady like now... She can be nice... I am very happy..."

Luigi sipped from his lemonade "I am glad..."

Eden said "So, did you have something to do with it?"

Luigi said "Why would you think I had something to do with it?"

Eden said "Because ... That is what Gabriela told me..."

Luigi said "Is that so?"

Eden said "Yes. I asked my brother and Linda about what was going on and why they were acting so different. They acted strange. They even apologised to me for making me uncomfortable... When I got no where and I was going insane why my brother and Linda had changed, I talked to Gabriela. She said I should ask you... So tell me.... What did you do?"

Luigi said "Hm... I did nothing you did not want me to do..."

Eden said "That is not true I bet... I told you I do not want you to talk to my brother..."

Luigi said "I did not talk to your brother... I talked to his girlfriend."

Eden said "You talked to Linda? Why? I told you to leave it..."

Luigi said "You told me not to talk to your brother and I did not... I respected your wishes. Even though I wanted to talk to him about his conduct, I did not... Because you asked me to. So I talked to that Linda girl. I made clear my expectations... She understood. I can assure you what that Linda girl must have told your brother will not cause a rift between you and Ethan... I made sure what I told her to tell Ethan will keep you out of the equation and will not affect your brother sister bond... Trust me."

Eden was eating her apple and trying to take in the information. She silently took in his expression "You are so sure... How can you speak with so much confidence and certainty?"

Luigi said "Because I know what I am doing..."

Eden said "You seem to have all the answers..."

Luigi said "Not all the answers. I am still trying to figure out what I need to do to convince you to go out with me..."

Eden sighed "Luigi... I do not know how I can have a conversation with. you without you inserting your ego in... You know... You have made me so confused... I can not figure you out... I admit it..."

Luigi laughed "Ok... Fine... I try to bring down my ego... So... Let's have a conversation..."

Eden said "Answer my question that I asked you... Where are the cracks?"

Luigi said "My weakness?"

Eden said "No... having cracks in your life does not mean it is a weakness. Failure is part of life..."

Luigi said "It is what I call weakness..."

Eden said "Fine... Tell me what is your weakness. I want to be a friend to you just like how you are to me... I want to help you and be there for you just how you are to me.... That is what friends do..."

Luigi said "Alright... I tell you the cracks... I have fears..."

Eden said "What are they?"

Luigi said "I care for my family's happiness. Most of all... I care for my sister's happiness. I fear for it to be compromised one day if some super power crashes on our lives... I will spend every ounce of power I have to make sure my sister is always happy and no one can break her heart or hurt her in any way..."

Eden said "I can see that... You hold your sister so dear... But what about other members of your family? Your parents? Your relatives... I don't know... Is your sister vulnerable?"

Luigi said "Well. Everyone can be vulnerable if they are faced with a certain threat... My sister is not vulnerable. She is just a well sought after target..."

Eden asked "Target? I do not know what you are talking about and I respect your privacy enough not to ask for details unless you want to share... But where does this leave Gianluca? You know he is quite like you... he does not come across as a guy who anyone, superpower or not can just crash on... No one can walk over him... He is your sister's boyfriend... Does he know about how you feel?"

Luigi said "He knows..."

Eden nodded. Something in his tone said he was not going to talk about this any further... Eden had no intention of asking more or finding out more... It was not her style to dig too deep. She just wanted to know if there was anything academic or non personal Luigi could talk about. So maybe she could help him and return the favour. But he had gone off tangent where she had no interest to dig further and neither did she think she could be on any help.

Luigi said "Well... You asked me where my cracks are in life... Can I ask for yours?"

Eden said "Yes. There is alot of cracks..."

Luigi said "Ok... Name a few..."

Eden said "I am antisocial..."

Luigi said "I don't see you as antisocial. Well you do not socialise with males but with with females you do pretty well. I see nothing antisocial there...."

Eden said "Well. It is not about socialising we see in school... Let's say... I hate crowded parties and anything to do with it. I hate dancing. I hate loud music. I hate wearing party dresses... I am antisocial... I am only going to homecoming dance with you as your dance partner because in this school you have to have a good reason to miss the night... Like lack of parental consent which is impossible... My parents are against isolating me and will not let me sit out of the party..."

Luigi said "You are not antisocial..."

Eden said "I am though... Did you not hear what I just said?"

Luigi said "Yes. I did... I just think you might change your mind in future if you give another party a chance. You might have not been able to enjoy any party or you have had a bad experience with one so you hate parties."

Eden said "I doubt I will change my mind..."

Luigi said "You can..."

Eden said "No."

Luigi said "You want to bet?"

Eden narrowed her eyes "No. I do not want to bet... But actually now that you mention it... We need to discuss the bet I lost to you during that football practice..."

Luigi said "What about It? You are not getting out of it...I will use the bet card when I decide to..."

Eden sighed "I know... How about this? You just gave me an idea... You say I will change my mind if I attend a good party..."

Luigi said "Correct..."

Eden said "And I do not want you to hold this bet over my head... So I have a suggestion..."

Luigi said "What do you suggest?"

Eden said "Because I lost the bet... You probably will make me do something that I hate.... Well, there is a dance club after school that they do a rehearsal of some kind for the homecoming dance... I would hate it but I will attend it for one session... Can we have that as me fulfilling the bet?"

Luigi laughed "You are joking. Right? You said you hate, crowded parties, loud music, dancing and party dresses. This club has all those elements really with exception of party dresses. That is optional. But I think special ballroom shoes is mandatory for safety reasons..."

Eden said "Yes... I will attend it..." Eden in away did not mind getting out of that bet this way. Attending a dance club was not such a bad trade. Heaven knew what Luigi would have asked her to do if she did not take this option "But just once... One session only..."

Luigi said "I would love to watch..."

Eden said "No... You will not be watching..."

Luigi said "Why not?"

Eden said "You do know I will need a partner for the club. Right?"

Luigi said "Partner?"

Eden nodded "Yes. The dance club that matches my schedule after school is a paired one, not an nindiciual one... You are coming too... You will be my dance partner... Joy... You will not be watching. You will be attending..."