Step by step

Following day, Eleo and Oriana started their two weeks basic dance course. When they entered their dance class, Miss Fiona greeted them with a broad smile. She first made them to warm up and then recalled the dance steps which were taught the previous day. Once they finished their dance, Miss Fiona continued the lesson with another type of dance which was salsa. Eleo went towards Oriana to dance with her but the instructor told him that both of them will have a new dance partner on that day. She mentioned that it will make them to feel less awkward when offered to dance with a stranger at a party.

Throughout the class, Eleo kept looking at Oriana to make sure she felt comfortable dancing with another person and due to this, he made several mistakes in his steps. After about half an hour, they took a break and Oriana approached Eleo with a water bottle.

She handed the bottle to him and asked, "Are you okay, Eleo?"

Eleo responded, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Eleo hesitated but he gathered some courage and asked Oriana whether she was comfortable dancing with that guy.

Oriana, who was drinking water from her bottle, looked quite startled and answered, "Of course, I'm okay with him. At first, I felt a little awkward but then I remembered he was one of my friends at primary school."

Eleo intended to say something but the instructor called them back to practice. By end of the class, Miss Fiona mentioned that she will be teaching them another three basic dances such as Rumba, Cha Cha, and lastly a ballroom dance. At the end of the two-week course, she said there will be an evaluation for their dances. A small tension was seen on both their faces however, the instructor told them that as long as they practiced every day, they could master all the steps and perform well during the evaluation. At the car park, the guy who danced with Oriana showed up and asked her to go for an outing with him but she politely declined his offer by saying that she already had plans with her family.

For the whole two weeks, they learned all the basic dance steps and also the waltz for ballroom dance. They really enjoyed the lessons. Every day at night, Eleo will make some notes in his book about the lessons taught and he also drew all the steps on his book. He will practice his dances alone in his room after finishing all his work. As for Oriana, she will drag her dad off the couch after he rests for a while after having dinner. She will teach him the steps and later they will dance together for a song. Her mother will watch them while resting on the sofa but later Oriana will let both their parents to dance together. If her father is not around, she will bring her mom to the hall and dance with her.

Lastly, the evaluation day had came and both Eleo and Oriana were nervous about it. A day before the evaluation day, Oriana stayed up late to practice some of the dances and still did not feel confident about it. They were sitting at the reception area and waiting for Miss Fiona to call them.

Seeing Oriana being more nervous than him, Eleo held her hands and said "We can do this. Here have this sweet first.", while passing her a sweet.

Oriana took the sweet from Eleo and thanked him. She calmed down a little and finally Miss Fiona called them.

She said, "Actually I'm evaluating based on the progression since the day you guys joined this course. As for today, both of you only need to dance for the waltz for ballroom dance. I want to see the intimacy throughout this dance. Good luck to both of you."

Eleo and Oriana starred for a few seconds and took a deep breath. Eleo held Oriana's hand and waist while Oriana held his shoulder. A love song played and Eleo looked into Oriana's eyes and started to dance with her. Upon hearing that song, Oriana imagined all her happy moments with her parents during her practice. When it was the part where Eleo needed to let go of Oriana and she had to swirl a few times, she almost stumbled but Eleo quickly grabbed her waist. Both of them looked into each other's eyes and Eleo's heart skipped a beat for a moment. That was the end of the song and a huge applause was given by Miss Fiona and her assistant.

Eleo released Oriana from his grip and both of them looked at Miss Fiona waiting for her comments about their dance. She congratulated both of them for their dance and handed over a certificate to both of them. She also mentioned that she expects them to join her class in the future. Both of them feeling exhausted, headed towards the car park. For the whole two weeks, the guy who was Oriana's dance partner kept approaching Oriana but she kept rejecting his offers.

Then, Eleo asked Oriana "Why don't you just go with him for once?"

Oriana calmly replied "It's the same reason, Eleo. I have already planned my schedule for these two weeks a month back itself."

Eleo looked at Oriana who seemed a little pissed off and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't intentionally mean it."

She just nodded and entered the car. After a few minutes, the car stopped at Oriana's house.

Before leaving, Oriana said, "I'm sorry for being pissed off at you. I didn't get enough sleep yesterday. See you at school tomorrow. Bye, Eleo."

Eleo just smiled and waved at her.