She just wanted to feel beautiful. Ever since she was a little girl, Alicia Rivera was a dancer. She was a natural. She did all kinds of dance. Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop. You name it, she did it. Sh won trophies and medals at every competition she competed at. Dancing was her world. Dancing was her life.
"Your grades are dropping Alicia. I know that dancing is important to you, but if its going to affect your grades, I think you may need to quit." Exclaimed her father, esteemed lawyer, Len Rivera.
Quit? She could not just quit. Alicia had worked way too hard for this. She wanted to become a dancer. No, she had to be a dancer. She wasn't going to grow up and be a stuffy old attorney like her father. She was going to explore, and she was going to become free. So what if she had bad grades? Its not like the Pythagorean Theorem was going to help her in ballet.
"You spend all of your time dancing! You never go out anymore. Its like you eat, sleep, breathe dance! Its not healthy Alicia. You have friends. You have me! And we are not going to be there for you anymore if you keep this up!" Stated her handsome Spanish boyfriend, Josh Hotz.
Alicia was so taken back by what Josh had said. All of her time dancing? That could not be true. She still had a life. Well, even if it did take up all her time, why should he bug her about it? Josh was Alicia's boyfriend. He's supposed to be there for her. Support her. Protect her. Right now, all he was doing was pushing away.
"Miss. Rivera? I'm afraid that your feet are in horrible condition. What sport do you do? Dancing? No wonder. Now, how long to dance regularly since I assume you're on a team. Six days a week? No, Miss Rivera this won't do, this will not do at all. This is unhealthy. Especially for your feet. You could develop some serious foot conditions. You need to take a break"
Take a break? How could a doctor tell her she needed to take a break? She had no idea what she was talking about. She wasn't a dancer. She didn't know how much you have to practice to be perfect. To feel beautiful when you're up on that stage in front of hundreds of people. She didn't know how much pain it took. But Alicia did. Well, at least she thought she did.
But all this pain. Was it worth it? Was it worth failing, losing friends, disconnecting from family, maybe even developing a serious medical condition? Soon, Alicia realized it wasn't worth it. It could be, but it wasn't. Dancing was a pleasure, a commitment. But it should not make her feel like its killing her. It should not have to take over her life. She just wanted it so badly. How was she supposed to know that it would hurt people? How was she supposed to know that it would hurt her? She just wanted to feel beautiful. Just for a minuet.
I'm sorry if this offends any dancers. I'm not trying to be mean, but I have friend who's a dancer and she's told me that dancing can sometimes be painful and take up a lot of time. And if you are a dancer or know some terms, I used "minuet" instead of "minute" at the end because they kind of sound and look the same but "minuet" is for dancing and "minute" is for time. Review please! :D