Terrywood, Pennslyvania
The Bohemian Chic Boutique
Thursday, July 22nd
1:16 p.m.
"Ivan-aaa!" Marina McRobins whined in her nasal, pained voice. Ivanna Windson rolled her eyes from the inside of her stall.
"Marrr." Ivanna whined back in and identical voice. She heard Marina huff as she slammed her 125 pund self against the very weak white wooden door in the back of The Bohemian Chic.
"When will you be done?" Marina whined again. Slamming her fists against the door. Fiesty and impatient, Marine could get really cranky really easily if Ivanna took her presicous time fitting into size two dresses. Or course, that could be based on the fact that Marina would never be able to fit in one.
"Almost done." Ivanna said, sliding on the Jason Wu blue strapless gown she had eyed before. With little brass-and-black plate-thingys on the bottom, the dress screamed A-list perfect.
"Could you get me the Jason Wu dress in a three, please?" Ivanna asked, throwing the dress over the top of the door. In a huff, she heard Marine storm away.
Chuckling, Ivanna sat down on the bench next to her overlfowing bags from the other stores they had just finished combing through: Abrecrombie & Fitch to return the undersized clothing Marina had bought six days after her Acai Berry Diet; Old Navy, of all places, just so Ivanna could rub her skinny Pilates butt in Marina's face as she leafed through the size two jeans; and Tiffany and Co. to buy matching charm bracelets- Marina had been purposely excluded from the rest of the group when they got them. After all, Marina wasn't the kind of person Ivanna liked to take to the mall; that was Katie, her fellow dancer and trusted beta. Besides her, there was Trish, the study-buddy, Mandy, the sleepover queen, and Georgia, the lowly wannabe who was Ivanna's personal boyfriend snatcher. Marina was the usual tag-along, who was good to have at the mall for only one reason- her fat butt made even Snooki's look small.
"Back." Marina huffed as she threw the size three dress over the white door. Ivanna slid it on and smiled at herself. It was perfect.
As she left the stall, now wearing her simple tee-shirt-and-jeans combo, she caught the eye of two B-List buddies entering the store: Trisha and Tammy.
"Hey." The two drawled as they passed by, heading directly for the clearance rack. Rolling her eyes, Ivanna pulled her AmEx out of her Coach purse and handed it to the cashier as she placed her Jason Wu dress on the counter.
"Ooh, look at this!" Marina sighed as she took a little white cocktail dress off it's rack. It was short, barely down to the knees, and had what looked like pulled strings jamming up the left side, bunching it up and pulling down that side.
"It looks like a bath towel." Ivanna scoffed, and watched as Marina slowly put it back on the rack.
Note to self: try it on the next time your in here. Ivanna thought with a slight smirk. She took the bag and her card from the cashier and hurried outside, attempting to leave Marine behind.
"Where to next?" Marina asked, and Ivanna rolled her eyes. She had three bags dangling off of her arms, while Marina's chubby ones were covered thickly with the sleeves of her knitted cardigan. Such a reputation killer.
"Uh, the dump, so you can kick that old sweater for a- hello hottie!" Ivanna came to a halt as she stopped in front of one of her mom's favorite stores, Ann Taylor. The model in the mirror looked just like Ivanna, with her flawless tan skin, (we're talking flawless here, babe. No pimples anywhere) long, silky black hair halfway down her back, muscular, long dancer legs, a curvy body, and thin arms. Iv-the-twin was wearing a black-and-gray wrap dress just like the one Ivanna had seen last year, during her trip in Paris. The dress was twenty bucks.
"Let's go home." Marina said, her gaze tight on Gap Kids' and their tacky cardigans.
"Fine." Ivanna said, pulling out her Blackberry from her purse. She had a missed call from her mom.
"What?" She asked, sending a quick text to her mom, telling her they were done. She dismissed her peevish mother's call and sat down on the wooden bench in front of Ann Taylor Loft.
"So?" Marina asked, jumpy. Ivanna had told her that all skinny girls were jumpy. "Did you hear-"
"No." Ivanna said sharply, cutting Marina off. She flipped her black ponytail over her shoulder and looked down the road for her family's black Hummer. As it came into view, Ivanna mentally prepared herself for whatever she was going to do next.
Oh, man. What if my report card came? What if I failed? What if my mom found out I was slacking in dance because of my period, but thought I was being lazy? What if she read my last weight check and realized I was ten pounds too heavy for good tap dancing? What if she found out I grew a size? What if-
"Iv?" Marina asked, waving a hand in Ivanna's face. "You comin' ?"
"Uh, you go ahead." Ivanna said, thinking. "I'll...I have somewhere I need to go." Ivanna's eyes drifted upward toward the upstairs of Gold's Gym, looking through Danceation's wraparound glass windows. Marina caught her gaze and nodded solemmly.
"I'll tell your mom." She said softly, as she hopped into the car. Ivanna snicked as the car thudded toward the ground as Marina clambered aboard.
"Bye." Ivanna said slowly as the car drove away. Once it was out of sight, she stood up quickly and hurried down the sidewalk.
A little out of things, Ivanna hurried past Tiffany's again, past the tacky retail stores, and right past the large front door's of Gold's Gym, headed only for her own personal heaven.
Swinging open the small glass door with the purple DANCEATION written on it in glitter, Ivanna hurried up the tightly squeezed stairs to the second floor, and opened up the main door into the studio lobby.
"Hi Ivanna." The receptionist, Kirsten, said with a smile. Her thin, pale face light up whenever she smiled, which was usualy whenever her boyfriend, Matt, came in, or when a star student, (namely, Ivanna) appeared in without warning.
"Hey." Ivanna grunted back, and hurried past the reception desk and into the locker rooms to change. Without even setting foot into the studio, she already felt pumped up and vibrant.
After hastily throwing on her pink, slimming leotard and silver tutu, Ivanna grabbed her iPod from the inside of her purse and hurried out.
Once she was in the studio, locked in all by herself, she felt alive again. As she pulled her iPod into the dock in the front of the room, she felt calm and relaxed. But once the first notes of "Dynamite" by Taio Cruz started up, she felt the rush on music overwhelm her, and there was nothing she could do about it but let it out.
I throw my hands up in the air sometimes,
saying "Ayyyooo! gotta let gooo!"
I wanna celebrate and live my life,
saying "ayyyyyooo! Baby lets goo"
Ivanna lept into the air, throwin her hands over her head and feeling like she was Icarus, flying up into the air, except her wings weren't made of candles; they were made out of gold.
I came to move, move, move, move
get out the way of me and my crew, crew, crew, crew.
I came to the club so I'm gonna do do do do
just what the - came to do do do do, yeah yeah
Smiling brightly to herself, Ivanna felt the insane rush of wind as she spun around. Rap and Ballet were such a good combonation, but for Ivanna, it never ended at twirls and scissor kicks. She spun faster than the tasmanian devil on So You Think You Can Dance. She listened to the bells that hung off the edge of her tutu as she twirled; it sounded like appluase.
I'm gonna take it all I
I'm gonna be the last one standing
'cuz I I I
"I need it, and aaayyy ayyy ayy." Came a shrill voice from the studio door. As Ivanna began to twirl slower, she noticed something. One the first spin, her instructor, Kayle, was coming through the door, her arms crossed over her chest, a Kira-Segwick smile on her identical face.
On the second twirl, as she began to slowly speed up, she saw her mother and father entering the room, huge smiles across their broad, tan faces. And on the third spin- wait, was that a camera crew?
"Ehmagawd." She said quickly, bringing her foot down, hard, on the ground to stop. Her mother, who was five-eleven with identical hair and skin, dove for her, enbracing her in a hug. Her father, who was six feet tall and one hundred pounds, beamed down at the two from a foot away.
"Mom? Are you alright?" Ivanna asked, helping her mother up. Her mother's mascara was running, but her plump red lips were pulled upward with joy.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine. Except you." She said, still looking happy. Ivanna backed away two steps, then looked behind her mother. Two camera crews, several other dance squad members, her grandmother, Kayle- it seemed like all of Terrywood was in the dance studio, right then and there.
"Mom?" Ivanna asked again, then notcied a piece of paper in her mother's hand. It was neatly folded, made of recycled material that resembled weak cardboard. Ivanna tore it from her mother's hands and opened it, her heart racing. She didn't have to read the letter, the header said enough. It was Alpha Academy, writte in twelve point font along the top of the page.
"Ehma-" Ivanna started, then started jumping up and down with joy. She lept into the air, kicking her feet out with utter flamboyance. As her father walked over to help her back down to Earth, Ivanna knew that it would only be temporary.
Going to Alpha Academy would send her to the stars.