Shades of White

Girl next Door

I danced my way through the final combination in ballet class, executing perfect turns and leaps. After I had maneuvered myself into the final pose and waited for a moment, I stepped to the side of the classroom and wiped a bead of sweat from my forehead. I was satisfied with the hard work that I had been putting into my dancing over the past week. It was understood around the studio that this was the week that roles would be selected for the performance of 'The Nutcracker.' We weren't given actual auditions; instead, the teachers and the director of the studio, Darlene Tyler, had been carefully observing us during class.

After the last group in the class finished, Miss. Jenny asked us to come gather around her. "As you all know, we will be performing 'The Nutcracker' in December, just as we always do. Rehearsals will begin tomorrow. Because you all are the advanced students, you will be given principal roles. I am lucky enough to have been chosen to reveal your parts and give you individual rehearsal schedules." She smiled and looked around the group as she reached over to pull a sheaf of papers out of her tote bag. "For the leading role of Clara...we have Amy!" Amy looked shocked for a moment before she broke into an enormous grin. Everyone clapped and congratulated her, and Miss. Jenny handed her the paper that held her rehearsal schedule. "For the role of the nutcracker prince, we have selected Eric Baldwin."

We repeated this process for the entire group. Dawn and I would dance the French Merlitons, with Greg as our cavalier. I had always loved that dance, and I actually had always wanted that role more than any other, even Clara. Christelle would dance Arabian, which made sense. It was generally a role that required extreme flexibility, which Christelle had. Generally, everyone was happy with their part, and I was happy to see that there wasn't jealousy or any hard feelings. Even though the dance world is extremely competitive, dancers are generally very nice and willing to praise each other.

Fifteen minutes later, I was standing in the shower, washing my hair and singing along to the shower radio that Shaun had given me, (he claimed that it was for me to practice singing so that eventually I would sing in public) when I heard my phone ringing. It was sitting on the bathroom sink, and when I leaned my head out of the shower, I saw that it was a text message. I resituated the shower curtain, finished rinsing my hair, and stepped out of the shower, wrapping one towel around my hair and another around my body. I flipped the switch to turn on the fan in the bathroom so that the steam would clear. I opened my cell phone and saw the name of the sender.

Aaron.

I looked up into the smudged mirror and saw my own dazed face.

Hey, it's been awhile. Dinner tonight? Call me.

As I dressed, I thought about the choices that I had in terms of a response.

Ignore it? No, bad idea, he'll just keep calling back.

Tell him I'm busy? No, he'll just ask for another day.

Call him and say that I don't want to see him anymore? No, we've only been on two dates, I should give him a chance.

Agree to a date? Well, this is pretty much my only option, and hey, it can't hurt.

Once I had reached this decision, I shrugged, picked up my phone, and walked out of the bathroom. I scrolled through my phone book, and while I waited for it to dial, I dropped my towels in my hamper and noticed how full it was getting.

I should do laundry today.

One ring.

I looked down at my hands and observed the chipped frosty pink color on my fingernails.

Yuck. I should paint my nails too.

Two rings.

I looked over at my bedside table and saw the pair of pointe shoes that I had finished sewing, but still needed to be broken in.