As soon as the sun streamed through the window near my bed it awoke me. It wasn’t the most pleasant awakening but at this point I didn’t care. I got up and got ready quickly. I wondered what time Michael would arrive at the studio, I hoped it wasn’t before I got there; I wanted to see Elena’s reaction! As soon as I was ready, I raced out the door and got in my car, heading to the dance studio I loved so much. There didn’t seem to be any commotion so I figured our secret guest of honor hadn’t arrived yet.

I giggled at my little secret as I walked in to the studio. Elena noticed and raised an eyebrow at me. I just smiled back at her and shook my head. “None of the kids showed up yet, I see” I said once I was close enough.

“Nah, not yet. It’s still a bit early” Elena said with a smile.

“Right” I said laughing. I hadn’t realized how early it was.

She shook her head “Oh Robyn, sometimes I wonder how you can be so spacey!” She grinned brightly

“Hey now! Who are you calling spacey?!” I asked with a playful huff.

“You, haven’t you any concept of time, goofball?” She asked

I frowned in a playful manner. “Sometimes” I said, doing my best to keep a straight face.

Elena laughed harder at that. “I’m not so sure there Robyn…”

“Oh hush!” I said, cracking up laughing right along with her.

We were both far too lost in our laughter to notice anyone walking in. This girl really knew how to make it impossible for me to stop laughing!

“Hope I’m not interrupting…” A soft voice said, a smile was clearly pasted on their face.

Elena’s laughter died off quickly and her eyes widened at just who had said that. “O-oh um, n-no of course not…” She stammered out. I don’t think she could breathe at the current moment.

“Oh good, I was worried for a moment there” He said, those lovely eyes of his were sparkling with clear amusement.

As for me… well… I kinda bursted into a whole new fit of giggles. She was killing me today! I had known her reaction would be good but this, this was priceless.

Elena whirled around to face me. “Robyn!” She  scolded me quietly “What are you laughing about! Don’t you know who that is!?” I just looked at her and nodded, still laughing. She looked back at Michael, a horrified expression on her face. Though, it wasn’t necessary because he was laughing as well. Elena seemed floored by us and her eyes stayed glued on Michael.

I think her thoughts this entire time were “Is that really Michael Jackson?” As funny as this was, I didn’t quite understand everyone’s star-struckness around him. He was just an average person with unique talent. What always gets me, is that when people go to talent shows and do the same thing, no one looks at them any differently after their performance is over. So what was the difference when it came to celebrities?

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t I have somewhat of similar reaction to Michael’s presence as Elena just last night? Well yes, but it wasn’t because he was Michael Jackson, it was more because I looked up to him, I appreciated him. After all, the man was my second idol. But that wasn’t just because of his impressive dancing or unique voice (Though that was part of it, I really wished I had half the talent he did) it was more because of his personality. The fact that he cared for more than just himself. The fact that he did all he could to give and help people. He never asked for anything back either. I loved that about him. It made me want to be like him. It made me stare in awe when he gave a speech or talked about a very realistic problem.

That was really what made me react like that to him when I first met him. Well, that and the fact that he was here in our tiny studio when he could go to any other one. I wasn’t exactly sure what appealed to him where our studio was concerned. I was more than certain that many other studios had children dance classes. Not that I was complaining or anything, it just confused me to say the least.

Elena cleared her throat and gained her composure “Um, hello Mr. Jackson. How may I help you?” She asked

Michael laughed at that “Please, just call me Michael.” He said with that amazing smile of his “And I was just wondering if I could maybe sit in on your children classes for a bit. I’d love to watch what they’re capable of”

“Oh. Hmm, I suppose that would be fine Mr-Michael.” Elena said with a smile

“Wonderful!” Michael said overjoyed and clapping his hands “I’ll be so quiet you won’t even know I’m here” He said with a wink.

He was rather charming without even trying.

“Alright.” Elena responded with a smile. I watched as he walked over and sat in a more shadowed area of the studio.

I shook my head and looked at Elena.  “Ready to warm up?” I asked

She nodded in response and fiddled with the CDs for a bit before finding our warm up disc, she popped that in and we started working through our daily stretches and warm up routine. This was going to be a lot of fun, I could tell.

-----

The kids all settled in about half an hour later. None of them thought to look over to where Michael was sitting which I found to be amusing. I just hoped he would like what we’d done with them thus far.

Once everyone was situated we went through their stretches and warm up routine and then we broke into what we’d been working on with them. They were all progressing well, from what I could tell. There were some finer points that Elena and I corrected them on but above all it was going well.

About half way through I began to wonder what Michael thought. He hadn’t lied he really was being extremely quiet and for a short amount of time, I did manage to kind of forget he was there. Now I was wondering if he really was. It wasn’t like I could really look around for him, I was focused on what was going on with the routine but I did wonder.

Elena soon called for the kids to take a break. “I have someone very special for you all to meet” She said with a warm smile. I smiled right along with her and the chatter from the kids grew. They were all wondering who the special person was.

Michael smiled and stepped out from the shadow-y area of the studio and I heard all the children gasp rather loudly.

“Kids… this is Michael Jackson. He wanted to sit in on our class today to see how well you all are doing” She said with a grin.

All the kids started talking at once; I could barely make out what any of them were saying. Some were asking question, others were just talking (Or shouting) at him. Michael just laughed at this, he wasn’t annoyed one bit. I blinked and smiled at the realization.

Elena laughed as well. “Alright, alright everyone. One at a time or Michael will never understand you.” She said. I could hear the high amusement in her tone.

The chatter died down at that and all of them looked at each other, wondering who was addressing him first. One of the smaller ones of the group bit her lip. She was a sunny blond girl with neatly straight hair and big blue eyes. The freckles on her cheeks were sprinkled neatly over them. Her name was Amy.

“Michael…. Did you like our routine?” Amy asked in a soft, shy tone.

“Yes I did. I think you all did a wonderful job” Michael replied with a warm smile.

Amy smiled brightly and threw her arms around him in a hug. It was such a cute scene. I watched as Michael smiled and hugged her back. I was tempted to take a picture of them but refrained from doing so. Once they broke their sweet embrace, Amy adjusted his fedora and grinned.

He laughed at the action. “Thank you sweetie. What’s your name?” He asked

“Amy” She said

“I like that name” He said with another warm smile. She giggled in response as another child approached him. His name was Kevin. He was a quiet, brown-haired boy with the brightest brown eyes to match. He was also quite talented when it came to dancing. They all were to be honest.

Kevin asked a series of questions, all of which Michael answered. I shook my head, he went through this so often with people, it was unbelievable. He ruffled Kevin’s hair and then chatted with all the kids. He appeared to be having a good time too.

It wasn’t long after that, that class resumed. Michael stayed for the entire time. I was surprised he wasn’t doing anything; I’d imagined him much busier than this. Once the studio cleared out I walked over to him.

“What no extravagant event to attend today?” I asked with a grin.

“Nope. Not today! I actually get time to relax right now.” Michael said laughing “Why? Did you want me to leave?”

“No, I’m not gonna rush you out.” I said laughing.

“Well I’m glad; I like the calm feel here.”

I couldn’t help but scoff at that “Calm? Did you not see the chaos that was just here moments ago!? Mr. Jackson, I’m afraid you need your eyes checked.”

Michael laughed at that “That was far less chaotic then what I’ve gone through!” His laughter was slowly getting louder and higher. I found it cute.

“I can believe that.” I said with slightly wider eyes. My reaction sent Michael into a whole new fit of laughter. He started clutching his stomach from all the laughter.

I smiled and looked down, letting him calm and catch his breath.  I went to say something else when a young girl, about 10, walked in. Her name was Cherish.  I had been helping her a lot recently with our routine. She’d been struggling but I saw so much potential in her.

Cherish was small for her age. She had dark red hair with the most unique hazel eyes. She was wise for her years and she always seemed to have a lot on her mind. I wondered what was going on.

“Hello, sweetie” I said with a warm smile

“H- Michael?” Cherish blinked when she saw him. I was confused, they knew each other?

“Cherish?” He blinked, seeming equally surprised. I felt so lost between them.

“I never thought I’d see you again.” She said, darting over “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been well, busy, but well. How are you and your family”

At this, the young girl paused. “We’re…. ok” She said quietly.

“Is everything alright?” Michael asked, sincerely concerned.

“Yes. Everything’s fine” She said quickly, turning to me “We are doing a lesson today, right Robyn?”

I blinked “Um, yes.” I peered over at Michael, hoping for an answer.

His eyes were trained on the girl and they showed clear worry. I blinked again and started with Cherish’s lesson. I pushed my curiosity about the situation to the back of my mind for now.

Michael watched just as he had before. He truly loved watching fresh talent. Not that I minded all that much. Working with Cherish was always a little hard. Whatever was on her mind had her very distracted at times. I managed to stay patient though. What good would it do to get frustrated over this?

Cherish was a fast learner though. She was quick to pick up all the moves and she was quick to fix her mistakes. I could tell she was a natural born dancer. Once we finished with Cherish’s lesson, she talked to Michael and caught up. It was an interesting sight. They talked as any old friends would. Cherish connected on levels with Michael that I never would’ve expected for her age. Watching the way Michael was with the children was an amazing sight. I loved how sweet he was with them and how listened to every one of them with sincere interest. I smiled as I watched the two of them talk. It was perfect.