Free Sixteen by Emily Rachelle Page A

center. After a moment, she noticed a tall, broad-shouldered man with blond hair sitting at one of the tables in the corner. A National Geographic magazine held his attention; he wore a plain brown t-shirt and jeans. Nikki pointed at the man. “Is that your dad, Abigail?”
    The girl began leading Nikki to him, so she took that for a yes and followed.
    "Sir?"
    The man looked up sharply and smiled, first at Nikki, then at Abigail, who climbed into his lap and picked up the magazine.
    "Dance class is over, so I thought I'd bring your daughter to find you. She's very good, you know."
    The man laughed. "Oh, she's not my daughter -- she's my niece. My older brother is out of town on a business trip, and his wife teaches piano from three to six. They asked me if I could take her to her classes."
    Nikki smiled. "Cool. My name's Nicole, by the way -- but everyone calls me Nikki. I'm the junior dance teacher here. And like I said, your niece is really good. You should tell your brother."
    "I will. My name's Matt." He offered his hand, and Nikki shook it. She felt something -- almost a jolt, as their fingers touched. She smiled into his clear, green eyes.
    "Nice to meet you, Matt."

 
     
     
    Claire, now sitting again, shrugged. "So you met him at a ballet class, and you taught his niece. So what?"
    Nicole smiled at the teenager. Well, she was practically an adult now. "If you'd have some patience and keep quiet, maybe I could tell you."
    "Sorry." Losing her impatient tone in favor of her curiosity, Claire paused before asking, "So, what's the story?" Maybe she should've listened a little better all those times before. She may have enjoyed running with the fast crowd, but Claire never could ignore a good love story.
    Nicole chuckled and returned to her work. "Matt continued to bring his niece to her classes every Tuesday and Thursday. Sometimes he'd watch me teach, and I always sat and talked to him afterwards. The five o'clock class was the last of the day, so we would sometimes talk for an hour before my hunger got the best of me. We talked about things like our families, friends, his work, my school, what we wanted out of our futures. Then one day, about a month after we met, we stayed for two hours talking and didn't realize it until the staff asked us to leave so they could lock up."

 
     
     
    Matt and Nikki laughed. "So, Nikki, what do you think of having dinner? Since they've decided to kick us out."
    She giggled, then faked a sigh. "If only I could! But alas, my paycheck doesn't arrive until the end of the month, and I've spent last month's already. Such woe."
    "Hey, it's on me."
    Nikki's smile faded, and her brow furrowed. "I couldn't do that. Guys only buy girls dinner on dates. It's just not right."
    Matt picked up Abigail, who had fallen asleep as usual, and turned back to Nikki. "Then how about we make it one?"
    "You mean a date?"
    "What else?"
    Nikki giggled nervously. "I dunno. Sure!" Suddenly she frowned. "But I'll have to call my mom first. And talk to Dad. He'll probably want to meet you, and by the time that's done, they'll say it's too late of a night. Maybe next time, you know. That junk."
    Matt nodded and pointed to a telephone booth. "Why don't you call ahead and we can drive over? At least we can try. I'll drop Abigail off at my brother's house, then loop over to your place. You said it's by the library, right?"
    "Yeah, we're at 165 Maple Street." He slid into his car. She waved. Once he pulled out of the parking lot, she dropped the coins into the slot of the phone booth and dialed her house. Her mother picked up on the first ring.
    "Nicole? Where are you?" Her mother sounded more annoyed than worried. Nikki sighed. Her mother never understood her. Why would her view of Nikki’s time with Matt be any different?
    "I'm at the community center, Mom."
    "I knew it! You were talking to that man again, weren't you?" She said man like she referred to a diseased animal Nikki discovered on the highway.
    "I told