Ballet Shoes for Bridget
I slowly open my eyes as my alarm clock rings loudly. Another early practice with crazy Valor and the girls. Even on Saturdays she makes us practice at 7. I turn off the alarm, get out of bed and let out a big yawn. At least this year I have my own room. Last year was horrid because the other girls would play pranks on me and borrow my things without asking. Now that I’m on my own I’ve decorated my room the way I want to. It has emerald green walls that are covered in posters of all my favorite k-pop artists. Besides that I have a queen sized bed, two dressers, a book shelf, one lamp and my desk. We aren’t allowed to have a television in our rooms because they don’t think we’ll be responsible with them. I guess that’s what you get when go to a prestigious boarding school like I do. I really should be getting ready now. I go through my daily morning routine, grab my bag and then head down to the dining hall for breakfast.
As I walk down the hall I pull out my schedule to see what I’m doing today. This is great, I only have dance practice today and then I’m free to relax. I can finally spend some time with James. We haven’t been on a date in a long time. James is my boyfriend of one year. We never really talked because I was Bridget Malloy the quite girl and he was James Porter the outgoing guy. Then last year we were paired up for a project in music class and I got to know him. I realized how much we had in common and I started to like him and the rest is history. I finally got to the dining hall and grabbed a bowl of oatmeal to eat. I sat by myself because there was only four other people around and I didn’t know them. I finished eating and now I’m on my way to the dance studio.
I had to walk all the way across campus because the dance studio is the building farthest from the sophomore dorms. I can already tell this practice is going to be awful. There is a showcase coming up next week and Ms. Valor wants everything to be perfect. She can get a little crazy when we have a performance coming up. As I walk into the studio I hear yelling coming from the practice room. There she goes again. I walk into the room and see Valor lecturing the girls.
“-and that is why we need to practice for four hours today because we have to run every number!” Valor screamed in frustration. She turned in my direction, saw me and said, “Finally you’re here. You see girls Bridget is a great example of a dedicated dancer. She shows up to every practice.”
I saw the look on Elaine Green’s face as Valor said that and I could see the anger. She has never liked me. I’ll admit Valor does have a favorite dancer and that’s me. That’s why Elaine and I have never gotten along. There is 4 years of bad blood between us so I doubt we’ll start liking each other anytime soon.
“I’ll give you girls fifteen minutes to practice the group dance and then I want to see it.” Valor said.
I walked over to the other girls and ran the number quickly in my head. Then I put the CD into the laptop and selected the song. The music came blasting out of the speakers.
“Ah!” screamed Elaine. “Turn it down Malloy and will you wait for us we aren’t ready to run it yet.” She complains.
“I don’t think you should be speaking for Britney, Kalani and Jessica. It looks like you’re the only one who’s not ready Green” I sassily reply.
She glares at me and rolls her eyes. I start the track over and play it again. This time all the girls are ready, we get in our spots and wait for the music to get to our part. As soon as it does off we go dancing with passion. This is what I love and I think everyone can see that. I put my all into the dance even though it’s only a practice run. I dance like it’s the last time I ever will and at the end Valor is clapping fiercely. We practice for a couple more hours until Valor finally releases us.
“Great job today girls you really made me proud. I’ll see you Monday and don’t forget to invite your parents to the showcase!” Valor exclaims happily.
I change into my normal clothes and walk out of the studio. I can’t believe I forgot about my parents coming. This is not going to be good. Whenever Mom and Dad are in the same room for too long something always happens. I don’t want to be embarrassed in front of the whole school. My parents got divorced five years ago and then Dad moved to England while Mom and I stayed in New York. Every time they both come to support something I do they cause a scene and it’s mortifying. I head back to my dorm thinking about the disaster that might happen at the showcase. Once I get there I take out my binder and finish up some homework I haven’t done yet. Then I hear a knock on my door.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“It Jan and I have a package for you.” Jan announces excitedly.
Jan is the woman who runs our dorm. She patrols the halls after curfew and if we are sent mail it goes to her first. I open the door and there she stands with a shoe box in her hands. She gives it to me and I thank her. I close the door, head to my bed and sit the box on it. I take off the lid and look inside. Wow! They are so beautiful. Inside the box is a brand new pair of ballet shoes. They are light pink with a ribbon that I tie to keep them on. They also have square toes which I like a lot. I pick them up and underneath them is a note.
It says, “A new pair of shoes for your showcase. I hope you like them. I got them because I know you wanted new ones. Also I can’t hang out today because I have something that has to be done but I’ll see you tomorrow. From, James.”
How sweet he bought me ballet shoes. I’ll be sure to wear them to practice on Monday too. I put the lid back on the box and place it under my bed. I still wish I could see him today though. I get back to my homework and once I finish I get some lunch. Afterwards I spend the rest of my day watching TV and then I eat dinner. After dinner I head to bed thinking about the great day I’ll have with James tomorrow.
