Ready? Not Really.. (Fem USUK) •IN EDITING•

Alice

a/n
this is the last time I'm changing the cover I swear
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I stood, tense, while Ludwig read over my forms. His eyes scanned the pages slowly, narrowing every now and then as he occasionally let out a little "hmm."
It was painful, to say in the least. My twelve year old cousin could read faster than him.
I wrung my hands and looked around Ludwig's shoppe, trying to pretend like I wasn't freaking out over his judgement. After a while, staring at the same shelf of cluttered items and the back wall got really boring. I look at a little porcelain rabbit. It was something my father would bitterly call a "dust collector" before throwing it away when my mother wasn't watching. The rabbit was extremely cartoonish in a way that almost made me cringe. It stood on its hind legs and had a little watering can, a pink tutu, and an open-mouthed smile that definitely wasn't terrifying.
I narrowed my eyes. It didn't do anything back.
"So," Ludwig said suddenly. I jumped in surprise and turned to him. He stared at me expectantly from over the top of the papers. "What are some conflicts you have with working here?"
"Oh! Um.." I thought for a moment before shaking my head. "Schoolwork and dance. That's it."
He nodded slowly and set down my paperwork. "I see." Ludwig leaned back in his seat and raised his eyebrows. "What days would you be able to work?" His steely blue eyes held little to no emotion, refusing to betray his thoughts. He stared right through me. I fidgeted.
"Weekends would be the best. I have dance after school most days." I shrugged weakly. "Can't really do anything about that."
Ludwig just grunted in acknowledgement. He opened a drawer hidden behind the counter and rummaged through it for something. I could hear things hit against each other as he knocked them together. With a little aha, he pulled out a pen. Ludwig uncapped it and scribbled his name onto my forms. Even his signature was precise, each pen stroke having a specific purpose. L. Beilschmidt. "You're hired," he said.
I blinked. That was easy. "Really?"
"Yes." He rubbed the bridge of his nose and stood up, looking as if he were getting tired of talking to me. "Weekends. Saturday and Sunday. Be here at twelve o'clock noon sharp. I'll give you further instruction then."
I nodded quickly. "Uh, yeah. Of course. Shit, thanks." Ludwig looked annoyed at my language, but he stuck his hand out for me to shake anyways. I complied and did the gesture. My arm immediately hurt when I pulled away from him. I rubbed my wrist tenderly.
And that was that.
I actually had a job.
~•~•~•~
There wasn't much time to get back to campus and get ready for dance practice. By the time I reached the dormitories, I only had a few minutes to change and try to get one of my friends to drive me to the studio. I sprinted to my room and flung the door open, surprising my roommate who was sitting on her bed in an oversized Iron Man shirt and her underwear. She looked extremely attractive, as usual, but I didn't have time to think about it. I could be sexually frustrated later.
"Jesus Christ, Alice!" Amelia exclaimed. She was playing on some little handheld gaming thing. A DS, right? I'm pretty sure I'd seen a little girl use one during a summer dance retreat I volunteered at. "Fucking give me some warning next time you decide to barge in." I ignored her and went over to the closet we shared, throwing clothes around as I tried to find leggings to wear. Amelia sighed loudly and resumed playing her game, grumbling about having to fold her pants or whatever later. Obnoxious electronic music came from the speakers of her game system. I did my best to tune it out.
I finally found something to wear and slung my dance bag over my shoulder. "Is Maddie in her room?" I asked frantically.
Amelia raised her eyebrows. "She's out with Gil, I think." I groaned and leaned against the door. "Why?"
"She needs to drive me..." I ran a hand through my hair. Fucking hell. My friend always knew when to disappear at the worst times.
My roommate tilted her head to the side, her long hair falling into her face in golden waves. "I forgot you don't have a car." She looked thoughtful for a second. The music cut off abruptly when she paused her game. "I can take you."
"You are literally in your pajamas."
"Fine." Amelia threw off her shirt without any warning and got up to get a different set of clothes. I whirled around so I had my back to her, my face on fire. What the hell was wrong with her? She seemed to know exactly how to make every situation a thousand times worse. The image of my crush in her bra and panties burned into the back of my eyes. That was definitely never going to go away. I swallowed hard.
What was that I said about feeling sexually frustrated a different time? Heat pooled in my stomach uncomfortably.
"'Kay, I'm good." Get a fucking grip on yourself. I nodded quickly and turned so I was facing her again. Amelia seemed absolutely oblivious to how she drove me so insane. Not like it was any better when she was dressed. Her jeans were too tight and hugged her hips so I could see every curve. I wanted to disappear. I looked up at her, but she just smiled strangely at me. "You ready or not?"
Without another word until we got there, Amelia escorted me to her shitty car parked in the student parking lot outside our dormitory. I went to open the passenger side door, but her arm snaked around me and her hand reached the handle before mine. "My car," she reminded me before I could argue. She popped open the door for me and I immediately sat down without arguing.
Honestly, I had no idea what her obsession with opening my door was, but I was too embarrassed from earlier to really think much about it. She closed it behind me and climbed into the driver's side. Amelia put her keys in to start the car, turned them, and with the whir of the engine she backed out of the parking lot.
We sat in silence as she drove, with the sudden swear that escaped her mouth when a Prius cut her off and caused her to catch a red light. I stared out my window, unsure what to say. The scenery changed as we left the small town that our campus was situated in and entered where the studio was. Brick ice cream bars and coffee shops hidden underground and libraries turned into condos with as many windows as possible cramped into their wall space and restaurants that were way too expensive for a few high school girls to go to on a Saturday night.
Amelia's fingers found their way between mine. I squeezed her hand tight, relishing the contact between us. Her hand was warm and soft, her fingers round and gripping mine with a surprising force. I wondered if she was thinking about the night before because I knew I was. I wasn't sure my bed would ever feel right again without the warmth of her body beside mine. It was still kind of embarrassing that I just randomly offered her to sleep with me, but hey, she had accepted it. Hopefully that meant something good. "Where'd you say it was again?" she asked, turning to me when she halted the car at another red light. I noticed her glasses had started to slide down her face while she was driving. I reached out and pushed them back up her nose for her. Amelia looked dumbfounded that I had touched her without any warning. All I could think about was how soft her skin was.
"Ah, it's..." I pointed down the road. "Next left then the first right."
Amelia nodded slowly, turning her attention back to the road. She followed my directions once the light switched to green, letting go of my hand to make a sharp turn. I watched her work the steering wheel, wishing that she would put her hands on me like that. It was a little sad, but I just... wanted her. The feeling never went away. Sure, it would be pushed to the back of my mind or stifled whenever we got in a fight, but it was always there.
I didn't even notice when we pulled into the parking lot. "We're here," Amelia announced loudly. I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, I know." She shot me a look but didn't say anything as she turned the car off. Amelia hopped out of her car as quickly as she could and ran around to open my door for me. She offered her hand as I got out, and I graciously took it. With a grunt, I was lifted out. Amelia beamed and pulled me along to the door of the studio, my hand in hers.
The front room was a sitting room for parents or friends or whoever wanted to stay and wait for their dancer. Plastic chairs lined every empty bit of wall, with the exception of a counter pushed into the back corner. The walls were multicolored: yellows, reds, blues, greens, and the name of the company was stenciled onto the back wall as well as the silhouette of a dancing girl. Only a student's grandmother and probably little sister were in the room, talking to each other in hushed voices.
Amelia put her free hand in her pocket and stared at the glass door separating us from the actual dance floor. I adjusted my bag strap over my shoulder. "So, are you going to watch me practice or..?" I asked.
Amelia looked at me and shook her head, to my dismay. "Nah." She was quiet a second before adding, "I want to be surprised when I see your recital. It would be lame to know what you're doing beforehand."
I didn't know she was still going. I felt touched, and I smiled up at her. "Thank you."
"No problem." She acted like she was going to kiss me, bringing her head down to my face level, but she settled for pressing her lips to the top of my head instead. I felt a pair of eyes watching me and looked over to the little girl. She immediately looked nervous that I saw her and turned to her grandmother.
"Nana?" she whispered, although being a child, she had a different meaning of the word 'whisper.' "Why are those two girls holding hands and kissing?"
I felt my face turn red. I wanted to pull my hand away from Amelia's, but she just looked at me weird when I tried.
The grandmother looked at us. The corners of her eyes crinkled and she smiled kindly. Her face was full of wisdom that I knew would be beyond me for a time for quite a while. "They're in love, just like I was with your grandfather." Amelia looked embarrassed and mumbled something about us not dating. "You can see it in their eyes, yes?"
The little girl nodded and buried her face in her grandmother's shoulder shyly. "Yeah."
I didn't know what to say.
Before I could even comprehend the words whirling in my brain, the class before mine let out. Middle school girls flooded out of the room, talking and giggling and arguing with each other about... middle school things. The girl and her grandmother were swept away with a student, leaving me and Amelia standing dumbly in the middle of the front area.
"I... um," she said.
"I need to get changed," I said quickly.
"Yeah. Right."
I tugged my hand away from hers and trudged to the bathrooms, my face still burning and desperately hoping Amelia didn't know I was in love with her.
~•~•~•~
Ms. A took me aside when class was over to congratulate me on an especially excellent practice that day. "You did wonderfully," she said in her thick, Russian accent, her eyes shining and a small smile on her face. "I cannot wait until your actual performance. You are more than ready." She squeezed my hands, and I forgot for a moment how scary she had a tendency to be.
"Um, thank you," I said, embarrassed at the sudden praises I was receiving. "I can't wait, either."
"Is your family coming?" she continued. "I do hope so. They must be so proud of their daughter for her talent." I was absolutely mortified. I didn't do too well with compliments on a regular basis, but this was horrible.
I shook my head quickly. "My mum can't come, but my best friend and her sister probably will."
Ms. A tilted her head. "Who is this sister?"
My heart pounded. "Why do you ask?"
She stayed quiet for a moment before smiling again and shaking her head. "Nevermind. You have a good day, alright?" And with that she left me standing by myself, going to the door to greet her next class. Unsure of what had happened, I pushed past the girls coming into the room.
And walked into an utter mess.