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Editor Note: The images used for this story were purchased and used under royalty-free license* from Istockphoto.com . ~Sephrena
Author Note: Please email me at AngelJediGirl (at) gmail (dot) com before posting this story to any other site. Posting to a pay site is prohibited.

Comments and suggestions are also welcome at the above email address.

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Chapter 32 - Can I Have This Dance?

I was very nervous standing in the lobby of the ActiveLife Dance and Fitness Center. It was a large facility just outside of Beverly Hills that seemed to be designed specifically for well paid choreographers and physical trainers to set up shop with a high-paying clientele. Kate Abernathy, my new choreographer, had her own dance studio in the building.

Dad had said that he had taken care of everything, and that there was nothing to worry about. But that wasn't enough to overcome the nervousness that I felt as I stared at the door to the women's locker room while he signed me in at the reception desk.

"Sarah," he said, startling me from my own thoughts. I turned back toward the desk. "You need to sign this."

He slid a sign-in sheet toward me and I picked up the pen on top and signed my name.

"Thank you," the receptionist told me with a fake smile. "If you will follow Brittany, she'll show you to your locker."

"Okay," I replied. I lifted the pink and white gym bag that Julia and I had picked out from the floor and onto my shoulder before turning to Brittany. She was standing next to the reception desk. She was a couple of years older than I was, maybe even graduating sometime this week. She opened her mouth to say something, but we were interrupted by my dad.

"Sarah," he said, and I turned to face him. "I've got a couple of other clients I need to check in on. I'll be back to pick you up, okay?"

"Okay," I said with a nod for emphasis. He gave me a smile and turned to head for the entrance. I turned back to Brittany.

"If you'll follow me, Ms. Carerra," she said and motioned with her arm toward the door to the locker room. I nervously followed behind her.

The locker room looked brand new. I knew it was a few years old, but it appeared to be well maintained. I felt slightly out of place as I was led past a number of rows of lockers where women of various ages were in different stages of dressing. But a quick glance from them to me before they continued to go about their business was enough to make me feel like I belonged.

Brittany led me over to one of the walls, where there were six doors labeled 1-6. I had apparently been assigned door number four, since she stopped right in front of it.

"This will be your private changing room for today," she said while handing me a key. "The door is always locked from this side. Make sure you have the key with you when you leave. After you're finished changing, I'll meet you outside that door."

She pointed to a door at the far end of the wall.

"Thank you," I told her.

"No prob," she said with a smile before turning and heading for the door she had mentioned.

I took a deep breath and turned toward the door in front of me. I inserted the key into the lock and turned it. With a push, the door opened easily. On the inside was a room I had definitely not expected. It was a square about ten feet wide and ten feet long. The color was primarily white, but small splashes of pink could be seen all throughout the room, making it feel very feminine. In the back left corner was a shower stall and a toilet. The rest of the wall was filled with a large mirror and a sink. The left wall contained a number of large lockers. There was a comfortable looking bench in front of them. On the right was a soft looking sofa. The whole room was well lit and immaculately clean. I guess it was the type of room a rock star would expect to change in when she went to the gym - private and well appointed. At least nobody would find out my secret in here.

I set my bag down on the bench and opened one of the lockers. There was plenty of room to store everything inside, and I started to undress until I was in my underwear, hanging up my clothes inside the locker. I then turned toward the gym bag.

Julia and I had picked out some workout clothes for me during our shopping spree. I pulled a pair of black yoga pants and a white tee with a pink, glittery star across the front from the bag. It once again looked simple, but had a bit of glam to it. At least it looked like it would be comfortable to move around in.

After getting dressed, I took a look in the mirror. It was weird to see Sarah dressed down like this. She was always so glam and glitzy. It was odd to see another side of her, of me.

I figured I'd better not keep Brittany waiting, and with key in hand, I exited the small locker room, walked down toward the door that she had gone through, and found her waiting for me in a comfortable lounge area on the other side.

"Ready?" she asked unnecessarily as she stood up. I nodded, and she motioned to a hallway off one side of the lounge. "Kate's studio is down this way."

I followed her down the hall to a door with 'Kate Abernathy' stenciled across it. Smiling, Brittany knocked on the door and then turned and walked away, leaving me nervously waiting for someone to answer.

The door opened quickly, and a tall, skinny woman with long black hair and slightly Asian features was standing there with a smile on her face. She looked to be in her early thirties.

"Sarah?" she asked me. I nodded, and her smile broadened. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Kate Abernathy. Come in."

She stepped back and opened the door for me to enter. Inside was what I would call a typical dance studio. It was well decorated and seemed to be quite modern. The far wall was lined with plate glass windows that looked out on the many fountains and flowers that made up the garden behind the Center. The wall to my left, which was longer than the far wall, was covered in mirrors and had a bar running the length. The wall to my right was a soft pink, and was fairly devoid of decoration to allow the dancers to see themselves easily in the mirror.

"Have you ever had any dance training?" she asked me while motioning for me to take a seat on a comfortable looking chair just inside the door. She was already falling into a chair opposite it.

"No," I told her while taking a seat in the chair she had indicated. "I'm a bit scared, actually."

She laughed lightly. The tinkling sound of her laughter had a way of putting me at ease almost immediately.

"Don't worry," she said. "I could teach a trucker to dance ballet if needed. We'll get you in shape for your concert quickly."

While her words seemed boastful, they didn't come across that way. She was trying to instill confidence in me, and somehow it was working. I hoped that she was telling the truth. I'd never really done any sort of dancing before.

"I'd like to start by getting to know you," Kate continued. "Scott said that he would like me to be your choreographer in the future if I'm available, and I like to get to know my clients before I make that type of commitment. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," I replied. "What would you like to know?"

We spent the next twenty minutes getting to know each other. I told her as much as I could about Sarah and her life, and she told me more about herself. Her father was American, but her mother was Japanese. She grew up in San Diego, where she started dancing at an early age and fell in love with it immediately. She moved up to L.A. when she graduated high school to try out for a dance company, which she danced with for seven years before starting her own choreography and dance business. She truly loved what she did for a living.

"Alright," she said after we both were starting to feel comfortable with each other. "Are you ready to get started?"

"I guess," I replied. The nervousness I had originally felt when entering her studio had returned.

"Don't worry, Sarah," she said with a comforting smile. "We aren't doing anything difficult today. You'll catch on quickly."

She stood up, and I did the same.

"Stand on that x," she told me, pointing to a small x that had been made with tape on the floor. As I moved toward it, she stepped over to another door and opened it. On the other side I saw a small storage room. She entered the room briefly and then returned with a microphone stand, of all things. She brought it over to where I was standing and placed it in front of me.

"Sing for me," she said. I stood there confused for a minute, but she just smiled before walking over to the sound system. With a push of a button, 'Intuition' started to fill the air inside the studio. She walked back over to where I was standing, a twinkle in her eye.

I started singing. I wasn't quite sure why she wanted me to sing, but it was definitely better than dancing, in my opinion. I let the music flow through me, and gave her a small mini concert. Once 'Intuition' was over, 'Pop Princess' started to play. I knew then that she had access to my music, because the song had not yet been released to the public.

"Pull the mic out of the stand this time," she said, and I pulled the microphone from the stand and sang the song into it.

When the song finished this time, she walked over to the sound system and turned it off.

"Good," she said. "I told you this would be easy."

"Huh?" I asked, confused. I hadn't done anything yet.

"I wanted to see what you would do while you sang," she explained. "You're already most of the way to where I was hoping we could get you before Saturday."

"Oh," I said, completely surprised. I hadn't really been thinking about what I had been doing while I sang.

"Try to be aware of what you are doing this time," Kate said while turning the music back on. This time 'I Just Wanna Have Fun' started playing.

We continued in that format for the next several hours, with a short break around 4:00. Eventually, Kate had me try and change the natural movements that I had been making while I sang. She told me that she didn't want to change much. She was just looking to refine how I already moved, making it flow better while I was on the stage. By making me more conscious of what I was doing while on stage, I was taking the first step in preparing for the more advanced choreography she had agreed to provide for a later date. For now, this would have to do for Saturday.

By 5:30, I was exhausted. I wasn't really doing much 'dancing' while I sang. We were focusing more on what I should do with my arms and my body while I stood with the microphone. She did have me walk around the room a bit to show me how to add some movement around the stage, but it wasn't very difficult. It was just a lot of movement.

"Let's stop there," Kate thankfully said. "I think you're ready for Saturday. How do you feel?"

"Exhausted," I told her. "But I think I’ve got it."

"Good," she replied. "You're a quick learner, and you listen to feedback well. I wish more of my students would listen like you do. It would make my job a lot easier."

I smiled at her. She walked over to the chairs we had sat in earlier and picked up a towel and threw it to me.

"Thanks," I said while catching it and trying to dry myself off a bit.

"I'd like you to think about taking one of my dance classes," she said. "You seem to have good dance instincts, but you could use some training."

I nodded my interest, but a knock on the studio door interrupted us before I could reply. Kate stepped over to the door and opened it. Brittany was standing outside, and behind her was an unmistakable redhead.

"Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Kate," Brittany started.

"Chloe!" I interrupted her. "You made it!"

"Finally," Emily said from behind Brittany. "My mom got stuck with a client and I didn't have a ride down."

Emily's mom worked at an art dealership near our homes. She often would have to run in to work when one of her clients would come in looking for something new.

"Unfortunately," Kate spoke. "I think we're done for the day."

"Aww, man," Emily said. "I knew I was going to miss it."

"If you'll excuse me," Brittany said before turning and walking away, letting Emily into the studio.

"Chloe Carpenter, meet Kate Abernathy, my choreographer," I said, introducing them.

"A pleasure to meet you," Kate said.

"Likewise," Emily replied. "I just wish I could have been here earlier."

"You didn't miss much," Kate tried to console her. "Sarah is a natural, and we got through it pretty fast."

Fast? That was four hours of hard work! I wanted to go home and take a nap!

"Thanks for coming," I told Emily. "I'm glad you're here."

"If you'll excuse me," Kate said in a tone that indicated the end of our session. "I've got another class at 7:00, and I'd like to grab some dinner first."

"Of course," I said and followed her out of the studio. "Thank you, Kate."

"It was my pleasure, Sarah," she replied. "I'll see you again next time."

With a small wave, she headed down the hallway opposite the dressing room. I started walking the other way.

"I'm sorry you missed it," I told Emily as we entered the locker room. "Tomorrow will be more fun anyway."

"Still..." she said, and I had to agree. It was her first chance to enter into Sarah's world, and she had missed it. "Mom said she'd go to the school for me tomorrow and turn in my books to make up for it. I can come down to the studio with you."

"That's great!" I told her.

I inserted the key into door four and entered the room, holding it open for Emily. She stepped in behind me.

"You get your own changing room?" she asked in awe while looking around.

"Awesome, isn't it?" I replied. She nodded and continued to look around.

"I guess you really are a rock star," she said.

"Um," I started. I wasn't sure how to broach this subject. "I think my dad did it so that I could change without being worried someone would see, you know."

Emily looked confused for a moment before I pointed down. A look of understanding lit her face and she started to giggle. Perhaps she had forgotten I wasn't completely female yet.

"I'm going to take a short shower," I told her. "That was really a workout. My dad should be here in fifteen minutes or so. Do you want to wait here or in the lobby?"

She thought about that question. Basically, I had just told her that I was comfortable changing around her, but she also knew that I was...different than her. In response, Emily sat down on the couch. She was just as determined to show me that she was comfortable with my body the way it was now, not the way it would be in the future (I hoped).

In response to her actions, I started undressing and placing my dirty clothes back into the gym bag to take home to be washed. When I was down to bra and panties, I looked over at Emily. She was staring at me with the same amazement she had shown at the beach last week.

I slipped off my bra, and she gasped. I knew what she was thinking. Here I was, up until a few weeks ago her male friend, sporting breasts that could only be found on a member of the fairer sex.

"Wow," she said. "You really must be a girl."

I slipped off my panties. Personally, I agreed with her, but my body didn't.

"Where's your thingy?" she asked with confusion. I looked down. It was right there. She stood up and stepped closer to get a better look. "That's all you've got?"

I sighed. It wasn't like I wanted more than that, but if she couldn't even see it from across the room, I guess I really had come home from that hospital as a girl.

*  *  *

I wanted to go straight to my room and lie down when I got home, but after walking in from the garage I knew that rest was not on the agenda for the evening. The sound of a baby crying was filtering throughout the house. Why on earth was there a baby in my house?

I walked through the kitchen toward the front room. Emily was right behind me.

"Megan?" I heard my mom say. "Is that you?"

"Yeah," I said while turning the corner into the front room. There Mom was holding...

"Heather!" I said excitedly and hurried over to where my mom was sitting on the couch. I reached down and took the baby that she was holding out for me.

The beautiful little infant stopped crying almost instantly as I cradled her in my arms.

"Thank heavens," Mom said. "She's been crying for 45 minutes."

"Aww," I said looking down at her smiling face. "There's nothing to cry about any more, is there?"

I tickled her tiny nose with my finger and she broke out in giggles, bringing a joyous smile to my own face.

"I need to run," Mom interrupted our fun. "I'm supposed to be meeting Judy, but now I'm going to be late. Will you be okay with Heather?"

"You're leaving her with me?" I panicked! I'd never been a babysitter before! Neither had Emily! I didn't know how to take care of a baby!

"Tracy got called into work and Mark is out of town," Mom said. Mark was Tracy's husband. He was a pharmaceutical rep and was in Chicago for some conference, if I remembered correctly. "She thought you would be a great babysitter."

"I'm exhausted," I told my mom honestly. "I've been dancing for the last four hours."

She smiled a knowing smile. I didn't like it.

"It'll be good practice for when you have your own children," she said. "When you're a mother, you're always a mother, no matter what time it is or how tired you are."

I grimaced. This was not the night that I wanted to learn a lesson like that.

"Spare diapers are in the bag by the couch, Tracy left some milk in the fridge," Mom continued to explain. "If you have any questions, ask your father. He's done this before."

Before I could say another word she stepped into the kitchen, kissed my dad goodbye, grabbed her purse, and rushed into the garage. I was left standing there with a giggling bundle of joy.

Emily's laughter had me glaring at her.

"It's kind of funny," she defended herself.

"Good," I said. "You can hold her while I change."

I thrust Heather into Emily's arms and quickly ran down the hall into Sarah's room. I'd only managed to get the first pin out of my wig before Heather broke out into a wail.

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"There you go," I said while closing the last tab of Heather's new diaper and then giving her a kiss on the forehead. "All better."

"See," Dad said from over my shoulder. "I told you that you wouldn't need my help. You're a natural."

I don't know about that. It didn't seem like changing a diaper was that hard, but I still hadn't had any idea what to do before I called him in to guide me through the process. He refused to do any of it himself, but he did tell me what I needed to do next. The only positive side was that Emily had gone home to eat dinner and wasn't there to laugh at me.

But Heather filled her spot, laughing merrily as I picked her up and placed her on my hip. The sound rang straight through my heart and tickled something I'd never felt before. Despite how tired I was, I truly was glad that Tracy had left Heather in my care for the evening.

"Dinner is almost ready," Dad told me and walked out of the front room and into the kitchen. He was reheating the pasta that Mom had made earlier for us to eat while she spent the evening out with her sister.

"Ok," I replied to no one in particular, since he was no longer in ear shot.

The front door opened while I was standing there, and Austin and the four friends who had spent the night at our house last week came walking in. He looked at me in shock.

"What are you doing with a baby?!" he screamed!

"Shhh!" I shot back and tried to cover Heather's ear with my free hand, and pulling her head closer to my body to cover the other ear. Thankfully, Austin shut up immediately. "I'm babysitting. What does it look like?"

"Who would be stupid enough to trust you with a baby?" he asked. I was ready to slap him.

"Ha, ha," I said instead.

"Dinner's ready," Dad said, stepping back into the front room. He noticed Austin and grimaced slightly. Dad did not like feeding the neighborhood, even though Mom always made enough food to accomplish such a task.

"Can my friends stay?" Austin asked immediately. Dad sighed.

"I guess," he said in reply. "Just make sure everybody else gets enough to eat before you guys go back for seconds."

"Alright!" Austin exclaimed and led his friends into the kitchen. It was my turn to sigh, which caused Dad to chuckle before he too returned to the kitchen.

"I guess we’d better hurry if we want to eat, huh?" I said to Heather as I placed her into her car seat. She looked like she was going to start to get fussy for being put down, but a smile from me seemed to be enough to calm her down as I picked up the car seat and headed for the kitchen.

As I expected, Austin had claimed the seat I wanted.

"Austin, can I sit there please?" I asked as sweetly as I could. "I'd like to keep Heather out of the line of traffic."

He frowned, but a look from Dad convinced him to accommodate me, and he got up and moved to the other side of the table.

"Thank you," I told him with a smile as I placed Heather down at the foot of the table, in a corner of the room that would keep her from being bumped at all. She stared up at me with wide eyes.

Dinner was excellent, as always. It once again reminded me that I needed to ask my mom for some cooking lessons. Conversation was light. I think Dad wanted to ask about how the choreography went, but it was a conversation we couldn't have with Austin's friends at the table.

Austin's friends...the one downside to dinner. They really weren't bad, but they wouldn't stop looking at me. I'd changed into a pair of jeans and a red top that had a slightly lower neckline after getting home. I didn't expect to be on display when I came home, but I caught more than one of them trying to slip a glimpse in while I ate. It only served to remind me that they had actually caught a glimpse of my breasts last week when Austin had pulled his stupid stunt. I tried to ignore them, but they didn't make it easy. They'd apparently gotten better at whispering too, because I couldn't hear what they were saying this time.

After dinner, I helped Dad clean up while the boys ran into the front room and turned on the TV. Shortly thereafter, the sounds of Austin's X-box were filling the room.

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"He means well," Dad said while showing me how to warm up Heather's milk a few minutes later. Austin had just screamed after winning whatever game they were playing, causing Heather to whine slightly louder than she had been since I stepped away from her to help Dad clean up.

After the bottle was ready, I took it and Heather into the front room to watch what they were doing. Sitting on Dad's favorite chair, I watched as they played some type of racing game while feeding Heather her bottle. She seemed so peaceful.

"Will you play your guitar for us?" Austin asked me out of the blue.

"What?" the question had caught me off guard.

"Will you play us something on your guitar?" he asked again. I realized that all five of them were looking at me. I'd been so busy watching Heather that I hadn't even heard them turn off the TV.

Initially, I was going to say no. I couldn't play them one of my songs. Doing that would have given away my secret. But the pleading look in Austin's eyes made me want to do something for him. I could easily play something else that Sarah would never sing.

"Okay," I told him. "But I need to finish feeding Heather first."

He seemed really excited, and they sat there and watched me as I burped her and then put her back into her car seat. She was already starting to doze off, and it broke my heart to leave her for the short time that it took for me to retrieve my guitar from Sarah's room.

When I returned, she was fast asleep.

"What do you guys want to hear?" I asked them while taking the guitar out of its case.

"Do you know that new song by Sarah Carerra?" one of the boys asked.

I almost laughed, because the look on Austin's face when he realized that this could blow my cover was priceless.

"I know of the song," I told the boy. "But I don't know how to play it," I lied. I'd taken the time to learn it since Scott had given me the sheet music.

"What about 'You Belong With Me' - can you play that one?" Alex, the boy who had gone to church with us last week, asked.

"Taylor Swift, huh?" I asked suspiciously. He blushed, but I had to give him credit for picking a good song. "Now you’re talking about my kind of music."

I checked on Heather before starting. She still seemed to be sleeping, and I hoped that the song wouldn't be loud enough to wake her.

I turned back to the gathered crowd and started strumming the guitar. This was actually a fun song to play, and I already knew that I could sing her songs pretty well. Austin and his friends looked on mesmerized as I sang the song. I became upset when Dad rushed into the room in a panic. Obviously, he was panicking because I was singing for them, but I wasn't going to stop just because I didn't have my wig on.

I continued to play, despite the frown he was giving me. When the song ended, all of Austin's friends were clapping and telling me how good I was.

"Play another!" someone said, but the doorbell prevented that from happening. Dad stepped over to the door and opened it to reveal Tracy standing there in her scrubs.

"Hi," she said looking at the gathered crowd. Spying me with the guitar, she looked around to find Heather. I pointed to the car seat at my side, and she calmed down. I set the guitar back in its case and picked up the car seat and walked it over to the door.

"Hi, Tracy," I said with a smile. "She's been a little angel all evening."

"You didn't mind watching her then?" Tracy asked. "I'm sorry to spring it on you like this, but I wasn't expecting to get called into work and nobody else was available."

"I didn't mind," I told her truthfully.

"She did great," Dad pitched in. "She's a natural."

I felt myself blushing again.

"Unfortunately," Tracy said. "I left my checkbook at home. Can I pay you tomorrow?"

"How about we go to lunch sometime instead?" I asked her. "If you bring Heather with you, we can call it even."

"You don't want the money?" she asked incredulously.

"Well," I replied with a quick glance at my father. "I don't really need it."

I was getting too close to the truth here, and I knew it. Dad's grunt was an unneeded reminder.

Tracy looked at me with confusion for a moment before speaking. "It's a deal then."

"Thanks, Tracy," I told her. I really meant it too. She had always been one of my favorite cousins, even if she was five years older than me. I always had fun when she was around.

"I have to work the rest of the week. How about I call you on Monday and we can set something up," she said and I nodded my approval. "Thank you for watching her for me."

"It was my pleasure," I replied as she stepped back out the door. We said goodbye and I watched as she strapped Heather's seat into her car and drove away.

I felt a bit empty inside when she, with Heather, had driven out of sight.

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