100 Writing Prompts Challenge

1. Dance

Michelle danced from the time she could stand. She watched the rich girls at school soon fancy moves and fancy tricks so she went home and looked up how to do them. She was one of the greatest dancers around, but she never took a single class.

Her mom could never afford to send her to dance class, so while she was at work, Michelle would sneak into her office/random stuff/hoarder room and look up some moves. Then she'd practice them on the porch, as it was the only open, flat, non-carpeted area on her family's property.

Michelle was a mistake. She was never supposed to happen. Her mom seemed to have come to her senses after she came along, and was careful to make sure she did not get another child. Not only was she a mistake, but she was unwanted. Her mom made it quite clear that she would be kicked out as soon as her eighteenth birthday rolled around, not that Michelle minded.

When she got older and could go places alone, she would go to open gym at a local dance studio and practice for hours, paying the small fee with whatever money she could muster. She craved dance, and not only was she a prodigy, but she was smart in other ways too. Not many would categorize her as book smart, but she was street smart. Wise, as her teachers said.

Michelle always watched the other dancers at the gym to try and get new skills, and asked the older, more advanced girls that seemed nicer for help technique wise. They asked her every week to start classes there, but she refused, giving this or that excuse.

One day, as open gym slowed, Michelle was the only one left in the room other than a little girl and her mom, who just sat and watched and took videos and notes on her phone. As the girl finished for the day, her mom came up to Michelle.

"Hi, I'm Susan Whetherford, and I just wanted to tell you I think you have a real gift." she reached her hand out and Michelle shook it, processing the information she had just told her. A gift? She had only danced alone without proper training for years. How was she gifted?

"Thanks." Michelle responded, unsure of what to do next. Before she could do anything, Susan passed her a card. "Ring me up if you're interested in some dance training you've definitely never experienced before. I think you could even manage a scholarship!" Susan turned on her heels and grabbed her daughter's hand, exiting swiftly. Michelle just stared at the card. On the top was the name of a dance school she had never heard. And under Susan's name was a word that made Michelle want to scream and vomit and party all at once, president.

As soon as she arrived at her house, she went into the kitchen and picked up the landline. She typed in the numbers slowly, and put the receiver to her ear. She had about 20 minutes until her mom got off work, and that was the time she would usually hide her dance stuff and shower and lock herself in her room. But this was too important. She could shower in the morning.

A young lady's voice answered after two rings. "The Golden Crown Dance Academy, how may I assist you?"

Michelle realized she had no idea what to say. "Erm, uh, hi. I met Ms. Susan Whetherford today and she told me that I should call this number to look into scholarships and such...?" Michelle heard typing. Then the receptionist asked a few questions and said, "Please hold." Michelle bit her thumbnail, which was one of her worst habits.

A few minutes later, a different woman answered the phone. "Susan Whetherford." Michelle sighed in relief. "Hi, Susan. It's Michelle, the girl you met at-" "I'm sorry I can't reach the phone now, but if you would like, you can contact my secretary by pressing star then two. If not, then try calling back later. Have a wonderful day." Michelle looked down, going to press the star button, but then she heard a car door slamming. She hung up the phone quickly, pressed the buttons she had memorized a long time ago that would clear the phone's history. Then she ran to her room.

The next day at school, Michelle snuck off into the girls locker room, which no one went in during lunch. She dialed the numbers on her friend Grace's phone she had borrowed and bit her pointer fingernail. The receptionist picked up again and she restated everything from the day before.

After two rings, Susan picked up. "Susan Whetherford. How can I help you today?" Michelle took a deep breath. "Hi, this is Michelle, I met you yesterday at the dance studio?" Michelle held her breath.

"Ah, yes, Michelle. So, I was wondering if you'd like to try and get a scholarship for our summer classes. They're in LA, and they last eight months. We provide transportation, lodging, and food, as well as classes every week day and weekend activities. And, if you get a scholarship with us, or pay $300, you will get a dance bag with exclusive clothing, a pair of dance shoes for each class we offer, as well as a few other accessories you might need." Michelle marveled at how amazing this experience would be. She loved freestyle dancing, but she'd always wanted to learn real dance technique.

"Oh my. Well, how much is it?" Susan stated a number well over Michelle's McDonald's paycheck. "Oh, well I can't really afford it, but how do the scholarships work?" Susan stated a log process and Michelle took notes on a random notebook she had brought in there.

Susan told Michelle that she would definitely be eligible for the scholarship. Over the last two months of school, Susan helped Michelle fill out all the paperwork that her mom would never do. Then, on the last day of her sophomore year of high school, she got accepted into The Golden Crown Dance Academy's summer program on a fully paid scholarship. Now she just needed her mother's signature.

As she got home from school on the last day of school, which was a half day, her mother was still home. Michelle took a deep breath. She could do this. "Mom?" Michelle asked. "Yeah, what?" Michelle showed her the paperwork she had picked up from Susan. "I got accepted into a dance school in LA. They're paying for everything on full scholarship."

"Dance school? Since when do you dance?" Michelle didn't want to tell her mom all that she'd been doing, but she was tired of the lying. She told her mother everything. He mother stood up slowly after hearing all this, then angrily slapped Michelle in the face and walked out of the room, leaving the forms unsigned.

Michelle stood in shock, not because of the hitting, but because all of her work and Susan's work had gone to waste. Michelle picked up the papers, walked to her mom's door, and kicked it down with a strange new strength.

"Sign the forms, and I'll never come back." Michelle held out the papers. Her mom stared at her for a few moments, as if she was staring into her soul to see if she was lying. Then, she picked up the pen and signed on the dotted line.