Make Your Move

Chapter 1: Mamma Mia

For the totes adorbs book cover she made me. 

Chapter 1

Her nose scrunched up in disgust. She couldn’t help but pity the man. He was sitting in a pile of what looked like garbage and rotten food, but was too indistinguishable to make out. Holding out a sign that said, ‘Spare Change’, he bared his yellowing teeth at her, silently begging. Sighing inwardly, she reached into her front pocket, pulling out whatever she had in there. Glancing down, she saw a penny, a piece of lint, and a twenty dollar bill.

I kind of need this twenty, those shoes were on sale, and he could always have the penny…

Oh come on, Scarlett, don’t be stingy; just give him the twenty. But, what if he uses it to feed his ever growing drug habit, and ends up-

Stopping herself from having those thoughts, she hastily threw the twenty into the man’s hands and scurried off, leaving behind the man’s cries of joy.  She felt lost, walking around aimlessly without her parents or friends by her side. Actually, she really was lost. She was supposed to meet up with her new instructor half an hour ago, but ended up getting lost on the way. With no idea where she was going, she thought back to when she got the news.

“Scarlett, honey, mail for you!” she heard her mom call out excitedly. She heard shuffling downstairs, telling her that everyone had gathered in the living room, awaiting the news.

“Coming, ma!” she called warily. She had been dreading this day for 2 weeks now, ever since she sent her application in, and she still wasn’t sure if she wanted to see what that letter said.

Taking slow steps down the long staircase, she could hear everyone’s grunt of impatience. “Come on, Lottie!” Her little brother, Joseph, wailed, “We’ve been waiting for ages!”

“Calm down Joe,” she said with a smirk, ruffling his hair, “it’s my news.”

“Yeah, but I wanna see if I get your room when you leave or not.”

Playfully scowling at him, she snatched the dreaded letter from the coffee table, picked up a letter opener, and stared at it.

“You can do it, angel,” encouraged her dad, “Just rip it off like a band-aid.” He quickly made a ripping sound with his lips, making her cringe at the noise.

“Thanks dad; you always know what to say to make me feel better.” She replied sarcastically.

“I know sweetie,” He patted her hand reassuringly, not catching the sarcasm in her words.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the envelope, and carefully pulled out the letter. Here goes nothing.  “Congratulations, your application to California’s Ballet School of the Arts has been chosen-“

“Well? What does it say?” Her best friend Kelsey piped up for the first time beside her.

A huge smile inched across her face. “They said yes! I’m in!” She shouted, jumping up and down.

Cries of mirth spread throughout the room, creating a festive atmosphere. “This calls for a par-tay!” cried her best friend.

“Everything calls for a party for you, Kels.” She laughed.

“Not denying it,” she replied with her hands in a surrender position, “But back to the important stuff; you’ll be leaving in 2 weeks to California! We need to go shopping, pronto.”