Dance Life

Chapter 3

In the period where you can do whatever dance you want the teacher, Ms. Yally, had another announcement. "Everyone! When there is no class in a studio you can use it. It is always good to get extra practice in!" Ms. Yally announced. When Mom and Dad face-timed me Mom and Dad both looked sad. "Whats wrong?" I asked worriedly. "Oh, honey. Liam is going to war in Iraq," Mom said. Liam was my older brother. He is 18. "You know how he's been training in the military. It is time for him to go fight for his country," Dad said. "No!" I said. "Honey, he has to," Mom said. "D-did he already leave?" I asked. "Yes, sweetie," Dad said. I burst into tears. I hung up the call. Delilah, Daphne, and Millie heard everything. They ran to me and hugged me. I couldn't stop crying. I was choking with tears. I loved Liam so much. "Who's Liam?" Millie asked. "My older brother. He is 18," I choked. They hugged me tighter. "He'll come back," Daphne said. "For sure," Delilah added. I skipped dinner that day. I stayed in my dorm. Daphne rocked me in her arms. When Delilah came back she had food for me. "Thank you Delilah," I said. I ate my food and gave some to Daphne. I went to bed. I woke up at 12 AM. Everyone was asleep. I headed outside of the dance school. I noticed a bunch of plants. I looked inside of the plants. The plants were tall. Inside of the plants was an opening. The opening was covered by all the plants. I went inside the opening. It was quit big. I looked up. all what I could see was the plants. I liked it here. I felt safe. I cuddled into a ball. I looked up at the greenery. I felt like the plants talked to me in soothing voices saying that everything would be ok. I almost believed them. Almost. The next thing I knew it was morning time. I had fallen asleep there! I said good-bye to the plants and headed to my dorm. It was early so no one was awake yet. I got dressed and brushed my hair. Then Delilah awoke. "Ila? You ok?" she asked. "No," I said. "It'll be ok," Delilah said. I look up. "I hope," I said. I should have known that this was coming. That Liam would be sent to war. I had just always told myself that he wouldn't be sent to war. My eyes filled with tears. What if it wasn't going to be ok? In class I worked extra hard. In the middle of Hip Hop the main person of the dance school came with a phone in her hand. She motioned me to come to her. Confused, I walked to her. She grabbed my hand and led me outside the studio. Then she closed the studio door. "Your mom called," she said. She handed me the phone. "Thank you," I said. It was really weird that my mom was calling me at this time of day. And she must've known I was in class because she called the school not my cell. "Hello, Mom," I said. "Hi, honey bun. This is going to be really hard to say but me and dad are getting divorced," Mom said. "What!? Why!? First, Liam goes to war and now your getting divorced!? Are you trying to ruin my life!?" I screamed into the phone. "No, honey. Calm down. We couldn't control Liam going to war. And us divorcing is for the better. We fought to much. We are still friends but we just can't live together. It is better for you and Liam too. Because now you guys won't have to listen to us fighting," Mom said. Yes, it was true that Mom and Dad fought a lot. "Mom! Its not for the better! NO! NO! NO!" I screamed uncontrollably. "Honey. Its ok," Mom said. "No its not!" I protested. Then I hung up. "You ok sweetie?" the main person of the dance school asked. I burst into tears. "You can skip school today, hun," she said. She took me to my dorm and I said thanks and then lay on my bed. Why was this happening? Why was my world crumbling? Why? Why? Why? Then everything was black. I woke up with people hovering over me. I couldn't tell who. They were blurry. I blinked a few times. My vision cleared up. It was Delilah, Daphne, and Millie. "Huh?" I said. "Oh good! Your awake!" Delilah said. "We came here after school and you were here. You were unconscious," Daphne said. "What the hell happened!" Delilah panicked. "M-my parents. They are getting divorced," I said. I told them the whole story of what happened in the past hours. "I'm so sorry!" Delilah said. "Wow. I'm so sorry. Everything been crumbling on you," Daphne said. "Yeah," I said sadly. "Its ok, Ila. Everything will be ok," Millie said sweetly. "Thanks guys," I said. The next day in lyrical class the teacher, Ms. Laylie, said,"I forgot to announce this on the first day. This class is not just lyrical. It is also going to be jazz. It will be half jazz and half lyrical. Today is going to be Jazz."