The Dancing Ghost ★ Edward Cullen

vii. Alley decisions

Anastasia stood a few streets before the ballet studio, leaning against a cold wall, watching the cars lights flash by.

A week has passed and her ankle was healed enough for her to get back to practice, but something was holding her back, making her hesitate to continue her walk.

She sighted, debating if she should continue her way to the studio or maybe go back to the train station and make up an excuse, tell them her ankle didn't heal yet.

She felt less and less motivated about her role, and felt even more guilty about feeling like this. She knew a lot of dancers dreamed of getting her role, yet here she was, not wanting to go to practice.

She felt even more guilty that she was starting to not care about her mother's love for ballet, the swan lake particularly.

She tried to remember all the lessons they had in the living room, she tried to think about how happy her mother would've been, but it didn't make her feel any more motivated to continue her way to the studio.

Maybe she should just quit, give the role to someone else, make it all end-

Her phone rang, making her come back to earth. She took it out of her pocket, checking who it was before answering.

"Hey, Edward?" She asked into the phone, her voice slightly breaking from the cold breeze, making her realize she forgot her jacket.

"Hey, i'm sorry if you're busy..."

"Oh no, no i'm not," She assured, searching her bag for her gloves.

"I wanted to ask you if you want to start working on the project, we can go to the local library," He proposed, waiting for her answer.

"Yeah sure," She agreed, remembering the notes she prepared for the project, "Do you want to go tomorrow, if that's okay?"

"Fine with me," He said, his voice sounding a lot louder in the empty street, "I'll see you tomorrow then."

"See you tomorrow," She agreed and hanged up, the silence filling back the street.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she placed her phone back into her bag and continued her walk to the studio, her thoughts taking a new direction.

She thought about Edward, or well the entire Cullen family. Their glowy skin and golden eyes, they seemed way too other worldly to fit with the ordinary, naturally making her thoughts wonder about them.

She glanced at the book Edward gave her, poking out of her bag. When she thought about how she'll see him tomorrow, it didn't make sense for her.

She felt as though he's just a ghost and will disappear at any moment, like he's way too far away for some reason.

Anastasia got before the studio, stood before the large glass door and checked her watch, making the thoughts about him go away as she focused on the ticking clock.

She was a bit late as she went up the stairs, the dressing room was completely empty as put on her pointe shoes.

When she saw her, Oksana immediately asked her if her ankle was fine, having not seen her for a while, which Anastasia assured her of and started her practicing yet again, her mind suddenly silent, making room for her dancing.

Hours passed in an instant, the practicing ended and Anastasia's head felt quieter than usual as she sat in the train, watching the blurry windows.

When she got into her car, she hesitated before turning it on. She didn't feel like going to her aunt's apartment. Even though it was raining, the thought of spending the rest of the night inside her room didn't sound appealing.

She glanced at her bag, sitting in the passenger seat, and before she could change her mind, she grabbed it and searched inside of it, hoping it was still there.

"Yes!" She exclaimed excitedly, taking out the small key out of her bag.

She turned on the car and grabbed the steering wheel, driving to the location from memory.

The parking lot was empty, the sound of the rain filling her ears as she got out of her car, opening her umbrella and walking around the main entrance to the small door of the building, grabbing her key from her pocket and walked into the small corridor to her aunt's office.

Her aunt worked as the top curator in a local museum, and knowing Anastasia's love of arts, she went out of her way to get her access to the museum whenever she wanted and it wasn't that hard since she had the highest position in the staff.

The museum wasn't very big or majorly important, but still beautiful.

Even though she has been here countless of times, Anastasia couldn't help but fawn over the marble sculptures and felt herself take in the presence of the people in the paintings, trapped in the frames for eternity, only still existing because they are remembered by the museum visitors, keeping them from rotting away with time serving as their coffin.

Anastasia felt her very soul shiver at the thought of eternity, running away from death to hide in a corner forever.

She didn't believe in god, not because of doubt or skepticism, but because she didn't want to imagine that an immortal being exists, spending their time defying existence alone and unable to hold on to anything without having to experience their death.

One life was more than enough time.

Maybe too much sometimes...

Anastasia starred at the watch on her wrist, enjoying the way it never stops ticking even though a small part of her was scared.

That small, scared part seemed to be fading away quickly.

Anastasia couldn't tell if she was happy about it.