The Open Door - Sean and Kaycee

3. The Elevator

Kaycee

Company audition will take place June 25th, 2018. All are welcome to participate. In addition to regular company auditions, we will also be forming an elite team of 10 dancers ages 14-18 who will personally train and tour with Will and Janelle.

I've read over the flyer hundreds of times by now, so I practically have the words memorized. It's finally the day of the audition. I've given myself the same pep talk that I always do before a big audition, the "Okay Kaycee, this could be it. Your big break -- the one that changes everything for you. The one that will make everything that happened before disappear into dust like it never happened" pep talk. It never seems to work, but hey, that's never stopped me from trying anything.

As the Uber pulls up to the ImmaSpace complex, I feel an odd sense of nostalgia, like I'm coming home. Which is strange, of course, because I've never been here before. But it's familiar to me, somehow.

I go over to the registration desk. There's a woman sitting there, with light brown hair, bright red lipstick, and a flashy blue tracksuit. She smiles warmly at me. "Hi, I'm Janelle. I'm the co-founder of ImmaBeast. And you are?"

"I'm Kaycee. Kaycee Rice." Why am I always so awkward whenever I say anything?

"Nice to meet you Kaycee. Auditions for the 14-18 age group are on the fifth floor. Will and I will actually be personally facilitating it. Look forward to seeing what you can do!"

After thanking Janelle, I go over to the elevator and push the up button. Again, I'm filled with the weirdest sense of deja vú -- even though I've never met Janelle, she feels oddly familiar. I really don't know what's gotten into me.

The elevator door opens. There's only one other person there, an Asian boy around my age, wearing a gray hoodie with the word "LEWSER" emblazoned on it. He has earbuds in, and is clearly lost in his own world right now. He doesn't even notice me as I walk into the elevator. His foot is tapping restlessly, like he's in a rush, but can't go anywhere.

There's something about his features that fires up memories of before. I can't pin down what it is, but I know that I've seen him before. Maybe in another dimension.

When you move around a lot yourself, you start to notice the particularities in the way in which other people move. Me, for instance, I move like air. I never stay in one place for too long, and when I leave, people hardly realize that I was there to begin with.

This boy, however, definitely moves like fire. Something about the way that his hands are twitching, or the way that his eyes have been fixated on the same point for this entire time gives it away. Even as he's standing still, the fire is clearly glowing out of his every orifice. It seems to fuel his restlessness. The ground around him is burning too. He, unlike me, probably leaves a permanent mark wherever he goes.

The fire boy looks up at me for the first time, finally seeming to register my existence. I blush, realizing that I've been staring at him for quite some time now. In response, he gives me an odd, quizzical look, and then stares back down at his feet again.

I glance at his face again to decipher whether he, like everyone else, is closed off to me. And he's definitely closed, but not in the glazed-over way that most people are. No, if other's people's doors are locked, then his door is surrounded by a moat with alligators and sharks, and bolted down with a huge, thick chain. I can tell that he's actively guarding something, and that he wouldn't let anyone in, even if they tried.

I realize that he must think I'm crazy for staring at him for so long. In fact, people always comment that I look super airy and absent-minded when I talk with them, but it's really only because I'm trying to read the story behind their faces. You see, there's only so much that a face can convey. Faces are like the words on the pages of a book -- in order to get the full picture, you have to read between the lines.

But right now, I'm really interested in just that face of his. No, not in that way (although he is pretty cute, I'm not going to deny it). There's something about him that is both familiar and distant. Where have we met before, fire boy?

Suddenly there is a loud thunk, and the elevator stops moving. But the doors won't open. The fire boy looks up at me for the second time. The message in his eyes is clear. Stay away from me, and we'll both come out the better for it. But I was never one to follow the rules. So I decide, on a whim, to start up a conversation with the enigmatic and close-off boy in front of me.

**Hi y'all! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was literally like, what is a romantic place to meet someone, and a broken elevator was the first thing that came into my mind (an accurate representation of how I come up with ideas, lol).

Random question of the day: Do you guys actually dance, or are you just fans of watching dance? I'm actually a ballet dancer, and I dance for about 15 hours a week. But I love to watch all of the hip-hop dancers on Youtube, because they are honestly insanely good.