I reach my leg up onto the pole easily. The other students do so as well. I feel the wood beneath my hands as I grasp it, making certain I don't fall like many times before. My hair blocks my view of the instructor and I push it away, annoyed. The woman inspects out positions and nods at each of us. He hair is a blackish color and I can tell she is young. She wears white leggings and a grey sweat shirt that has the studio's logo on it. I'd prefer black, and that's why I'm wearing the same version of her jacket on in black. The woman stands in the middle of the room, facing us with a serious face.
"Pick a partner and do the mirror exercise. There is an even number of students, so everyone get a partner. Go," she started watching as we wander around the room. I weave through the people. Many girls are together with smiles, but I never smile.
"Hey Susan!" A voice says from behind me. I turn to see my friend, Janine.
"Hey. Wanna be partners?" I ask shrugging. Janine smiles and nods. I stand in front of her and she starts us off with a quick balloté movement. I swiftly jump from one foot to the next, balancing on one foot. I take that movement into the arabesque pose since we are already on one foot. She mirrors my move and puts her other foot stretched high in the air. I wobble then stay still. Mrs. Adams walks by, watching our poses.
"Very nice Susan and Janine! I like how your gaze is pin pointed to one stop on the ground like we talked about," she compliments nodding then walking away. We chassé backwards, then forwards. I imagine we look the same, like mirrors. This is the mirror exercise after all. The teacher tells us to gather in the front. All of us do so. "Since it is a new session of ballet, I'm going to begin with partnering people up for the next assigned routines. Once I have called your name, you will meet with your partner," Mrs. Adams explains. Most of us nod in agreement. I wait, hearing her call several names until I hear mine. "Susan Thornman and Curtis Calmeran." I walk to the boy I've seen a few days ago. He's new here, but I know his name. Mrs. Adams says it is important to learn everyone's names so you don't make them feel unimportant. Curtis looked like one of those boys who was quiet, but swift. His muscles were easily defined by the white undershirt he wore. Like the rest of us, he wore leggings. Like mine, they were black, at least, they were to me. He gives me a small smile and I just scrunch up my lips and nod. "I'm handing out papers saying everything you need to know about your dance routine," the teacher says passing both my and Curtis our papers. I noticed Curtiss's didn't have words on it, but ignored the fact how he was pretending to read it. We both look it over.
Names: Susan and Curtis
Dance routine name: Flawless Dragon
"So I guess we're dragons then..." I say, weirded out by the name.
He nods. "It looks pretty complicated. What do you think?"
I shrug. "I dunno. Are you a beginner?"
"Well, I started two years ago, so..." He says looking at the sheet again.
"Sit down and get to know your partner please! Remember, the better trust you have in your assigned pairs, the easier this will be for ALL of you," Mrs. Adams pipes again. We sit across from each other.
"I started ballet eight years ago," I say shortly.
"Why did you start ballet?" He asks.
"It's one of the only things I can do successfully after I got shot in the eye with a be-be gun when I was eight. The doctors tried to take the pellet out, but it damaged both of my eyes, causing me to become colorblind. They say I'm lucky I'm not completely blind. I was studying to be a chemist or biologist, but I need to see colors clearly for that, you know, chemicals? I had to give up my dream and all my hard work because of the incident. I decided to take up ballet. It didn't matter that I was colorblind. I've been working hard ever since," I say, coldly staring at him.
Curtis is taken aback. "Oh! I'm really sorry. I just joined because.. Well... Never mind." He looked away.
"I told you my reason, now you tell me yours," I say, getting aggravated.
"I'm blind," he says looking up at me. I could see his eyes weren't completely focused on my face, he was looking a bit in the distance this whole time. That explains why he didn't have any words on his paper! There was dots on it!
"Oh..." I don't think saying sorry helps. It wasn't my fault, so why would I say sorry? It didn't help, it didn't fix anything. "That's a shame."
He nods. "I guess we're kinda the same, huh?" He gives me a slight smile. I was starting to wonder what happened.
"What happened, you know... For you to be blind?" I inquired.
"I was born with it. I've never been able to see the world. It's hard but I try to make the most of it. If I could see, I'm sure you'd be beautiful, Susan," he says. I blush at his comment, but get goosebumps when he says my name.
"I'm not that pretty..." I assure him.
"Don't say that. I'm sure you're gorgeous."
"C'mon, let's start practicing," I say, standing up. Most of the other groups had already finished, but they weren't us. "That was deep," I whisper to myself as we head into a separate room to practice. I look at the sheet as see our number: 233. He walk through the hallways, my ballet shoes were new. Every year I bought new shoes for a new start. We walk into the room and we start practicing. Curtis grabs my hips and I look into his eyes. He lifts me up in the air gracefully and leaps. He sets me down and I twirl into a pirouette. I spin over, and over, and over again, then stop. I do and entrechat. Once I jump up, Curtis holds my hips to keep me in mid-air then spins around twice. He sets me down and the intercom comes on, calling us back to the main studio. He follows the sound of my feet to the studio.
"Wonderful job today everyone! I wish to see you guys back here in two days!" Mrs. Adams says with a smile. I nod and all of us students walk out to the main lobby, where some kids have parents or friends waiting for them to finish. I see Curtis walk to his mom, who holds a long stick with a ball on the end. Curtis must use it to walk around. His mom sees me watching and waves with a smile. She nudges her son and whispers something in his ear and Curtis waves as well. I didn't smile at them, but I waved and searched for my keys in my ballet bag. I find them quickly and walk to the parking lot. I unlock my car and sit in the leather seats. I start the car and drive home. Once I pull into the driveway I walk inside to be greeted by my mom.
"Hey girlie!" She says, engulfing me in a bear hug. I'm 17, but she still hugs me. I'm taller than her for pete's sakes!!! Nevertheless, I hug her back.
"I'm gonna head to my room, k mom?" I ask, starting up the stairs.
"Just be down for dinner," she replies. I nod and run up the stairs. All of a sudden I start thinking of Curtis and what he said. I whisper it back to myself.
"It's hard, but I make the most of it." Even after I get my pajamas on I ponder this. How can someone who's blind be so happy about a shadowed world?
