When Mason first met Anna he was unsure how well they would dance together, she was so shy that she couldn’t even look him in the eyes. As a young child Mason felt giggly and shy around girls but as soon as he stepped foot on a dance floor those feelings all melted away. Most young boys would rather die than ever touch a girl or even talk to one, and most of the time Mason agreed with this sentiment, but dancing was a whole other story; and so when she didn't seem comfortable enough to dance Mason feared she didn't take ballroom as seriously as he did. Growing up Mason was always taught that dance deserved to be treated with respect, being embarrassed wasn't how his peers should feel towards the sport.

At first when his parents signed him up for a lesson Mason wanted nothing less than to spend his weekend off school dancing with random girls instead of going to his friend’s houses to play video games and eat so many snacks until they burst, but the moment he entered the studio for the first time he was immediately entranced. His parents didn't try to hide their excitement, when they were teenagers his mom and dad were ballroom dancers and they had been dropping hints to Mason since he could walk that they wanted him to follow in their footsteps; eventually they decided to take the bull by the horns and sign him up to make him go at least one time. From the moment they entered the building the awe must have evident on his face as a kind woman showed him around the building and let him sit in on a lesson with older kids because his parent were thrilled. At the time seeing boys and girls who were in high school dancing so well without any awkward tension between them was something unlike Mason had even seen before. The way the teenagers moved, so fast and fluid, was completely mind blowing to the boy. He knew it would be a lot of work but at that moment Mason decided that he would take up ballroom dance as a skill to learn. He had no idea then that he would one day hold the title of National Champion (this fact still makes his heart skip a beat every now and again).

He filtered through a few partners here and there for the first couple of years of his dancing career, none of the girls lasting more than a few months at a time as they decided they didn’t like to dance anymore or as Mason became more and more talented and entered in competitions that were too challenging for his partners. Until he met Anna. When they met there was a fear in the back of Mason’s mind that this girl wasn’t going to work out, she was too shy to even speak to him and her mother had to introduce her because she didn’t want to look directly at Mason. Wanting to get the audition over with Mason exhaled slowly as he and Anna grabbed onto one another, ready to dance - both kids avoiding making eye contact. He had never been so wrong in his entire life. 

The second the music started Anna suddenly bloomed into the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Her hair flew in waves behind her as she kept up with Mason’s every move, her dress twirling around her in a way that made her look like a flower with petals that began to open up in the sunlight. By the time the song was over both kids were sweating with the effort of dancing their very best, they encouraged each other throughout their performance to push themselves to the limit so they could give the best effort they could muster. As they let one another go the kids smiled at each other before bursting into a fit of giggles, the awkward tension between them from before disappearing as the seconds ticked by. Before they knew it the years flew with them continuously winning numerous awards and medals at every competition they went to. Whenever these memories filter into the boy’s mind a sadness seeps into his heart, when he was with Anna he felt on top of the world but now everything seems to be falling apart.

The only time Mason has ever felt so good dancing as when he was with Anna is during his audition with Katie. After the transfer student interrupted them they run through more songs than Mason has ever done in an audition before. The most impressive performance by far is their Waltz, it hurt his heart to think of but when he and Katie begin to swiftly move around the studio his mind couldn’t help but point out to him that they fit together even better than he and Anna ever did while Waltzing - the only dance they never could seem to perfect. But even still, something didn’t feel right. 

As soon as Anna was officially declared as Mason’s partner they became practically inseparable, best friends even. With all his free time tied up at the dance studio the boy didn’t have a lot of time for friends and over the years his closest buddies had gotten sick of his lack of time that he had to spend with them. Mason still considered them his friends now but the only time they ever spent together was at school or connecting with one another occasionally on their XBoxes late into the night. Anna was the person Mason spent most of his time with, even over his family. They would text throughout school and into the evening once they both left the studio, each of them knew all the other’s stories and secrets. Mason couldn’t envision ever having this sort of bond with Katie, her body language didn’t exactly scream “talk to me”.

Torn from his thoughts when Mr. Burkley claps loudly Mason lets go of Katie’s hand before wiping the sweat off his palm onto his pants. Chest heaving and sweat trickling down his neck Mason turns his attention to their instructor. Mr. Burkley is a man in his late forties with a big nose and receding hairline, he always wears a huge smile that seems to be too wide for his face but it only made him more likable.

“Incredible!” he announces, his voice echoing around the large room.

Despite his uneasiness towards Katie’s attitude Mason can’t help but smile, Mr. Burkley hasn’t been this impressed with his dancing in the past eight months since Anna has been gone and quite honestly, it feels amazing. But almost as soon as he lets his defenses down, breathing out a laugh in disbelief at the fact that this could be possibly the end of his decline in his dance career, Mason quickly falls from cloud nine as Katie huffs beside him. Crossing her arms over her large chest the blonde girl rolls her eyes.

“Your footwork was all over the place,” she snips at Mason, "what the hell?"

The last traces of elation seep out of Mason as anger bubbles up inside of him. Unable to contain his disappointment in her attitude Mason mirrors her body language and crosses his arms in return.

“You can't be serious, right?” Mason replies, his tone coming out snarkier than he meant it to be but in this moment he doesn’t care. It's not that he necessarily wants her to become his partner anyways but it has been months since he’s felt the sensation of pride and it didn’t get to last for even a minute before it got ripped away again. If Katie could cooperate with him maybe he could finally get back on his feet and get back into the swing of competitions, even if they didn't get along the best. All the previous times he's competed while testing out new partnerships have gone so horrifically bad it was starting to effect his mental health, and so the thought of not embarrassing himself any further is too tempting. But Mason has taught himself not to get his hopes up anymore, letting his excitement out even for a split second is always greeted with immediate disappointment, exactly how he feels right now. 

“Are you serious?" she laughs bitterly, "you can't honestly think you did well. My last partner would have never-”

"Yeah well where is he then, huh? Why are you alone?" Mason interrupts.

“Enough you two!” Mr. Burkley intervenes before Katie can sling another insult his way. 

His pride taking a blow Mason lets his eyes drop to the floor, the sting of being compared to Katie’s old partner reminds him of how Anna and Daniel are dancing together in Europe; Mason fears he will never be good enough for anyone. 

“You two did great, spectacular even! How about this, if you’re both comfortable with it I want you two to pair up for a couple weeks and test the waters, see how far you can push the limits of your talents. If the practices goes well we can start looking at competitions in about a month or so, if not it’s back to the drawing board for the both of you and I’ll try to set up some more auditions. Sound good?”

“Whatever, I need a new partner anyways,” Katie mumbles, bringing her hand close to her face to inspect her acrylic nails. She blows her gum into a bubble and pops it as she looks over to Mason, waiting for his response.

“I guess it’s worth a shot.” 

Extending his arm towards Katie for a handshake - it seems like an appropriate enough way to seal their newfound partnership, for however long it may last - she stares at his offering for a moment before slapping his hand halfheartedly in a sideways high-five rather than what Mason had in mind. Offering her a small smile in response to her cooperation Mason feels his heart lift a little when she rolls her eyes but despite herself returns his expression with a small upturn of the corner of her mouth. Maybe they can make this work, even if it will never be the same as his bond with Anna - Mason knows no friendship will ever feel that special again.

“Alrighty!” Their instructor claps his hands together loudly, pulling both teenager’s attention back to him, “I will see you both tomorrow same time as usual, I expect you to bring the same intensity you did today. Good job.”

Solely nodding in response Mason wishes both Katie and Mr. Burkley a silent goodnight with a wave of his hand before swiping the heel of his palm across his sweaty forehead and exiting the studio. As he pushes through the set of double doors that lead to the locker rooms he hears Katie begin to inquire about the tallest heel she’s allowed to wear in competitions.

Wanting nothing more than to go home and fall right into his bed Mason hurriedly changes out of his practice outfit and back into his casual street clothes. As he lazily closes the door to his locker Mason turns on his heel to leave before a glimpse of white in his peripheral vision captures his attention. Resting on one of the benches in the middle of the room is a stapled packet of papers, out of curiosity Mason grabs the thin stack of documents and inspects it. Printed in Times New Roman is a class schedule with a heading that reads the name of his high school written across the top, along with the name Ethan Whitman. A small laugh escapes Mason’s throat, the boy burst into his audition to grab something he forgot and left something else behind in the meantime. So the boy must have just moved into the city if he's attending a new school along with a new studio; Mason finds himself wondering where Ethan's partner is and why she didn't transfer along with him. Maybe Ethan is in the same position as Mason is, in desperate need of somebody to dance with. Thinking about his journey to find somebody he connects with makes him grimace, poor Ethan, he thinks.

A new studio and a new high school, that’s so brutal. Remembering how flustered Ethan was earlier causes Mason to feel a little bad for the guy. He debates leaving the sheet where he found it for Ethan to retrieve the next day when he arrives at the studio but a quick glance over the papers show that the boys share second period together. Stuffing the pamphlet into his dance bag Mason decides to return it to the other boy in person, that's kind and not weird...right? Slinging his bag over his shoulder Mason looks back to the studio where Katie and Mr. Burkley still remain deep in conversation. As he exits the building the boy mumbles a quick farewell to the receptionist. A thought passes through his mind as he scrolls mindlessly through the notifications on his phone that he missed during practice, after all he's been through Mason hopes this will finally be a light at the end of the tunnel.