50 Shades of Ariana

9

When we arrived at the venue, I felt a sudden shyness come over me. I felt intimidated. I was a rookie and these were pros. They established friends and I established Ariana.

Everyone greeted Ariana and her family, but I just stood off to the side. Scott walks over to me and smiles.

"Hey don't be scared. They may seem standoffish, but they are literally the best dance family I could have. Let's break the ice." He wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me over to the big group of dancers.

"Hello everyone! We have a new dancer. Her name's Arielle and she just moved here from California." Scott says

I felt like a child starting at a new school who couldn't introduce myself because I'm too shy.

Well?

That's actually what was going on, but I'm a fucking adult.

They all smile and come and hug me.

"Welcome to NYC and Ariana's World." One girl says.

"And Scott's." Another blurts.

"And Scooter's." Another adds.

I give a small chuckle.

The choreography wasn't hard, but there was so much to remember. To put into perspective, we only did HALF of the setlist with 4 minute songs. Ariana learned some, but most of her focus was on singing.

To have no warmup or practice before rehearsing, she sure sounded excellent. Even while doing choreography, she never missed a note.

Once we took a break, most of the girls wanted to know me. The guys were interested, but the girls quickly shooed them away.

Ariana stayed her distance to let me have a little sense of freedom, but the holes that were burned through my skull were saying she didn't enjoy it.

"So did you have to leave a significant other behind for this dream?" Tayash asked

"No just my family and friends." I say point blankly as I took a gulp of water.

"So you're single?"

"I wouldn't-"

"Scott told me you're dating Ari. Is that true?" Maoka interupts

"Yes." A voice blurts from behind me.

What happened to freedom?

The girls got quiet and Ariana sits behind me with me in between her legs. She wraps her arms around my stomach.

"Well you can continue your conversation. I won't rip your heads off." Ariana giggles as she pecks my neck.

Now we entered another known personality trait.

Possessiveness.

Maybe even another.

Jealousy.

"We were just finishing up." Tayash says as she gets up and brushes the dust off her pants. The rest of the dancers stand up behind her.

"We were going to invite Arielle to get coffee with us. Just her. You know as dancers. Get her comfortable." Tayash directs more towards to Ariana than me.

I felt like a child again.

"I'd like to go." I say before Ariana can speak. I rip away from Ariana's grip and stand up with them.

All the girls smile.

"I-I don't know." Ariana says standing up.

"Ariana if you don't let that girl go out with her new friends! All she knows here is you and that's not enough. She won't get too far!" Nonna scolds