Hey guys, this is my new story. It is going to be romantic and fluffy, so even though there's gonna be drama, don't expect anything too serious. Warning: I am in no way, shape, or form a dance expert so even though I will try to make it semi-accurate and if you notice an obvious problem with my descriptions let me know, please don't be too hard on me. On that note, hope you like it :)

Chapter One: First Class

Jess's P.O.V.

Why am I here again? I kept thinking to myself over and over, blindly staring at the small studio in front of me without really seeing it.

I glanced at my watch, realizing that I was my standard 15 minutes early, and took yet another deep breath.

Just go in, a little voice chirped.

No.

Yes.

No.

You're the one that wanted to do this, it reminded me persistently.

I sighed; yes I wanted to do this in theory, but the actual execution was seemingly more ridiculous by the second.

I continued to stare at the large sign claiming, "Irene's Dance Studio" not even registering the ice cold weather biting at my nose, or the bright sun glaring off of the surrounding snow.

"Hon, are you lost?"

I jumped, scared out of my inner battle and turned to see a striking middle-aged woman crossing the parking lot. Her brown hair, graying slightly, was pulled back in a loose bun with stray wisps surrounding her high cheek bones and piercing green eyes.

Which were currently staring at me curiously.

I blushed and tugged on the corner of my red beanie nervously.

"Umm…I'm here for the teen dance class." I tried to sound calm and collected, but it came out more squeaky and stuttering.

She gave me a warm smile showcasing her perfectly straight white teeth.

"My, my, you are quite early, hon; no where else to be?" She started walking toward the front entrance and pulling out a key. But, even though her back was to me I knew she was still listening.

"Well, not really…I'm just still trying to talk myself into actually taking the class," I admitted softly.

After opening the door, she turned and looked at me critically. "Why don't you come inside, hon, to warm up, then you can tell me why you don't want to take the class while I set up."

She held the door open for me, a warm gesture in the 20 degree weather and I gave her a small smile as I nodded my head in agreement and walked past her into the studio.

It was dark inside but from what I could make out, there was a small office and bathroom off to the left, changing rooms to the right, and the actual studio was straight ahead. The hardwood gleamed, reflecting off of the huge mirrored walls and accenting the wooden bar that lined the far wall. It smelled musty, like an old book, with a hint of lavender and vanilla, resulting in a comforting smell that immediately made me feel right at home.

She shut the door behind us and flicked on the lights as I continued to take in my vast surroundings, which were making me feel small and inferior, even though at 5'11" I was anything but small. There were windows lining the tops of the mirrored walls and a bench right outside of the office, which is where she set down her purse and tan fur jacket that she had been wearing.

"So hon, what's your name?" she asked me as she fiddled with the thermostat.

I shifted my weight onto my other leg before answering hesitantly, "Jessica Wolfe."

She didn't seem to recognize my last name, making me sigh in relief as she glided over to me and held out her hand, which I shook. "Well it's very nice to meet you Jessica…"

"Jess," I corrected her automatically; anyone beside my mother who called me Jessica had a death wish.

She smiled. "Well then Jess, I am Irene Mascoviak; I own this studio."

I nodded my head in acceptance; I had figured that much.

"So why don't you tell me why you already feel the need to ditch my class while I get ready?" Her eyes were twinkling as I ducked my head in embarrassment.

"Okay."

She smiled again, before walking into her office and saying, "Go ahead and talk, hon, I can hear you."

I smiled, already liking Irene. "Well, it's just that I've always wanted to learn how to waltz and quickstep and whatnot, and this year as a senior…"

She poked her head out the office door. "Hold on hon, on your file it says you're only sixteen."

I flushed a rather unattractive shade of pink and cleared my throat uncomfortably. "I skipped the 7th grade."

I started gliding quietly around the edge of the dance floor, grazing my finger tips along the bar surrounding the room as she processed this information.

"Well you are one smart young lady; so you want to learn how to dance, but…," she trailed off, meaning for me to jump in, as she brought out some flyers that she posted on the bulletin board next to her office door.

"But, well, I don't know…it just kind of isn't my thing in general, I mean, I'm probably not any good…," I stopped, hesitating.

"Which is why you are taking a class; tell you what, why don't you do a trial run today; if at the end you don't want to continue, then at least you tried, but if you do want to continue, then we will work on honing those dance skills that you are claiming not to have."

I nodded my head slowly as I completed my circle of the room, "Okay; thank you."

"No problem, hon." She walked back into her office as the front door was opened, cold air whipping in behind the new arrivals.

"…I told you, Em, there is no way I am dancing with Jacob again; you dance with him for once," a tall girl with long, wavy blonde hair and light blue eyes told her short, red haired, green-eyed companion who instantly revolted.

"No way! I am not dancing with that hooligan; besides, Kyle already agreed to being my partner for this class," she informed her friend, before suddenly stopping when she noticed me.

"Oh, hello; who are you?" the red head asked bluntly, sizing me up curiously.

I walked toward them hopefully looking bolder than I felt, stopping when I was a couple feet away and smiled, "Hi, I'm Jess."

The blonde smiled too. "Hi Jess, I'm Mackenzie and this is Emily."

"You taking the dance class?" Emily questioned, setting her light blue Nike bag on the bench and unwrapping her colorful scarf with stars on it from her neck.

"Yeah."

"I haven't seen you around before; is this your first time?" Mackenzie asked, setting her identical pink bag down next to Emily's.

"Yeah this is my first class; have you guys done this before?" I asked, shifting my plain black bag to my right shoulder.

Emily snorted. "You could say that."

Mackenzie smiled, explaining, "We practically live here."

I smiled too. "Cool."

Emily's face suddenly lit up. "Oh my God, you can dance with Jacob; it would be absolutely perfect," she gushed.

I raised one eyebrow; from what I had overheard, being paired with Jacob was to be considered anything but perfect.

"Now, now ladies, be nice to Jess, it's only her first day. Plus, you know that I assign partners after the first day pre-dances," Irene chastised, coming out to talk to us.

"Pre-dances?" I gulped, not liking the sound of that.

She gave me a reassuring smile. "Just to check out the chemistry; without chemistry…"

"…even the best dancers fail," Mackenzie and Emily recited in unison, rolling their eyes.

Irene smiled before suggesting, "Why don't you girls go get changed?"

We agreed, walking into the girls' changing room together as the front door was opened again, letting in more cold air.

"So where do you go to school?" Emily asked me as we set our stuff down in the stereotypical changing room, complete with benches, lockers, and a generic lemon-scented air freshener.

"Westwind High; what about you guys?" I asked, taking off my black coat and grey hooded sweatshirt, revealing my favorite green Reliant K t-shirt.

"We go to the private school over on 6th; I love your shirt, have you heard their new Christmas album?" Mackenzie asked, also stripping off her outer layers until she was down to a plain blue long-sleeved shirt and black leggings.

I smiled, happy to find a fellow Reliant K fan. "Yeah, I love it; so is a skirt really mandatory?" I made a face as I asked this, but noting the white skirt and navy blue leggings that Emily was wearing, I guessed the answer.

Mackenzie made a face too as she pulled on a bright yellow skirt. "Yeah, it's one of Irene's crazy rules; I mean, I love skirts and all, but they are so awkward sometimes during class when we are learning new steps and the guys get to wear sweats, no questions asked."

I sighed dramatically and pulled on the white leggings that I had brought, hesitating slightly before also tugging out of my bag the plain, tapered, knee-length black skirt I had brought.

"So are we it?" I asked, glancing around the empty room before looking back at Mackenzie and Emily, who were fixing their make-up in the large mirror across the room from me.

I grabbed some hair bands and mascara before going over to the mirror to join them.

"No, but they usually come dressed, plus Sara is always a solid 7 minutes late, and Marie only graces us with her presence when she feels like it," Mackenzie rolled her eyes as she said this, touching up her already perfect lip gloss.

I stared at myself in the mirror as Mackenzie and Emily started talking about a class they had together. Boob length, layered, golden-brown hair, with side swept bangs and dark, blue-grey eyes. A splattering of freckles that I hated, across my nose on my pale face, and my full lips that I loved or hated depending on my mood. I wasn't going to be entering any beauty pageants, but overall I thought that my skin-deep appearance wasn't half bad.

I quickly pulled my hair back in a low pony tail, and brushed on some mascara, before throwing the tube back in my bag and glancing over at my suddenly silent dance-mates, who were staring at me in shock.

I sent them a confused look. "I'm sorry; did I do something wrong?"

"Mascara? That's all you need to look absolutely perfect? God, I hate you," Mackenzie teased, putting away her make-up and holding open the door. "Come on, let's go."

"We're coming." Emily finished her blush and headed toward the door too.

"Just a sec," I said, slipping on my black dance heels that were about three inches high, before running out after them.

"Come on girl," Emily grinned, waving me out into the main studio, where four guys and two more girls were lounging around idly, waiting for class to begin.

The two girls met us half-way, all of us quickly forming a little group, because every girl knows that a group always looks better than standing apart awkwardly; I think girls are pack animals at heart.

"Hey girlies, this is Jess; it's her first time," Mackenzie introduced us. "Jess, these are Sara and Marie."

I studied the two new girls closely. Sara was slight of build and clearly Asian, with shoulder length black hair and dark liquid brown eyes. Marie, on the other hand, was about average height, with fair red-blonde hair and light brown eyes. They were in similar t-shirt, skirt ensembles to us, and both were clearly friendly people that I would have no trouble getting along with.

"Ooohh, a virgin dancer; how refreshing," Marie teased in greeting.

I blushed slightly, but smiled as they laughed warmly.

Sara gave me a friendly smile as well and nodded at me in greeting, but I could already tell that talking a lot wasn't really her thing.

Irene suddenly swept out of her office and into the studio, effectively stopping all conversation, and immediately demanding our full attention.

"Welcome children, good to see you all," Irene greeted us like old friends.

I took a moment to glance over at the four boys. I didn't know any of them, but they all seemed okay, none really standing out as the "bad boy" type, which is what I had this Jacob guy pegged as.

Then the front door was abruptly opened again and I found myself gazing at the very definition of tall, dark, and handsome. He was at least 6'5" with a lean, but well-built body and his chocolate brown hair was shaggy and styled in such a way that made it fall sexily over his eyes, which, when I saw, were all I could focus on. They were a clear blue-green that seemed to stare right through me.

I think I stopped breathing.

x x x x x

And there you have it, my first chapter.

What do you think? Please review and tell me your thoughts! I want to know whether I should continue or not.

~Once Upon a Time is Forever