Fifteen: Free Fallin'

Chapter 30: Lovely Day

Today was an all dance day for Aria and she was pleased. Firstly, she did not have to perform in this week's pep rally. Secondly, they were working on their aerial performance for a majority of the day during practice and she was loving how easy the movements were coming to her and Sophia Kate. Thirdly, Madame Boudreaux had a family matter to take care of so Ms. Dubois was in charge for the next couple of days and it was glorious.

"Is it just me or has practice been amazing lately," Asa stated while stretching. "It's not just you," Sophia Kate smiled as she did a leg stretch. "I'm so looking forward to the show. Alexis said it's always a packed house, because most of the parents live for Madame Boudreaux." Jennifer stated. "I just want us to do an amazing job and really showcase that we deserve to be on this team." Aria sighed standing up with the others as Ms. Dubois entered the room.

"Today my lovelies we will be focusing on the two group performances. Now, I know you've all got a good grasp on the opening number. There's nothing like a good rock song to get the crowd going. However, our closing number is a sneak peek into our winter showcase, which has the theme Ice. The song for the closing dance is 'Wintersong' by Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson. There were cheers all around them. Aria loved that song. It was such an emotional piece. "As you can tell it's a very touching song, so I am going to need you all to channel said emotions to bring this performance to life."

As they all prepared to learn the moves for the closing performance, Aria and Sophia Kate thought about how things were different for them these past few days with Ms. Dubois because of her gentler approach to dance. With her it was all emotive and that spoke to them. Madame Boudreaux was all pomp and performance and not about the heart of dance. They danced for hours it seemed until Ms. Dubois made them call it quits hours after practice was over. Sophia Kate and Aria knew they would feel this pain in the morning.

"Everyone has already been at dinner for like 15 minutes." Sophia Kate called out as they made their way out of the studio. "I don't want food. I just want bed." Aria whined as they made their way to Abington. "You got to eat, babe." Sophia Kate tried dragging her to the cafeteria where everyone else was, but she resisted. She took Sophia Kate's bag and made her way up to their room where she proceeded to collapse onto her bed and fall asleep.

"Where's Aria?" Daisy asked Sophia Kate as she sat down beside Gracia with her food. "I tried to get her to eat, but it was like talking to a zombie. I'm pretty sure she passed out as soon as she got into the room." Caleb didn't like to hear how rundown practices were making her.

"Practice that bad?" Tyler asked concerned. "No, this week has been great. We're working with Ms. Dubois and she's an angel." They nodded. "Ms. Dubois is Dragon Lady's identical twin sister, right?" Preston inquired. Sophia Kate nodded as she bit into her sandwich. "We learned the routine to the closing number of the show we're performing during Parents Weekend and it's so good." She smiled causing them to smile.

"Aria has a solo in it and legit when she performed it I almost cried." They all expressed how excited they were for the show and to see them perform. "I want to go to see y'all and all that, but I really just love the name of the show." Preston smiled. "Let It Burn. That's like a siren song to any anarchist." They all rolled their eyes at him and continued talking about their day.

Caleb went to grab a to go plate and made a sandwich with chips and a bottle of apple juice. "Hey, SK, can you put this by Aria's bed with this note." He returned the smile she was giving him and made his way back to Ellenton to study with Avery. He wanted more than anything to be with Aria, but he knew she needed the rest more.

"You coming over tonight, Baby Thug?" Brooke smiled at the nickname and nodded. "Hey, Jaden, can we come over tonight and get some much-needed laundry done?" Tyler and Preston asked. Jaden laughed at his friends and nodded. Everyone usually used Jaden's kickbacks as a means to get laundry done, but Tyler and Preston were in need of a sans kickback wash.