Échappé - Branjie

Six.

Chapter 6

"Miss Brooke Lynn!"

The loud clap made Brooke land back into reality. She fell off the relevé, her heels loudly hitting the floor of the stage. She felt her entire body vibrating with the dying notes of the violin, even when she had stopped listening to them several counts ago. Brooke turned to face the head choreographer, confusion filled her features as she literally woke up from her daydream.

"It's time you come back to us, girlie," Alyssa said as she motioned to herself, her long arms extending and closing slowly. "The last show is tonight and your mind is everywhere but here, baby."

Brooke kicked her legs out, one at a time, trying to wake them up as she moved to her mark. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm here."

The choreographer stood straight, her hands clasped together in front of her. "Good. I'm not your Stage Mom, girl. Don't give me one more thing to worry about. I already have my hands full with Squiddly and Diddly over there."

Her thumb pointed to the other end of the stage, where Katya sat on the floor, her legs wrapped around her own head. Kameron laughed as she held Katya's crossed ankles with a hand and the other pushed down her hamstring.

"Come on, bitch," Katya encouraged her. "We can go lower than that."

Detox, who had her legs opened wide in front of her, threw a slipper in their direction. It was enough to let them know they were being observed. Both Kameron and Katya sat up, going back to their warm up and stretching, as if nothing had happened.

Alyssa's attention returned to Brooke, who already stood in fourth position, her chin up high, waiting for the music to start.

"That's how I like it," Alyssa smiled widely. "Take charge of the whole scene, bitch."

"From the top?" Brooke's question sounded more like an order. It was hard to keep the voice of command in check but, when they were on stage, Alyssa was the ruler. Nobody forgot that.

Alyssa clicked her tongue against her teeth loudly and lifted a finger in the air. The prerecorded orchestra started sounding through the speakers to her cue, and Brooke's back straightened in expectation.

Her limbs started moving by themselves. Brooke trusted her trained muscle memory to carry her through the solo. She had done the same part the whole season, she could allow her mind to go blank while her body followed the music. Dancing was her sanctuary, her salvation. Many years of struggle had been survived thanks to her opportunity to dance. If it hadn't been for that hour a day she could lose herself to the music, she would have probably gone insane. It allowed her to travel through time and space and land on the farthest planet of the galaxy, all by herself, where no trouble could reach her, where no harm could touch her.

Brooke didn't have many safe places in her life anymore, but there was no place safer than her mind when she was dancing.

The only problem was that, today, her mind didn't precisely empty like it always did. Dance was usually able to push every thought out of her head, this time, however, one single thought was unshakable: her.

Vanessa.

Vanessa's lips.

Vanessa's lips on her.

Even if Brooke and Vanessa had been texting, a lot, it had been a week since the last time they saw each other. Seven full days since they kissed on Vanessa's old couch. They hadn't known it was going to happen, or at least Brooke hadn't planned it. She definitely didn't have any idea that she was going to like it so much. Kissing Vanessa had felt like floating on air but, at the same time, it had been the most grounding thing in the world. Brooke had never felt that kind of exhilaration before, which, ironically, invaded her whole being with utter peace and calmness. Vanessa's soft lips had numbed every single one of her senses, yet every nerve ending had stood at attention.