ONNAXOFF

Epilogue

FIVE YEARS LATER

Jessie

"Alright girls, that's all for today! Wonderful work, everyone." I give them a well-deserved round of applause as the last class of the day completes their final exercise.

"Thank you, Jessie." They chorus.

"Thank you, ladies." I smile. "Make sure you practice your pliés at home. See you next week!"

They file out of the dance studio and I start putting away the ribbons scattered across the room, huffing slightly by the time I bend down to pick up the last few. In the next lesson, I'm going to incorporate a fun "put the ribbons back in the basket" exercise.

Kenya, the dance school receptionist, pokes her head around the door.
"Jessie, honey, are you in a rush?"
I glance at my watch. Still have over an hour to go before my appointment.

"Not really. What's up?"

She pushes the door all the way open, revealing the little girl shyly tucked behind her leg.

"Julia's mom just called. She's stuck in traffic and is gonna be a little late. Is it okay if she has a little sit here while she waits?"

"Of course." I smile. "Wanna come and help me pack up, Julia?"

The little girl nods and shuffles into the room. She hesitates near the door for a second before she starts gathering up equipment.

When the studio floor is back to its bare glossy woody self, and all the equipment is back in storage, we sit down on a bench at the side to wait.

"So, how are you finding ballet so far, Julia?"
"I like it." She answers without looking up from her shoes.
"Yeah? What a relief. For a second, I thought you'd go off about how much you hate it, and then we'd have a real awkward wait, wouldn't we?"
She giggles.
In every class, there is a necessary balance of the few who take the dancing very seriously, and those who just come to jump around and do some spins. As a newly qualified teacher, it's hard enough to remember my lesson plans and try to keep everyone stimulated for the whole hour. I don't think I could handle it if the scales were tipped in either direction.
In the past few weeks, I've noticed how intensely focused Julia is on perfecting her technique. She's definitely in the former group.

After some probing, she opens up about her love for dance.

"I'm gonna be a ballerina when I grow up." She reveals. How cute that she has it figured out already.

"How old are you?"

"Seven. My birthday was two days ago."

"Really? Happy belated birthday! Did you get any nice presents?"

"My mommy bought me a tutu. It's pink." She beams.
"That's awesome. Why didn't you wear it today?"

She shrugs. "Because no one else is wearing a tutu."
"But do you want to wear it?"
"Yeah..."
"Then that doesn't matter. You should wear it."

She still looks unsure, so I go one step further.

"You know what? If you wear your tutu next week, I'll wear one too."
"Really?"
"Yup. A nice pretty pink tutu. And I bet everyone else will be wearing them in no time."

Her face lights up.

"Oh Jessie, you're my favourite teacher." She gushes.

I'm speechless for a minute. Somehow, that one sentence makes up for the tough years of school, the late nights studying for tests, the anxiety-filled lesson planning sessions.