Because of You

Chapter 4

There was now 3 days left until the recital. The time was flying by, but I was ready. I wasn't afraid to dance in front of people and that was a miracle. That's why I never quit dancing. Because it made me happy and I could do it without having an anxiety attack. It was the part of me that I didn't have to keep hidden.

But, thinking about dance, the thing I could do, made me think about the thing I couldn't do. Call my parents. Why was I so afraid? I glanced at my phone and a shiver ran up my back. They were my parents and everyone made mistakes so I should just call them and see what they have to say.

I pick up my phone. I've just got to rip the bandaid off. How hard can this be? I go into my phone dial the number and... my thumb hovers over the call button. You know, they were the ones who created this problem, so if they were still intent on fixing it, they could call me again.

I knew I was just making excuses, but I obviously wasn't ready for this. I exited out of the call app and turned my phone off, exhaling. I didn't really need much practice on my dance, so I turned on my music and just listened to the lyrics, trying to decide we're I should accent my movements, just being knit-picky.

I listened to the song on repeat probably around 10 or 15 times and then I finally shut it off. I looked around. I didn't know what to do with myself. I had the day off of work today because it was some holiday or something and I had no life other than work and dance.

I decided to go sit in the park and read a book. The weather was beautiful for the first time in a while, so I wanted to take advantage of that. I grabbed A Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I had already read it twice, but I just loved it. I grabbed my phone and a soda from my fridge and walked to the park, settling on a bench to read my book.

I glanced around first, people watching. All the people I saw were regulars at the park and had figured out that they shouldn't approach me by now. I relaxed, getting absorbed into the book. But, minutes later, I vaguely noticed someone sitting on the bench beside me. My eyes flicked toward the person and I saw a man, probably around 30, with black hair and hazel eyes.

He was sort of scary looking and as I studied him, he locked eyes with me. My eyes shot back to my book and I pretended like he wasn't there. He scooted closer. I shifted uncomfortably and he scored closer again. We were now almost touching, so I scooted the other direction nearly falling off the bench.

The man smiled greedily, sliding the rest of the way down the bench and putting his arm around me. I got up and walked over to another bench. The man looked around nonchalantly then moved to get up. You know, maybe it wasn't the best day to be out and about today. I got up quickly and speed walked back to my house, slamming my door and locking it. I leaned my back against the door, breathing heavily.

That was a fun time at the park. Marley walked over lazily and looked up at me, winking one eye. I laughed shakily. "Hey Marls." She purred rubbing my leg and then hopped on a kitchen chair, laying down to go back to sleep. Maybe Marley didn't have a bad idea. I went to my room and slumped down on my bed, closing my eyes to take a nap. Hopefully I would feel better when I woke up.