Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,40
wasn’t written in Elizabethan English.”
Danni laughed. “I was never a King James Version fan,” she admitted. “I mean, it’s not bad and all, but I have so much more trouble understanding it. I just don’t think God meant for it to be that way, you know?”
“When the authors wrote it, they didn’t make it confusing,” Nicholas agreed. “It’s just that there are a lot of years separating us and them.”
“But I’m not sure I agree with this idea of a translation for every occasion, either,” she had to admit. “At some point, they’re going too far—but I’m not sure where it is.”
“Right there with you.” He rolled his eyes. “But try pointing that out to some people, you know? They just have to have six versions of the Bible, and consult them all over every little discrepancy.”
Danni giggled. “I use the New Living Translation,” she told him. “And Michael—my partner from back home—always used an NIV. We’d check with each other if a verse was confusing or something, but most of the time, that one translation was all we needed.”
“You had a partner back home?” Nicholas demanded, looking surprised. “And the two of you didn’t come together?”
“He missed the scholarship deadline this year.” Danni looked down. “Waiting for me, actually. There are always more spaces for guys than girls, but he wasn’t willing to come without me.”
“You didn’t have the same problem,” Nicholas guessed.
“No.” She sighed, the warmth and camaraderie giving way to something a little bit empty. “If I’d given up my spot, there was no telling when I’d been able to get another chance—and I think the spot has always meant more to me than it did to him.” She shrugged, shaking off the melancholy. “Besides, he’ll be here next year. He’s promised me he’d get all the materials in on time for a change.”
“Well, I wish him the best.” Nicholas smiled. “Though I may make him go hunting for a new partner. I suspect I’m going to like having you around.”
Danni positively glowed. Nicholas liked having her around. She had been afraid that she would have to wait until next year to really dance with a partner again. And Michael would definitely have been all hers—she knew that—but at the same time, she hadn’t relished the thought of waiting for him.
She didn’t think he would mind—not really. Oh, there would be that twinge of jealousy; but they had both known when she came ahead without him that it was a possibility. And dancing with Nicholas….
He was the best male dancer at the school. Everyone knew it—except, possibly, Nicholas himself. With him at her side, things that had seemed impossible were suddenly in the realm of the possible again.
The two of them chatted all through dinner—which they ate perched on the counters in the kitchen. The discussion was comfortable, Danni thought. It was like they had been partners for weeks already, She couldn’t believe that she had only met this man today, danced with him for the first time today.
“You want to come up with me, or do you want to take off?” he asked cautiously as he fished an ice pack out of the freezer.
Danni raised an eyebrow.
“I’m not…suggesting anything,” Nicholas said quickly. “Just…a distraction.” He offered a self-deprecating smile. “Ice is uncomfortable—you know that.”
Well, given that, how could she deny him? And anyway, Danni thought, hadn’t she just been thinking about how partners were supposed to look out for each other, and regretting the fact that she couldn’t be back home with Michael?
Nicholas wasn’t Michael—but he was her partner now. That meant that she was supposed to help keep an eye on him—and part of that meant sitting with him while he iced his aching shoulder.
“Sure,” she told him with a small smile. She was curious to see his room anyway; and on top of that, she was eager to spend more time getting to know him. From what he had said so far, she knew that Nicholas was a man of God. She wanted to know what else there was to know about him.
“Up the stairs, second door on the left,” he told her. “I’ll be up in a second—I have to let my house mother know you’re here.”
Since she had the same rule—no boys in her room without first notifying the house mother, and the door was supposed to stay at least cracked open unless there were more than two people in there—Danni didn’t think anything of it. She made her way up the