Baby Lips

Chapter 35

The ballet Giselle was first performed in 1841 in none other than Paris, France.

It tells a story of a lovely peasant girl with a weak heart who falls in love with a boy who pretends to be a peasant (when indeed he is a Duke and engaged to marry) just to woo and charm her pants off. All while another man, who is also in love with Giselle, tries to warn her that this man is not who he seems to be. But when poor little Giselle finds out her perfect man isn’t exactly who she thought he was she dies of a broken heart.

Never fear, though, she is reunited with him in the afterlife and they dance an incredibly beautiful number which results in Giselle getting to finally rest in peace.

Sounds a little familiar, eh?

Well, there are a few minor things that Giselle and I do not have in common. And I think the biggest one would be that I, Scarlett McVay, am still alive and well. And I don’t think my life is going to end anytime soon. I hope.

Yet, if I could tell Giselle one thing and one thing only it would be to run. Run while you can and run into you can’t run anymore because this will only end in disaster. And lots and lots of ice cream. Something your dance instructor won’t be happy about.

I clenched my jaw when I heard the soft beginnings of the piano music ooze from the speakers. I was starting to get sick of this song and it was only the third day of rehearsal for this scene. It was a private lesson because the way my classes were scheduled I could only fit in a dance class this late at night. And because, well, I was totally sucking at this certain part of the dance.

For some reason I could not get it down pat. Normally I was a quick learner, quickest of the bunch, but there was currently too much going on in my brain. Numbers, dance steps, cat food, more ice cream, a certain pair of green eyes...

I could feel Bonnie’s beady eyes on me when I took my first step onto the box of my pointe shoe. I tried to clear my head and feel the music; revert back to old methods that would help me finally learn a combination and so I could finally get out of here and get some much needed sleep.

How late was it?

And with that small tangent, I missed a step and down from relevre. Bonnie sighed heavily and I knew nothing good could come from it.

“Do you listen to me at all when I speak to you?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “I told you absolutely no distractions, Scarlett.” Her accent was starting to sound a lot like nails on a chalkboard and I couldn’t remember the last time I loathed being in a dance studio so much. “And you are obviously distracted.” 

I shook my head and smiled nervously. “I’m sorry.” My throat suddenly got dry. I’m starting to think it was a side effect of Bonnie’s hawk eyed stare. “I’m not distracted, I’m... I’m just stressed.”

Bonnie dropped her arms to her side and clicked her tongue. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but her voice was softer the next time she spoke. “Okay, I know this is a lot to put on someone like you.” My shoulders started to feel less tense. “But, if you can’t do this I can easily find a new Giselle and you can be part of the Wilis.” And just like that my shoulders were tense as tense can be. Again.