…and then there were six…
Téa Gardner shifted in her seat, glancing around the dimly lit room. Many people were dancing, others were cheering and some were still eating. Dinner had ended a half-hour ago, but that didn't stop the elder people in the room from devouring the good food.
With a sigh, she got up, shook out her pink skirt and walked determinedly towards the door. She could hear some people whispering and automatically knew they were talking about her. She wasn't being paranoid; they always talked about her when they thought she wasn't listening. It was the same at every dance competition she went to, mainly because it was always the same people who competed.
Téa would enter a competition every once in a while, but mostly she would show up without a partner, preventing her from competing. After the competition was won there would be dancing, just plain, fun, non-competitive dancing and even then she would be without a partner. No one even bothered to spare her a word, just sent sympathetic glances her way.
It infuriated her.
She just didn't see the point of throwing a glance her way every now and then. If they felt sorry for her, then why didn't they bother to ask her to dance? It would be much easier for them to do so, after all, one more dance was what she wanted. A single, simple dance. It didn't have to be the waltz or foxtrot or anything, it could just be walking around, making it look like they were dancing. Then she would be satisfied and she'd leave them all to dance the night away.
Téa sighed again as she kicked a pebble along the sidewalk, keeping her gaze focused on the small, shiny rock. People bustled around her, even though it was about eleven o'clock. No one spared her a glance as she walked through them, her ball gown swaying gently in the breeze. She stayed well away from the streetlights and neon signs, not wanting to embarrass herself.
Hugging her coat closer to herself, Téa pondered whether or not she should even go to the next school dance. For even there no one would dance with her. Probably because they somehow knew she couldn't dance like that. Sure, ballroom and ballet she could do, but the whole 'modern-day dancing' moves still eluded her, no matter how hard she tried.
Stopping under a streetlight, and ignoring the crowd around her, she gazed up at it, feeling lost. Not physically, because she knew Domino more than the back of her hand, but emotionally. Inside, her turmoil at not being accepted at school or among other dancers was tearing her apart. Slowly, but surely, soon she would be forced to move or risk depression or some other mental disorder. Not something she needed if she wanted to accomplish her dream.
Tearing her gaze away from the light she noticed someone watching her. Téa couldn't see them clearly, because they were across the street hidden in the shadows, but she could still feel their eyes on her. Feeling slightly unnerved, she put her head down and walked away as fast as she could without making it look like she was afraid. She didn't want to fight someone when she was wearing something as fancy and expensive as a ball gown.
With a breath of relief, she finally reached the residential part of town, where there were fewer people around. She allowed herself to slump with relief, taking in the crisp air. If it weren't for the hum of engines and people a street over, she could almost make herself believe that she was alone in a forest, one of her favorite fantasies.
In a forest, she wouldn't be judged by her peers or fellow dancers. She could take her hair down from the French Braid she kept wrapped around her head. She could dance all she wanted and not have to worry about messing up in front of rich people. The only company she would have was plants and animals, which she preferred to humans anyway. It would be bliss.
Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she walked slowly towards her own home, sixth on the right with the green shutters and roses growing over the picket fence. There her mother would be in the kitchen, baking cookies, cakes or other random pastries and deserts. Her father would be in his room, looking over maps and smoking a cigar and typing some "discovery" to pen pals in Europe or somewhere. Maybe he would even be dancing, for he was a former championship dancer.
If Téa wasn't at school or a dance, she would be in her room, studying or playing with her cat, Glitch. If she was in a bad mood, she would be in the dance room, which her father had added onto the house after he'd noticed his daughter's obsession with it. She would either be sitting on the floor, just listening to the music or dancing her way around the room. It was the only way she could forget her non-existent social life.
Téa opened the door to the house, the smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies hitting her. She breathed it in deeply. She loved the scent, it reminded her that there were people who cared about her and noticed her and that reminder was what kept her from being just like all the other outcasts at school.
"I'm home." She shouted, closing the door and dropping her coat onto the floor. The Gardner's might be prompt about time , school and talent but when it came to manners being clean, they couldn't care less about what other's thought of them.
"How'd it go?" her mother asked, poking her head out of the kitchen, covered in flour.
"It was fine." Téa answered, going into the living and flipping on the TV, not bothering to change. It was a code they'd figured out without consulting each other.
If Téa headed directly to her room then she was to be left alone, unless they wanted her to blow up on them. If she went to the kitchen first, then it had been a fair day. If it was the living room, then she was to be spoken to later about whatever had happened.
It was a good communication system and everyone followed it. Even her father obeyed it when he wasn't itching to tell them something. Which, he seemed to want to do now, because he was pacing around the room, a strange light in his eyes.
"What's wrong with you?" Téa asked, putting down the remote and raising an eyebrow at her father.
"Dance!" he exclaimed, smiling happily. Téa blinked in confusion and gave her father a worried glance.
"Don't worry about him, daughter, he's just lost his mind a few hours ago." Mrs. Gardner said, coming out of the kitchen, having cleaned the flour and chocolate.
"I didn't!" Mr. Gardner protested. "I've got good news is all."
"Well, let's hear it, then." Mrs. Gardner said, waiting expectantly.
"I went to the public school today. The principal had apparently heard of my former dancing skills and asked me to take a job as dance teacher." He said, the light in his getting brighter.
"What'd you tell her?" Téa asked, knowing there was more to it.
"I told her no." he said, his smile getting bigger. "I don't have the time for teaching anymore. So, she offered that I just teach the kids in Saturday School, detention or ISS. And I accepted!"
Téa blinked again as her mother sighed and put a hand to her temple. "You really have lost your mind."
"I haven't! This is the opportunity of a lifetime for those kids! They can get out their negative emotions and all that unintelligible stuff psychologists talk about." Mr. Gardner said. "But I don't feel comfortable teaching a class if my daughter isn't in it, so I'm enrolling you in Domino High and you're going to have to find a way to get into detention."
"Téa, honey, can you pack your father's essentials."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because I'm going to call Domino Mental Health Hospital and tell them they have a new arrival." Mrs. Gardner said, going back to the kitchen to get the phone.
"I'm not insane!" Mr. Gardner exclaimed, following her into the kitchen.
Téa couldn't help but smile. That was why she lover her parents, they were so random sometimes and they knew how to joke. She bit her lip at the thought of her father teaching dance again. The last pupil he'd had was herself, about five years before. She longed to be one of his students again and not of that stupid, stuffy private school she went to.
With a smile at her father's lightheartedness, she went back to watching TV.