Shooting Star

Chapter 14

I stumbled into the studio, not even needing to glance at the clock to know I was over an hour late for jazz jumps and turns class. I'd had an awful day.

This morning, my alarm didn't go off, or if it did I didn't hear it, and I got to school 30 minutes late and got detention. Then when I'd stayed after school to serve it, I'd missed an hour of hockey, and I'd had to stay behind to make up for it. Which bumped me behind dance an hour as well.

"Nice of you to join us, Bree," Ms. Ellis said sternly. "Mind telling us why you are late?"

So I did.

Ms. Ellis' face flushed with sympathy, but only briefly. "I expect you to be more on top of your schedule, Bree. What you're doing is no easy feat for any 14-year old, but still, if you're going to be on this routine, you need to make sure you can handle it. Otherwise you might have to rethink your after school activities."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Janelle roll her eyes.

I flushed. She was right, I wasn't handling this the right way at all. I was up till 2:00 in the morning finishing homework normally, and I had to wake up at 7 to get ready for school. I normally didn't get home from dance until after 10. My schedule was jam-packed and I needed to fix it.

"I'm not going to hold you back from getting a good night's sleep," Ms. Ellis said kindly, surprising me. "But I want you to do fifty push-ups and sit-ups for me please."

"Thanks," I said, relieved.

I sat down near the corner of the floor and began to work.

4 hours later...

I stood outside of the studio, wrapped up in leg warmers, a winter coat, and boots. A light wave of snow was beginning to fall. I held out a gloved hand, catching some of the flakes.

My cell phone rang. I fumbled around in my dance bag for it and answered it. "Hello?"

"Bree, it's Adrian," Adrian said hurriedly.

'Hey," I said. "What's up?"

"Mom asked me to tell you that she's gonna be a little late picking you up tonight, because she had to get supplies for the Christmas celebration at the community college," Adrian replied. "Could you catch a ride with your friends?"

"I wish," I sighed. "But they've all left."

Adrian was silent. "I guess you're stuck there," he said finally.

"Adrian, can Jake pick me up?" I asked.

"Jake's at Riley's again," Adrian replied. "Dad's not home either."

"I'm walking," I decided, rolling my eyes.

"Don't be stupid, you'll freeze," Adrian gasped.

"I'm freezing my @$$ off already, waiting for her," I snapped. "This is getting ridiculous. At least by walking home I'll get the blood pumping."

Adrian didn't say anything.

"Adrian, tell Mom she doesn't have to pick me up."

"Bree," Adrian said. "You do realize it's over 10 miles back to our house, right?"

"I'll be fine."

"Don't be like that," Adrian pleaded. "If you froze or got run over or something I don't know what I have left to live for."

"What do you mean?" I asked nervously. Adrian was usually not like this.

"It's just that..."

"Adrian, tell me," I said quietly.

"Joelle broke up with me, and I'm kind of depressed," Adrian confessed. "And Jake laughed at me when I told him and said that I probably didn't treat her right. But I did. She said she liked this other guy, and that it was over between us."

I was shocked; Adrian and Joelle had been going steady since the 4th grade, if you can believe it. "Oh, Adrian I'm so sorry."

"And right before my birthday," Adrian said miserably.

That's right, I realized. Adrian's birthday is in two weeks.

"So you're saying that if I get hurt you're gonna kill yourself?" I asked incredulously. "Adrian, it's not worth it. You'll find someone better than Joelle."

"I sure hope so," Adrian said, sighing. "Are you sure about walking home then?"

I was about to answer him when I saw Mom's BMW pull into the parking lot. "Nah, Mom just showed up. I'll see you at home, Adrian."

"Thanks for talking to me about this," Adrian said quietly. "It means a lot to me that you didn't laugh in my face like Jake did."

"Jake is a moron," I sighed. "He doesn't know what compassion is."

"But isn't he dating Riley?"

"For the fringe benefits," I said, thinking about Riley's sun-kissed beach blond highlights, her rosy cheeks, fair skin, deep sea-green eyes, and model-like body.

Adrian laughed. "I guess you're right," he said.

"I've gotta get in the car now," I said. "My legs are going numb."

"Okay," Adrian said. "Bye."

"Bye," I said, hanging up and leaping into the car.

"Who were you talking to?" Mom asked.

"Adrian," I said, buckling myself in as Mom pulled out of the parking lot.

"Okay," she said. "How was dance?"

"Fine," I said.

"Are you going to tell me why you had detention today?" Mom asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Because I got to school late. Then I had detention, and I got to hockey late, and then I had to run late drills and missed the bus to dance. Luckily Ms. Ellis felt bad for me and didn't make me stay after dance, too."

I glanced at Mom, whose eyebrows were raised. "Are you sure you're not over doing it?" Mom asked, concerned.

Normally I would've said no, but I'd had so many days like this so far this year I didn't know what to say to that anymore. So I just shrugged.

"Sweetie," Mom sighed. "The school guidance counsellor called today. Ms. Charleston? She said you always looked like you were on the verge of passing out in class from exhaustion, according to your teachers. Your grades have slipped too. Your normal 3.0 GPA has slipped to a 2.1, which is still okay but it's still fallen drastically."

I blushed. "I'll just study harder," I said, frustrated.

"Bree," Mom chided. "That's not the point. It means you're over exerting yourself. You could actually put too much stress on your heart and get a heart attack!"

I flinched. "Seriously?"

Mom sighed. "Unfortunately."

The rest of the car ride was silent.

I thought about what Ms. Ellis had said. Then I thought about what Adrian said, that if I got fatally injured he wouldn't know how to cope. Then I thought about what Mom said.

Would doing what I love really be the end of me? And if so, how could I avoid that?

How could I fix things? How could I stop being late, how could I get Janelle to stop being mad at me?

Was my mom right? Was I taking on too many responsibilities?

And were those responsibilities tearing me and my life apart?