MARIEL

12~ A Reminder. A Warning. ~

"You guys are all set. Esther, can I talk to you a second, please?"

Esther ran the back of her hand across her forehead where the beads of sweat rolled steadily from her skin. While the other members of the dance team gathered their athletic bags and shuffled from the dimly lit stage, she approached her coach and smiled. "That's unsettling."

"Don't be a negative nancy." Jackie Morgan was a lean, athletic woman in her late twenties with dark brown skin and long, straightened hair. At the back of the stage, she stood near the folding table, shuffling papers with choreographic scribbles that only she could read.

"What's up?" Esther approached her, leaned back against the table. For a moment, she closed her eyes, envisioned herself back in the warmth of her bed. Her bed seemed like the safest place to be these days, and the 5am tryst with Mariel had exhausted her more than she'd realized.

Jackie tapped the papers against the table and then slipped them into a black folder. "I know this is last minute, but I wanted to ask your opinion about possibly changing the song for the competition."

"What? We have a month, there's no way we can get everyone ready for -"

"I want to use one of your choreographs."

Esther looked at the woman, her jaw slack, eyes wide. "Wait. Really?"

"Of course, girl. Unless you have some objection to it. We've got stiff competition this year, and I think you've grown a lot in your choreographs since our last one."

She felt elated, and a smile spread across her face. It was the first good news she had received in a while. Mariel's return had been good, but this was normal. It was safe. Good, safe, normal news.

"That'd be... incredible. Amazing. Did you have a particular one in mind?"

Jackie reached for her red and black duffel bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Send me a video to your favorite. We'll go from there. Make sure you get that sent to me by Friday, though."

Unable to refrain the grin that continued to move across her lips, Esther grabbed her bag from the floor. "I'll do that. Thanks so much, Jackie."

Jackie smiled. Her eyes sparkled. "I have a good feeling about this. One question though. Are you alright? You've seemed... off lately. Everything okay?"

Slowly, the smile faded. "Yes. I'm fine. Stuff going on at home, but I'll be alright."

"Walk with me to the locker room. You sure you're okay? I might know a thing or two about family issues. Parents can suck. Siblings can suck. Honestly, family, in general, sucks." Jackie shot her a glance, laughed a little. "Sorry. Clearly, I need therapy."

As they left the stage and exited the large auditorium, Esther reflected on her statement. Coach Morgan's statement wasn't entirely incorrect. Esther's family had been a fucking nightmare as of late. Between Hawk's strange misbehavior, Esther's moodiness, and the reappearance of Jacob Caravan, tension hung thick in the house.

Nothing, however, had been more tense than the intervention she had received Sunday afternoon.

"On Sunday, I slipped the fact that I'm bi," Esther said, adjusting the duffel bag on her shoulder. "Didn't end well."

"Ouch."

"Yeah... and it happened to be in church. Before the whole congregation."

Jackie grimaced and turned wide eyes to her. "Whoa."

"Yes. Needless to say, I was interrogated all afternoon about being bi, if I had ever kissed a girl, if I was going to remain 'faithful to the church teachings'. 'Maybe it's a phase, Esther'. No, fuck you. It's not a fucking phase."