| Chapter Nine |
| Grace Macgregor was officially a bad dancer. No, not just a bad dancer, a horrible one. She had no rhythm. She was the epitome of the stereotypical white person in a movie trying to dance. "Like that." "What?" Grace paused in her mental 1,2,3 count (It seemed to work in movies) and looked up at Justin quizzically. Justin jerked his head to the left, "Try to do it like that." Trying not to be obvious, Grace slowly slid her eyes in the direction Justin had gestured towards. She saw a woman she vaguely remembered from a reality series grinding her rear end into her dance partner's?ugh?front side. Grace didn't think she could ever do something like that. Then again, she'd never thought she could dance, or try to dance, in public, but here she was. The woman to the left started to slip lower and lower to ground until she was inches from the floor. "I'd hurt myself," Grace told Justin, only half joking. His eyes briefly watched the woman and her gymnastics. "Would you believe my mom was doing that at Christina's birthday party? I'll never be the same." Grace flashed him a smile. She watched the woman next to her for few more seconds before trying to mimic her actions. Without the grinding and trip to the floor that is. Grace rocked back and forth, her body rigid. People were going to think she was having a stroke. "Here like this." Grace let out a gasp when his hands clasped her hips. Justin immediately removed his hands, "Sorry. I should have asked first. Do you mind?" Did she mind? What kind of question was that? Of course, she didn't mind! "No, it's fine," she answered shyly; hopefully, he couldn't tell just how eager she was. His hands fell on her hips again. "Move with the beat," he gently moved her body to the music. Grace didn't hear any of the tips he gave her. She was burning the feel of his hands into her memory. "See, it's easy." He removed his hands. Grace continued to move the way Justin had instructed her. She was dancing! Like a normal person. "Wanna try to shake it down to the floor?" "Sure. Just as soon as I find a solution for world hunger." "I'll take that as a no," Justin laughed. "I'll do it if you do it first," she challenged. She wished her mother could see her now. She'd probably think Grace was a pod person. Justin started to move like he was actually going to try and go to the floor, but stopped after a few moments, "I think we'll save both ourselves a trip to the emergency room and stick to the easy stuff." Chuckling, Grace agreed that it was for the best. They continued to dance in silence. Out of the corner of her eyes, Grace watched the people around her. Everyone seemed to be either grinding or doing some other intimate dance. She wondered if Justin would teach her how to do those, but she didn't dare ask. She was content simply "moving to the beat". It was more than enough. "Oh no!" Justin froze, "They're playing 'it'" It was on the tip of her tongue to ask what he was talking about, but her question was answered when she heard the first line of "In Da Club". Grace couldn't help but laugh; the look on Justin's face combined with the image of Lynn going wild was too much for her. "It's not funny," Justin said before he too started laughing, "My mother's not normal." At the moment, Grace found it hard to come to Lynn's defense. Luckily, she was saved by a strange female voice calling out Justin's name. A young blonde woman greeted him with a hug and quick kiss on the cheek. "Olivia," Justin happily exclaimed, "I didn't know you were here." "Of course, I'm here, silly. As if I'd miss your birthday party. Happy birthday, by the way." Justin thanked her with another hug. Grace hated Olivia. Well, since she had never met the woman before, she couldn't really hate her. She strongly disliked her. "Olivia, I'd like you to meet?uh?my mom's personal assistant." "Grace." Of course, he couldn't remember her name. He probably knew skinny, perfect Olivia's first and last name. Ugh, she sounded like a bitter old woman. Olivia held out her perfectly manicured hand, "It's nice to meet you, Grace." "You too," Grace responded, shaking her hand. Justin slipped his arm around Olivia's waist. "It's been a while. We have a lot of catching up to do," he said to her. Turning to Grace, he asked, "You don't mind, do you?" Did she mind? Of course she minded. But she couldn't say so. "No, it's fine. I was thinking about heading home anyways." "No, stay and have fun. Maybe I'll see you later." "Yeah, maybe," she lied, knowing for certain she was going to leave. "Good. See you later." Half-heartedly, she waved goodbye. Olivia followed as Justin took her hand and led her away. The look on her face conveying her apologizes. It was obvious that she hadn't meant to take Justin away. Grace didn't blame her. It wasn't her fault. She couldn't help being perfect. |