Secret
Annabeth's POV
The door slammed shut behind me as I leaned against the cool powder blue wall, gasping for breath. I tilted my head up at the florescent lights and closed my stormy eyes. It was a race every day. Every day it was a challenge to get inside unnoticed. Even inside it was a challenge to stay hidden. Absolutely NO ONE could see me in here. Ever.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket to check the time. It was five ten. I was twenty minutes early, as usual. I hoisted my large duffel bag over my shoulder and sighed as I pushed the bathroom door open. I got down on my knees and scanned under the stalls for feet. There weren't any. I pulled open the handicapped stall and dug into my bag for my outfit. Black leotard. Pale tights. Point shoes. Ballet flats. Legwarmers. Hair ties. Bobby pins. They were all there as usual. I stripped down to my black sports bra and underwear before pulling on the tights and leotard. Sticking the pins in my mouth, I propped up my hand mirror against the stall and quickly but carefully whipped my hair up into a perfect bun before securing it with several pins and half a can of hairspray. Before leaving I jammed the legwarmers on and placed my point slippers back into the bag. I took a deep breath and silently prayed to Athena to not let anyone see me.
During the school year, this was my life; Wake up. Go to school. Eat. Dance. Do homework. Repeat. I started ballet when I was in seventh grade, the first year I was home with my "family". I soon learned that I needed a hobby. I thought of ballet. It was unsuspecting of a girl like me and the tinkling classical music was relaxing. It took my mind off of the war to come and all the stress that came free from being a demigod. There were so many girls who were better than me because they had been dancing since they were three and not killing monsters. I caught up fast, though, and soon, I was one of the best in the class. Now, at fifteen, I am still the best, but afraid to show my talent. Not that I'm afraid of bullies or anything. But I'm really not the type of girl you would see dancing so I try to keep my dancing to myself. Dancing is such a delicate art and I'm kind of like a bull in a china shop. My goal is to get on to the Dancers United competition team, where only the best of the best are allowed.
I stood outside my studio as the five year olds finished their jazz class and practiced my positions silently. I opened my eyes just in time to see two girls from my school clomping down the hall in tap shoes. They were facing each other and laughing. "Jane, what a riot!" the taller one giggled as the other girl laughed manically. The jazz class let out just in time and I pushed my way through the crowd and into the studio just before they turned their heads my way. "Annabeth, one of my star students, you are here very early." my instructor, Ms. Princeton droned as she looked at the clock. I was ten minutes early. "Oh, I just thought I'd get in some extra practice time." I lied smoothly. Ms. Princeton nodded her head and sat down at her small foldable chair she had set up in the back corner of the room. I sighed with relief and sank down to the shiny wooden floor to stretch. I easily slid down in a middle split before stretching out my right and left leg splits and my arms and neck. I slipped on my ballet flats and began practicing my balançoires on the bars. As the rest of the class streamed in, they watched me quizzically as I practiced. I said nothing to them. After fifteen minutes, practice started and everyone was lined up and ready. As the soft music swelled in my ears I felt my body relax and all of my stress melt away. I started thinking about Percy and how I really started to like him as my body swam through the positions.
We practiced on the bar for an hour before getting our point shoes on and tip-toeing around the floor. I gracefully relevé-d across the floor as the other students struggled. The only girl who wasn't having any trouble at all was Elise. Elise was the star student. She knew every move and how to do it perfectly, she always looked sleek and cool, and she was better than me. She had been dancing since she was two years old and she could join any dance team if she wanted. "I want to stay local and get better before trying out for anything." she always answered when she was asked why she was here. Get better? I always thought, How can she get any better? But she did. Every week she had a new move down and under, and amazed everyone. In our competitions, she was always the star, me the back up. I hated being second. Two is the worst number in the whole world. It's one or nothing for me. After Ms. Princeton called the practice at eight o'clock, she patted her curly hair into place as she told us to gather around.
"Our next competition will be far away." she announced, "This competition is against Dancers United so I need my best students to compete. I can choose only three." Confused and annoyed whispers swept across the room of twelve girls. "Shhh," Ms. Princeton silenced, "The competition is in Manhattan. Manhattan, New York. It is very far from our home in San Francisco so I need you to think this over and talk to your parents about it. If you decide that you wish to come, you will try out in front of me and your fellow classmates on Monday with this routine." She handed out sheets of papers with moves on it to all of us. My paper was crumpled as I scanned it. "You should know that I will have no dilly dallying when we get to New York. You will practice, compete, win, and then go home. Do you understand?" A muffled yes was emitted from the crowd. "Dismissed." she finished before we packed up our stuff.
"Of course I'm doing it." Elise was scoffing at another girl, "You even considered me sitting on my lazy ass at home? Pfft!" I wanted to go desperately. Not for the dancing as much as the trip because there was a special someone who lived in Manhattan. And his name was Percy Jackson. But the voice of Ms. Princeton warned me, "I will have no dilly dallying." and I reconsidered. I straightened myself and smiled. I wouldn't call seeing Percy dilly dallying. Maybe taking a break and meeting up. What was the worst that could happen?