I tie my shoes with precision, admiring the fresh point shoes the company just gave me. I love the look of new shoes, the pinkness, the cleanliness. It's gorgeous.
I stand up in parallel, facing the barre. "Mina!" Momo says as she stands next to me in the same position as I. "Hi!" I say, subconsciously rolling up em pointe on my left, then slowly switching to my right as the shank of my shoes makes a crackling sound when I roll upwards. "Momo! How're you?" I ask excitedly, turning my head towards her. "I'm okay, thank you for asking" a small hint of red blushed over her cheeks, I smiled. "That's good. Oh hey, arent we finding out what show we're doing today? God I hope it's not swan lake again, my feet despised me last time we did that" I joked, switching to first position as I rolled onto my toes. She nodded. "I loved that, the black swan was my dream role." A smile cracked on her face as she switched to passe.
Mr aizawa, the dance teacher, cleared his throat especially loud, as to call us over. As a hoard of dancers cluster like a flock of swans, the instructor before us skims his clipboard.
"As you all know" he began "This years Summer Show will not be like the last. I have decided to perform an original ballet. It is a love story between two same sex leads in the mid 19th century, royals, who are from opposing kingdoms. They must fight for their right to marry and conquor in the face of adversity. This ballet is called Marie. Named after the main character. I will post up the roles at the end of the lesson, but for today we will just be doing a regular lesson."
I stand in centre, in arabesque next to Jirou, one of my best friends. "This is going to be loads of work, learning a show that doesn't even exist yet. I'm glad we're getting representation in ballet though, I've never seen that before." I say in hushed tones, as not to disturb the class. Jirou nods "might be a bit of a far fetched statement, but I think this show is gonna be a hit. The new Romeo and Juliet." She smiles. It feels amazing to see someone like me in the media I love so much. I'm gay, Jirou is bisexual, so it's things like this that we love.
I go from arabesque into an attitude, turning 180° before lifting onto my toes. That always makes my back sore for some reason. "I think you're gonna get the lead" Jirou said "you are a model student and he has been pushing you a lot more recently. I think he's testing you" her suggestion gets me thinking. I had been working extra hard lately, learning other dances and performing them in class as like a homework.
I remember when I got into the company, I squealed so loud the neighbors asked about it. It was my dream come true, and now this would be as well. It's everything I could've hoped for. The class simultaneously lowers.
•|6 hours later|•
Just as class ended and I had changed into some regular clothes, I walked up to the board at the entrance to see the cast list. I was slow to get changed, so I was probably the last one to see it. I walked up to see momo already standing there, a concentrated look on her face.
MARIE : CAST LIST
Marie: Mina ashido
Understudy: Jirou Kyoka
Lilith: Momo Yaoyorozu
Understudy: Tsuyu Asui
Holy shit. JIROU WAS RIGHT! I got the lead role! I kinda expected it (not to sound prissy) but it was a huge shock. I grin grew on my face as me and Momo made eye contact. Her face tinted red as she gave a smile, much more sheepish than mine though.
When I got home, I was ecstatic. "Denki!! Guess what!!" I screeched as I ran into the apartment. "What?! Are you okay!??" He panicked.
"I'm fine you dumbass. I'm great actually! I GOT THE LEAD" My voice boomed, I've always been told I'm a rather loud soul. "And you know who is my love interest" I blushed.
"Holy shit this is some highschool coming of age drama shit. You get the lead role and your crush of five years is your love interest. If only I had your luck" he joked, standing off his seat.
"You have a boyfriend" I said bluntly.
"Yeah yeah whatever" He brushed me off, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "But that's awesome dude fucking hell, I told you, things are coming up Mina!" He pulled me into a hug, to which I returned with a tighter hug.
"I know! Ugh this is the best day ever" I smiled as I went to my room.
I lay of my bed, shifting around. Something must have set off serotonin in my head because I was suddenly incredibly hyper and I could barely sit still. I scrolled through Instagram, my feed showing a list of all my old classmates at their cabins with their families, drinking hot cocoa, etcetera. My family didn't even invite me to anything this year. They've been so petty since I decided I was lesbian rather than bisexual. My mother had dreams of being a grandma, she has two other kids but I'm the oldest so of course all the pressure was on me. They're being so petty, I almost don't even want to be with them.
I come across I vidoe that makes me smile. It's momo, in her studio she has at her house. She's dancing to the Odette variation, possibly my most favourite dance in the whole ballet. She is such a good dancer, even the dreaded developés at the start look effortless to her. I'm so jealous, or attracted? I'm not 100% sure.
I decide now to go to bed, since it's already ten and I'm exhausted. I have 11 hours of dance tommorow. A modern jazz class for four hours and my ballet class for seven. My muscles are gonna hate me so much.
As I lay in bed, I'm so tired yet still restless. I try my hardest to sleep despite this.
