Pirouette [h.s.]

chapter 22

// Because to tell you is too scary, //

// So, I'll just say something else. //

"Pancakes for Dinner" -Lizzy McAlpine

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Golden Gate Ballet Company.

What the fuck?

The building looks like any other dance studio, but all I can see is bright and shiny and new. Like what I imagine it feels like to get proposed to. Breathtaking in a way that seems so materialistic, but is actually tied somewhere deep down in your belly. A genuine reaction of shock and awe, like the opening of the curtains at showtime. I could honestly cry, sitting in my car, staring at the studio.

Harry insisted I drive to Golden Gate instead of biking and even went as far as filling up my tank against my will.

"I just want to make sure you're safe and at your very best, Bee." he had given me puppy dog eyes that he knew I couldn't say no to. So, I just rolled my eyes and took the side pinch as punishment.

I came for the first practice run on Monday and was offered the role almost immediately. Joseph, the man who invited me after the show, greeted me right away the moment I showed up. He's the head of the studio – he used to be a dancer until his body protested, which led him to choreograph, which led him to handle the studio as a whole. Joseph gave me a quick tour of the building and the practice rooms before we ended up in the big group room. All of the other dancers were all so nice when I walked in, all murmuring welcomes and exuding excitement.

I guess once you make it, you can stop pretending to be heartless.

He told me, as we wandered through the hallways, that their lead backed out, which is why they were scrambling to find someone new so last minute. I felt so...respected? Joseph made sure to remind me time and time again that this arrangement wasn't exactly fair to me; expecting me to pick up the lead role with a month and a half until the start of shows. He gave me at least fifteen chances to back out, but that wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind.

I'd gone through hell to get this chance, there's no way I was letting it go.

The practice could not have gone better – I caught on quickly to the routines and with the genuine attention and feedback, I already felt like I was dancing better than I ever had at Battu. Apparently, the staff thought so too, because by noon I was signing paperwork to take on the role of Princess Aurora for a three-month run of Sleeping Beauty. We start in January – the first weekend of the new year.

Most of our shows are at the studio, but there are a few in the Theater District. Those are the shows I'm most excited for; a taste of something bigger.

I feel like I'm always reaching for something bigger. Like once my foot is firmly planted on the rung of the ladder, it's a hectic climb as fast as I can towards the top. Reaching and reaching and reaching. I thought I was about to plummet after the holiday show at Battu, but instead I'm still working my way towards...the sun? The stars? A comet, or a black hole, or a distant galaxy. I don't know what's up there, but sooner or later, I'll find the top.

The whiplash of the week had my head spinning, with Lacey and getting fired to picking up the fucking lead role in one of my favorite ballets. I haven't had much time to dwell on everything happening at Battu, but Harry definitely did.

He was in an absolute rampage when I gave him all of the details, so much so that Nate started to get whiny in Peking because of how angry Harry was; their attitudes tied tightly together by some sort of unbreakable rope.