Chapter 1
"Good Lord." Kasey sighed, sitting down infront of her computer. "I get a break from computer training school, and whats the first thing I do? I go home and get on my computer! Oh well. Internet doesnt count as computer. Its talking without the phone." She smiled to herself, watching the quick modem connection and hearing the familiar "You've got mail". Clicking on the mailbox icon, she grinned seeing all the e-mails from friends that wrote to wish her a happy birthday. She already had the party, but people were still writing. "Twenty is a long time to be alive." She smiled. "But this is when life just begins."
Logging onto a chatroom, she began to chat right away, happy for the company. She lived in a loft apartment by herself other than her dogs, but it was ok because the apartment was right above a dance studio. "Why am I going through this computer training shit when I could be dancing and singing?" She wondered aloud. "Oh well." Sighing, she turned back to her computer. Kasey found herself talking long into the night. By the time she looked at the clock, it was 3 a.m. "Whoa! Ok, yeah, its late. I need to sleep... I'm on break... I plan to do nothing but sleep...". She stretched, turning off her computer and dragging herself back to her bedroom. She collapsed on the bed and didnt move until the next day.
The sunlight poured in through the open blinds and she groaned wishing she had remembered to shut them the night before. Laying there in the sunlight, she smiled as she heard the music downstairs. "Oh, Mrs. McCormick is having dance today. Maybe I'll stop by later on." She stood up, stepping over her sleeping dogs on the way. One raised its head, looked at her, yawned and went back to sleep. After a hot shower, and putting on fresh make up, she wandered down the stairs into the dance studio. "Kasey, my darling! You are just in time! We have these fine young men here and one is without a partner. You can help." Mrs. McCormick said dramatically, leading Kasey into the room.
"Kasey, honey, this is AJ, Kevin, Howie, Brian and this young man here will be your partner. This is Nickolas." "Nick. Hi." The tall blonde said, extending a large hand out to her. "Hello. Nice to meet you." Kasey blushed as he smiled. His eyes were the most amazing color blue... she turned away, only to see another girl smiling at her. "Hi." She said. "My name is Candace. Everyone calls me- "Candy." The fellow introduced as AJ said as he walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Cause she's sooo sweet..." He kissed her quickly then walked off. "Um, yeah. But they do call me Candy. Its nice to meet you Kasey. Are you going to be a regular helping out with these guys for the next few weeks?" She asked, pulling a few stray blonde strands of hair out of her face. "Of course she is!" Mrs. McCormick interupted. "She's a devoted and sweet young lady. Arent you dear? Yes, yes you are. OK, now lets begin!"
"Dont worry." Nick said walking up beside her, after noticing the look of panic on her face. "Its all of our first time to learn this. You're with us." Kasey nodded, not trusting her voice to respond. This Nick guy was hot! The music started and he put his arm around her waist. Kasey felt her cheeks flush and her heartbeat began to race. "Snap out of it Kasey!" she said to herself. "He is just a guy and you are just a girl. Relax and do this!" Hours passed as the dance lessons wore on and on. By 9:00 that night, they had learned 2 different choreographies, and were all completely exhausted. "Man, now we have to start that 2000 mile trek back to the hotel..." AJ grumbled resting his sweaty head on Candy's shoulder. His bare chest resting against her back as he wrapped both arms around her."It'll be alright baby." She laughed. All the guys began picking up their stuff, excess clothing etc, and headed slowly towards the door.
Kasey took a deep breath and shouted. "You guys can crash at my place tonite if you'd like." They all stopped and turned around. "Where do you live?" The tall dark and handsome one, Kevin asked. Kasey grinned and pointed to the ceiling. "Woohoo! Great, she's a bat. We get to hang upside down..." AJ mumbled in a half-hearted attempt to be funny. "Upstairs?" Howie asked. "Is there a loft up there?" "Yeah. Ya'll want to?" She asked. "Me and Candy will... um, Nick?" AJ asked, turning to face him."Yeah, I will... Brian?" Nick asked. "No thanks. I'm going home with Jasmine." Brian put his arm around the giggling girl beside him and headed out the door. "Thanks anyways. See you all tomorrow." Howie and Kevin both agreed, putting their arms around their dancing partners, who Kasey took to be as 'more than partners'. Nick grinned and put his arm around Kasey. "Well, c'mon girl! Lets go!" He took off towards the stairs with a laugh, turning back once to grab Kasey's hand and pull her after him.
