Chapter One
Ballet for the Dead
Present day
Stalia
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“One! Two! Three! Four! No, No, No! You need to dance, dance! Dance like a swan!” Mrs. Cartha screamed so loud, we could barely hear the ballet music. This was what a normal day looked like for me: I wake up, go to school, ballet, basketball, repeat. Somedays I don’t even have enough time to talk with my mom or brother about simple things like my day. It was stressful, but you get through it. I was working on the beam when ballet was over. I started to gather up my things when I overheard some of the other girls gossiping about school. “Did you hear? Sydney Cawthrone got chicken pox! Nobody wants to be near her now!” One girl told another. “I heard Lillian Scarab’s new boyfriend is Jake Scone!” The girls gasped and giggled. I rolled my eyes and gathered my things. I walked out of the building to my mom’s car. I got in and fastened my seatbelt.
“Hey, honey! How was ballet?” Mom looked at me. I crossed my arms over my chest as she started driving. “It was like hell,” I told her. She sighed. “I thought you liked ballet?” Mom knew how much I had. I told her about it every time it was over on the way home. “I do! It’s just… I just wish the rest of the girls in my class would be a lot nicer,” High school sucked. People only cared about their selfs. I moved my brown, wavy long hair to one side as I looked out the window and onto the world around us. When my dad was still here, he would tell me about all of the great things the world had to offer. He would tell me that if we looked at the right perspective of things, the world would be the greatest thing ever. Now that he’s gone, the world has just been a pit of hate and darkness.
Mom looked at me worriedly. She sighed again. “Sometimes people aren’t always the greatest.” Since dad’s death, mom’s been on the edge as well. We all have been. Mom’s been working all day long to provide for us in the house. And with my brother failing school, it’s put her even more over the edge. We reached home when mom parked the car in the garage and stopped the engine. She looked at me. “I wish you could be a little more positive about things,” I shook my head disagreeing, and got out of the car. When I walked inside, Edeth, my brother’s girlfriend, was sitting on the couch with him watching tv. “Hey, Stalia! What’s up?” I ignored my brother’s question and walked to my room. My room was big and spacey. Its blue, painted walls held pictures of all shapes and sizes. Each picture held a new memory. I placed my stuff on the ground and flopped on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling, replaying all of my past memories in my mind. I sighed and got up. I walked to the kitchen and started making my dinner for the night. Edith and Mark were laughing at the tv when I was finished making dinner- A grilled cheese sandwich with some french fries and ketchup.
As I ate, I thought about all of the times that dad and I would make dinner together, and it only made my headache worse. I finished up and started cleaning when mom came through the door. She sat her purse down and sat down on the couch in the living room. When I was finished cleaning I hopped in the shower. As the hot, steamy water poured down my skin, my brain switched to a single memory, it played back.
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“You got to keep trying!” Dad screamed as five-year-old me swung high on the swing set. I laughed. As dad pushed me, my hand slipped from the swingset handle and I fell from the swing. My knee was scrapped and I was in tears. Dad took off his shirt and tore it, using the torn fabric as a bandage that wrapped around my leg. I sniffled as dad smiled. “Looks like you got a little scratched up,” He laughed and carried me inside the house from the backyard. He unwrapped the shirt on my tiny leg and cleaned it up. He reached into the fridge and handed me an ice cream bar. I smiled and touched mine with his.
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As the memory faded, I could feel that the water on my face wasn’t from the shower. I shut off the faucet and wrapped a towel around my body. I opened my dresser drawer and laid out some pajamas. I got dressed and climbed into bed. I had to get enough sleep for tomorrow’s Basketball tournament. Tears ran down my face as I drifted off to sleep.
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