Practice Makes Perfect (Completed)

Chapter 9

The morning after the competition, Anastasia was back in the gym, working on what technique she could without aggravating her ankle. Both she and her coach were ignoring her recent breakdown, and instead focusing on her technique, and what she could still do with only one good leg.

"I think for now we just work on strengthening your good leg. If you use the crutch you can do some pointe work so you'll be ready to jump right in when the cast comes off." Her coach instructed.

"But still stay off the foot for now, right?"

"Exactly. We don't want to reinjure you."

For a couple of hours, Anastasia did whatever she could on one foot, leaning heavily on a crutch and the wall. By the end of practice, her good ankle ached from the strain, and she still felt unprepared to compete.

"Nice work today. Once you get a real cast, we can try propping the leg up on the Barre, or even doing some switch jumps."

Anastasia shook hands with her coach, and he helped her back into the chair.

"So I'll be back here tomorrow for a little extra work."

Her coach nodded. "And I'll drop by the hospital before your surgery, just to make sure everything is good."

"Thanks coach." Anastasia said, and she really meant it. Her coach had done a lot for her over the years had spent hours helping her improve both physically and mentally. In a lot of ways, he was more her father than her actual dad was.

Anastasia was still not great in the wheelchair, and it took her almost twice as long as usual to make the trip to school. A lot of her typical cut throughs just weren't possible on wheels, and even simple turns were kind of difficult. She watched the time tick away, and she knew she was going to be late a long time before she actually arrived. She would have to start compensating for the extra time if she was going to be in the chair for long.

Her school policy forced every late student to the office for a pass before they could go to class, so Anastasia expected to join a substantial line of students. No one liked to wake up in the mornings, and the kids in her town were no exception. There were certain to be countless kids lined up in the office when she arrived.

She wasn't wrong. In fact, the office was even more packed than she had imagined, full of students and backpacks, all pushing and shoving to tiger their pass first. Some had presentations, others group projects. At least six kids claimed to have the harshest teacher in the world, and an additional five were sure their parents would kill them. In their pushing and shoving, Anastasia chair was battered about, kids kicking and knocking her out of the way. It was torture, and she was legitimately afraid they might tip the chair if things got any worse.

Suddenly, she felt a strong force pull her backwards, out of the chaos of the office and into the waiting room of the disapline office. For a moment, she panicked wondering if she might be in trouble and two that would effect her ballet practice time, but else eventually noticed it was another student who had pulled her aside.

"You'll get eaten alive out there. It's best just to wait it out until things are under control."

With considerable effort, Anastasia turned the chair. The first thing she noticed about the boy in front of her was the sling around his arm. It wrapped around his body in addition to his shoulder, holding his arm so snuggly that he couldn't possibly move it. Whatever had hurt him must have been serious.

He followed her gaze, and answered the question she hadn't dared ask. "The arm? My little brother plays football, and I thought I could hold my own."

It wasn't a very specific answer, but Anastasia didn't know the guy, so she let it go. Besides, it must have been embarrassing to lose to his little brother, albeit not all too surprising. He was a small guy, in stature and height. Small enough that Anastasia was sure she would be taller than him if she stood up.

Still, he was kind of cute.

"So have you dealt with this chaos before?" She gestured to the chaos within the main office area. "You seemed to handle it pretty well."

He smiled, and Anastasia couldn't help but notice that he was kind of cute when he smiled.

"My brother isn't the most punctual person in the world and he drives us."

"The football player?" Anastasia raised an eyebrow.

"No, no. That's my little brother, Jake. Zach is a senior, and he drives us both." He shrugged. "I guess I have a lot of brothers."

"Two isn't that many."

"I have six."

"Oh."

Anastasia had never had a sibling, and she wanted to ask him what it was like, but she didn't know whether that would be an awkward thing to answer. Instead, she changed the subject.

"Now I know everything about your family, but I still don't know your name." She stated.

He was still smiling, and he now pulled off a news boy cap she hadn't noticed he was wearing. He held it to his chest and bowed his head slightly, smiling all the while. "The name is Luke. Pleasure to make your acquaintance. "

The greeting was as anachronistic as the hat, which had left his dark hair tossled and messy. It looked well worn, and when he tossed it back on his head, she got the idea that he was comfortable in it.

"I'm Anastasia." She stuck out a hand for him to shake, but he tipped his hat instead.

"I actually knew that, but thanks for the reminder. The office looks a bit emptier."

Anastasia glanced out into the main office, and saw that Luke was right. Most of the people had cleared, leaving a short, orderly line to the front desk.

"C'mon. " Luke smiled. "I'll walk you to class."