Of Tin Hearts and Point Shoes (Book 1)

Digging Deeper

//Miles//

"I wouldn't put it past Beckett to ditch today," Vanessa announces as she walks into the studio.
"What happened?" I ask looking up from the sheet music sprawled haphazardly in front of me. Vanessa sighs.
"Beckett and I broke up yesterday and he's retreated back into his 'ditcher' phase," she tells me sitting down. I look back down at my papers. This is a mess. Things have already been chaotic in the music department since Alya and I broke up. Jax sided with me and so did Kit and Scarlett, but Alya and Bianca won't talk to any of us. Now the dancers are falling apart too.
"I'm really sorry," I tell her. Vanessa shrugs.
"It's not your fault. If Beckett can't trust me, there's no point in trying," she replies. I groan mentally, it's only the fourth day of school and drama is already following me around like the plague. We continue to work on our IMAD project for the rest of the period, not that Vanessa can do much with Beckett gone, but she works with what she's got.
"So, I contacted some of the art department so they can assign a group of artists to make our set," Vanessa tells me as she helps me pick up all of my sheet music.
"That sounds good, are we still going with your idea from Tuesday?" I ask.
"If that's okay with you," she replies.
"It's fine with me, we can run it by Beckett if he decides to show up tomorrow," I respond. Vanessa nods her head in agreement.
"It's Thursday, right?" Vanessa asks me suddenly. I nod in response.
"Well, usually on Thursdays, Beckett and I would get ice cream at the shop down the street, but I can't go with him obviously, so, can I drag you along?" she asks. I smile.
"I've never been there before so I suppose I could allow you to drag me against my will to get ice cream," I respond jokingly. Vanessa laughs.
"Good, because I could really use an ice cream break right now," she says. We walk out of the school together and Vanessa leads me to a small ice cream shop a short distance away from the school.
"If I had known there was an ice cream parlor this close to the school, Jax and I would be getting ice cream everyday," I announce. Vanessa laughs at me.
"Come on! Their cotton candy ice cream is the best," she says excitedly, grabbing my arm and pulling me over to the counter. We sit down at a table by the window and Vanessa takes a big bite of her ice cream.
"I definitely needed this," she says looking out the window. I nod in agreement.
"So, What's your favorite color?" I ask awkwardly. Vanessa scrunches her nose at me and snorts with a grin.
"Royal blue," she responds with a giggle.
"Oddly specific," I retort. Vanessa shrugs.
"It's Prima blue," she says as if that explains everything.
"Prima blue?" I ask.
"Oh. Right. I don't usually hang out with non-dancers. The Primas are Keaton's best dancers. We're Helswheel's elite group I guess you could say," she explains to me, "What's your favorite color?"
I pause, "Green," I decide.
"Why?" Vanessa asks.
"It's new growth. New beginnings. Something I definitely needed when I came to Keaton," I reply. Vanessa nods her head solemnly.
"That was deep," she says staring me in the eye. We only make eye contact for another second before we both erupt into laughter.
"So why exactly, did you need a new beginning when you came to Keaton?" Vanessa asks once we've stopped laughing. I shrug.
"When I came to Keaton I had a thing with my kidney. Everyone thought I was all pretentious and a teacher's pet. I had surgery at the end of freshman year," I respond blandly. Vanessa nods her head.
"Freashman year I broke my ankle infront of five hundred people more or less, and then broke it again sophmore year," she tells me.
"Looks like you could use a new beginning too," I joke.
"Oh yeah, we all need a start over at some point," she agrees. I open my mouth to respond when a strangled cry erupts behind me. I turn around to see Alya staring at me and Vanessa with her hands covering her mouth and a glaring Bianca beside her.
"I know you were upset last year that Alya changed some lyrics in a stupid group project, but stealing someone's boyfriend is a low blow. Even for you," Bianca sneers leading Alya out of the shop. Vanessa groans and turns back to me.
"I need a new beginning, exhibit A," she sighs.

Word Count: 785