Ballet Shoes & Broken Dreams [Editing]

Chapter One

It's funny, really, I was having such a good day at first. From what I remember, anyway. 

I was just getting out of dance class with my best friend Rose, and her little cousin... Sarah, I think was her name. Sarah was supposed to ride home with Rose that day.

We were all laughing, I can't really remember why, maybe because of a joke Rose made? Well, whatever it was, it even made little Sarah chuckle.

Rose and I were holding onto each other, clutching our stomachs we were laughing so hard, laughing just to release all the energy we had bundled inside of us, like all care-free sixteen-year-old girls do. Rose and I were the best of friends, ever since we started dance at the same dance academy at the age of three. But the funny thing was, we hated each other at first. I think it was always some sort of competition between us of who was the better dancer. This competitive hatred went on for three months until we were partnered up for a dance game and everything just sort of clicked.

Rose was one of those girls that could look good no matter what, even if she was sweaty and panting in the middle of a routine. She had this gorgeous head of thick, long, wavy, blonde hair that paired perfectly with her charming blue eyes and pale but rosy-cheeked complexion. She was a tall girl for our age, and had a long, lean body that suited her. I had always been a bit jealous of her effortless beauty and well-sculpted frame, just the same as most girls in our class.  

People started to stare as we sat down, still laughing, on the cold metal bench outside of Maplewood Dance Academy. But we didn't care. We never did. Dance was always that time we could really let go of it all, the stress, the boys, the drama, the stress and drama about the boys. Dance was our time to just... be free. 

Rose sighed and wiped the slight sweat from her brow as we both attempted to steady our breathing, little Sarah making her way over to us, her ponytail swinging behind her with each cheerful step she took.

"Can I have my balloon now, Rose?" Sarah asked, swinging her short little legs back and forth as she sat down next to me. It was Sarah's fifth birthday.

Rose nodded, handing over the little red balloon Sarah's dance teacher gave her. "Just remember, don't let go of the balloon. Or you might lose it." Rose warned her, carefully handing the balloon over.

"Okay." Sarah nodded, grasping a tight hold of the string. I smiled slightly as I watched the little five-year-old grip the thin string, determined to hold on to her precious balloon. She was adorable, and already very pretty for her age with light brunette hair and twinkling green eyes. 

Usually, Rose would ride home with me after dance, but tonight, Rose had to ride home with Sarah, who was in the younger dance class, and her aunt to go out for icecream for Sarah. 

"Ace is coming to pick you up, right?" Rose asked with a smirk. I nodded, checking my phone for the time. He should be here any time now.... I thought. He was supposed to pick me up and take me to his house for a "movie night" tonight.

"Yeah... let me call him and see where he's at." I told Rose as I dialed my boyfriend's number.

"Hey babe." he answered. I couldn't help smile as my heart swelled at his voice. 

"Hi, I'm sitting on the bench - with Rose and her cousin... where are you? Did you get lost? " I asked with slight humor in my voice, swinging my light pink ballet shoes back and forth and looking over the grassy parking lot. I heard Ace let out a soft chuckle.

"Don't worry babe, I'm here." I smiled and waved as I saw his old rusted blue truck pull into the parking lot. I put my phone in my bag as Rose and I stood up. Ace and I have been dating for about eleven months now, and every time I saw him I still felt a big flurry of butterflies erupt in my stomach. I was beginning to think I truly loved him. He was  gorgeous, his eyes, his hair, the way he walked... and he was all mine.

"Alright he's here. So I'll see you later Rose. And happy bir-" I went to turn to Sarah but I realized she was no longer sitting beside me. She wasn't by Rose either. 

"My balloon! My balloon! It's flying away! No!" I heard a little voice shout in the distance. Rose and I both whipped around to see little Sarah stumbling across the parking lot, chasing after her little red balloon. 

"Now I've got to go running after her." Rose shook her head and rolled her eyes as she began to run after her little cousin, lightly calling her name out. I jogged along, Ace was parked over that way anyway.

"She's fast, isn't she?" I laughed as we had to speed up our pace.

"Oh you have no idea. She can run all right." Rose and I both laughed. 

It was then that my ears picked up the faint roaring of a vehicle approaching in the distance. The sound got closer, and closer, until- 

"Oh my god." I said under my breath, going into a full run as fast as I could, flinging my bag off my shoulder as I raced after Sarah, who was too focused on her little balloon to notice the big white car hurtling at least sixty-miles-per-hour right towards her in the road.

"Oh god the van! It's going to-" But I already threw myself in the road, the wind roaring in my ears, before Rose could finish her horrified sentence. I heard a squeal, and then a shout and a car door slam shut from somewhere across the lot. But it was too late. The roaring of the engine over my head was louder than anything else at that moment. 

They told me I never even screamed as I went down, and everything, the past, the present, the future, shattered before my eyes.