BEFORE YOU READ
I apologize ahead of time for the lack of detail- I've been consumed with work and issues with my home life and have been forcing myself to work on this story at 5 in the morning when I get to work…- so despite my combing over it I'm sure, if read aloud, will sound awful. I assure you, once I have a bit more time on my hands future chapters will be a lot more enjoyable and interesting to read. (I'll hopefully have my brother to proof my work as well, now that school is out). Each chapter will, most likely, be long, so, yeah… sorry. (as a side note, since writing this I have moved to different shift)At the very bottom will be the playlist I listened to while writing this chapter.Just a warning, there will be a lot of violence in this story, any chapter that contains anything too graphic will be exclusive to this site (I also post on Tumblr and the amino app)Anyways, thanks for being patient with me! I hope I don't scare you off with my crap writing.-Chelsey Renee
ONE
Ellie was alone, or, at least she felt like it, a sensation she always thought that she was never supposed to feel. She was surrounded by people; through school, she'd met a plethora of new people, acquaintances she got along with, for the most part, but could never fully entrust herself to. Even her roommate, Angela, had been assigned to living with her through the Academy- the academy now controlled almost every aspect of Ellie's life. Despite being busy, she was doing what she loved: training to perform at a professional level. Ballet was her passion; moving to the city also provided the shelter she'd longed for from the chaos that was her oppressed life under Ethan, her abusive ex.
Until, of course, it didn't.
The sun shone through the leaf-printed film on the small 1'x2' window, the only source of light in the dingy, mildew-scented, bathroom. The stained tile, which had, at one point in its life, been white glistened from the steam rising from the bathtub into the cool air. Ellie slowly let her legs stretch out in front of her, through the water she stared at the dark bruises on her thighs, her heart a stone in her chest as memories from the previous night flashed in her mind every time she closed her eyes.
"Ellie!" The voice on the other side of the bathroom door was loud, and far too cheerful for that hour, but, it wrenched Ellie from her memories.
Sharing an apartment on campus had its benefits. Being in close proximity to her classes allowed Ellie the opportunity to take her time getting ready in the morning. One thing she hadn't accounted for, was the attention of her roommate, who, was the complete opposite of Ellie. Now, Ellie almost preferred solitude. Angela, on the other hand, just a couple years older than her, seemed to have her nose in every bit of business and gossip she could get her hands on. She'd taken to trying to get Ellie to come out of her shell, as best she could; all the while Ellie attempted to maintain her distance- a failing effort.
"Ellie! I know you're in there.." Angela's voice dropped in pitch, but still sounded bright.
A groan escaped the Ellie's mouth as she yanked the towel from its hook just above the toilet, pulled the plug on the tub and crossed the pocket-sized room to the door as she wrapped the towel around herself. Their apartment wasn't fancy enough to have a large bathroom, and had just enough space for one of them to comfortably stand in front of the sink without bumping into anything.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming.." Ellie called back as she wiped off the mirror above the sink to check her reflection before opening the door.
The red head barged past her "Oh! Thank God! I had to pee so bad!"
"That's what you get for staying out so late, Angie… you sleep in." Ellie retorted, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Ahh, It's not that bad.." Angie flushed the toilet and stood to stretch, awkwardly adjusting her sweatpants as she did. Ellie rolled her eyes and turned to start down the hall, her roommate was insufferable sometimes. "There's another party tonight, Ellie! You're coming with me, right? Right…?" Angie tilted her head to try to keep sight of Ellie, but the loud slam of her bedroom door was soon to follow the girl rounding the corner. She sighed and shook her head.
Ellie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, adjusted her headband, pressed play and started running. Winters in the city were bitter, and despite the cold air making her joints ache, Ellie ran every single day in the two hours between her first and second classes. It was the easiest way to clear her head, but that day, her legs ached in resistance; she was a bit slower than usual. Distracted, she ran her usual route, passing through campus, and following the sidewalks just outside the walls until she'd circled around the school as a whole. It was therapeutic for her, a part of her daily routine.
The air burned in her lungs as she pushed herself to continue down the packed streets, weaving in and out of small groups of students on their way to start their day; with it still being so early on in the day most of the students out were clad in sweatpants and puffy coats, most only half awake, paper coffee cups in hand, zombies: The usual traffic. There wasn't a whole lot in the neighborhoods surrounding the school, nothing more than student housing and a couple coffee shops and local shops, scenic, with the holiday lights.
She rounded the corner to the left, following, with her eyes, the lights on the campus walls, dodging a couple of other students, just before slipping on an unsalted patch of ice and running straight into someone else, making her fall backwards onto her butt.
"Holy crap! I'm so sorry!" Ellie looked up just in time to see the boy she'd run into scrambling to his feet. His coat seemed a little big for him, his pale green beanie pulled down tightly around his head, he was either rushed out the door that morning, or just didn't care that it didn't match. He offered her his hand, she shook her head and got up on her own. "I wasn't paying attention… are you okay?"
Ellie stared at him for a few seconds, before pulling her ear buds out, she hadn't heard him but read his lips. "I'm fine." She stooped down and picked up the camera at his feet and held it out to him. "Is it broken?"
The boy had been staring at her face, she could tell he was still a bit frazzled from her running into him, she noted the light dusting of freckles across his nose; his eyes slowly drifted down to the camera in her hand, he quickly glanced back up into her eyes for a second before he looked down again and took it from her. "Oh, uh.." He looked it over for a few seconds. "It's okay." The lens was shattered. "Perfectly fine." He smiled at her, and once he did his face lit up.
"Okay…" Ellie shifted her weight. "Well, uh… I should probably go, kinda in a hurry."
"Oh… -"
Before he could say any more she was already backing away from him. "Sorry." She turned and took off back in the direction she came from.
"Man.." He sighed and scratched the back of his head as he watched after her and then looked down to his camera, a little disappointed that he had to go get a new lens.
"Hey, Prompto! What's the hold up?" The boy looked up just as his friend jogged up to him from the opposite direction. Noctis, his best friend, had been dragging him along to the arcade, on any other day he would have been excited to go, but he hadn't felt good for a couple days.
"Dude, I told you my stomach hurts.." He yanked the hat off his head, his blonde hair, no longer held up with the hat flopped into place.
Noctis groaned and crossed his arms "Stop being a baby."
"I'm not! It feels like something's trying to claw its way outta there!" He made a scratching motion at his stomach. "Like in that movie with those creepy things with the sharp tails and big heads.."
"You mean Alien?" Noctis shifted his weight and shook his head. "And it went through the chest, not the guy's stomach.."
"Whatever!" They started walking again. "I thought it was called something else.."
Once Ellie had safely rounded the corner she flattened herself against the brick wall and closed her eyes, trying to calm her pounding heart. He'd scared the hell out of her, but more so, as new people always did, made her nervous. Ellie felt awful that she'd broken his camera, and even worse that he played it off like there was nothing wrong with it. She sighed and pushed off the wall and started jogging back to the campus entrance, her next class would be starting soon, and she was always early.
'Shoulders backLong neck Stomach in Head-tilt'
Ellie breathed slowly as she ran, through her mind all the corrections she'd ever received as she pushed through barre work. She chanced a glance at the girl on the other side of the barre, who, also was heavily concentrating on her work. She shifted into second position.
'Elbows up Arms out Legs straight'
Back to fifth position. "Good job ladies, keep up the energy!" Madame Petrov commanded. "Anna, elbows up!" Madame Petrov, the teacher in all of the advanced dance classes, was an elderly woman with dark gray hair. She was stoic, and usually angry, but could be the most helpful and nice woman.
'higher,… higher…higher Pull up Point your toes, Ellie…But, don't sickle!Turn out.'
Ellie let her breath out slowly as the music ended and turned to the other side to begin the exercise again to work the other leg, taking a moment to stretch as the pianist flipped the sheets back over to begin again. She stood the closest to the front of the studio next to the mirrors, having them close by really helped her make sure she was doing everything right. Her hands slowly felt around the top of her bun, securing the stray bits of her dark brown hair into place with the bobby pin that had come loose from it's hold; as she did she caught sight of one of her classmates staring at her, she smiled and cast her attention back to her hair.
"Don't forget that auditions for the spring show are in a couple days, I expect all of you to show up, and I expect some of you.." Madame paused for a second as she stared at Ellie, who, by that time was already heavily concentrating on her movements. "to do exceptionally well. You'll be required to bring your updated portfolio to the audition, and the pictures will need to be in your uniform, after we run through the russian dance and waltz of the flowers you are all dismissed. One week until the Nutcracker."
The last two hours of class seemed to go by too quickly. And as Ellie stepped outside the studio the wind bit straight through her jacket. She adjusted the strap on her duffel bag and looked out at the falling snow, the sun had gone down maybe an hour before, and the streetlamps cast a dim glow along the paths through campus. The snow crunched under her feet as she passed through the oval, she slowed to a stop in the center when she met a heavyset boy around her age. He had shaggy black hair, and a dark leather jacket with a gray hood, he smirked at her and held his hand out to her.
"Hey, sweetheart, you haven't answered your phone all day.., thought we could talk about last night.." Ellie took a slight step back and shook her head, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her along back in the direction she'd come from. "You're gonna have to learn eventually, Ellie. You belong to me."
This Chapter's Playlist:
Lazarus- David Bowie
I Am The Light – The White Buffalo
Breezeblocks- Alt-J
The Ghost Inside – Broken Bells
The Troubles – U2
Red Dragon Tattoo- Fountains of Wayne
And The Waltz Goes On – Sir Anthony Hopkins
A Mad Russian's Christmas- Trans-Siberian Orchestra