Perhaps (Book 1) | ✔

ACT II - Scene 1

Accent Academy — outside the Auditorium

I was running late for rehearsal.

Mom had scheduled my annual physical between my last class of the day and rehearsal, and I had been stuck at the doctor's office far longer than I should have been. Not because he had much to say to me—everything appeared normal and I was relatively healthy—but because Mom had, once again, taken offense at his comments about my diet and my weight. Okay, maybe I was a little bit underweight for my height; but I wasn't having any negative side effects from it or anything. So I could kind of see her point at ranting at him for bringing up a "non-issue". However, her ranting about the doctor had somehow segued into her ranting about Dad as she drove me back to campus. That seemed to be her favorite topic these days: he was still being kept late at work by his boss; and I had also noticed a disturbing increase in his drinking. But, perhaps, that was because Mom was constantly yelling at him from the moment he walked in the door. They were fighting more than usual, so I had taken to being at home as little as possible.

"Your father needs to learn some priorities!" she screeched at me as she pulled into the parking lot nearest to the auditorium. "Staying at work late! Coming home late! Then, he does nothing but sit around and drink alcohol! I understand that Catholics tend to like their wine, but he drinks way more than is healthy! I do everything I can to make sure that we all have healthy diets—by the way, that doctor was completely out of line saying you don't get enough protein in your diet! You get plenty of protein, and he obviously doesn't understand that ballerinas need to be careful with their bodies so that their performance is not negatively impacted! Anyways, I do everything I can to make sure we are all healthy, and your father is ruining my meal schedules with all his sweets and alcohol! Is he trying to give himself liver failure at his age?!

"And what is with Tom?! Why is he always calling on Robert to stay late?! What about his other employees?! I have half a mind to call him up myself and tell him to find someone else to work all this overtime!"

"Mom, I'm sorry, but I really have to go!" I cried as I opened the passenger door. There was no need in trying to offer her words of comfort or advice. It was unwise to interrupt her when she was ranting like this. I saw her lips grow thinner and thinner as I continued. "I'm already late! I'm sorry!"

"I take it you're not even going to be home for dinner again?" she sniffed, her lips a severely thin line on her face. "What time will you be home tonight?"

"Probably late, I'm sorry," I said, halfway out of the car. "We still have a lot of work to do! I have a dinner in my bag—a healthy one that you bought!"—her mouth somehow managed to get smaller at the thought of me eating something "unhealthy". How did she do that?—"We're getting really close to starting our full run-throughs. You know how important it is to rehearse!" I knew she couldn't argue with that.

"You're right," she sighed, her mouth returning to its normal shape. "Rehearsing is extremely important." I smiled.

"I'll see you tonight when I get home! I'll try to not be out too late!" Shutting the car door, I ran up the steps two at a time into the auditorium.

"You're late, Gloria," Professor Baron chastised me as I stepped onto the stage, hastily bunching my hair up in a ponytail. I had changed into my practice clothes for the musical with such speed, I was sure the skirt they wanted me to wear was probably backwards.

"I'm sorry, professor," I apologized. "I got stuck at the doctor's..." I took a seat between Riley and Layla.

"Everything okay?" Layla whispered to me as Professor Baron droned on about what we would be doing today.