//------------------------------// // Then dance with me // Story: If you wanna dance // by Xiutik //------------------------------// "Zipp, no, I swear on salt, please!" Pipp said, struggling against her sister's iron grip on her arm, "ZEPHIRINA!" But Zipp didn't bulge, not even at the usage of her full name. The multi-colored haired girl giggled as she continued to drag her sister across the dance floor toward an aquamarine-hair boy from Canterlot High. It was the welcome dance that marked the beginning of the friendship games between Canterlot High and Crystal Prep. The games were Zipp's favorite event, not only because she got to compete in both sports and academics, among many other subjects, but because the students from Canterlot High always knew how to have fun, maybe a bit more than her own classmates at Crystal Prep. Pipp had been looking at that particular guy all afternoon long, and Zipp was beginning to feel a bit frustrated by her sister's shyness. It wasn't like Pipp at all to get all embarrassed around anyone in particular. Out of the two sisters, Pipp was always the most outgoing, popular and social of the two, yet somehow the captain of Canterlot High's soccer team was enough to make Pipp hide behind her twin sister. And so, Zipp grabbed Pipp's wrist and started dragging her across the dance floor. The guy in question was a tall, slightly muscular student with yellow skin and perfectly combed aquamarine hair. He was talking to an orange girl and Zipp's classmate, Izzy. The plan was pretty straightforward: push Pipp towards the guy and steal Izzy and her friend away so the two could talk. Except Pipp didn't know there was a plan at all and would disapprove if consulted about it. "C'me on, Pippsqueak! The whole point of this dance is to make friends" Zipp said in sing-song as the two approached the group of friends. Zipp finally let go of Pipp's wrist, and just before Pipp could feel relief about it, Zipp got behind her sister and pushed her rather abruptly towards the guy. Pipp stumbled a few steps forward and finally collided against his chest letting out an "oof". "Woah! You okay there, miss?" he asked, carefully surrounding her with his arms to avoid her falling. Pipp's face turned from a baby pink to a magenta as a blush crept up the entirety of her face. "Oh! Terribly sorry. My sister, she..." but Zipp was gone before Pipp could blame her, "Pushed me." The boy helped Pipp up on her feet and respectfully let go of her, backing down a step in order to give back some personal space. "Oh, no. Did you two get into a fight or something?" "Not at all," Pipp explained, pushing a strand of purple hair behind her ear, "That's just how sisters are." He let out a little chuckle. Then, he extended his hand towards her. "I'm Hitch Trailblazer, by the way" he said, giving her a kind and welcoming smile. "Pipp Petals," she replied, shaking his hand. After a short silence in which Pipp finally located her sister, who was talking to two other girls a few meters away from her, she looked back at Hitch. "So, Hitch, do you have any siblings?" He looked towards where Zipp, Izzy and the other girl were. "Not really. But see that girl over there?" he said, pointing toward the group, "The orange one. That's Sunny. She and I know each other since diapers. In a way, she's like a little sister to me." Pipp looked at the girl in question. She looked nice, and Zipp and her seemed to get along just fine. For a moment, she felt a little thankful Zipp had decided to go on and push her. Then she came back to her senses. “I bet you and her never treat each other this poorly, though,” Pipp sighed, “Zipp is a difficult person to have as a twin” Hitch rose his eyebrows, alternating looks between the two girls. “You two are twins?” Pipp giggled. “I’m the pretty one” Both of them laughed at this. The music that had been playing in the background changed beats, and Hitch started swaying to the beat. Pipp noticed this and smiled at him. “Do you want to dance?” she said. Hitch smiled at her and nodded, offering one of his hands. She took it and put her other hand on his shoulder. Hitch surrounded Pipp’s waist with his free hand and started dancing. The song in particular wasn’t slow or waltzy, so it looked rather odd in comparison to the other students who had just been moving to the cheerful beat. But Pipp and Hitch didn’t care about the other students, because when they started dancing, it was as if the rest of the world was on pause, just the two of them and the music remained. “So, will you be participating in the dance battle?” Pipp asked after the song ended. Hitch shook his head. “Unfortunately, I’m already participating in soccer, so I don’t have a lot of time left to be part of the dance off as well.” He explained, “What about you?” “Well, yeah, I’m choreographing the whole thing, plus I’m the lead dancer.” She said, “It’ll be a shame not to see you there.” He smiled. The next song playing was actually slow this time, and without even asking one another, they closed the gap remaining in between their bodies and danced snuggled up together. For someone who wouldn’t want to participate in a dance off, Hitch was quite the good dancer, something Pipp greatly appreciated. They spent the rest of the night dancing, and although only a few of the songs played were slow, they didn’t let go of each other’s hands the entire time. Zipp watched proudly, taking great credit for the awesome night her sister seemed to be having. When the twins were driving back home, Zipp started inquiring about her sister’s newly acquired love interest. “So? What’s my new brother-in-law like?” The eldest twin asked, nudging her sister’s side. Pipp cringed against her touch, trying to keep all her attention on the road ahead of them. “His name is Hitch,” Pipp answered, knowing Zipp would continue insisting if she didn’t, “And it’s a bit too early to tell, don’t you think?” Zipp put her hands behind her back and gave her sister a teasing smirk. “Uh-huh, but not too early to dance the entire night snuggled up against each other” She teased, but when her sister didn’t answer, she continued, “Did you at least ask for his number?” Pipp’s eyes widened as they came to a stop behind a red light. “Oh, actually I forgot,” Now it was Zipp’s turn to be surprised. “Pipp, you spend like, ninety percent of your time in your phone, and you forgot to ask for his number?!” Zipp asked, as Pipp accelerated again after the light changed to green. “Are you mental?” Pipp almost missed a turn but got ahold of herself. “We were talking about other things, Zipp” she excused herself, “Besides, it’s not like I won’t ever see him again, we have the rest of the Friendship Games to get to know one another.” Zipp didn’t say anything for the rest of the drive back home. For all she knew, Pipp was right, they did have the rest of the games to get to know the students from Canterlot High. As the days passed, Pipp, Zipp, Sunny, Izzy and Hitch became really good friends. The five of them got into all sorts of funny situations, sometimes followed close by the school prefect, Sprout, who made sure they wouldn’t get in trouble. And, like all good things, it came to an end rather quickly. The Canterlot High students were getting ready to leave, some already on the bus, while some others were still in the parking lot giving their last goodbyes. Sprout, Sunny and Hitch were saying goodbye to their friends from Crystal Prep, trying to delay as much as possible their depart. Pipp knew it was her very last chance to ask for Hitch’s contacts, because, although the six of them had spent the majority of their time together, she never once felt brave enough to do it. Before she noticed, the three students from their rival high school were already getting on the bus. “Pipp! You didn’t ask for his socials!” Izzy pointed out, startling the twins, who were watching their friends get on the bus. Pipp turned around to see her purple friend. She was smiling cheerfully, urging her to ask Hitch before he left. Izzy was right, it was now or never. Pipp ran towards the bus and besides the length of it, trying to see if Hitch was already inside. Through a window, she managed to see Sunny’s bright magenta hair. Assuming Hitch would sit next to her, Pipp picked up a pebble from the parking lot ground and threw it at the window. That called Sunny’s attention enough so that the girl could see her friend. Sunny smiled at her and waved her hand, assuming Pipp was just there for a final goodbye, but Pipp waved her hands dramatically while gesturing for her to open the window. Finally, Sunny understood and opened the window, poking her head out of the bus. “What’s up, Pipp, is something wrong?” Sunny asked. “I, uh-“ Pipp started, feeling unusually nervous. A blush stained her cheeks, “Is Hitch near you?” Sunny’s head went back inside the bus, disappearing from Pipp’s sight. A few seconds later, Sunny was replaced by Hitch’s head poking out the window. Their time was running out, the driver getting impatient. “Hey, Pipp, Sunny said you were looking for me?” Pipp took a deep breath. It wasn’t like her at all to get so nervous around some guy. There were other guys (and occasionally girls) literally making line to ask her out, yet there she was, standing under a bus window, knees trembling, cheeks burning, and an indescribable urge to run away. “Hitch! Would you like to go out with me sometime?!” Pipp said, then backed down, “I mean, ifit’sokaywithyouofcourse.” Hitch rose both brows as his cheeks and the bridge of his nose went bright red. He smiled and let out a few nervous chuckles. The bus’s engine started, he hurried. “Yeah! I’ll call you.” Pipp shook her head a bit violently. “But you don’t have my number!” Sunny, who had seen the entire exchange, scribbled Hitch’s number as fast as she could on a scrap piece of paper, then, she threw it out the window. “You call him!” Sunny said, as Pipp miraculously caught the bit of paper, “Bye now!” And with that, the two of them disappeared behind the window and the bus drove away. It seemed as though Pipp had had too much excitement that day, because she slowly fell on her knees, holding the scrap piece of paper against her chest, looking at the bus from Canterlot High disappear in the distance.