Illicit Love | Charlie Conway

You forgot your shoe

Pas De Deux by Michael Abels played throughout the theatre where the Edina Stars dance competition took place.

Droplets of sweat dripped down the face of Annabelle as she completed her pirouettes, elegantly sliding into a split as the music ended.

The girl smiled as cheers erupted throughout the theatre, her eyes landed on the 3 seats she'd saved for her Parents and older brother, as usual they were empty.

She kept her smile on her face despite her disappointment as she gracefully exited the stage taking heavy breaths as she was handed a water bottle.

Quickly the girl looked up at the clock, eyes widening as she realised how late the competition was running, still she stayed, she wanted to know if she'd won.

Her father didn't care about dance, he didn't classify it as a sport. The trophys used to excite Annabelle but eventually the magic was taken away as each competition no one came to cheer for her.

Now it was just a shiny piece of plastic to the girl that went in a cabinet and played a small part in validating her existence.

Annabelle waited till the end of the competition, taking the stage with the other competitors looking towards the reserved seats, they were still empty.

"And your first place Junior goes too... Annabelle Banks" the announcer called making the girl smile softly as she stood, shaking the mans hand as she grabbed the trophy before rushing off the stage, she had somewhere to be.

Quickly she threw on her winter coat, grabbing her stuff and rushing out to the parking lot to look for her family, her father was usually given the task of picking her up considering the fact she was small and young and her mother didn't like the idea of her being alone.

However, as usual, her father forgot to pick her up so she decided on completing the mad dash to her hockey game, still in her costume and tights with nothing but a coat to keep her warm the girl carried her bag slipping and sliding all over the place.

She quickly bumped into a bigger figure, instantly she hit the snow, letting out a small huff of pain as she rubbed her back.

"Oh oh I'm so sorry" the boy rushed out offering the girl a hand to help her up. Annabelle instead stood up alone dusting the snow off of her legs and butt.

"Sorry again" he quickly apologised, Belle muttering a small it's okay as she went to move past him. He blocked her, however.

Annabelle knew this boy, she'd seen him around, he was harmless. Unfortunately, he was a member of a rival hockey team so Belle had to hate him, even if she thought the older boy was extremely cute.

"I'm Charlie,  Charlie Conway" he spoke offering her a handshake, a polite smile on his face, truth be told he knew exactly who she was, he'd had a crush on her since he first started Peewees.

The girl swallowed her sadness as she looked down noticing her first place trophy had hit the concrete path splitting in half, she quickly scooped it up turning her attention back to the boy.

"I know who you are" Annabelle sneered, looking down at the boy's hand disgustedly.

Charlie frowned slightly, anxiously tucking his hand back in his pocket. "Can you move? I'm going to be late to practice" she spoke glaring up at the boy.

The boy quickly nodded, stepping to the side allow the girl to rush past, he waited a few moments before walking away, noticing the small pink ballet slipper buried in the snow, it had fallen out of her bag.

"Hey Annabelle you forgot your shoe" he called but the girl was too far away, she hadn't heard him. Charlie sighed he couldn't leave it there, he'd give it to her next time he saw her.

Quickly the boy picked it up, holding it in his hand examining it before walking away heading to his hockey game too, the Hawks were required to get to games a few hours early to receive their usual verbal abuse from Reilly as well as a gruelling warm up.

Belle didn't have time to realise her shoe was gone as she continued to race towards the ice rink, checking her watch she noticed she had 5 minutes until the team would head out onto the ice to practice before the game, quickening her pace she rushed through the doors heading towards her locker room.

She could hear the loud voices of the boys as she pushed the door open, eyes immediately landing on her as the team silenced at the sight of her.

"Jesus Belly are you okay?" The voice of Belle's older brother spoke causing her to snap her attention to him. She didn't answer his question instead she just frantically nodded as she headed towards her spot. It wasn't until then she spoke addressing the boys questiom.

"I'm here! Sorry I'm late my Dad didn't pick me up from dance" the 9-year-old rushed out, her breathing was heavy from the cold and all the running. She quickly threw her bag at her locker letting out slight coughs as her body began to feel the warmth.

"You promised me you'd be there this time" she whispered sadly to her brother, the 12 year old just looked at his sister guiltily.

"Sorry Belly, Dad told me it wasn't worth our time, had more important things to worry about today" the boy responded grabbing his hockey tape and taping his stick.

Annabelle ignored the pang of hurt she felt at her brothers statement, he didn't mean it as harshly as it sounded, she knew that, she knew he loved her.

"I won, but I broke my trophy because I fell" she whispered, holding up her broken trophy making Adam look up from his hockey stick, a proud smile on his face.

"Good job, I'm sure with some glue I can fix it for you" he smiled, making the girl smile the tiniest bit.

"Smelly Belly" McGill smiled fondly as he patted the girls head, she rolled her eyes a small smile on her face, she didn't consider the boy a best friend but at times he wasn't the worst company to keep.

"McFish" the girl deadpanned swatting his hand away as she took her coat off, grabbing her hockey gear and beginning to get changed, sending her favourite Hawk, other than her brother of course,  a smile as they made eye contact.

"Hiya Al" she waved making the boy laugh slightly as he waved back. "Hi Anna-Banana" he teased making the girl stick her tongue out, he'd been calling her that ever since she was little and he knew that she absolutely hated it.

The team's banter was interrupted as Reilly stormed in, making them all freeze, they truly hated their coach, he was a terrifying bully.

Annabelle quickly grabbed a makeup wipe, getting rid of her competition makeup, Reilly hated it when she had dance-related things on the same day as hockey, he believed she needed to be at her physical and mental peak for each game and the thought things like dance ruined that.

He quickly demanded the get on the ice to warm up as Annabelle rolled her eyes, bending down to tie her skates whilst the rest of the Hawks rushed out of the locker room.

"Hurry up Annabelle" Reilly demanded, glaring at the girl as he fixed his collar, the girl sat up looking at the man with a look of annoyance "I'm going as fast as I can coach" she grumbled.

"You think you'd be more like your brother" Reilly scoffed before exiting, Belle rolled her eyes letting out a sigh, she heard that sentence at least 3 times a week from her father and occasionally her mother.

"Who'd want to be like stinky old Adam anyway" she pouted, jumping slightly at the sound of her brothers laugh "rude" he teased as he entered the locker room again making the girl smile sheepishly.

The older boy knew Belle took a very long time to tie her skates, it was something she'd been struggling with for a while.

He also knew that Reilly was already pissed she wasn't out there so quickly he bent down picking up the girls feet one at a time as he tied her laces sending her a grin as he pulled her to her feet.

Banks #9 and Banks #97 quickly met their team for warm-ups, Annabelle went to question her brother to see who they were playing but snickered as she noticed district five exiting their lockerroom tripping over each other.

She made eye contact with Charlie who sent her a smile and a hopeful wave, the girl looked the boy up and down before turning away refusing to acknowledge him.

She was a Hawk after all, through and through even if she did long to not be.