Packing up her things once again in order to move, once again, didn't phase Meredith. It was the leaving of the beautiful, custom made house that they'd lived in for just under two years that irked her. They had decided not to sell the house, or her house, but she knew she was going to miss waking up to the peacefulness of the woods and have to get used to NYC.
They had chosen to buy a huge townhouse with what seemed like a million bedrooms so that the seven of them could all live together instead of apart. The press release of them leaving PNB had dropped after their last performance, and instead of going out to face reporters, Meredith was channeling her energy into getting ready to move to NYC, deciding what to take and what to leave. In the end, she packed up all her clothes and everything that was close to her heart, but as a whole they decided to leave all of the furniture since they were keeping the house.
Suddenly it was moving day; most of their things had been shipped to Carolyn's where they would be staying while the house was finalized, and Meredith stood in the doorway to her dream house, 21 years old and closing another chapter on her life. She knew New York would be exciting and important, but she sighed as she took one last look at the house before locking the door behind her.
The first few days in NYC were crazy; she and Derek finalized on the house and the group started to move in, and they all went to ABT to get acquainted with the rest of the company before they headed out on tour for the summer. Meredith was grateful for a summer off; they wouldn't be starting until September. She had lived in New York for summer programs, but never actually permanently lived there, so she had to get used to living there and learning the city, which she knew would be fun with her sisters. She and the sisters had done most of the home decorating and left the men at home, waiting for everything to be delivered while the four girls took NYC by storm.
"What should we do first?" Meredith said, sliding a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. Her long hair hung down her back in soft waves and she wore a floral sundress, something she could never wear in June in Seattle. The heat rose in waves off the streets and Meredith could only smile, loving her new home already.
"We should go shopping of course," Amelia smirked, leading the group towards Fifth Avenue, and Meredith laughed as she shook her head. When did they have time to wear real clothes? They lived their lives in leotards and tights, pointe shoes and tutu's, but she let Amelia indulge herself as she, Maggie, and Lexie followed her across Central Park, basking in the greenery in the middle of the city, one of her favorite places since she had done the summer program at ABT back when she was younger.
Breezing past Fifth Avenue, they found themselves in Bloomingdales, raiding the formalwear department, because as Amelia put it 'you could never have too many gowns for galas.'. Meredith simply rolled her eyes but knew she was right; she was tired of the ones she'd been wearing for PNB galas and parties and knew ABT was on an entirely different level.
"Fiiine" she gave in, grabbing a few she liked in her size as the others did the same, heading to the fitting rooms with the others behind her, ready to have a fashion show. For girls who lived their lives in ornate, expensive tutu's, they really didn't know what to wear the rest of the time.
Mer was the first one out of the fitting room, wearing a black and white color blocked gown. The top was black satin with the bottom a white ball gown satin skirt, flaring from her hips in a way she actually liked. Staring at herself in the three way mirror she turned, looking at herself from the back as well as Amelia, Lexie, and Maggie all came out in their gowns. Somehow, she was the leader of the sisters – maybe it was because she was the only married one and that held some clout, despite Amelia being older than her by four years. The rest of the girls followed, all four of them complimenting and admiring one another. Meredith held out her phone and took a selfie of all four of them with a smile, texting it to the three boys before she whisked away to her fitting room, the four of them trying on dress after dress, gown after gown, with the bill being signed 'Mrs. Meredith Shepherd' and the four sisters carrying bag after bag with gowns and cocktail dresses for the fall season.
Summer had to come to an end, and with it brought Meredith back to the studio. This time she found herself heading down to the ABT studios and in the early morning light as she pulled on a pair of new tights and a new black leotard she had treated herself to, pulling a soft, cropped warm up sweater over her head, she was all smiles. She was ready for this. Twisting her hair into a bun, she stuck some hairpins into it just as Derek woke up, grumbling that he got to sleep in longer since he only had to run a brush through his hair.
Heading downstairs in their two-story apartment, she was grateful that Amelia had made waffles. She went through the motions of eating one before finding a black cotton skirt in a laundry basket and grabbing her dance bag, slipping on her sunglasses. She was nervous, but ready.
After a half hour subway trip, the group made their way through the back entrance into the studios and suddenly they had arrived. They were surrounded by other professionals, both famous and up and coming, and Meredith felt the excitement in the air. It was a new season, no one knew who was cast as what yet, no one was fighting for roles. All at once Lizzie spotted them and shrieked, drawing attention to them.
"Ahhh! Amelia! Meredith! Derek! Mark! I can't believe you guys are in ABT, oh my gosh!" she cried out, reaching Meredith first, who smiled warmly.
"You and Amelia are in my dressing room with me, Lexie is with some of the other soloists, and Maggie is with some of the senior corps girls," she grinned, leading the girls away. The men quickly figured out where they were and took their places in an empty dressing room, and they all got ready for class quickly, Meredith chatting with Liz about the tour they'd just returned on.
Getting into the studio was interesting; it was huge and Meredith simply wasn't used to the enormity of it. She scoped out the bar situation before Lizzie pushed her into a spot and she looked back, scowling, before Derek stood in front of her and she straightened up. She felt intimidated by how much power was in the room, or more like the star power, but she wasn't about to let it intimidate her into a shell. When the music started she felt her energy surge through her fingertips as it usually did. Lizzie stood behind her and watched her, having only seen videos of her performing before, never actually seeing her dance in person but she was a force of nature to be reckoned with and, laughing to herself, Liz knew that no one at ABT would know what hit them.
After putting the portable barres back against the wall and taking 5 for a water break, the class divided into two groups. The principals and half the soloists were in the first, and the other half of the soloists and the corps were in the second. Liz and Amelia dragged Meredith up to the front, while Meredith dragged Lexie with her, and suddenly Meredith found herself front and center in a new company, surrounded by prestige while she was nobody. She kept up with the adagio and petit allegro, earning a smile and a nod from Kevin McKenzie.
"Good work, Miss Shepherd," he told her, and her words were automatic.
"it's Miss Grey," she shot back, before her eyes went wide and she blushed bright red with humiliation. No one talked back to him and she had done it on her first day! She sank back into the lines of dancers, wishing she could become invisible as she danced, but alas, with grande allegro she was not allowed a get out of jail free card, and she slumped her shoulders as she slipped to the back of the line to dance with Derek.
"Why are you moping? He called you the wrong name, he should he corrected," Derek assured her, and she sighed, shrugging her shoulder.
"Because look at us. Look where we are. I called attention to myself on my very first day in one of the top five companies in the world," she sighed as it came her turn to go across the floor. Without a step out of place she soared, the other dancers amazed by how high she jumped and how little noise she made while landing, even in her pointe shoes. She gave them a shy smile before shuffling in behind Liz, burying her face in her back.
"I'm doomed here. They either want to be my friend because I'm god, or they hate me because I'm good," she moaned, and Liz turned around to hug her.
"Trust me, they'll see you as their greatest asset my love," she smiled, hugging her favorite and only sister in law close.
So here's our first glimpse of the magnificent seven living and dancing in NYC at American Ballet Theater! I wanted to do casting but I also wanted to save it for next chapter and see how Meredith stacks up to the greats! All my favorite ballerinas are in ABT ;) Misty Copeland is the most famous since she's the first black principal ballerina in the history of ballet but if you like this fic I highly encourage you to go out and do some research! Anyway I hope you like it For their house I picked two apartments I liked and smashed them together haha, it's basically an apartment that's two floors and is centered around a big entry way and upstairs are the bedrooms in a circular fashion and the rooms downstairs are the same way. Now we have to introduce DiLuca for Maggie ;)