The last ten minutes of practice was always the most stressful.
By the time seven-fifty on Tuesdays and Fridays rolled around, Mercedes would be drenched in sweat and her tendons would feel like they were on the verge of snapping. It didn't help matters that Madam Odette would be barking at her to keep her form up despite her exhaustion, nor that her feet and shoulders were aching from the exercise.
Seriously, her mother said that taking ballet classes would be fun, not a test of her patience and persistence. She had been at this for four years now and still couldn't wrap her head around how people managed to disguise this overdone workout as an art form. It should be considered an Olympic sport.
The waxed wooden floors glimmered underneath the bright lights hanging from the ceiling while metal folding chairs lined a wall that featured a beautiful mural showing a scene from The Nutcracker. Madam Odette had explained on day one that it was the part of the play after the battle between the gingerbread soldiers and the mice, when the Nutcracker becomes a handsome Prince before Clara's eyes. Mercedes, balancing on her toe next to the opposing wall that had a wooden barre attached to it, kept staring at the mural through the giant mirror that covered the wall. She wasn't interested in the painting itself; she was interested in the people sitting in front of the painting in the chairs.
She was part of the high school class, so there weren't a whole lot of mothers and fathers watching and cheering their daughters and sons on. In fact, there weren't a lot of people at all. Of the fifteen or so chairs, only four actually had anyone sitting in them. There were two mothers, a friend of one of Mercedes' classmates, and the last one was…him.
Or, if he was to be named, Ingway.
Ignoring the strain that her legs were experiencing, Mercedes stared at Ingway through the mirror. His jacket was slung over the back of his chair and he was leaning forward with one leg crossed over the other. Chin resting on his hand, he almost seemed to be studying her through his honey golden bangs. Mercedes narrowed her eyes slightly as she moved with Odette's orders.
"Arabesque!" Her teacher chirped all too cheerfully. Mercedes ground her teeth together as her spine bent and she stuck her leg out behind her while putting her left arm forward. Ingway was still watching her and she wondered if he had realized that she was watching him.
There were five minutes left now. Odette was still urging her girls and boys to keep it up, snapping rather brutally at those who were losing their form. Mercedes made an unladylike grunt and Odette turned to her, as though expecting her to have lost her posture.
"Very good, Miss Kendrick," the middle-aged woman said placing a hand on her hip. "I congratulate you for having endured today's trial and maintaining form despite your apparent focus on your boyfriend."
The ground slipped from beneath Mercedes' feet and there was a brief feeling of weightlessness before her side and front were overcome by a sharp pain. The thud that she made as she hit the ground was loud and caused everyone in the room to stop what they were doing and stare.
Although dazed from her fall, Mercedes felt the heat rush to her cheeks and a lump form in her throat. She heard Madam Odette sigh and thought that someone laughed in the background as she tried pushing herself up, arms and palms throbbing as she blinked back tears. She jolted just slightly when someone grabbed her and helped her to her knees. Through the blur in her vision, she saw Ingway looking at her with positively concerned violet eyes.
"I think that's enough practice for one night," he said sourly while turning to Odette. The dance instructor furrowed her brow as she looked at the studio's clock.
"I suppose we can end two minutes early," she spun on her heel to her other students and clapped her hands together. "All right, my little ones. That's enough for tonight! There are no classes next week because of Halloween festivities, so be careful and don't make yourself sick on candy!"
The sighs from the other ballet students practically became a chorus. Mercedes wobbled slightly as Ingway lifted her to her feet. "You okay?" He asked. "You didn't twist anything, did you?"
Mercedes shook her head and rubbed aggressively at her eyes. "I'm fine," she sniffed. Ingway frowned while wiping a stray tear away with his thumb. Mercedes waved him off and unhappily stormed towards the door that led to the changing room.
A few girls who were also a part of the class watched her leave. One of them, a particularly mean and spiteful brunette wearing contact lenses, scoffed loudly.
"What an annoying little twerp!" She said, not caring if Mercedes heard her or not. Mercedes heard her quite well and her hands balled into fists as she entered the changing room. She didn't want to cry and she refused to cry, even in private.
She was quick to open her locker and slip out of her ballet shoes and leotard before throwing on her socks, skirt, sweater, and boots. It was no wonder that she hadn't gotten a role in any of the major productions that her class put on. Odette kept finding ways to make her screw up despite that she was trying as hard as any of the other ballet dancers. Why she didn't like her was beyond her comprehension.
The other girls started to come in as she unpinned her braids and let them fall to frame her face, but she ignored them and buttoned up her jacket. Shouldering her bag with her things, she made sure not to give any of them eye contact as she left.
When she stepped back into the studio, she searched for Ingway and found him standing by the door that led to the hallway outside the studio…With that same brunette trying to chat him up.
"Seriously Ingway, you really could do a lot better," she said batting her eyelashes. "I mean you're our class' vice president and captain of our track and field team. Mercedes is just a rich privileged girl who doesn't understand that people actually have to work to get anywhere."
Steam was threatening to come out of Mercedes' ears now. She really couldn't help it now as wet streaks began appearing on her face and her grip on her bag tightened.
"Excuse me, Helen, but don't you know bullying is against the law?"
Helen blinked. "Eh?"
Ingway shoved her out of the way and walked over to Mercedes. She looked up at him and Ingway took her by the shoulders, turning to Helen while glaring daggers at her. "I heard about the incident on the school's email system where you attempted to spread a rumor that Mercedes was flunking all her classes and taking her anger out on the freshman as a result. Thankfully, Velvet was able to shut that one down before it got out of hand."
Ingway guided Mercedes to the door and gave Helen one last, pitiful glance. "Crude language aside, you're a bitch. Mercedes is a better girlfriend than you will ever be."
As the door to the studio shut behind them, Mercedes managed a grin when she saw Helen's open jaw.
Afterwards, Ingway made sure to buy Mercedes hot chocolate from a stand near the road. She had stopped crying, but her cheeks were still a little too red and her eyes all puffed up as she sipped from her cup.
"You didn't need to do that," she said. "Now she's probably going to try and spread rumors about you."
"She already is," Ingway held his cellphone out. Mercedes looked at the text on the screen.
Griselda: What's going on and why is Helen claiming you're selling pot?
Mercedes' lower lip hung out and she took another sip of her hot chocolate. "She is a b-word."
"Just go out and say bitch, love," Ingway clicked his phone off and stuffed it back in his pocket. Mercedes finished off the rest of her hot chocolate and tossed it in a nearby trashcan while Ingway stood up and stretched, shirt riding up expose just a little of his abdominal muscles. The moment his hands fell to his sides, Mercedes grabbed one of them and leaned on his shoulder.
"Do you want to stop at my place? Mom said she managed to snag a copy of The Count in Grimnight Castle."
"Isn't that a cheesy vampire romance flick that somehow became a blockbuster hit?" Ingway asked.
"Yeah, so it's prime material to make fun of," Mercedes buried her face in his jacket sleeve. She really hoped that Ingway was smiling at her. Ingway hooked his arm around hers and pulled her in a little closer.
"Fine, it's a deal."
There was a clicking noise as they stepped forward and the girl paused, unsure if someone had simply had set off a firecracker in the park. She was surprised as Ingway suddenly pressed all his weight against her, but her eyes flew open as Ingway's arms wrapped around her neck and he brought her down to the ground with him.
"A-ah…" Mercedes really didn't want to believe it, but her hand went to her boyfriend's back and came into contact with something wet and sticky that, when she held it up to the light of the park lamp, glittered red.
That's when she let out an ear-splitting shriek as an unknown man rushed at her and grabbed her neck. She gagged as his grip tightened while he spoke to her in a venomous voice.
"Give it to me. Give me your wallets, now," he hissed. Mercedes shook her head, but the man pointed his gun at her chin.
"Let go…please…" she choked out a sob. The man was already fumbling with her bag one-handed and tearing out the contents, schoolbooks, binders, ballet clothes, and all.
"Damn, damn, damn, where is it?" He aggressively shoved the nozzle of his gun at her chin. "WHERE IS THE MONEY?!"
I'm going to die…Mercedes' thoughts echoed in her head as she continued to shake her head. I'm going to die.
The man turned his head as a police car drove by the park with its sirens wailing. He swore beneath his breath and shoved Mercedes to the ground before pointing his gun at her stomach.
Three shots were fired. Mercedes head tilted back as her world faded to black.
A tragedy occurred in Elrit Park this evening as a young high school couple was assaulted by an unknown gunman. Sixteen year old Mercedes Kendrick and seventeen year old Ingway Valentine are currently in critical care and it is unknown if they will recover.
That was what was on the TV in Mercedes' room, at any rate, as the small magical dragon known as Belial sat on the windowsill, his pale eyes upon the unconscious girl as he asked her a question.
Do you want to live and do you want your boyfriend to live as well?