The Forgotten Ballerina

Nine

"Grande Jeté! Straighten your legs, Lilly!" My instructor yells. I try my best to follow his instructions but Cameron won't get out of my head. I slipped after landing. "God, Lilly. This used to be the one thing you could do right. What happened?" He asks.

I'm still. Frozen. He was right though. My Grande Jetés used to perfect, now they're terrible and end up with me stumbling or tripping. After all, it was the big finish to the duet. My height needed to be as high as it could be. Record shattering.

It may not seem like a huge ending but when I do it, it's perfect. Just not anymore. My instructor called me out after class. "Listen. If you don't do good with this duet at this competition, we'll have to dismiss you and you might face expulsion." He says.

"I understand. I'm trying my hardest." I say. I walk out the door and when I open it, a boy bumps into me. "Oh, excuse me. I'm so sorry!" He says. "It's ok." I reply, softly. "I'm Eli." He introduces.

"Lilly. Do you dance here?" I ask. "I hope. I'm auditioning today. What about you?" He asks. "Yes. I'm a ballerina here." I reply. He nods and smiles "Well, break a leg on your audition." I say.

NEXT DAY

I walk into class earlier this morning to get a head start with stretching. As I get closer to the door I hear Marissa talking with our instructor. "What if we just took out the Grande Jeté? If she's struggling we should remove what's making her struggle." She says.

"That makes sense, but at the same time, she's been struggling with everything. What if we replace her with one of the new dancers? There's a nice boy named Eli that I just accepted yesterday." He says.

"No, Lilly needs this duet more than anything. If she's not in it then I'm not competing. No duet, no group piece." She replies. "Fine. We'll keep her. Although, I still think you'll do good with Eli. You both match each other's strengths." He says.

I step back from the door and head to my car. I take out my phone and start texting Cameron.

Me: "Can we talk?"
• • •
Cameron: "Sure. In person?"
• • •
Me: "Yes. Where are you?"
• • •
Cameron: "At home."
• • •
Me: "On the way."

I drove as fast as I could to his apartment. I knock on his door. No answer. I knock again. No answer. I knock louder. He opens the door and smiles. "Hey." He says. I smile at him and sigh.

"Well are you going to stand there forever?" He jokes. I laugh and come inside. "So, what do you need?" He asks. "Can I vent to you again? I just had the weirdest morning ever." I ask. "Guessing you're not going to ballet today?" He asks. I shake my head.

We sit on his couch and I tell him everything that happened. "Holy shit. You're kidding." He says, shocked. "Nope. I heard all of that stuff. I can't believe he'd want to replace me! He hates me." I say.

"I feel like everyone hates me." I mumble. Cameron looks down at me. "I could never hate you." He says, leaning in. I have to stop him. He stares into my eyes and slightly bites his bottom lip, controlling himself.

"Please." He whispers. A tear forms in my eye and I stand up to leave. Cameron grabs my hand and just looks at me. "I'm sorry." I pause. "But whatever you thought we had, is over." I say as that tear rolls down my cheek. I open the door and look back to see him.

He's still sitting down. He can't bare to even turn his head to see me leave. I walk out the door and see Eli. Is that Cameron's new neighbor? Fuck.