~CHAPTER EIGHT~

Andrea hated being short some days.

Right now, as she stood on her toes, reaching for a can of soup, was one of those times.

Any other person would have just given up and asked for help, but Andrea was stubborn. She only needed another half-inch or so in order to grab it, which just made the situation that much more frustrating. She could just touch it, but couldn’t wrap her hand around it.

She didn’t want to resort to jumping, as that would probably only result in a large number of other cans falling down, most likely on her head, with her luck.

“Why did you have to pick a bunch of soups I can’t reach on the shelf?” Andrea growled under her breath, hoping that her message somehow got to Ryan. He had needed to get some shopping done, but because of a strict filming schedule he was dealing with now as he shot a comedic short for some internet-famous comedians, he didn’t have time to do it for himself.

Enter his bored, desperate for activity best friend.

Though it had been almost two weeks since she had pinched a nerve in her knee, some pain still lingered, fading in and out. Some days, she would be completely fine; other days, she almost didn’t want to move because of the pain.

She had called the doctor about it and he had said that it was normal, but that she should probably keep herself from dancing on it on it until she felt comfortable for at least five to seven days in a row. This meant that she was limited to just meeting her new dancers, instead of dancing with them as they practiced what they could, which was really what she wanted to be doing.

So because she was absolutely desperate for any kind of activity, she didn’t hesitate when Ryan asked her for a favor, even though she usually hated shopping for groceries.

Now, however, looking at the list of soups that Ryan had asked for and where they were located on the store shelves, Andrea felt that Ryan owed her a huge favor for doing this. He probably hadn’t even thought of it, being over six inches taller than Andrea. He could easily reach this stuff.

Looking down, Andrea saw that the bottom shelf was almost empty of products, so she came up with a plan.

She moved the last few items on the bottom shelf around a little, creating a space that she could stand on in order to reach the higher shelves. The height difference was only maybe two inches, but it made just enough of a difference.

The first few cans, she was able to get without any problems. The fourth time she reached for a can though, her knee decided it was tired of her having to bend it repeatedly as she stepped on and off looking for the right can that it cramped up, refusing to bend. It only cramped for a second, but Andrea didn’t realize that and went to step off the makeshift ledge she had created, only to slip off when her knee didn’t work.

She fell backwards, the cans of soup in her hands falling to the floor. She ended up catching herself, a reflex she had picked up from dancing for so many years that she definitely appreciated, but not before her back ran into the chest of the grocery store customer behind her.

“I’m so sorry,” Andrea said quickly, embarrassed, as she began rushing after the cans of soup that were rolling in every direction on the floor. She made a mental note to kill Ryan later, preferably with his shopping list.

“It’s fine,” the man she ran into said, bending over to help pick up a few stray cans. “Why didn’t you just ask me for help instead?” he asked.

Andrea looked up at him, shocked. He spoke as though they were familiar with each other; as though it would only be a natural thing for Andrea to ask him for help.

When she saw him, she understood why.

“Jay,” Andrea breathed, forgetting to move. This was the first time Andrea was running into him in public, and when she hadn’t just gotten hurt, and somehow, it felt like she was seeing him for the first time. She wasn’t stressed or angry, and, unlike the first time they met, at the dance competition, she could clearly see him. She was the most comfortable she had been in a while, really. But how could she be completely comfortable when the first thought that popped into her head when she saw him was just how good he looked in the white shirt and black sweats he was wearing?

“Dre,” Jay said, mirroring her, a light smirk coming over his face when he realized that their names rhymed. “Seriously,” he said as he stood. Andrea followed suit. “You could have just asked me for help.” He handed the cans he had collected over to Andrea.

Andrea turned to put the cans in her shopping cart, still not saying anything. For a few seconds, they were silent, Andrea arranging the cans unnecessarily in the cart. When Jay didn’t keep talking, she realized that he was looking for some kind of response.

“I didn’t know you were there,” she said, still not facing him. It was a true statement. She hadn’t even known anyone was in the same aisle as her. “Wait.” She spun around, a thought suddenly coming to her. “Were you watching me?”

Jay shrugged, looking slightly pleased with himself. “It was kind of funny to watch you reach.”

“Shut up,” Andrea hissed. She could feel her ears turning red from embarrassment. “It’s not like you would have done much better, Shorty.”

Jay took a step back, shocked. Andrea thought that he was just shocked that she would say something like that ,but that didn’t really make sense, since he had heard her say worse, so that wasn’t it. When Jay hissed, “Did you just make a joke?” however, Andrea knew that he was just pretending.

“Not entirely,” Andrea teased back. Whatever the reason; whether it was the fact that she was in public, doing something, that she was feeling particularly happy, or because Jay looked like an excited three year old right then; she gave him a smile.

Which only made Jay smile wider.

“I’ll be going then,” Andrea said quietly, trying to figure out what had put her in such a good mood. She turned away and started pushing the cart back down the aisle, away from Jay, only to sigh when she heard him catch up with her. She was happy now, but she didn’t know how much longer she would be able to put up with his presence.

Some part of her wanted to amuse him though, so she allowed him to walk with her.

“What are we shopping for?” Jay questioned, snatching the shopping list from Andrea’s hands as she steered the cart down another aisle.

“It’s who we’re shopping for,” Andrea corrected, grabbing the shopping list back.

“Oh, are you like a celebrity food-shopper-person, then?” Jay asked.

“No,” Andrea laughed. “My friend’s too busy to shop for himself, so I’m doing it for him.”

“Seriously?” Jay asked, looking surprised. “Damn. You’re a good friend.”

“A better enemy,” Andrea answered automatically, not even thinking about who she was talking to. It was something she and Ryan would always say to each other, and now it was a habit for her to just say it no matter who she was talking to. When she did remember, she felt horribly awkward.

Jay obviously didn’t catch the double meaning in Andrea’s words, but he did take advantage of a distracted Andrea to snatch the shopping list back.

“Damn,” he breathed, looking it over. “Are you shopping for six friends? This is a lot of food.”

“Yeah, it’s just one guy,” Andrea sighed. “But he eats a lot. I’m just glad I’m not the one who has to pay for it.”

Jay laughed as he walked beside her. “That’s why I’m glad my crew all either pays for their own stuff or we all pool our money together. I couldn’t imagine the problems that would come up if everyone took turns paying for each other’s things.”

Andrea’s hands clinched involuntarily on the cart handle, but otherwise, she didn’t say anything. The casual mention of her old team didn’t even make her really angry this time. Seeing just how clueless Jay was to her situation made it impossible. She thought of Ryan asking her not to hate Jay, and wondered if she should at least try.

“Speaking of teams,” Jay said as he grabbed a loaf of bread and threw it into the cart. “How’s that coming along?”

“Good,” Andrea answered. She grabbed the loaf of bread Jay had gotten. “Get wheat bread. He prefers it to white,” she told Jay, who switched the loaves. Andrea continued then. “We’ve only been able to meet a few times so far. Including me, there are three girls and three guys. Definitely different from the last group I had.”

“You had a crew before this one?” Jay asked innocently, now looking at the different boxes of cereal.

“Yeah.” Andrea was scrambling mentally. She hadn’t meant to talk about dance, but since she didn’t really have anyone to talk about it with in her life, she guessed that she wanted to talk about it with Jay, since he was a dancer himself. She could talk to Ryan about it, but he wasn’t as passionate about it as she was, so it didn’t make it fun. “They were…all guys,” Andrea continued slowly. “And me.”

“Ouch,” Jay said, finally choosing a few, extremely sugary cereals.

“Yeah,” Andrea breathed, trying to keep herself from thinking about the past again.

They headed down another aisle, on the hunt for eggs.

“How’s your knee?” Jay asked as they walked, looking down at her knee as though there would be a sign indicating its current condition.

Andrea shrugged thoughtfully. “It still twinges sometimes, and sometimes it hurts, and sometimes it feels fine.” Andrea inspected a carton of eggs and, decideing they were good enough, placed them in the cart,

“And right now?”

“It’s twinging,” Andrea answered. “But not badly. It has to feel fine for a good bit of time before I can try dancing again, though.”

“I’m sorry about that,” Jay grimaced.

“Not your fault I fell,” Andrea sighed with a shrug.

Jay paused, then said, “Or was it…?” forcing Andrea to slap his shoulder. They both laughed, continuing to shop.

As they walked toward the check out later, Jay asked Andrea, “Are you going down to the battle this Saturday?”

Andrea knew what he was talking about. Despite losing a team and essentially her dance friends, she was still connected to the underground dance scene, so she still got news about when and where battles would take place. “Wasn’t planning on it,” she said.

“You should,” Jay said as he started helping her load the groceries on the check-out line. “My team and I will be there.”

“I have to work,” Andrea answered quickly. As soon as Jay mentioned his crew, Andrea knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea for her to go.

“Oh,” Jay said quietly. “Alright.”

They didn’t say much after that. It wasn’t until they were walking out of the store that Andrea said, “I wish I could go, I just don’t think it would be a good idea.”

Jay nodded. “Well, if you change your mind…the invitation’s still there.”

“Thanks.”

They parted ways, Jay to who knows where, and Andrea to Ryan’s car. She didn’t have her own, but Ryan let her use his, particularly for times like this. As she loaded the groceries into the trunk, Andrea grabbed the receipt from one of the bags, knowing that Ryan would want it immediately.

As she pulled it out, a second piece of paper fluttered to the ground. She grabbed it before it could fly off with the wind. It was a scrap of paper with a series of numbers that Andrea recognized to be a phone number on it.

Unless the cashier, who had been an older woman, was being very forward, the number could only have been Jay’s.

Thanks for reading/subscribing~!

though it would be nice to post now, as it is Jay's birthday. :D