Plié (Lost Birds Book 2)

Part 5 Practice

My mother was angry. She'd found out that I hadn't been attending my lessons and she demanded that I meet her down stairs in the studio. I stared at the wood floor near my pink ballet slippers as I waited for my mother's command. I knew she would comment on my choice of attire first. I hadn't matched my shoes to my outfit. Pink and black weren't meant to go together but it was the only leotard with a wide enough back that I could slip it over my shoulder with minimal movement. The strap was already digging into my aching shoulder and I had completely forgotten to check my tights before putting them on. There was a small hole near the back of my knee. It was a disaster. I wasn't even sure if I had managed a proper bun. Using one hand to tie my hair up had proved to be far more difficult than I had expected. But I'd managed and here I was. Mostly ready and waiting.

"First position." My mother commanded as she walked around me to check my outfit.

I set my legs together, toes out, and raised my arm in front of me.

"Plie" She ordered.

I sank down carefully and slowly. Bending my knees until I was low to the ground before rising back up. There was no hesitation to my movements. They were fluid and perfect despite only having the use of one arm. Plie's were something I could do in my sleep.

"Grand plie to en pointe." She ordered.

My brow furrowed at her direction. If she had come here to make me exercise I would have been doing plies for the majority of the hour but this was beginning to look like a test. En pointe was going to be difficult without the use of both arms.

Still I shifted as directed onto the balls of my feet, lowered into a plie, and rose back all the way up to stand on the very tips of my toes.

"Hold it." She ordered.

I had been prepared to come back down to first position. Her order jarred me and my body jerked to stay up right. My arm wanted to help. It jerked as well causing the burning pain to flare up. I bit my tongue and held the position.

"Your tights are ripped?" She asked.

"Désolé mère." I release my tongue to force the apology out.

"Robe mouillée mène à un travail bâclé." (Sloppy dress leads to sloppy work) She shook her head at me. "You'll have to work twice as hard to make up for it."

"Fourth position." She directed. I tried not to panic that she had just skipped to one of the positions that required the most balance. I shifted down and slid my feet so that one leg was placed in front of the other, toes out, and I raised my good arm above my head. My other arm was supposed to be raised in front of me but there was no way I could do that.

"You're going to fall if you don't take that stupid thing off." She commented nodding toward my sling.

"I can't." I whispered shaking my head.

"Grand plie, en pointe, pirouette." She rolled her eyes at me.

My breath caught.

She couldn't be serious.

A grand plie in fourth position wasn't even permissible in my ballet courses. If the alignment was off even a little it would put the dancer at risk of over straining their muscles. I certainly wouldn't be in proper alignment with my arm in a sling. On top of that she wanted me on my toes and to do a full one-legged twirl.

I let out a breath and did my best to follow through. As expected my plie suffered from the awkward position of my arms. My shoulder burned as it tried to ignore the muscle memories it wanted to work through. I sank down and rose back up with the pirouette, spin. My shoulder jerked to try and keep me in balance causing another rush of pain. This time the pain radiated all along my back and arm. My good arm was not stable enough on its own and my leg gave out rather than risk harming my ankle. I sank down to my knees, completing the spin as if it had been part of the routine. On stage it would look deliberate but any coach and most importantly my mother would never have been fooled. I botched the move and all I had to show for my efforts was a cold sweat and trembling limbs.

"Again." My mothered commanded. She was furious that I had failed.

"I can't." Even my voice trembled.

"Get up. Fourth position. Do it again." She said carefully.

I forced myself to my feet. My body automatically resumed the position we had been direct too except my hand clutched at the arm in the sling.

"I can't do it." I said a little more firmly. She had to know the combination was impossible with the use of only one arm.

"You mean you won't. Give me this damn thing." She wrenched the sling off of my shoulder.

The jerk caused another wave a pain that made my eyes tear up.

"Do it again. Get it right and you may rest. Until then I have no sympathy for you." My mother scolded.

I blinked back the tears. Clinched my teeth and assumed the position as best I could.

I tried the combination again.

My shoulder screamed in protest but somehow, I managed to stay on my feet.

I completed the moves and my free hand shot back down to my arm.

My mother scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"See. It's in your head Victoria." She said. "Now go. You're dripping on my floor and it's disgusting. We will try again later."

I made it all the way to my room and managed to shut the door before I let my legs give out. I sank down to my knees and dropped my head to the rug in front of me. The position didn't seem to help at all with the pain but at least I wasn't still trying to pretend I was fine. My shoulder, my head, my arm, and my back all felt like they were on fire. I had no idea what to do to help it. Even if I did I knew I wouldn't be able to get up to do it. I was stuck. 

Author's Note:

I have no idea if this accurate ballet wise but I'm hoping I used my terms correctly. If you catch any errors feel free to let me know. 

Also I know it's not Saturday, again, but i couldn't help myself. I keep seeing my loyal voters and readers and you guys deserve all the updates. 

Any way, let me know what you think, what do you think might happen next, who's your favorite character, anything really. I love hearing from you all and the more we interact the more I want to post. 

As always thank you for reading!!