Tony's (not so) Little Girl

10: Dancing

When I got back to my place in the corner of the dressing room I sat the box down in front of me and just sat there, contemplating on weather or not to open it. It was a simple matte black box with golden filigree around each and every edge in intricate and interlocking patterns. The top of the lid bore a golden T, whatever that meant.

"Someone must love you," One of the other dark haired girls in the dressing roon said, eyeing up the fancy box
"Yeah," another girl, this one with white blond hair piped up "Who'd you sleep with?"
"Gods, no one," I explained, rolling my eyes at them "Honestly. It's just someone trying to buy my forgiveness."

I don't think anyone knew what to say after that as they both went quiet and back to their previous chatter. Deciding to just bite the bullet and get on with it I pulled off the lid of the sleek, black box. On top of some gold tissue paper laid a thick piece of card with a clearly hand written note.

Someone owed me a favour - T.S

It read. I pulled away the note and placed it in the lid of the box before turning to the gold coloured tissue paper. Gingerly I peeled it back only to reveal a pair of black pointe shoes. As I picked one up to examine it I noticed that it had my initials embossed onto to inside of them in gold, with the word Terpsichore bellow it. If my memory served me right, Terpsichore was one of the nine muses in Greek mythology. In fact she was the muse of dance. Beyond that the name was lost to me as a brand or what have it.

"Hey, does anyone know of the brand Terpsichore?" I asked aloud to anyone who cared enough to listen

At that the room fell silent and I could feel everyones eyes turn to me. Everyone was slack jawed and bug eyed, staring at either the beautiful pair of shoes in my hands or myself. It was so quite I could just picture the stereotypical cricket noise. One girl, the blond from before, spoke up above the resting silence.

"Terpsichore isn't a brand, she's just one person," she explained "They say her shoes never fall apart, that you dont have to mould them to your feet because they're a perfect fit every time. They say her shoes are magical and they're hard to get a hold of. Unless she gifts them to you, you don't get them."
"How did you end up with a pair of Terpsichore shoes?" Asked a rather snooty sounding girl "You're the worst of all of us. I don't even know why they cast you as Alice."
"They were a gift," I explained lightly, ignoring the other jab she made

I left it at that. I had waisted time and neaded to quickly do last minute makeup touchups and get into costume. I reapplied my lipstick using a hand mirror, not even bothering fighting for a space in front of the big mirrors. Like they would have let me use them anyway. Then I pulled on the simple blue dress that was my costume. It had a slight flare to the bottom, like a swing dress, and a white apron tied at the waist. To go along with it was a simple black headband, and I would know. Not only had I tried that thing on a million times but I had made the entire thing myself. I was very proud.

But the shoes. They were just begging to be put on.

And because I was curious to see if they lived up to the expectations and curious to see if they really didn't need to be broken in. Also, Alice was always depicted as wearing black shoes so it wouldn't be totally out of charachter. AND I had been wanting a pair of black pointe shoes for so long for no real reason...

And oh, but they were calling for me.

I made sure everything else was in order, weird toe protector thingies that I never bothered to learn the name of in place before I even dared. As I slipped them on and laced them at the ankle I rose rose do some basic foot movements and excersizes and I was surprised, to say the least, to find that everything that had been said about them was true. But the real test would be on the stage, and as the owner of the studio, Mrs Waters, poked her head around the door to smile at us and to gesture at the girl playing Alice's sister and myself, I could only guess that it was time for us to go on.

Oh but the lights and the sounds of the stage. As I got into position with the other girl the hot stage lights beat at our bodies like a thousand suns and the musix that started was like a blessing in disguise. Up here, with nothing but the stage and the music, I felt calm, collected, and more at home then I did almost anywhere else. I had grown up on that very stage. Dancing from the time I was 3, singing and indulging in the performing arts from the time I was 5... it didn't mean much to a lot of people but that town hall and that stage were as much my home as anywhere I had actually lived. It was like returning to somwthing familiar, something warm.

And when the timing was right the curtains went up and I began to move around the stage. Spinning and leaping and making dramatic gestures. Dance was all about telling a story, especially classical ballet, and so on the few ocasions that the studio had stuck to one story line it made me really just open up and see the world from a new perspective. Up on that stage with the others, all through the first act, I felt as if no one could touch me.

Oh how wrong I was.

When half time came I stayed back stage, just chilling out and drinking some water. I didn't see the use in leaving if I was going to be needed onstage again within 15 minutes, it just wasn't worth it. I was sitting up ontop of a high table, my legs swinging lightly as I hummed to myself. Everyone else had left and so when I heard a clatter and a bunch of footsteps my head instantly swung up and ky body went into fight or flight mode. It was so, so dark backstage but my eyes had begun adjusting to the lack of light and when I looked over who else do I see bht Tony himself.

"You like the shoes I see," he stated
"They're amazing but my point still stands. You can't just buy your way into my life. I won't let you," I explained keeping my face passive
"I was trying to apologise," The man himself explained "I... I went about it wrong."
"Yes. You did," I sighed "Listen, Mr Stark, I don't want to be mad at you, but the only people I have left who I trully feel I have on my side, the only people I haven't somehow lost, are my mum and my young, little, lit, younger sister Heather, along with my small circle of friends. I've lost everyone else and I'm staring to feel like I'm even loosing some of them. But what I said the other day was entirely correct. I won't go anywhere without my mother. Or my sister, for that matter. The only thing I have going for me in America, is my girlfriend."

With that the intermission music stopped and so I jumped off from my position on the bench, landing with a loud thunk because of the heaviness of the shoes. As heavy as they sounded they felt light as a feather to dance in.

"Intermission is over. I'm needed in the wings," I explained, walking off and leaving Mr Stark there in the dark