Abigail's Point of View
"Ok, my turn!" I whispered excitedly, continuing our game. I quickly glanced around the room to see Josh Cullen stretching in his point shoes. "Josh?" I nodded my heads toward him.
Kristi laughed. "Who can like a guy that does point?" She giggled and whispered, making sure to keep her voice down as we continued the Rating game. Although we knew full well you get in a lot of trouble for focusing on a game instead of actually stretching, it made the boring twenty minutes bearable. Kristi thought for a second while lifting her left leg all the way in the air, giving it a few tugs, then switching to the right. As I followed her, Kristi finally came with an answer. "Solely on looks, I'll give him a 7. He's not too bad looking, but I give him a 5 on personality, for the fact no straight guy does point."
We both laughed, apparently too loud. One of the dance instructors, Ms. Yow (my jazz and acro teacher) came over to us. Kristi and I both looked up at her, our smiles slightly fading and our cheeks turning red. Right as I was about to apologize for being unfocused, Ms. Yow said, "Abigail, can I have a word with you, please?"
What for? I questioned, but automatically responded, "Yes ma'am." I stood up, still in my jazz shoes and yoga booty shorts, and walked out of Studio 9. With one last glance to Kristi, she gave me a look asking what was up and I returned a shrug of the shoulders.
"In here, please," Ms. Yow said with a slight smile. She's a New York Dance Academy teacher; she rarely smiles. Either they caught me doing something really stupid, or something even weirder is going on. I obediently walked in and sat in the seat in front of her desk. "Is something wrong?" I asked with a shaky voice. What does she think I did?
"Oh nothing, dear!" She replied. "Sister Mary Lou just needed a few words with you, that's all!"
Sister Mary Lou? One of the nuns from St. Mary's? I pondered as Sister Mary Lou came through the door behind me. Why does someone from St. Mary need to see me? Do they think I didn't come to the stupid check up thing yesterday?
"Ah, Abigail!" Sister Mary Lou walked in front of me and stood next to Ms. Yow. "It's great to see you once more!" She said in her specific '1-800' voice.
"It's great to see you, too." I replied with a very fake but convincing smile. "Ms. Yow said you needed a few words with me?"
"Yes!" She exclaimed. "I wanted to discuss last night's check up with you."
"Oh?" I responded with an innocent grin. Oh crap. What did they find out….
"Well," Sister Mary Lou paused and exchanged a big smile with Ms. Yow, who returned it in the same apparent fashion, but I could tell there was something she wasn't happy with. "When we took another blood sample from you yesterday, we didn't expect much to come up since you've been with us for so long. Somewhere in California there was a house robbery, God help those poor people's souls. When the police took a blood sample from the crime scene~" she shivered at the word 'blood'. I tried my absolute hardest not to roll my eyes. "~the owner's blood was also taken, just to make sure the criminal's blood was analyzed, not the owner's.
Like every procedure, the Sacramento police department saved the blood sample for future purposes. And it just so happened that this was the same day our orphanage sent out requests for blood matches!" Sister Mary Lou's face brightened with every word. She was practically jumping up and down from excitement.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." I said confused. "What does this have to do with me?"
Both Sister Mary Lou and Ms. Yow laughed at my statement, but Ms. Yow laughed drily. "Don't you understand, child? As much as a coincidence as it is, this man's blood sample matched yours! It's God's miracle for you, my dear! This man is miraculously your brother!"
My whole body fell numb. My eyes widened like an owl's and my jaw dropped. After fifteen years, FIFTEEN YEARS of being an orphan, I found out I have a brother. I began to sweat and as the world spun, making me feel suddenly ill. I took me a while to regain motor skills. "I…I have a brother?" I said in an almost in audible whisper.
"Yes!" She practically screamed. "Isn't this wonderful?"
I didn't know how to respond. My whole world just flipped upside-down, and I wasn't sure if it was for the worst or for the best. "I~I…"
"Oh, she's speechless!" Sister Mary Lou exclaimed. "How magnificent! What a life-changing day this must be for you!"
"Yeah," I replied with a flat tone. "What…What happens now?" I couldn't shake it off. "A brother…" I mumbled to myself. "I have a brother?" I laid my head onto my hand. I felt like I was going to faint.
"Now your adventure starts!" Sister Mary Lou said in a matter-of-factly tone. "St. Mary's has a plane ticket for you and an appointment waiting for you with a family counselor. Tomorrow around this time," She checked her watch, "You'll be in California with your new brother! How exciting!"
"Wait what?" I exclaimed, maybe a little too loud. "Tomorrow?"
"Of course! Don't you want to start your new life with him?" She cried, bouncing up and down with the biggest grin on her face. It was sickening how much more excited she was than me. "In California!" She exclaimed to herself, overjoyed.
"But," I started. "I~I'll be coming back, right?"
"Why would you? Like I said, you're going to start a new life with him! You'll be living in big Sacramento! Bye-bye, New York! Bye-bye, boring life!"
I stared at my feet. No, I can't leave. Slowly, my head began to shake back and forth. My life is here. Everyone I know is here. They can't just pick me up and drop me somewhere else. They….they can't! "No," I said simply, looking back up to the nun. "No."
The smile faded slightly on her face. "What?"
"No," I repeated. "I can't go. I won't."
Now, the smile was completely gone.
"This is my home. You can't just move me to another place, especially to a random person on the other side of the country!" My voice rang through the office. I found myself off the chair, which was lying, thrown down, on the floor. "I don't know him, you don't know him! How can we not know he's not some rapist or something?"
Sister Mary Lour gasped and gripped her chest while Ms. Yow simply looked down at her feet. "Abigail Ansley Brooke!" She vociferated, using my full name. "How dare you say that! He is a wonderful man who is willing to take you in as his own!"
"How do you know that? Have you ever met him? Has anyone?" By the look of her face, I could tell the answer was no. "So, you're going to force two strangers together that are apparent siblings after 15 years? Does THAT make any sense?"
Sister Mary Lou looked back at me with killing eyes, but didn't say anything. Finally, she stood up straight and stuck her nose in the air. "It has been decided, Abigail." She sighed, looking hurt. "You are leaving the JFK Airport at 1:35 PM tomorrow and that's final." As she stormed out the door, I could have sworn I heard a mumbled, 'Good riddance.'
I couldn't help but let tears form in my eyes. Desperate, I shot my head around to Ms. Yow. She looked as sad as I did. "I'm…I'm sorry, Abigail."
"Ms. Yow," I choked. "I don't want to leave."
"I don't want you to, either. You're one of my best dancers, and you've been to this studio longer than any student."
"I know, but it's more than that." I tried to persuade her. "This studio…New York….Dancing! This is my life! It can't possibly be morally right to rip me away from that. And that man. How can they force us together after so long? It's not right, it's not fair! Ms. Yow, please! There's got to be something you can do."
I felt a cool breeze on one side of my cheek. My hand felt a cool tear drip onto it. I'm crying? I haven't cried ever since…..I don't even know when the last time was…
With a hopeless look on my face, I looked back up to Ms. Yow. Her face read sadness, but more importantly, helplessness. "I….There's nothing I can do, Abigail. Like Sister Mary Lou said, it's already been decided."
"This is my whole world, Ms. Yow. This academy, New York! I can't leave! I won't!"
Ms. Yow didn't respond. She simply looked down to her feet.
"Please," I begged in a whisper. "Please."
"You may have the rest of the day off, Abigail." Ms. Yow said in a mono-tone. "Go home and pack for tomorrow."
I didn't move. I stood there in her office with my mouth hung open. I've come to this academy for nine years and that's all she has to say? Finally, I slowly turned and headed for the door.
"Abigail?" Ms. Yow called when I reached for the handle. "Take Kristi home with you."
When I turned back around, I saw Ms. Yow with a small smile on her face. She glanced up and down at me and continued. "I've known you since you were six, when you first started coming here. You've grown so much, Abigail. It's been an honor working with you, and I and the whole studio will miss you."
I tried to suppress a grin, but failed. Not once in the entire time I have been here have I received a compliment like that. Without saying a word, I did the same thing I had every time I'd left any ballet teachers' presence: with a simple and slow curtsey, I turned back to the door and left the office for the last time.
The high of the compliment faded instantaneously as the door clicked shut. With the tears rapidly falling down my face, I stormed down the hallway and into Studio 9.
"Hey, what was that~?" Kristi began to ask while I gripped her hand and thrust her up. "What the hell~?" She asked as I threw her bag into her hand and dragged her out of the building with me.
"Abigail, what the hell is going~? Wait, are you crying?" Kristi cried as I fast walked with my jazz shoes scraping the pavement. I let them scratch up as my head fell down. As hard as I tried, I couldn't hid from the big brave New York city (or my best friend) that my heart was broken.