Hit 'Em Where it Hurts ♕ Dancers

01 | gothic mansion

The soccer ball hit the wall with a satisfying thud.

Groaning, Jaycee rolled her shoulders as she moved to retrieve it from the other side of the room. Dancing around the cardboard boxes that littered at least half of the floor space of her new room, she swooped the ball off the ground, clutching it in her fore fingers.

"Jaycee!" The call she'd been waiting for came, along with the sound of thumping footsteps on the stairs. Jaycee counted to five, before her frazzled-looking mother appeared in her doorway. Her mum bounced up and down, trying to lull the baby that was hugged to her chest. "The rules stick, even in a new house." She reprimanded, sending the ball in Jaycee's hands a distasteful look. "No balls inside."

Jaycee rolled her eyes, but nodded nonetheless. Kelli was stressed out enough as it was, and pushing her even further by continuing to play ball would just make things worse. It wasn't like she'd been having a game of soccer or anything; she'd just kicked the ball once. There was no point in arguing that, though.

Kelli leaned forward, looking around Jaycee at the mess of unpacked boxes. "Haven't you started unpacking yet?" She frowned.

"We've been here like half an hour, mum," Jaycee told her, keeping her tone level and reasonable. "I tried to unpack, and it got tedious. I'll do it later."

Kelli raised an eyebrow, her willowy figure from years as a professional dancer bouncing, a hand clutched over Jaycee's little sister's head. "You've got to have something to sleep on tonight, Jayc."

"And I've got plenty of time to do that later." Jaycee countered, juggling the ball in her hands. All she wanted was to go and play a game of soccer or at least run - not unpack a stupid amount of boxes to fill up a room and pretend it was hers. "Can I go down to the oval?"

"What oval?"

Jaycee refrained from rolling her eyes again. "The one we saw coming over, that I pointed at and went 'Hey, that looks like a good playing field, maybe I'll go down there later', to which you and dad nodded and went 'okay, honey'."

"Don't be a smartass." Her mother told her. "You'll influence your sister."

This time, she actually rolled her eyes. "She's like eight months old, I don't think she can even understand English, let alone me being a smartass."

Her mother said nothing, her point being furthered.

"So can I go down?" Jaycee questioned after a minute. Asking her dad would be easier - he was always on board with anything that involved Jaycee practising and getting better at soccer. Her mum wasn't quite as much on the ship, even though Jaycee had been playing since the day she could walk.

Kelli pondered for a second, beginning to slump from carrying Ella so long. "Okay, whatever." She conceded. "Just be back before it gets dark, and take your brother if he wants to come."

"But mu-u-m-" Ryan, the younger of Jaycee's two brothers, always got in the way, refusing to actually play, and instead kicking her legs out from underneath her or grabbing the ball and running away. He was rather immature for a twelve year old, and Jaycee wished he'd just hurry up and grow up.

Kelly waved a finger on her spare arms, lifting it away from Ella's head for a second. "No buts. Be back soon."

Not bothering to change out of her mismatched outfit, Jaycee closed her bedroom door and followed her mother along the landing and down the stairs. She left Kelli at the kitchen, guiding herself through the hallway.

"Where are you going?" Ryan asked, sticking his head out of the front room, just as Jaycee was about to escape the house. He was already watching TV, an impressive achievement because he must've gotten it up and running by himself. Their father was out running errands with the oldest Wilkins child and getting paperwork sorted, and Kelli, though she liked to say she was a handy woman, was awful with electronics and wires. Her talents lay much more in the creative department, and Jaycee was pretty sure she'd already started looking at places she could build another dance studio. Kelli was always proclaiming it was one of her biggest regrets not forcing Jaycee into a leotard and set of ballet shoes when she was young, but Jaycee was extremely thankful she hadn't been subject to such torture. She wasn't a dancer in the slightest.

"I'm going to the oval." Jaycee told him, placing her ball down so she could pull on her converse sneakers. As soon as they'd arrived, Kelli had announced they would no longer be wearing shoes indoors, as she wanted to keep the floors in 'a sparkling clean condition, for as long as possible'. Anticipating his next question, Jaycee leant against the wall as she tied her laces, "And no, you can't come."

Ryan pouted for a second, but an explosion from the TV screen seemed to call his name, and he disappeared back into the lounge.

Jaycee tied her other shoe and crouched go pick the ball back up. "Bye mum!" She yelled back into the house as she stepped out the door, though she doubted it was heard. This house it too big, she decided, taking a look from the outside - no five person family needed a three story house. If it was left to rot for a few years, it could've been easily used in some gothic horror movie; one of those ones where a boring white nuclear family moves into some abandoned rambling mansion and then are surprised when a creepy young child rises from the dead and starts murdering them all.

Luckily number eighteen, Tennant Drive seemed to be in pretty good condition, and so did the houses all around it. None of them had fences, but all had manicured lawns and were pristinely painted, at least from the front. Hopefully there would be no creatures of nightmares in Mesa, Arizona.

Though, Jaycee noted, dropping the ball onto the flat driveway and kicking it along with her feet, if there was, that would be a solid something she could complain about. Maybe it would even be enough to move back home.

* * *

This was going to have way more happen but then it would've been super long so I decided to just make it short and sweet instead

And for once there isn't going to be any ulterior things behind Jaycee's family moving because that's just too cliche

Comment opinions for more?