Chapter Twenty One
Primadonna

IT HAD BEEN a few days since the incident at the beach club and Sydney still hadn't spoken to Sam. She wanted to. She would reach for her phone every couple minutes to call her but she stopped herself. She had nothing to apologize for. She didn't do anything to Sam. But she was her what friend and Sydney didn't know a life without her. She needed to clear her mind and dancing helped clear her mind.

The dance competition was this weekend and Sydney pushed herself to make sure her dance was perfect. Her legs needed to be perfectly lined and her technique needed to be flawless. She loved being in the dance studio. It brought back memories of when she was kid and her mom took her to classes. She could spend hours learning. It was a stress reliever for her.

She ended the dance with her body on the ground, her torso twisted so that her legs were sprawled out but her chest was a few inches off the ground. Her arms were bend at her sides.

Rosemary clapped. "It looks better and better every day Sydney. I think we have a winner."

She got up from the floor and smiled. "You think so?"

"I've been a dance teacher for years and a talent like yours is rare. You have a gift." The blonde woman said kindly.

Sydney grinned. "Thank you. It feels really good getting back into dancing."

"I hope you stick around. We love having you." Rosemary complimented.

After rehearsal, Sydney changed out of her dance clothes and into her normal ones and threw her hair into a bun and drove to meet Miguel at the restaurant down town.  She didn't care that she was a sweaty mess,  she just really wanted some cheese fries.

When she got to the restaurant,  she saw that everyone from the dojo was already there including Moon. 

"Hey Sydney."  aisha greeted when she saw the brit.

"Hey guys."  She greeted when she passed the table of girls.  Seeing Miguel sitting alone at one of the tables,  she snuck up being him and kissed him on the cheek.  "Hey handsome."

His face lit up instantly.  "Hey you.  I ordered you some cheese fries."

She nearly cried.  "You know me so well.  Thank you."

He smiled.  "How was rehearsal?"

"Wonderful.  I'm so excited for this weekend.  You're coming right?" She asked and started shoveling the fries in her mouth.

"Like I'd miss it,"  he scoffed.  "I'm gonna be in the middle with a huge thing of flowers."

She grinned.  "Really?"

"Totally,  I might even make a sign with your face on it and hold it up when it's your turn."

She giggled. "Please don't do that."

He shrugged. "Worth a shot."

Tory watched the couple from where she was sitting. "They're so cute it makes me barf."

"I know right," Moon gasped. "It's adorable. I haven't seen her this happy in so long."

Charlie walked past their table and smiled.  "Hey guys."

"Hey Charlie."  Aisha greeted.

Charlie glanced at Tory and smiled sweetly before walking away.  Tory's eyes followed him.  "Who is that?"

"That's Charlie.  He's one of our best students."  Aisha said.

Tory watched him sit down with Chris and Mitch.  She watched as he laughed loudly at something they showed him in his phone. Tory smiled.

After eating, Sydney drove her and Miguel to mall. They had already been to five stores. Miguel trailed behind her as she shopped. "Do you like this one?" She asked and held up a blue dress in front of her.

"It's pretty." He nodded.

She gave him a look. "You've said that about everything I've shown you."

"Because you look gorgeous in everything."

She smiled. "Thank you."

He kissed her cheek.  "Can we go look at the shoes?"

"Of course, love."  She nodded and they walked across the mall to the shoe store.  "What are you looking for?"

"Oh,  I just wanted to see what they have."  He said and shook his head,  looking away shyly.

Sydney frowned slightly but nodded. "Well, let's get to looking."

They looked through the whole store and Miguel tried on all the shoes he liked. Sydney pulled some off the shelf that she thought he would like. Miguel looked at one of the shelves and grabbed a shoe on display with wide eyes. "Syd, look at these. These are so cool!"

Sydney stood at his side and examined the shoe. It was a grey and black Nike blazer. She hummed. "I like them. Try them on."

Miguel grabbed a box in his size and sat down, untying his shoes and slipping them off. He tried on the shoes and smiled brightly. "They fit perfectly." He looked at the box again and frowned. "Oh."

"What's wrong?"

"Those are expensive," he said to himself. Te took them off and put them back in the box. "They're nice though."

Sydney frowned again and watched him put the box back in the shelf. His expression had fallen. "Are you ready to go?"

"You go ahead. There's something I want to look at first."

He nodded and walked out of the store. Sydney made sure he wasn't looking and grabbed the box, walking to the check out table. The woman working the register smiled at her. "How are you today?"

"I'm just fine," Sydney replied. She held up the box. "I was wondering if you could hold these for me?"

#1 girlfriend award goes to Sydney Benoist

Not Tory crushing on Sam's potential new man 👀