"Dare to Dream" © Nattou; 16.07.09
This is a derivate piece of fiction featuring characters copyrighted and trademarked by Disney Enterprises Inc. It is based upon High School Musical, copyright 2006 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved; and High School Musical 2, copyright 2007 by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., all rights reserved. The author is not connected with nor is this work authorised by Walt Disney Enterprises Inc., or any other motion picture studios. This work is solely intended for posting on Fanfiction, for the benefit and enjoyment of its intended audience. No commercial or financial benefit accrues or is intended to accrue to the author as a result of said posting. Any unauthorised copying or redistribution of this work might subject the party responsible for such unauthorized copying or redistribution to legal action by the owners of the aforementioned copyrights and trademarks.
AN: As always, a huge thanks to Mya for kicking my butt, and to flywithmes2for helping me make the chapter better :D you girls rock!
Sorry it took me so long to post this, but i really hope you like it!
Chapter 3: Beautiful
There was something comforting about standing all alone in the middle a dance studio. The wooden floors and mirrored walls provided a sense of belonging Gabriella wasn't even aware she had missed.
Smiling at her own reflection she stood up on her tiptoes, straightened her back, and let her feet move in a waltzing sequence only she knew.
1-2-3
1-2-3
1-2-3
Excitement slowly spread through her veins and she closed her eyes. She didn't know what it was about dancing that made her feel so content, but when she was dancing it was as if nothing could hurt her. All fears and troubling thoughts were left behind in the changing room, and all that mattered was that pure and utter happiness that floated through her body.
"If you can dance like that on your own, I can't wait to see what you can do once paired up with someone."
Tripping over her feet, Gabriella fell towards the floor where she landed with a groan.
"Oh my. I didn't mean to scare you, Miss Montez."
Gabriella giggled and blushed slightly.
"Don't worry about it. I should have paid more attention," she said as she stood up and straightened her clothes. The middle-aged woman followed her every move and Gabriella bit her lip nervously.
"Unless you didn't already figure it out, I'm Mrs. Dawson, the director of the school. Tell me Miss, how many years have you studied dance? You move with the uttermost grace."
"Oh…uhm…since I was about four years old. My mother enrolled me in ballet and it just grew from there. Tap; a bit of Jazz, Latin and Ballroom, dancing has always been a part of my life," Gabriella said with a slight blush coloring her cheeks. Despite winning several dance competitions as a child, she had never dealt well with compliments.
Mrs. Dawson smiled.
"I can tell. From your letter I also understood that you have studied dance at university?"
"Yes, Ma'm, I have a degree in Classical Ballet, and a minor in Latin American."
"So if you were to be an instructor here, what classes would you like to teach?" the older woman asked as she moved to sit down in one of the two chairs in the corner. Gabriella silently followed her and sat down in the other chair.
"I would love to teach the youngest ones. While I was in college I had a part time job teaching children between four and seven ballet and basic tap. Ballroom and Latin wouldn't be problem either. That has always been a passion of mine."
"Why did you stop?"
"My partner quit, and finding a new one isn't the easiest task. There always seems to be a shortage of boys who enjoy dancing," she said and locked eyes with Mrs. Dawson who smiled at her.
"I think there would most definitely be room for you here Gabriella. You've got this passion about dancing that I adore in my instructors. We have a kindergarten ballet class starting this Thursday, I have an instructor who is able to do it, but she's heavily pregnant and therefore will not be able to continue past this week. How do you feel about being her replacement?"
Gabriella smiled and bit her lip.
"I would love to. Do you need me to start this week or the next? Tuesdays and Thursdays are the days I have off from the elementary school, so I can easily start this week."
"This week would be great. The class starts at six pm, but the instructors are usually in place at the studio at least fifteen minutes before that. There's a pre-kindergarten class starting in this studio at five pm this evening. I would highly recommend that you observe that one from the sidelines, just to get a general overview over how the classes are usually run here."
"That's not a problem at all. Mrs. Dawson?" she asked tentatively.
"Yes?"
"Is it too late for students to enroll in a class? I have a few students at school who I think would love to have a few lessons."
"It's not too late at all. At the moment the kindergarten class only has nine students enrolled. With the youngest ones we draw the line at fifteen to keep it manageable and to ensure that they get some individual attention, but there are still open spaces." Mrs. Dawson said with a smile. "I'll see you at five this evening."
Gabriella nodded and watched as the older woman walked out the door with a smile on her face. She was going to dance again, and she was going to get paid to do so. Could one get a more perfect second job?
Grinning she looked around the brightly lit studio. Dark hardwood floors, a mirrored wall and bars in two different heights. It was an environment she knew well, and as she walked out of the door she really couldn't wait till the moment she got to share her love with excited children.
---hsm---
Keeping a close eye on Violet, Troy carefully maneuvered his way through the many shelves of dance equipment. Pants, shoes, dresses, and t-shirts of all sizes and colors surrounded them, but the little girl only had eyes for one thing; the children's corner. When she had walked into the living room and announced that she wanted to start dancing with Miss Montez he had simply nodded his head and asked her when. She had looked at him through surprised eyes and said 'tomorrow.' So now, after realizing that his daughter owned nothing she classified as ballerina clothes, he was making his way through a dance equipment store to get her what she needed.
"Daddy! Come on!"
"I'm coming I'm coming," he said and almost knocked over a shoe rack with Latin American dance shoes.
"You know what Violet?"
"What?" she giggled.
"I don't think this store was made for daddies."
"No, it's made for ballerinas."
"Right you are, peanut, right you are," he chuckled as he eased his way towards the wall with leotards and skirts. Violet's blue eyes resembled saucers as she gazed up the different models and colors in front of her. Looking around, Troy scratched his neck and suddenly wished he had brought his mom along. This was one area where he really didn't know what his daughter needed.
"Good evening, sir, may I help you with anything?"
Troy spun around and smiled in relief as his eyes landed on a young sales assistant.
"Quite possibly. This little one is starting ballet lessons tomorrow and needs just about everything you need for that."
The young woman suppressed a giggle and sat down so she was on eye level with Violet.
"Hey Sweetie, did you see anything you like?" she asked. Violet fumbled for Troy's hand as she nodded her head carefully.
"Yeah? Do you want to show me so we can find the right size?"
Troy looked down at his daughter as she stared at the floor and bit her lip gently.
"She's a little shy," he said with a smile. The sales assistant nodded, but didn't move to stand up.
"She's not the first one," she said.
"Which one did you like, Violet?" he asked. Her answer was so quiet he had problem hearing it, but the young girl apparently had.
"The purple one?" she asked. Violet nodded slowly as she pointed to a light purple leotard with a thin purple skirt already attached to it. The young woman smiled and stood up.
"What size does she use?" she asked as she fumbled with the tags that held both the size and the price.
"Five."
"Let see…here's a five," she said unhooking the clothes hanger and showing it to Troy and Violet. The skirt danced slightly and Violet carefully reached out to touch it. The short poofy sleeves were made of the same material as the skirt and Troy suddenly got a flashback to the time his older sister had dressed him up as a princess. Shuddering he twisted a lock of Violet's hair around his finger before crouching down.
"That's the one you want, Peanut?" She nodded. "Do you want to try it on?"
"Do I have to?" she whispered quietly. Troy shook his head.
"No you don't, let's just see if it's long enough for your body, huh?" he said just as the sales assistant handed him the leotard. After making sure it was the right size, they got help picking out suitable slippers, a thin wrap around jacket, and a few pairs of white tights.
It was a proud, but tired little girl who one hour later carried her own bag into the Bolton living room with a smile on her face.
"Are you excited about tomorrow?" Troy asked as he placed their shoes on the shoe rack.
"Yes…but, Daddy?"
"Yeah?"
"Will you come with me?" she asked quietly.
Smiling he turned to look at his daughter. The brave girl that had so boldly told him she wanted to dance had disappeared, and in her place stood his vulnerable baby girl, looking timid as ever as she realized exactly what she was about to do.
"Of course I'll come with you sweetheart. I have to meet this Miss Montez that you like to much don't I?" he said and tapped her nose gently. Violet grinned and nodded her head.
"You do," she stated before walking towards her room with her new things, leaving a chuckling Troy alone in the living room.
---HSM---
Looking around the studio once more, Gabriella carefully re-tied the ribbons on her skirt around her waist. The black color contrasted beautifully against her burgundy leotard and she smiled at her reflection in the mirror. Once she had found it embarrassing to like looking at herself while dancing, but that embarrassment had faded once she graduated to the higher levels at her dance school. With a smile still playing on her lips, she pointed her left leg to the side, bent her right knee in preparation, and did a perfect double pirouette. Oh, how she had missed dancing over the past few months.
The pitter-patter of little feet pulled Gabriella out of her thoughts, and she gave herself a once-over before turning towards the door. Her heart was beating excitingly against her ribs as she reached for the doorknob and took a deep breath. It had been months since she had taught a class and she couldn't help the worry that slowly spread throughout her body. What if she disappointed them?
"Mommy? Will my teacher be a real ballerina?"
Gabriella couldn't help the giggle that escaped her. She lived for comments like that. One of the biggest gifts children bring next to love is innocence and simplicity. Things are rarely complicated to them; they can handle the most complex situations with ease as their explanations tend to be clearer than what most adults can come up with. Still smiling, she turned the doorknob and pushed the door open.
"She IS a ballerina mommy! Look!" A little girl with tightly braided French braids exclaimed as she pointed towards Gabriella.
"Shh, Hannah, it's rude to point," her mother scolded as she removed Hannah's shoes and replaced them with pink slippers.
"Hey everyone, are you excited?" Gabriella asked. The sea of pink nodded timidly as everyone suddenly fell quiet.
"Good," she grinned. "I'm excited too."
The little girls stared at her in awe as the parents got them changed, and Gabriella quickly counted them to see how many were still missing. Just as she finished she heard a door closing and quickly poked her head into the hallway.
"Daddy, what way do we go?" a sweet voice asked. She sounded vaguely familiar and Gabriella tilted her head to try and get a better view just as the fathers head suddenly turned. The stunning blue eyes were the first thing that caught Gabriella's attention and she did a double take.
"I think it's this way, Vi," he said without moving his eyes and Gabriella felt a blush creep up her neck. Not good. As she forced herself to blink she could hear them moving closer and silently vowed to stay professional.
"Daddy, that's Miss Montez!"
Her eyes flew open and were met with the adorable sight of an excited little Violet Bolton. Dressed in purple and white, she was tightly holding on to her daddy's hand with a smile on her face. Gabriella momentarily forgot about the blush the blue-eyed dad had triggered and sat down in front of Violet.
"Hey sweetie, you look real pretty today."
"Thank you. I wanted my hair all pretty too…but daddy didn't know how to make it that way," Violet said and Gabriella suppressed a giggle.
"Maybe I can teach daddy some time? It's not as hard as it looks."
"Not sure that would be a good idea. This little princess seems to think I'm better at tugging than anything else," Gabriella laughed at his comment and stood up.
"Troy Bolton," he said and extended his hand.
"Gabriella Montez."
"So you're the Miss Montez, Vi has told me so much about."
"Unless she knows any other Miss Montez's I suppose I am," she said as another blush heated her cheeks. She'd never dealt well with compliments, especially not when they came from an absolutely gorgeous blue eyed stranger.
"Miss Montez…"
Gabriella blinked before looking down at Violet who was still holding onto her daddy's hand tightly.
"Yes, sweetie?"
"Can daddy stay and watch?" She asked quietly.
"Of course daddy can watch, all the mommies and daddies can on the first day," Gabriella said with a smile as Troy guided Violet towards a chair.
Ten minutes later all the girls were seated in a circle on the floor of the studio with their legs extended in front of them.
"Ok, I know you're all very excited about dancing today, but I thought it would be best if we all knew each other's names first. Dance lessons are first and foremost a place to have fun, and it's so much easier when you have friends around each other. I'll start. My name is Gabriella Montez. At school the students call me Miss Montez, but here in dance class you can call me Gabriella or Gabi. Whatever's easiest for you. Can you tell me your name, sweetie?" she asked the little girl next to her.
"I'm Charlotte, but you can call me Lottie. That's what all my friends do. What's your name?" she asked the girl sitting next to her.
"My name's Sarah…just Sarah. What's yours?"
"Madeleine….."
---HSM---
The classical music floated around the room and Troy couldn't stop the grin from spreading on his face. His little girl, his pride and joy, was learning to dance, and looked absolutely adorable doing so. With furrowed eyebrows and her lower lip caged in by her front teeth, she did her best to copy the moves Gabriella had just showed them. So far he had learned that the misplaced banister on the wall was actually called a bar, and that the exercise the children were currently doing was called plié's. To him it looked more like practicing curtseying, but as long as his baby was having fun he really didn't care.
"Very good! You're doing so well! Now, do you think you can point out your toe like this and tap it on the floor? There you go! Now the other leg," Gabriella instructed as she walked past the girls and helped those who wanted it.
"Good work, girls! Can you all come out here on the floor and make a circle? Very nice, now; do any of you know what a split is? Yes Hannah?"
"When you can sit down on the floor with one leg in front of you and one behind you?" she timidly asked. Gabriella nodded.
"That's right. That's one of the two splits you can do. The other one is when one leg is extended on either side of you."
"Can you do that?" one of the older girls asked.
"Yes, I can. It took me a while to learn though. For some children it's easier than for others, maybe some of you already know how?"
"I can do it."
"Me too."
"Very good. Maybe you can show the other girls how you do it?"
"Can't you show us, Miss Montez?" Violet asked shyly, speaking up for the first time since they walked into the studio.
"If you girls want me to?" she was answered with a series of nods, and a smile grew on her face as she slowly slid down towards the floor.
Troy watched in fascination until her legs were fully extended on either side of her upper body. The act looked completely effortless to her, but he couldn't help but cringe as she slowly twisted her hips until the legs that were previously on either side of her now lay in front and behind her. Astounded he watched as some of the girls slid down just as easily as Gabriella had done, and foolishly thought how much it would have hurt if that had been him. Shuddering slightly, he moved his gaze towards Violet and was surprised to see that she was almost sitting on the floor as well. What was it with girls and flexibility?
"Great girls! Violet, you can almost do it; Hannah, you're very close, as well. Just a little practice and you'll all be able to do it. What we're doing now is called stretching. We'll do a little of that at the end of each lesson. Now; if you can all sit down with both your legs extended in front of you we're going to do another exercise. Good. Do you see how your toes are pointing straight up to the ceiling? Do you think you can do so that they point at the girl sitting in front of you like this?" she said and flexed her toes forward. The girls copied her move as best they could and Gabriella grinned at the effort radiating from the group.
"Great! And then point to the ceiling again. Good! And back at the girl in front of you. You're doing really well. Now lean forward and try to touch your toes without bending your knees. This can be tricky. Imagine they are wiggly jelly worms that you have to catch and then eat up! Wiggle wiggle wiggle!"
The girls giggled as Gabriella playfully wiggled her toes and tried to catch them with her hands.
"Awesome, little ladies! Now jump up on your feet and we're going to have some freestyle dancing. That means you can dance however you like!"
"Yay!"
Gabriella smiled and walked towards the CD player. It hadn't taken the girls long to get over their initial shyness, and as she changed the CD excited chatter broke out between them. Only a few of the girls stayed on their own and Gabriella made a mental note to keep an eye on them throughout the first few weeks. She pressed play and the happy, upbeat notes of the 'Lazy Town' soundtrack filled the room.
Bing Bang Diggly Dong
First thing that I say after I wake up
Bing Bang Diggly Dong
I say those words before I go to sleep
Get on up it's time to dance yeah
It's so much fun being up on our feet
So we go up up
To the top
Move around and clap your hands together
Down down turn around
Having fun is what it's all about
Troy chuckled as he watched the children jump around the room while trying to follow the singer's instructions as best they could. Turning around while jumping seemed to be the hardest part; as many of them landed on the floor rather than on their feet. However, not all the girls were dancing, and he quickly noted that Violet was one of them. She was slowly making her way towards him and he could see that the shyness that had almost melted away was slowly building again.
"Daddy…"
"What's the matter Peanut? Don't you want to dance with the others anymore?" Troy asked as she sat down on his lap. Her only reply was a silent shake of her head.
"Ok, but Miss Gabriella is on her way over here, and I bet she wants you to come and join them," he said, making Violet's head turn towards the studio.
"Hey sweetheart, don't you want to join us?" Gabriella asked.
"No…"
"Are you sure about that? You can dance with me if you want to," she said, hoping to coax her out of her father's arms.
"Can't I just watch with daddy?"
"If that's what you really want, then that's fine. I won't force you if you don't want to," Gabriella said and stood up. With a smile she added; "If you change your mind you can come and join us anytime."
Troy followed Gabriella with his eyes as she walked towards the other children. He wasn't sure what it was, but something inside of him told him that he had just met a very special young woman; one that seemed to be equally beautiful on both the inside and the outside.
AN; and there you have chapter 3. Please tell me what you think. If you're curious about the song i quoted you will find a link on my profile
xxxCarolinexxx