The Princess of Pirouettes

            From the very moment she was born, Lea Farrow was special. Extraordinary, even. Her parents had gasped at the sight of her violet-hued eyes, a mere metaphor of the originality that embodied her already. In the coming years, she grew up to be a great beauty. With long, spindly limbs and rich crimson hair she always kept up in a bun, everyone always remarked that she was of “some kind of radiance.” Of course, looks weren’t all to Lea. In fact, she despised her attractiveness, as she felt it got in the way of her studies. She longed to be a ballerina, although with her distinct personality, you’d think she could’ve been an actress at any time. But she was hard-working, and by her teenage years she was already submitting applications to the best ballet schools in the country. She was determined she had the skill.

            “You know, what if they don’t accept you, Lea?” Her best friend, Annie, said to her one day. Lea stared at her long and hard, her bee-stung lips forming the slightest of pouts before resuming its usual straight line.

            “Then I’ll be of no use to the world.” Without another word, Lea pivoted on her heel and walked away. It was conversations like these that made people worry about her. What if Lea really didn’t get into ballet school? What would she do to herself? And what if her supposed “skill” didn’t match up to her confidence? Lea’s biggest problem was that she let no one get close to her. Nobody knew why. Peers often wondered why the cold-hearted ballerina even bothered to come to school, if she was so certain that she would make it into another, more prestigious academy. And despite all her talent, no one thought she’d actually get in. Until one day, she did.