The soft velvet settled on the wooden floor, the rest of my body collapsed onto the floor. I managed to keep myself upright to listen to my dance teacher, Blake yell out the assignments for this year.
"Alright. Listen up Step 5 class A 1. You'll be put into pairs and perform a one minute dance to the song [enter song]. There will be six people in one dance." This was strange for me. In the beginning, there was grey as normal but when Blake said 'pairs' for a millisecond everything turned blue. This occurrence was peculiar to say the least.
He continued yelling but I just drowned it out like white noise and focused on this other student's conversations. He didn't care they were chatting. He got paid whether they failed or not. This is college. My focus landed on a group of six girls, they seemed prissy. Pink, imperial purple, cyan, crimson red, emerald green, a colour that kind of looked like a dead lavender flower. Each person carried their own unique colour when they spoke.
Blake stuck a poster on the wooden wall with the groups on them. I decided to check it after lunch, I am coming back for theory after all. I grab an (overpriced) hot dog from the stall near the campus.
You're probably wondering 'What's wrong with me?' Why do you see colours?' Or maybe 'ew you're weird'. I have synesthesia. My senses ate mixed up. Everyone had their own unique colour. When they so speak I see that colour, sometimes random colours appear. I've lived like this my whole life, I've been told this me special but u don't think so. I'm just like every other dance college student.
When the class returns to a practical lesson. I check who I'm paired with next to my name it says Dori. I yell out. "Dori? Dori? Are you Dori?" "Yes, that's me!!" I see the most vivid blue, this blue is a crystal clear as the sky, so perfectly bright and amazing. I love it. "You have a beautiful blue". She giggles a soft laugh. "So what style do you prefer?" "Ballet". I'm so confident in that answer, I hope this doesn't turn out badly. "I like hip-hop but I've got a great idea". She leans in with her soft, rosey lips and whispered what sounded like an amazing routine. My mind lit up with ideas, this beautiful blue kept returning to my mind. "Let me give you my number. We can swap more ideas on the phone tonight" Dori giggles, despite her calm attitude she's a hardcore rock fan.
I think I might love her.
We say our farewells to the group and go our separate ways. I head over to my dorm. Luckily I live with a girl who insisted who getting her own bar in the dorm. I shape my feet to fit into the pointed ballets slippers, I wrap bandages around my toes and slide my feet inside. I throw on a random song, great, this song just had to be romance. I let my body sway to the beat, my leg goes up to my ear. I spin in so many different directions. My arms align themselves with the barre and I gracefully lean into an arabesque. I chasee to the center of the room where I go up on my toes and pirouette. I stay in the pose for what feels like an eternity.
This is amazing! We intertwine so perfectly, her impulsiveness and my tranquillity fit together like Ying and Yang. There are 3 hours till the show and we're absolutely ready. Costumes and music are prepared. Dori and I are going last, to be the finishing idol of this show. Dori is wearing her wavy hair messily half up with dark make up covering her face but not too dark to see her beautiful mocha colour skin, her navy waistcoat fits perfectly with a pair of slender formal pants. Whereas I'm wearing a sleek blazer and a tie, which is covered in black glitter my aurburn hair is tied back into a doughnut bun. She looks stunning. "Dori! We're on in three hours" I gushed to her. "Yeah, it'll be fine". Dull blue, not the extraordinary colour I see when I practice my ballet. "What happened to your beautiful blue?"
I definitely love her.
"No one in my family can make it here tonight. It's just me, I'm all alone Piper." So badly I wanted to yell out how important she is to me and that she can count on me. Instead, I pull this crazy stunt. "Follow me" I offer my hand to her. She accepts and we drive off to my dorm. "Practice this with me one more time? Please? You know you love it". Her smile that could lighten a world appeared.
Our movements flow in sync. Until I hear the noise that brings me back to reality. My ringtone, on the other side of the phone I hear an extremely agitated Blake. "Two of my groups cancelled on me. I need you both here. NOW." "Are you ready?" I question her. "Yes, if I'm doing this with you. Yes." I'm scared though her blue hasn't returned and we never got to rehearse the final leap.
The red curtains Slide aside. We are on stage, finally, we can reveal this dance to the world.
Starting on opposite sides to each other we walk in, not daring to look up at each other. She grabs my waists and dips me down, my leg swings up as I lay down into a bridge. using blunt movements she acts as if she controls what I'm doing. We slip into a hip-hop routine, If I'm being honest I don't know what the moves are called but they're fast-paced. The next move is what I'm worried about; I have to slide under and around her arm, this is what I'm worried about, she could hurt herself.
She nods at me, signaling that she's ready. I run up her I get halfway through going up when I fail. I don't remember much but she made it look like part of the dance as she towers over me.
I awake backstage with Blake pointing a torch in my eye, cliche I know. "Where's Dori?" All that comes after this is silence. Filling in the blanks, I reply "When did she go?" An unfamiliar voice replied "As soon as she could after the curtains closed" I grab the ice pack beside me and rush off to my car. I have a feeling I know where she is.
"Dori, I know you're here" I enter to studio part of my dorm and search around for her. The wooden floors help if someone moves you can hear. Since I've lived here for three years I know every inch of this room. I hear a creak from behind the piano on the north side of the room. I rush over there, tripping over my own feet. She's tucked up in a ball, I wrap myself around her attempting to comfort her. "It's okay, you did okay. You were left in an impossible situation with your family." She snuggles into me. "I dropped you and then I ran off. How can that be okay?" I know she doesn't expect me to answer but I do. "Because you were put under stress and you had no family to help you..." I stutter "...This isn't the best time but I'd like to become your family. Do you want to grab a drink, pretend nothing happened till you need to deal with it?"
"Yes I think that'd be good" She squeezes my hand and we walk out the room, together.
