On Your Toes| Ongoing

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐧 - 𝐔𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐓𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫

FEBRUARY, SIX YEARS AGO...

The nippy air met with the sweat on her skin, sending a chill down her spine. Dance bag slung over her jacket-covered shoulder, Ivy stood outside her dance studio located in a fancier part of the city. The sky was dark however with the ever-so-brightly light buildings and fast-paced cars no one could tell. Dancers spilled from the building and into warm parked vehicles along the sidewalk.

Ivy waved to her instructors, Miss Lola and her assistant Miss Terran, goodbye as they passed her on their way to their separate cars. Headed toward the train station three blocks away, she unzipped the small side compartment on the side of her bag where her Metro Card was. Her fingers dipped in the pocket as she walked, touching the smooth interior.

Ivy came to a sudden stop and frantically dug deeper into her bag, but couldn't find what she was looking for. The people passing by grumbled loudly about her blocking the sidewalk. She moved over to stand beside a streetlamp and opened the larger compartment of her bag. She searched through her dance clothes and shoes in hopes of finding the small plastic disk, yet to her dismay, it was nowhere to be found.

Ivy huffed, her breath creating wispy streamers in the wind. She slapped her hand against her coat as her eyes darted around. Reaching into her coat pocket, she takes out her phone to call Manny.

The phone rang twice before she picked up. "Hello? This Manny is speaking. How may I help you?"

"Did I leave my Metro Card in our room?"

"Wow! No hi or hello? No, how was your day, Manny?" she joked through the phone.

"Hi, Manny," Ivy gritted. "Did I leave my Metro Card in our room?"

"Umm..." she said as if she was looking around the room for it. "Yeah. It's sitting on the dresser right here."

Ivy sighed with the phone against her right ear. "Okay. Thanks, Manny."

Manny hummed and hung up the phone. Okay... so what now?

Well, she could hop over the turnstile and board the train but that doesn't help her with the bus situation. Not to mention, the visions of bussing her ass replaying in her head at the thought was enough to dismiss the idea entirely.

Ivy's eyes were tracking the movement of every person who passed her. Anxiety stirred in her chest and she tapped her foot with uncertainty. It's not like she hasn't forgotten her card previously. She normally would've noticed it was missing before she went to the train station, and then she just asked one of her instructors for a ride. By now, her dance teachers would be well on their way home.

Her mom was at work as usual and her family didn't own a car, so her dad could come to get her. Not she would call him. Ivy would rather walk. So that only left one person.

Ivy dialed Darren's number and he picked up almost instantly. "Hello?" she spoke as she heard the joyous commotion in the background of the call.

"Hey, Ivy, what's up?"

He sounded busy, the fun kind of busy. A bad feeling brushed up next to the anxiety inside her, adding to the uneasiness. "If you're busy, I'm sorry. I can just figure something else out. I'm sorry I called. I—"

"Hey! Hey! You don't ever have to feel sorry for calling. I always wanna hear your voice," Darren cuts her off. "I'm not busy. What's wrong?"

"I forgot my Metro Card at home and I don't have a way to get home. I was going to walk but I figured I would call to see if I could get a ride first."