Chapter 6

I hated sweating.

It made my curly hair poofy and I always felt gross afterwards. 

The yearn to scrub my grew as I laid sprawled out on the floor, huffing and puffing as I attempted to catch my breath. I’m taking a bubble bath as soon as I get home. Maybe I can convince my dads to let me use a bath bomb. 

I was in the mood to smell like a rose.  

“Break over!”

A loud wave of groans echoed throughout the room. I slowly heaved myself off the cool floor, sauntering over to the cushioned rails. I easily shifted my body as the instructor demanded that we got in position.  

She glared at us, eyeing our position with a stern gaze. Her gaze would sharpen when she noticed something she didn’t approve of. A foot a few inches away from its proper place. A back not straightened as it should be. It took a few minutes before her gaze softened. She nodded in approval, “Good.”

She gracefully sauntered over to the other side of the room, fishing a remote from her pocket. I forced myself to relax as her thumb hovered over a button, readying myself to begin when the music would begin to play. 

I love ballet. 

It made me feel graceful. 

As if I was floating on air instead of clumsily clunking along like I usually do. 

On a good day, I could make it through with only minimal damage to myself and other objects. Probably a mysterious bruise here and there. Something that I’ll discover once I get ready for bed.

It was also one of the reasons why the house was still baby proof. 

A reason my brothers love to tease me for whenever I’m being particularly annoying.   

Practice went on for hours as we leapt and danced. I moved as perfectly as I could with the beat of the music. Prancing along with the girls, spinning in sync and posing exceptionally still. My arms rose high as I perched myself up on my toes. 

We waited as the lead danced her solo. She twirled on her toes, leaping as high as she could in the air before gracefully returning to the floor. I watched as she skipped and leaped, perfectly prancing just as the instructor taught her. 

Her solo finally came to an end as she posed. 

We waited, watching as she tried to control her breathing, before resuming our dance after a few moments. 

We all fell back in sync again. Dancing around the lead in a flurry of twirls and releves.

The music slowly faded out as we all struck our last pose. 

I was balanced expertly on my right foot. My left leg stretched as high as it could as I raised my arms into the air. I stilled my breathing as the instructor’s gaze roamed us all.  

The instructor scowled softly, “That’s the best you’ve all done all day.” 

We waited.

“That will conclude today’s session.” She continued, “I want you all to rest when you get home. We still have much to learn before our performance.”

“Yes, Mrs. Parker!”

I finally relaxed. 

Lowering my sore arms and leg, I watched as some of the girls scurried towards their stuff while the others gathered around in their friend groups.

I desperately wanted to collapse on the floor, but I knew better than to do that when the instructor was still here. Though she was fair, Mrs. Parker wouldn’t hesitate to replace someone if she thinks she couldn’t handle it.

This is my first performance and I really wanted to prove to her that I could.

So I waited.

It took a while since she was talking to the lead. I couldn’t really hear, but I’m sure Mrs. Parker was just giving her more pointers. To my untrained eye, I thought the lead did amazing. Probably to someone like our instructor, there were many things she could work on.   

As soon as the instructor left the room, I dramatically dropped to the floor, resuming my old sprawled out position. I closed my eyes, enjoying the coolness the floor offered. The cool floor felt amazing against my disgusting skin. If it wasn’t for the fact that I yearned for a shower, I could probably fall asleep like this.

“Noémie!”

I opened my eyes.

“You're alive!” The girl above me grinned. Her familiar green eyes roamed my face, taking in my annoyed frown and furrowed brows with a loud snort. She turned her attention away from me. “She’s alive, Ruby!” 

“Leave her alone, Tawny.” Ruby called back. “She’ll hit you.”

Tawny scoffs, “No she won’t.”

“Yes I will.” I huffed. “Why are you bothering me?”

“Because we’re best friends.”

“Valid.” I sighed. I rose so I was sitting upright, pouting childishly at having to do so. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to say hi.”

I frowned, “I want to punch you.”