HeartBLOOD

Chapter forty-three

He had been standing outside for minutes before Alec actually gathered all the bravery inside of him and opened the huge wooden door underneath the silver capital letters spelling out the name of what was pretty much his childhood home: Brooklyn Dance Academy, the place that taught him the very fundamentals of ballet. The last time he had stepped inside was during summer, two and a half years ago when he came to train his butt off to make it through NYABM tryouts. Before that, for eight years he had been going there for hours upon hours every week to be trained by Cat. Now, he wasn't walking into the school as a student- he was walking in there as a coach. This morning he had been sick to his stomach, unable to get any breakfast down. Therefore, he was running on the glass of water he chased his meds with and one slice of apple which he barely could keep in. He had no clue why, but he had always been a person to feel sick out of nervousness. Feeling the warmth of the inside hug him invitingly, he closed the door behind him and inhaled the familiar scent of sweat and lavender that had been lingering around in those halls ever since the day BDA was founded. "After all those days I thought you'd stop picking at your cuticles.", Cat chuckled as she, unnoticed by Alec, slipped out of her office. "Some things just don't change.", he chuckled and pulled her into a deep hug- it was Sunday night and he wasn't actually at BDA to teach today, all they planned on doing was going over their timetables. To Alec's disbelief, Cat had complete trust in him. Whilst he himself was still doubting the situation, she was absolutely convinced he was made to teach. "Okay, take a seat!", Cat said as they entered the office. For the first time ever, he wasn't sitting on Cat's opposite but next to her, and for the first time, it wasn't because he had gotten himself into trouble. "So, you said you'd be free whenever, so I assigned you Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to work. I'll take Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays alone, then." "Yes, Ma'am.", he replied, cracking his knuckles to distract himself from what this truly meant- his first real job. "You're going to have to stop with the 'yes ma'am'- I know I drilled it into you, but I'm no longer your coach- I'm still your boss, that's for sure, but I'm your colleague in the first place." "Alright, boss.", Alec smirked. "I've just hired you and you're already giving me attitude- this will be so much fun, I love it.", Cat exclaimed and laughter echoed out of the office, through the halls, and in that very moment inside that very room it felt like that type of laughter must have filled the entirety of New York for a moment- this was it. This was adulting. "I'd love for you take over the teens.", Cat said after catching her breath again, "They train for two hours on mondays, wednesdays and fridays- I'll watch you for your first lesson but after that, those kids are all yours- three boys, nine girls from the ages eleven to fourteen." "Alright, what's their level?", Alec asked. "Completely mixed, unfortunately. But I'm sure you'll get along well with them and make it work- I know I am just dumping all this responsibility on you, but I know for a fact that you have a gift and all you need is the opportunity to set it free. Though obviously, I'll always be in NYABM to help out if you need anything." "I appreciate it.", Alec replied, inhaling sharply as he saw his timetable, seeing there was another course marked- the senior course. "I also thought it'd be great for you to help me with the seniors- they train five times a week, just as you did, but I'd love for you to assist me in teaching them during your working days- we have four boys and six girls in that class so I'd love to have you to help the boys and teach the class when I need to focus on one person specifically." "I think that's an incredible idea!", Alec replied immediately, "I vividly remember how stressed you were with my senior class, though you always paid attention to everyone's special needs, it's obviously easier to have a helping hand." "Agreed, coach Lightwood. I appreciate your help- just by not teaching the teens I'll have enough time for administration, so you came with perfect timing.", Cat grinned, acknowledging the crept out look on Alec's face hearing the words 'Coach Lightwood'. "All of this will take some time to get used to.", he sighed, holding his new timetable in his had just the way he held his first ever timetable as a kid at BDA. "I'll see you at work!", Cat grinned and gave him a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow.", he replied and walked out of the building. On his way to Isabelle's he walked past his high school, his childhood home, that playground Jace and him built that rocket on. The light burned in the living room of where he used to live. It was silent inside and if his parents would have been home more often growing up, he might have known what they were doing in that moment. Instead he just stood there, looking at the light, his first ever job in his pocket and his sister waiting for him at home to find out every detail of it. A piece of his heart twitched in pain, he realized, that no soul in that house cared about any of it. About his job, about his boyfriend, about his dancing, his health, his safety, where he was staying and how he was doing. Nobody asked. Nobody called. Nobody gave a shit. And it was about time for Alec to start acting the same way.