Soloist #Wattys2015

Chapter Five

Groaning, I shaped my hand into a fist and smashed my alarm clock into silent submission. It was Sunday. Who wakes up this early on a Sunday?

Me. The girl who has to go work at the café and get people their daily dose of caffeine since that's what our society functions on.

I got out of bed, trembling from the chill of the morning. After showering, I brushed my teeth and fixed my hair. Putting on an acceptable polo shirt and a pair of comfortable workout tights, I packed a bag and slipped on my white plimsolls and dashed out the door.

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"Oh no, you don't." Julia grabbed my shoulders, hauling me back to the kitchen.

Mckayla had stayed overnight instead of going home and that meant pancakes.

Simply, Julia announces, "Breakfast." She puts down the plate with a flourish.

I accepted her fork and stifled my grin as I watched her dance around. Maybe I wasn't the only person who got up at this time of the morning on a Sunday. But still...

To say that the food was fantastic would have been a severe understatement. I could not stop myself from forking it all down and to put it simply, stuffing my face.

"I don't know how you do it with all this healthy junk, Mckayla," I picked up the packet of wholemeal four to study it. "But this is amazing."

"Not to be rude or anything, but don't you have a job to get to, Andy?" Casillith piped up, setting down her book.

"Right. See you later!" I yelled, bolting out of the dorm.

"Stay awesome!" Julia shouted in reply.

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"One minute's mark approaching..." I smirked as I read aloud from my phone's stopwatch.

Deacon shushes me, wasting precious seconds to swat me away.

"One minute." I chirped, annoying him as he added the milk froth.

"Ten seconds..."

"Twenty-"

"Okay, Andy. I'm done." He snapped, huffing.

"Not bad..." His skill in latte art was so much better than mine.

Snapping a photo, I uploaded it to the café's website and social media platforms to spread the word.

Deacon regretted his decision, for by lunch time, he was sick of making that design. Eventually, his constant grumbling was starting to get to me. I rolled my eyes at all of his remarks.

When the next customer came, he threatened to flay the poor patron alive if he ordered that latte art. Deciding that Deacon was probably scaring the poor person, I dried off my hands and made my way to the counter to take Eli's order.

"You know," His devious grin put a smile back on my face. Sigh. "I might just order that drink for the hell of it." He winked and I rang it up on the cash register.

Deacon exploded as I passed him the receipt and returned Aellius his change.

"Join me, will you?" He invited, motioning to the table where his year mates; Oliver and Trent were having an arm-wrestling match.

"You know I can't." But I would, for you.

"What time do you knock off?"

I looked over to the analogue clock on the painted brick wall. Almost four...

"Half past four."

"I'll probably be done with my drink by then. I'll wait for you, then we can go to the dorms to change. What do you want for dinner?"

He's asking me! How sweet...

"I could use some Japanese." I suggested, knowing that I would look like a fool eating anything else.

Eli accepts his drink from a bristling Deacon and heads to his seat. "Sushi it is." He calls.

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As I washed the foamy shampoo out of my hair, I wondered why I even stayed until the end of my shift. No one came to the café and the most I did was to pass a teacher a handful of napkins – which he tucked into his pocket; thief.

Julia had been forced by our history teacher to give a talk about the history of ballet to the younger students while Mckayla and Casillith had gone for a run. Looks like I had to rely on my wonderful fashion sense this time.

After swapping outfits multiple times, I finally settled on a pair of dark skinny jeans, a white shirt and my red, high-top Converse. Deciding that I needed a little more 'colour' in my outfit – as Julia says – I borrowed Mckayla's red duffle coat then launched myself towards the lift lobby.

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Eli looked up, his eye crinkling and making my knees give out again. His golden-blonde hair was tucked into a beanie and he had a leather jacket slung over his lean shoulders.

"It's a little chilly tonight, are we going far?" I asked as I stuck my name on the sign-out sheet.

He takes me hand in his own. "There's a short stretch about five minutes out, and I got permission to take one of the campus cars." And here I was dreading the fact that we were going to take public transport.

He leads me out into the carpark, searching for the right car. Soon we find it, one of the Saabs that they usually loaned to the students.

I slip into the A-3, thanking Eli for getting my door. He does a little tap dance as he makes his way over to the driver's side.

"So how's Austin?" He starts the engine and the car purrs to life.

"I don't think he'll be well enough to really go anywhere this winter. Hopefully they'll still allow him to dance for the winter production."

"It's a miracle what a warm studio and a good dance workout can do for an ill body."

"I think I'll get him to do that." I look out, taking in the lights of the streetlamps that illuminated the empty road.

"Are you ready for appraisals?" Aellius shifts the conversation smoothly and I was thankful for that.

"Not really, still working though my dance sequences. It's tough without my partner."

"But you're supposed to be the best dancer – after all, you are the academy's scholarship student."

"Funny," I frowned. "I don't feel like I'm any better than the other girls. We all have our own strengths, I guess, no one's really too bad."

"That's where you're wrong." He looks over, smiling. "There's no other dancer that can captivate me like you do. The way you move, that's the magic that you have."

His lifts my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles chastely. My face flushes.

"So what are you going to do about your absent partner?" He returns his gaze to the road, taking a left turn.

"I honestly don't know. I can only pray for him to get better." I sunk back into the seat, defeated.

"Hey," Eli lifts my chin with his free hand. "Don't worry. I'll help you until Austin gets better."

Well, Aellius was about the same height as Austin, and they had been trained by the same teacher. Same system... same dancer?

Highly unlikely,but at least it would be better than getting a cultural shock when Austin recovers and picks up just a week before the appraisals. I was running out of time.

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We sat there for a few counts, hiding our faces behind the fancy menus. Occasionally, I would sneak glances at Eli, taking in his furrowed brows and shifting eyes.

Then he slams the menu onto the table, looking sheepish as he confessed; "I can't read any of this."

I smiled, "Agreed."