Charles & Claire Ch. 10

CHAPTER TEN

Excusing myself from the group for a moment, I went back upstairs to take a shower and shake the 'Claire-webs' from my mind. I quickly got dressed and went to BallroomDancer.com, to see which steps I wanted to add to our Quickstep routine, and there was a knock on my door.

Rather than my usual 'come in,' I asked, "Who is it?"

"It's Claire, Charles... Annie said I should come up and talk to you. We need to talk."

"Just a minute - All right?"

"OK, your room can't be any messier than mine is at home, just smellier."

I was feverishly picking up all that I could... then after surveying the area I said, "Come in, Claire."

"Hi, Charles," she said as she started to close the door.

"No, Claire... please, leave the door open?" I requested as I turned off my computer screen.

"Charles, I'm really sorry about what happened in the kitchen. Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure, sweetie, we can... talk."

"I deserved that, Charles. There's something I need to tell you, it's very personal, and I need to say it all without being interrupted," she said with a nervous look on her face.

"Go ahead, Claire... whenever you're ready."

"Charles, you know how I feel about you, at least I hope you do... but lately my feelings have changed."

I put a look on my face that was as benign as possible.

"Charles, I've recently had my menarche, or my first period. Your Mom... Annie told me that she told you about this. Is that true?"

I quietly said, "Yes Claire, we had a long talk, on the way home about this, and you, specifically."

Claire replied, "My Mother sat me down and tried to explain it all to me as well; it actually started that same day I stopped you in the hallway and we kissed, remember that?"

"Yeah, Claire... I remember that." Boy, did I ever remember that.

"Well, anyway... my hormones have been going crazy, and I haven't been myself lately, and I want to apologize to you, if I've made you uncomfortable at all. From what my Mom tells me, I may grow a little taller; all the girls in my family did when puberty hit, and I may yet grow boobies... sorry?" she blushed.

"Don't be contrite about anything Claire; short or tall, flat or boobed, I fell in love with what's inside your heart, nothing you can actually see, but I do love your pretty red hair."

"This is all going to happen to you too, you know, Charles?" she said, biting her lip.

"Yeah, that's what I understand, I wouldn't mind growing about four or five inches taller... it'd make things that much easier to put my arms around you, to hug you and to kiss you."

"You smooth talker you, but don't get too tall, there's Kalista to consider?" Claire said, now sporting a big grin.

"Don't worry about Kalista, or anything else that's happened between us so far. From what my Mom says, and what I've read on the Internet, you can't stop puberty from happening... all you can do is be ready for it. Ohh, that's what my Mom was handing you the other day, some pads."

"Yes, Charles... I'd run out, and she gave me a few to get through the day."

"That's my Mom, and our manager - always there for us, isn't she? I'll bet she's even right outside my door, listening to everything we're saying..."

"You're getting way too smart for your own good, young man," Annie said as she straightened up and walked into the room. "I was just looking out for the two of you, making sure neither one of you say, nor do, anything stupid."

"Oh, yeah Mom... Claire and I are going to make love in my room, with the door open, so you and impressionable young Kalista can hear us moan and groan."

That made both Claire and my Mom both blush up a little.

"I'll leave you two alone for exactly two minutes, OK... but the door stays open."

"In two minutes a lot can happen, couldn't it Claire?" I remarked, winking at her.

"Oh, Yeah Charles... A whole lot can happen in about thirty seconds." You should have seen the combination smile and blush that came across my girl's face.

"I don't know about the two of you, sometimes," mom said exiting the room.

"How about we go and practice the Quickstep, Claire? We can always find time to go somewhere and make out."

She lightly slapped me on the chest, saying, "You wish... I just better not catch you doing anything with Kalista, or I may have to ban her from our rehearsals, OK?"

"Yeah, we're fine... and those 'open kisses?'" I asked.

"Yes, Charles... what about them?"

"I'm actually getting to like them a little," I said, giving her a light touch of my lips to hers.

She giggled.

We all went downstairs and got a quick drink of water, and we were finally ready to start practicing the Quickstep. First, of course, we covered what we knew, and then I started to explain the next couple of steps - The Closed Impetus, Back Lock and the Reverse Pivot.

We covered them relatively quickly, mainly because a lot of the steps are simply reversed or mirrored versions of what we already knew. I also knew that there'd be some very difficult steps to learn down the road.

"Claire, do you think we've enough variety to create a routine?" I questioned.

"Charles, have you ever seen adults dance the Quickstep," she asked?

"No. I didn't think of that... maybe on YouTube - we'd find something. MOM, Claire and I are going up to my room to look for Quickstep videos online. Is that all right with you?"

"Sure honey, take Kalista up with you, why don't you... it could help her to see professional dancers as well?" I saw Mom give me the OK sign, so the three of us went up to my room.

After watching some of the videos, we decided we needed to add a few more steps. We all went back down and asked Kalista to be ready with our Quickstep music, 'Sing, Sing, Sing'.

We added three more steps; the Progressive Chasse to Right, the Tipple Chasse to Right, and the Running Finish. Putting these in, we both thought, should spark the dance a little. I asked K to start the music, and Claire and I quickly got into a groove, but we really needed more room then we had. I suggested to Annie to call Mr. McArthur and find out about the dance floor he'd gotten for the BBQ.

"I'll ask Daddy, Charles... let me call him?" Claire said, getting her phone from her pocket.

"Sure Beautiful... go for it," I said, getting a glorious smile back from her.

"Hello, Daddy... this is Claire, sorry to bother you at work, but the dance floor you had at the BBQ... where did you get it? Hmm-mmm, right, OK Daddy, thank you - I love you, bye."

"So?" I asked. "What'd he say?"

"He told me he didn't rent it; he bought it..., and he'll have it put up in the back yard, so we can practice on it all we want. He'll have my brothers and cousins put it up, and we'll be able to use it by tomorrow morning. How's that for getting something done?" she said with pride in her voice.

"Fantastic, Claire. In the meantime, why don't we go back to the Tango and work out a routine for it?" I replied.

"How many routines are you guys going to have?" asked Kalista.

"At least one for every dance, maybe two. We have four for the Waltz, one for the Samba and Tango, three for the Quickstep; we need one for the Foxtrot, Viennese Waltz, Cha-Cha, Rumba, Paso Doble and Jive. In addition, we'll need one for East Coast Swing, Bolero and Mambo. Lastly, the West Coast Swing, Lindy and Salsa."

"You're not going to learn all of those this year, are you Charles?" mom commented, walking into the room.

"No, Mom. Those are all the dances we need to learn if we're going to compete as we grow older and are ready for the more important dance Competitions around the country, and even the world."

"We'll be dancing around the world, Charles?" Claire wondered aloud.

"Eventually, Claire... everybody dances - however, we've a lot to learn before we're ready to dance with the 'big boys'. I did find out that we're only the seventh couple of any NDCA Class to win two consecutive events."

"What if we win three events, Charles?" she asked.

"Only three couples have ever done that, Claire," I bemused.

"And Four?" she said, her voice rising in pitch.

"Nobody ever did that!" I said pointedly.

"So, that's our goal, Charles," she said putting a wonderful smile on her face.

"Yep, Claire, that's our goal."

We gave each other a quick kiss, and I asked Claire to sit down for a moment, and I said, "Miss Kalista McArthur, would you like to learn the Samba?"

"Can I really, Charles? That looks difficult, but I bet I can do it. What do you think, can I?"

"No harm in trying Special K. Have you been watching Claire and I closely enough?"

"Yes, X... I'm prepared to Samba with you."

Annie and Claire both chuckled a bit over Kalista, who had wiggled her hips when she had said 'Samba with you'.

I asked Annie to have the music ready... in the meantime - I covered the basic steps with K, and she seemed to catch on more quickly than I'd anticipated. I made sure she understood the music counting, and how different it was from what we'd done before.

I nodded to Annie, and the music started and Kalista's hips started to sway back and forth, and she was ready, so I took her to task, and she did very nicely. I heard a click in her voice; she must've been counting using that, but nonetheless, she was a marvelous student.

As she went to sit down, Annie got up and said, "Teach me too, X... please." Her smile was no less beautiful.

Claire and Kalista immediately got the giggles as Annie approached me. Now I'm 5 feet 2, and my Mom is 5 feet 8, so I must look up to see her face. If I look straight ahead, all I see is... you understand?

Kalista was ready with the music, so I went through an abbreviated version of showing Annie the basic steps, and then she said, "OK, X - I'm prepared to try this with you."

I nodded to K, and we started to dance. Mom, for an older gal, is quite good at dancing. Dad is just never around to take her out to do things like dancing, dinner or the movies -especially lately -- the jerk!

Well, anyway, Annie and I danced the Samba, and she was tired afterwards and said, while she was going to sit down, "I haven't had that much fun in ages. Charles, I may have you take me dancing, since your father is working late all the time."

Claire, remembering a particular moment, said, turning to Annie, "So, this is the hussy that's thinking she's taking my boyfriend away from me?"

"Touché, Claire... I deserved that," mom replied with a snort.

"Claire, if we're going to break that record and win four consecutive Junior I Competitions, then we need to pick our dances, and our music very carefully," I declared.

"Charles," Annie interrupted, "The rest of the kids in your Junior I Class are doing the Waltz, Foxtrot and Tango, while you two are being creative with your routines. I'd suggest getting both a Quickstep routine and possibly a Viennese Waltz routine ready... those dances show off your technique and ability to learn. While you guys do a great Tango, wait for the rest of them starts doing Samba and Waltz, then switch back to the traditional steps of the Tango or Foxtrot."

"Sure Annie - that makes a lot of sense," said Claire.

"It really does, Mom... thanks, sweetie - I love you, Annie."

That made Claire and Kalista giggle a little.

"Back to the Quickstep... ready to learn some more steps, Claire?"

"You can teach me anything you want, X?" Claire replied, and Kalista had a really big smile to her face.

"OK, Claire, four more Quickstep patterns and then we'll start to fine tune our Quickstep routine for this upcoming Competition... is that all right with you?"

"Absotively, Posilutely, X."

"All right, next is the Natural Turn to Back Lock. Very good, Claire! OK, now the Double Reverse Spin... Wow, nice Claire, you really are a natural spinner, what with the way you did those Samba spins and now, good job."

"Here is the Cross Chasse, simply a derivative of the previous Chasses, we've learned, this time both of our cross legs go in front at the same time. Good going sweetie... our last pattern is called Change of Direction - just like it sounds, whenever we decide to do this, all of our leg moves are opposite. Atta girl, Claire!"

"Now we've learned eighteen of the twenty-nine patterns in the Quickstep syllabus. I need a quick break, back in five." I gave her a kiss on the nose and ran to the bathroom.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, Claire was there and said, "You call that a kiss -- now... here's a kiss!"

She put her hands behind my head and pushed me into her. I must admit that it felt quite good, but I also knew that I had to stay in control of the situation. After the kiss went on for a while, I tried to pull away, and Claire tried to stop me by putting her hand on my lower back, attempting to hold me up against her.

That felt even better, but Annie was bound to come looking for us, so I separated from Claire, catching my breath and saying, "That was really nice Claire, but you've got to be more careful than this. Annie could be literally around the corner."

Claire stopped, wiping off my lips and putting on some more lip-gloss to 'cover the crime'.

We walked back into the room, holding hands of course, and I said, "Let's take a break before we start a re-tool of the routine." Nobody was in the room and a moment later; K and Annie emerged from the kitchen with milk and cookies.

I recommended, "Claire, let's go over and take a break with them; I'll be right there. I'm going to find a better number for our Quickstep."

"Don't you like what we've been using, Charles?"

"Yeah, but I'd really like something that has at least a measure of music before that back beat starts."

"OK, I'll be waiting for you... over here."

I looked back at her and saw my Mom and Kalista both smiling at me.

I looked through our music and couldn't find what I was looking for, although I couldn't tell you exactly what I was looking for... if you understand.

A song just popped into my head, from Back to the Future, what was that called? Huh, my head hurts... what is that called? -- 'Mister Sandman,' that's it. Now who recorded it? The Four Freshmen or the Four Lads, no, no... who was it? - The Chordettes. Yeah!

"I'll be right back, you guys... I've got the song in my head, but I'm going to see who recorded it, be right back."

I went up to my computer and opened ITunes and typed in 'Mister Sandman' and sampled each of them. "I got it," I yelled. I downloaded it on my IPod and went downstairs for cookies and milk.

"What did you find?" asked Annie

"A piece of music called 'Mister Sandman,' Mom... but a guitar instrumental by Chet Atkins. It's really nice, and there are no vocals to distract Claire and me from the dance."

"I know that song, can I hear it, Charles?" Annie asked.

"Sure, I'll play it for you"... and they all loved it.

Finally, I sat down and relaxed for a moment. Kalista handed me a cookie and Claire poured me a glass of milk. I really am so lucky to have both, sweet girls as my friends.

The day of the Competition arrived... Brian and Susan, along with Susan's Mom, Esther and Brian's Mom, Shirley, Claire, Kalista, Annie and myself, all went to the convention center that was the place for this regional NDCA event.

Claire, Kalista, Annie and I went to the check in, and were asked what we were performing? When Annie told them the Quickstep, the lady at the check-in chuckled and said, "Yeah sure, the Quickstep; thirteen-year-olds... doing the Quickstep."

My Mom turned to me and smiled, saying, "Maybe you don't recognize these two... this is Charles & Claire. They're 'doing' the Quickstep, unless there's some sort of limitation I didn't see in the NDCA rules for Junior I dancers?"

"Oh, Charles & Claire... I'm sorry. Gosh, I loved your Samba last week. Wow! The Quickstep, if you guys do it as well... this place is really going to jump."

"Gee, thank you," said Claire. "That's awfully sweet of you to say."

"Everybody else does the traditional Waltz, Tango, Cha-Cha and Foxtrot. You two have started a mini-revolution, of sorts. I'm certain the other Juniors will start to think outside the traditional, after you guys win a few more of these Competitions," she said, "Which position do you want to dance in... first, Last or somewhere in the middle?"

"We've never been asked that before," said Annie, "Why now?"

"In-state, we give the previous winners their choice of position. Everywhere else, its first in is last, and last to enter is first."

Claire and I talked a minute and announced, "We'd like to be last, please?"

"Thank you, folks. That'll give me time to get a seat to watch you."

Annie asked, "Could you keep it to yourself, what they're dancing, please?"

"Certainly, oh - your music please?"

"Here it is," Annie said. "Thank you, again."

Our time came... Mom and Kalista gave us a hug, and the announcer came on, "Lastly tonight; we've a new dancing sensation, that burst upon the scene two Competitions ago, with the highest scoring dance during the day, in all divisions, with a Waltz. Tonight they're performing what has often been called 'The Killer Dance'. Ladies and Gentlemen - Charles & Claire, performing the Quickstep."

Claire gave me a kiss; 'Mister Sandman' started, and we began. As the music went on, the crowd started clapping to the music and Claire, and I took it up a notch, adding a Quickstep spin between Chasses.

That got 'em going... we went on with the routine and started to prepare for the end, when Claire was going to do a back to back Double Reverse Spin, changing directions from one to the other. The time on the dance floor at her folks, paid off... here it comes... Claire even added a quick, promenade flair to the end.

You're never prepared for how a crowd may respond to you, whether you're speaking in front of people, or in this case, dancing in front of them. I heard a 'You're the man Charles,' and the explosion of sound that came after that was formidable.

It sounded like thunder, or I should say, they sounded like thunder. People were jumping out of their seats, screaming our names out loud. The Announcer asked for quiet, and Claire and I left the dance floor, running to Annie and K who were waiting for us.

Everybody hugged everybody, and we waited for the results.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls; here are the results of the Junior I Class:"

"In Third place, with a Foxtrot, are Sam Simons and Susie Thatcher."

A nice round of applause for them, Susie is awfully cute, but I can't tell Claire, or she'd hurt me.

"In Second place, with a Waltz are Norman Thayer and Martha Michelson."

Again, a good decision, they were popular among the other dancers... a fair round of applause.

"In First Place, winning their Third Consecutive Competition and only the fourth couple to do so are Charles Newman and Claire McArthur."

The building seemed to rumble like an earthquake had just happened, but the crowd very appreciatively, all stood up and applauded together, as we ran out to wave to them. There were shout outs, of 'I love you, Charles' to which Claire grabbed me and gave me a kiss in front of the masses.

She kept it closed mouthed, but still the crowd 'ate it up' and whistled and hooted. Mom came out, raising her hand and waving and pulled Claire away from me as tactfully as could be done.

It was early enough that if we wanted to get to Cotillion, we could. Claire said she wanted to go and show off our Third Trophy and do the Quickstep for Jimmy. I was wired as well, so we all piled into the car and went straight to the Cotillion.

We showed up during a break in the Cotillion, Claire and I ran to Jimmy with our trophy. He saw it and smiled the biggest smile I'd ever seen upon his face.