Chapter 1-Coming and Going at the Marty Openhiemer
My name is Scarlet Fox. About me, well, I have brown hair and hazel eyes. Right now I'm 16 years old and I'm about average height. Whenever I tell people that I personally know one of the ninja, they never believe me. Maybe you'll be different though. When I was seven years old, I finally got into the best performing school in Ninjago City. I've always loved to dance, so this school was a huge opportunity for me. I remember just a little of my first day. I was walking up the steps of the Marty Openhiemer School of Performing Arts. I came alone, with no family or friends. My suitcase hit the steps as I slowly trudged up. Normally kids can get in as early as four years old, but my circumstances were different than most. Neither of my parents had a performing background, and it was only the high price they paid that got me in as early as seven. Once I walked through the doors, a tall women stepped up to greet me. She took my suitcase and gave me directions to the first day orientation classroom. I followed the hallway and took the only seat left which was next to a boy with thick, black, hair. The teacher told us all about the school, what Marty Openheimer did, and what we were going to learn there. I don't remember exactly what she said, but I do remember her last few words. "You all have a performance inside of you, just waiting to be let out," the teacher said, looking straight at me, "I know that everyone in this room can and will succeed. And for those of you who are truly talented, there is a beginners performance tomorrow." Everyone began to murmur quietly as I nodded thoughtfully. The boy with black hair suddenly grabbed my arm. "Do you want to be in a quartet with me for the beginners performance tomorrow?" he asked desperately. "If it's dancing, then yes," I replied. He smiled gratefully. "My name is Cole," he said, then asked, "What's yours?" "I'm Scarlet," I replied. "Like the color?" he asked. "Yes," I replied, annoyed. A boy and a girl with beanies turned around from their desks in front of us and greeted us. They both had bright, blond, hair and sparkling aqua eyes. The boy's name was Shawn and the girl's name was Cecily. "I heard you're making a quartet," Cecily said, smacking her gum. "My sis and I could help you out with that," Shawn said, casually popping his knuckles. "That would be great!" Cole replied happily, "Come to my room tonight and we can get plan it out together." So there you have it. That was how my friendship with Cole started. Our practice went great and that was when we all learned that Cole's dad had very high expectations of him. Because of this, Cole was going to do the Triple Tiger Sasha. He couldn't get it right in our practice, but he told us that everything would be fine at the performance. The next day came, and soon we were backstage getting ready for our act. The school let us borrow some extra costumes that they had. Cecily and I had black, lace, dresses and Cole and Shawn were wearing suits with lacy cuffs and black hats. I started shivering. You see, back then before I was performing a lot, I had this anxiety problem. If I got really worried, I began to shiver. Sometimes it got so bad that I would get dizzy and faint. Cole stepped over to stand in front of me. "Don't worry," he said gently, putting his hand on my shoulder, "Everything will be okay." I can't explain how, but I immediately stopped shivering as he said these words. I nodded, then we heard the announcer call out our names. The school cheered as the music started and we got to our places backstage. "Are you ready to break them down?" Cecily whispered confidently. "Time for the party," her brother replied. We raced out onto the stage. One, two, Cecily and I did our twists with arms and the boys did the floor roll. Arm, arm, and roll it back, hop. Side, side, around the boys and on each side. Boys do their stuff while we do arms. Boys come back, Shawn turns Cecily and Cole turns me. Free dance for two lines. We go into formation. Cole backs up, getting ready for his time to shine. He jumps, then lands on foot, arm, flipped too high, missed his head, landed on his side. We struck our finishing pose as the school clapped quietly. I could tell everyone knew that we had tried too advanced of a step and failed. We ran back behind the curtain. "That was so totally awesome!" Shawn yelled. Cole flipped around and began running. I ran after him. He pushed open the exit door and ran out into the cold, rainy, night. "Cole!" I shouted, catching up to him and grasping his arm. I looked him in the eye, then asked, "Where do you think you're going?" "Away," he said in frustration, trying to pull out of my grip. He succeeded, then began running again. "Cole!" I yelled, "I'm going with you!" He stopped short, then turned around and came back to me. "No," he said quietly, the pouring rain sliding down his hair and onto his face. He grasped my shoulders and turned me around to face the school. "You have a future here, I don't," he said, "Stay here, build your future, and forget about me." "No," I whispered, "Even though we've known each other for two days I feel like we're best friends. Please stay." My tears mixed with the rainwater on my face. Cole gave me a quick hug from behind, then I felt his arms leave me. I heard his footsteps splashing through the puddles as he left me. I closed my eyes. He was right. My future was here. I slowly walked back to the school and went through the backstage door. Cecily and Shawn were still there. Shawn was wearing sweats and a t-shirt now and Cecily had pulled her hair out of her bun. "Where's Cole?" Shawn asked. I slowly told them what Cole had told me and watched as their faces turned sad. "It's okay Scarlet," Cecily said gently, beginning to take the pins out of my hair that held it in its tight bun. "Yeah," Shawn agreed, "The best thing we can do for Cole is to work our hardest here and become performers."
Yeah, so Cole's gone. What do you think Scarlet will do? You know she has to find him again, so when do you think she'll see him? Comment below! I'll have the next chapter out sometime next week!