Chapter 13

Merida stepped out of the school and in to freedom. She took in the chilly air.

"Hey! Merida!" Jack called through the sea of students making their ways home. Merida made her way to where he stood.

"Hi, Jack." Her tone came out a little dismal than she had intended.

He leaned against the flag pole frowning.

"I heard you got stuck in detention for the entire day."

"Yeah..." Merida said kicking the flag pole, "No thanks to that twat Onceler."

"What did he do?" Jack said leaning in.

"Said some things... So I punched him in the nose." She grumbled looking down at the spot she was kicking.

Jack chuckled, "Yeah, I saw his face. Hey..."

Merida looked up at him, "What?"

"Let's go do something fun. What do you say?"

Jack held out his hand.

"I don't know, Jack... I got some stuff to do at home."

He gave her a pout.

"Aww, come on it won't take long."

Merida smiled as she let him take her hand and lead her through the crowd.

"Merida!"

She quickly ripped her hand out of Jack's as she turned to see her mother standing by their car.

"Mum!"

"Come here young lady!"

Merida gave Jack a quick glance before climbing into her mother's car. Elinor looked over at Jack thoughtfully.

"Would you like a ride, Jack?"

Jack stepped towards the car.

"Thank you, Elinor. But I wouldn't want to bother you."

"It's no bother at all. Get in."

Jack climbed into the back of the car next to Merida as Elinor slide into the driver's seat. Merida gave Jack a small smile.

"Now... Tell me Jack, where was it that you moved from?"

"Burgess."

"Ah, yes... and what were the girls like in Burgess?"

"Mum..." Merida groaned knowing exactly what her mother was doing.

"Merida." Elinor said warningly as she looked at her daughter through the rearview mirror, "You were saying, Jack?"

Merida slouched back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Well, uh..." Jack looked over at Merida, "I don't mean to talk badly about anyone, but they were boring."

Elinor's eyebrow quirked as she looked ahead, "Oh? How so?"

Jack moved his bag in between him and Merida.

"They didn't know how to have fun, all they cared about were boys and their weight. There's a certain word that I could use, but it's not meant for someone as ladylike as you to hear." As he said this he reached behind his bag and linked his fingers with Merida's.

"Oh my..." Elinor said taken back by his statement.

Jack flashed her daughter a crooked smile as he said, "Trust me, they make Merida look like a princess."

Merida looked out the window as her cheeks grew warm. She wasn't sure if it was from Jack's statement or the fact that they were holding hands underneath his backpack.

After Elinor and Merida dropped Jack off in front of his apartment complex, a silence fell between them. Elinor occasionally glanced at her daughter in the mirror as Merida glued her eyes to the passing street.

"Merida..." Elinor said softly. She ran her hands across the steering wheel, "I'd like to apologize."

Merida looked at her mother's seat surprised.

"Mum?"

She sighed, "Maybe I've been too hard on you lately and that's why you're acting out. I want you to understand that I don't want you to be like me. I just want what's best for you, but I want you to have fun."

"Mum... I... I don't know what to say..." Merida said feeling the happiness swelling up inside her.

"So I signed you up for ballet classes."

The happy bubble in Merida's chest burst and her jaw fell.

"You... what?"

Elinor looked at her daughter's reflection.

"I thought this would be a good compromise, Merida. You want to do something more active, I want you to act more ladylike. You're first class is tonight at 6."

Merida gaped at her mother, "But-!"

"No buts, Merida. I want you to at least try. If you do this for me, I'll let you tryout for the Archery team."

Merida snapped her mouth shut. Oh... she's good...

The teen crossed her arms over her chest and slouched down.

"Fine."

"Merida, don't slouch."

"Chin up, arms out ladies! Keep that back straight, Merida!" The dance teacher said to the beginning class.

Merida could see her mother watching intently from the parent's section as she straightened her back and jutted her chin out.

The teacher clapped her in rhythm.

"And one, two, three. One, two, three. One, two-wait, wait, wait! Stop! Stop! Merida, you're doing it wrong."

The other girls (about 4 years younger than Merida) sniggered. Merida scowled at them as the teacher pulled her out of the line.

"Merida, you need to float. Be graceful..." The teacher pause a moment as she looked Merida over and then added, "You know what? Follow me. I'm going to have one of our advanced girls teach you one-on-one."

"What?" Merida responded.

The teacher waved at her to follow.

"Come, come. Grab you things."

Merida scrambled to gather her things and follow the teacher out of the room. They walked down the hallway to one of the private studios. Before they entered, the teacher turned to Merida.

"This is one of our top students. She's perfectly capable of teaching."

"Okay..." Merida said hesitantly.

"I'm only saying this so that you don't think I'm pawning you off to somebody to get you out of my way. You have potential, Merida. We just have to chip away some of that roughness."

The teacher turned and walked through the door with Merida in toe. She dropped her bag on the ground when she saw who was practicing in the center of the floor.

"Elsa?"

The teacher shushed her as Elsa continued her routine. She pirouetted and leapt with effortless grace. If Merida wasn't so mesmerized, she would have added this to the list of things that made her inferior to this girl.

As the music came to an end, Elsa stopped and faced them.

"Hello."

"Absolutely marvelous, Elsa! Positively stunning!" the teacher gushed, "I don't mean to interrupt but this is Merida DunBroch, one of newbies. She's having a little trouble getting the hang of everything. Would you mind being her personal teacher? We were talking about letting you teach... I thought this would be a good starting point."

Elsa smiled politely at them both, "I would love to teach Merida."

The teacher clapped her hands excitedly, "Wonderful! I'll leave you two alone then!"

Elsa went over to her bag and pulled out a water bottle.

"So... You're learning ballet?"

"Um, yeah. It's my mum's idea, if I did this I could join the archery team."

"I heard you made quite the show at tryouts last week. Congratulations." Elsa said before drinking some water.

"Thank you." Merida said holding one of her arms in front of herself awkwardly.

They stood there in awkward silence for a moment before Elsa said, "So, let's get started. Have you got any of the basics down?"

"Yeah? Sort of?"

Elsa motioned to the dance floor.

"Let's see what you know then."

Merida assumed the first position and Elsa looked at her thoughtfully.

Merida looked at her feet questioningly.

"What?"

"Try to make more of a straight line with your feet... Like this." Elsa stepped into first position, "When you have your feet further like this it makes it easier to do something like this."

Elsa sprang up on to the very ends of her toes and then went back down.

"See? Now you try."

Merida followed Elsa's instruction and tried to spring up on to her tiptoes, which she managed, but executed less effortlessly.

Elsa clapped as Merida's heels touched back down.

"Good job! Now, show me your second position. Remember to keep your toes pointed out... Good! Now third?"

Merida stared at her blankly, "Sorry... I've forgotten..."

Elsa smiled, "that's alright. One foot is in front of the other with the of the front foot touching the middle of the back foot... Like this."

"Like this?" Merida asked as she nearly fell over.

"Close! If you bend your knees a little it will give you more balance... Alright, do you remember fourth?"

Merida spread her feet a little apart, "It's this right?"

"That's right!" Elsa said smiling. Merida was pretty sure Elsa was genuinely happy, but she could help but feel a little sour towards her happy, sparkling smile.

"Now show me fifth!" Elsa said excitedly.

Merida brought her feet back together, but as she tried to position her toes to touch her heels she lost her balance and fell hard on her bum.

Elsa gasped as she reached forward to help her up.

"Are you okay?"

Merida put up a hand, "I'm fine."

Elsa waited as Merida stood back up with a concerned look on her face.

"I'm fine, really... I'll probably just have a bruise on me arse is all."

Elsa giggled, "Okay, then let's run through the five positions again."