Behind The Spotlight

Chapter 11 --The Unthinkable--

"Summer... Hi", I hear Noah say as he quickly pulls away from me. "Hey, uhm we were wondering if Blakely wanted us to teach her the last part of the choreography we just finished", Summer says to Noah before I turn myself around and nod my head. I do my best to stand up but before I can follow Summer out of the office, I get stopped by someone's firm arm around my waist. "Are you sure you're up to dance right now?", Noah asks me concerned. "Yes, I 'm fine", I say back to him before he releases me from his grip. I walk out of the office and into studio A, where I'm greeted by Piper, Davis, Ozzy and Richelle. "Are you okay?", I hear Piper ask me and I just nod my head. "Okay, let's just go over the new choreography slowly", Summer says as everyone spreads out over the floor. Summer starts going over the new choreography and I try to pick it up as fast as I can. I'm not going to lie, I feel really weak and my stomach hurts with every move I make.

"Where is she?! Where is that little monster?!", we can hear someone scream before we see a man enter the studio. "Dad?!", I say, shocked to the system. Everyone stops dancing and I kind of step towards him. I can see the rage and anger in his eyes. "Didn't I tell you not to get out of the house?!", he screams as he starts walking towards us. I quickly run up to him so that he wouldn't get close to anyone else. "What are you doing here?", I ask my father but as soon as he's close enough to me, he picks me up and holds me against the wall by my throat. "You little bitch. I told you to stay inside, but no. Missy 'I know everything better' had to leave, and for what? To dance? How ridicules and disrespectful", he screams as he hits me in my face. "You're drunk", is all I can say before he squeezes my throat even tighter. "Let her go", I hear someone scream from behind my father. "No-oah, it's o-oka-ay", I try to speak. "You heard the girl, she's fine", my father blurts out, still holding me by the throat and starting to cut off my oxygen. "No, she is not!", Noah says firmly, taking a few steps closer to us. "You stay there! Not a single step closer!", my father screams at him. "Or what?" "Or I'll kill her!", he screams back at Noah as he now lifts me off the ground making it almost impossible to breathe. "Okay, that's enough", I hear a girl say, only to see Richelle kicking my father in the back of his knee. He lets go of my throat and falls to the ground, grabbing his leg in pain. I see Noah jumping on top of him, holding him down as I fall down as well. I quickly get back up and run over to Davis, who immediately takes me in her arms. She hugs me as I start crying and my breathing starts to speed up again. "Hey hey, calm down. It's all going to be okay", Davis whispers to me as she holds me tight. "Stand back everyone", we hear someone scream. Two police officers run into the studio and take over what Noah is doing. They get my father up on his feet and they take him away. I just continue crying, but try to keep my breathing under control, which doesn't really work. "Okay calm down sweetie. Remember to picture somewhere nice, somewhere far away, with someone you love", Davis says calmly as she walks me over to Emily and Michelle's office, again. I sit down on a chair and try to calm down a bit, as Davis takes a seat beside me, just holding my hand. "I'm s-so so-orry-y you ha-a-ad to s-e-ee that", I stutter. "It's okay. It's not your fault", Davis says back to me as a tear escapes from my eye. "How could he do this? I don't care what he does to me at home but everyone saw it", I say, breaking down completely. "Hey hey, it's all going to be alright", Davis tells me. "No, it's not! Now, everyone knows how pathetic I am!" "No Blakely. I bet that no-one is judging you. We just want to help you. The only thing we want is to see you happy", she says sweetly before she wraps me up in a hug, letting me cry into her chest.

"Sorry to interrupt, but someone's here to talk to Blakely", we hear someone say. Davis lets go of me and we both look towards the doorway to find Emily standing there. Davis nods her head before she stands up and exits the office. Emily sits down on the opposite side of her desk. Then, Michelle enters, with an unknown woman. "Hi, I'm April. You must be Blakely", she says as she comes over to me to shake my hand. I just nod my head before both April and Michelle sit down as well. "First of all, I want to say that you always have to remember that none of this is your fault", April begins as she looks back and forth from Emily and Michelle, and me. "No child deserves to be treated like this by someone who is meant to protect and love them", April continues. "What's going to happen now?", Michelle asks April. "Well, do you have any other family we can call?", April asks me. I shake my head 'no' and look down embarrassed. "My mother and sister passed away, and I don't have any other family", I answer her. "Then we have a minor problem", April says. "And what might that be?", I hear Emily ask as she raises an eyebrow. "We don't have any place available for her right now. There currently aren't any foster families who want to take a new child in, and there is no available place at any of the foster homes in the neighborhood", April tells us. "So, now what?" "There are two options. Option one is that I take her to the police station with me and we'll see from there. But then, I can't promise that she will be able to keep dancing here." "But Regionals is in two days", I cry out. "Okay, well option two is that she can stay with someone of the team until we find her a permanent place", April says and before I know it, Davis had entered the office. "She can stay with me", she says quickly. "Are you sure?", Emily asks her. "Yes! We have a spare room and my parents don't mind at all. They are going to love her", she says back with a smile on her face. "Can she?", Emily asks April for reassurance. "Uhm yes. I think, in this situation, that will be the best for Blakely", she answers and a little smile forms on my face. "Can she stop by her house and get some of her stuff?", Emily asks April but she shakes her head 'no'. "No, no-one can go in there. It's a crime scene so the police confiscated it." "Don't worry Blakely. We will figure something out", Michelle says, looking at me. "Okay, before I go, can I have one of you girls' contact information so I can stay in touch?", April asks Emily and Michelle. "Yes of course. We'll give you both of our contact information so you can always reach someone", Emily answers as she starts to write her email address and phone number down on a little piece of paper. "Here you go", Emily says as she hands April the piece of paper. "Thank you. My job requires for me to check up on her at least once a week, but if something's wrong or you need me, don't hesitate to call me", April tells them both as she gives them her phone number. "Okay, we will", Emily says back to her before she says goodbye to everyone and exits The Next Step Dance Studio. "We told everyone to call it a day, to calm down and get this out of their heads. So, everyone already went home. Maybe you two should do the same", Emily tells us. "Yeah, just try to get some sleep", Michelle adds as both Davis and I stand up. "Before you go", we hear Michelle says and we both turn around. "Stay strong, and if you need anything, we're always here for you Blakely." "Thank you", I say back to them. They both give me a sweet and sympathetic smile before I follow Davis out of Emily and Michelle's office. "Let's get your bag and go home", Davis says before we walk over to the cubbies. She grabs my dance bag and we walk downstairs. We exit the building and walk over to Davis' car. She opens the door to the passenger seat and helps me to get in. Then, she slams the door shut and gets into the driver seat. "Are you sure that your parents won't mind?", I ask her silently. "Yes. When you were talking to the social worker, I called my mum and she said she would be happy to take you in", Davis says back to me as she starts the engine of the car and starts driving home.