Ethan's heart was beating wildly out of his chest. He'd forgotten what it was like to come to a new school, especially if it was a huge fancy school like this. Over the spring vacation, Ethan's mother and and father went away to China to compete in an international bowling championship and Jane was staying at her friend Kristy's house. The Morgans didn't have any close relatives that he could stay with so they sent him to stay with his cousin Tara Webster at the National Academy of Dance in Australia. Even Ethan's best friend Benny prmoised he would come too. He was going to catch the next flight to Australia and meet Ethan in Australia in a couple days. Right now, he had to find his cousin Tara whom he hadn't seen since he was four and try to fit in at this prestigious school of dance. Well, the fitting in part didn't seem to last very long.

As he roamed the school building following the instructions he's been given, he passed windows to classrooms conducting dance classes. Ethan never really considered himself the dancing type, but he still thought it would be kind of cool to learn some new moves while he was here. After all, it looked like a lot of fun.

"Come to spy on the ballet boys, new guy?" a female voice called. He turned around suddenly, surprised to see the blonde girl who was questioning him. "Uh, no. No." he stuttered. "I'm not new here. I mean, I am new here, I'm just not…" He tried to regain his dignity by clearing his throat. "I'm looking for Tara Webster, have you seen her?" The blonde girl smiled. "Yeah, 'course I've seen her, she's my best friend! And judging by your accent, I'm guessing you're not from around here." Ethan shook his head. "Nope. I just flew in from Canada. I came to visit Tara over the break. We're cousins." The blonde's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! Tara told me her cousin was going to stay here for the week. She's still in class right now, but I can show you around while we wait. I'm Kat, by the way. Kat Karamokov." He followed her as she started to walk around. "I'm Ethan. Ethan Morgan." her head seemed to spin around as he mentioned his name. "Ethan, huh? You have the same name as my brother. Hopefully that's all you have in common though. He's a jerk." Ethan was quite sure how to respond to that, so he just let Kat keep talking.

"Over there are the girls dorms, just past the studio where you came in. My room's right there and Tara's is to the right. You'll be staying with Christian and Sammy in the boys dorms down there. There's only two beds but I think Sammy has a sleeping bag you can use until another room opens up. Oh look, there's Tara, her class must have gotten out early. Hi Tara!" Kat waved at the girl in the distance as she approached them. "Hey Kat, who's this?" she asked before getting a good look at him. "No way, cousin Ethan? I haven't seen you since we were little kids! I almost didn't recognize you." she squealed as she gave Ethan a hug. Ethan wasn't really that much of a hugger so his attempt at hugging Tara back must have looked rather pathetic. At least Kat seemed to be enjoying this awkward family reunion. "So Ethan, since I bet Kat has shown you around already, want to go grab a bite to eat? I can introduce to the rest of our friends there." Ethan nodded. "Sure." As nice as his cousin and Kat were, he couldn't help but long for the company of his best friend. No, Benny was more than just his best friend, and what he felt for him was definately more than friendship.

For the past year, Ethan had been having suspiscions that he was gay and even though he likes to say he's accepted it, he still doesn't understand what it all means. Only his parents and Jane knew about his homosexual feelings, but not that he had them for Benny. Tara tapped on his shoulder, bringing him out of his little daydream. "You ok, Ethan? You look like you have a lot on your mind." she asked. He considered telling her and Kat about his crush on Benny, but he didn't wanf to bore them with his personal life. "Nah, it's nothing." he lied. Kat didn't believe him for a second. "Whatever 'nothing' is, you can tell me and Tara. We won't judge." Something about the look on their faces was reassuring so he decided to trust them.

"Okay. Well, for the past few weeks, I've kind of been starting to get these...these..." he began. Boy was this harder to say than he though. He sighed. "...these things for my best friend." Kat and Tara exchanged a giddy look. They seemed to knjow exactly what was going on. "That's it? Ethan, that's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone gets man crushes, some are just stronger than others for some people." Tara reassured him. Kat nodded in agreement. "Totally. But you know, I think I know someone who might be able to help you out." Tara seemed to understand who she meant and smiled with approval, but Ethan couldn't have been more confused.

Their stroll took them to the outdoor café where students ate. While Kat and Tara ordered their lunch, Ethan snuck away to sit at an empty table. They probably didn't mean to, but they'd been making him a bit uncomfortable. "Hey mate." A boy said, looking up from his lunch to greet Ethan. Guess the table wasn't as empty as he'd thought. "Oh, um, hey...mate" he blundered. His accidental emphasis on the Australian slang term must have made him stand out even more. They boy chuckled. It must have been so obvious that he wasn't from around here that he didn't even bother to ask. "I think I recognize you from earlier today. Weren't you the one watching boys ballet through the window?" Ethan blusjed but nodded. Apparently he hadn't been so discrete with his peeking. "Hey, no worries, I don't blame you. Things can get pretty interesting in there sometimes." he said nonchalantly as he took another bite of his sandwich. "Yeah...guys in tights...real interesting." He didn't mean for it to comeout the way ir had, but even so, the look in the boy's eyes reassured Ethan that that he knew exactly what he meant. Just from that moment alone, they had a new mutual understanding for each other, one that certainly meant a new friendship was forming.

"There you are!" he heard Kat say as she and Tara approached the their table with trays in hand. "We got you a sandwich." Tara said, shoving a tuna melt in his face. "I see you've met Sammy." The boy, apparently Sammy, looked down, slightly annoyed by their interruption. "Hello, girls." he greeted. The girls looked at each other funny again, like they were talking to each other without even using words just so no one else could heare what they were saying. Sammy shot them a definate annoyed look. Kat threw her hands up innocently. "Oh, I get it. We've interrupted your male bonding." she teased with a smirk on her face. "We'll just leave you two to your business then." her fingers pointed in the opposite direction as her and Tara just went to watch from a nearby corner. Ethan looked to Sammy with confusion.

"Are they always like this?"

"You have no idea."