Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters.
Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just
playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
That Tuesday, Emma and her mother returned to the studio.
Shannon had called earlier that day and explained what had happened on Saturday to both Michelle and Michelle's mother, Katherine. Of course, Shannon had been given a complete brush off and was promised that it would never, ever happen again.
"Look, pixie, if that guy is here and he say something to you or tries to do something, tell them you want to call home," Shannon told Emma before running off to the near by drug store to buy Emma water and Skittles to snack on between tap and jazz.
"I will mom," Emma said, hugging her mother.
She, then, sat on the floor between to chairs and put her CD player on.
After nearly fifteen minutes of waiting, the "staff" dancers began to troop upstairs. This class included everyone from the Saturday morning ballet class along with two other dancers.
One was a tall adult who had to be the most incompetent dancer ever to grace a stage. She was forgetful and, basically, a hazard to all the dancers around her. Her name was Fran.
The other was a taller, chunkier dancer with black hair. She would, sometimes, talk to Emma. Her name was Rosemarie but everyone called her Rosie.
Emma watched the class go upstairs and, after putting her CD player away, followed her class up the stairs.
About halfway up the steps, she heard Kim squeal in the highest voice she's ever heard, "Oh Lee! I'm so happy to see you! Are you here for another look?"
She, then, heard the joyous squeals of the rest of her class.
Her breath caught in her throat and her heart pounded. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to go up there and take the class tonight. She was fighting the urge to go downstairs and have Katherine call her mother.
"Snap out of it," she admonished herself, "Just go up there and dance. Don't mind anyone."
She climbed the rest of the stairs and entered the classroom. Seeing the swamped Lee, she took off for her "spot" on the floor.
One Emma had come up stairs, Lee told the other girls to listen to Michelle and go stretch.
He turned his elven eyes toward Emma. He was glad to see she had had come back. He was afraid that she had been scared off so badly that she was not planning on returning to the studio.
With a few days to think about why she had bolted, he came to understand that her reaction was not one borne of horror and disgust but one borne of fear and shock. She was being asked to question everything she had come to know, a great undertaking for someone so young.
His mission tonight was to make contact with this child and convince her not to be afraid.
The tap class had gone like most other taps classes, except for the fact Michelle and her cronies had been colder than usual to Emma.
The group had worked for the entire hour and a half class on the end on their performance number; "We're in the Money" from the play 42nd Street.
After the class had ended, Emma went downstairs and brought up her dance bag, a very larger thing with images of Degas's ballerina paintings on its sides.
She sat on the floor very close to the door downstairs, another one of her favorite spots because of its closeness to the exit, and changed her shoes. She went from golden, 2 and ½ inch tap heels to flat black jazz shoes that looked remarkably like sneakers.
She put her CD player back on, blocking out the rest of the people she danced with.
Then she tore into the large bag of Skittles her mother had bought her and, ever so carefully, selected only the red ones. She placed a few of the red Skittles in the bottle of water her mother had bought her. She closed the bottle and began to shake it. The water turned an odd red color. She took a sip and, deciding that it was up to par, ate the rest of the red Skittles. She placed the rest of the package of Skittles back into her dance bag.
Seeing that his quarry was occupied, Lee moved to talk to Emma.
(AN: Again, this chapter was for the people I dance with. I've gotten them again! By the way, red Skittle water is quite good as long as you put only a few Skittles in)
That Tuesday, Emma and her mother returned to the studio.
Shannon had called earlier that day and explained what had happened on Saturday to both Michelle and Michelle's mother, Katherine. Of course, Shannon had been given a complete brush off and was promised that it would never, ever happen again.
"Look, pixie, if that guy is here and he say something to you or tries to do something, tell them you want to call home," Shannon told Emma before running off to the near by drug store to buy Emma water and Skittles to snack on between tap and jazz.
"I will mom," Emma said, hugging her mother.
She, then, sat on the floor between to chairs and put her CD player on.
After nearly fifteen minutes of waiting, the "staff" dancers began to troop upstairs. This class included everyone from the Saturday morning ballet class along with two other dancers.
One was a tall adult who had to be the most incompetent dancer ever to grace a stage. She was forgetful and, basically, a hazard to all the dancers around her. Her name was Fran.
The other was a taller, chunkier dancer with black hair. She would, sometimes, talk to Emma. Her name was Rosemarie but everyone called her Rosie.
Emma watched the class go upstairs and, after putting her CD player away, followed her class up the stairs.
About halfway up the steps, she heard Kim squeal in the highest voice she's ever heard, "Oh Lee! I'm so happy to see you! Are you here for another look?"
She, then, heard the joyous squeals of the rest of her class.
Her breath caught in her throat and her heart pounded. She wasn't really sure if she wanted to go up there and take the class tonight. She was fighting the urge to go downstairs and have Katherine call her mother.
"Snap out of it," she admonished herself, "Just go up there and dance. Don't mind anyone."
She climbed the rest of the stairs and entered the classroom. Seeing the swamped Lee, she took off for her "spot" on the floor.
One Emma had come up stairs, Lee told the other girls to listen to Michelle and go stretch.
He turned his elven eyes toward Emma. He was glad to see she had had come back. He was afraid that she had been scared off so badly that she was not planning on returning to the studio.
With a few days to think about why she had bolted, he came to understand that her reaction was not one borne of horror and disgust but one borne of fear and shock. She was being asked to question everything she had come to know, a great undertaking for someone so young.
His mission tonight was to make contact with this child and convince her not to be afraid.
The tap class had gone like most other taps classes, except for the fact Michelle and her cronies had been colder than usual to Emma.
The group had worked for the entire hour and a half class on the end on their performance number; "We're in the Money" from the play 42nd Street.
After the class had ended, Emma went downstairs and brought up her dance bag, a very larger thing with images of Degas's ballerina paintings on its sides.
She sat on the floor very close to the door downstairs, another one of her favorite spots because of its closeness to the exit, and changed her shoes. She went from golden, 2 and ½ inch tap heels to flat black jazz shoes that looked remarkably like sneakers.
She put her CD player back on, blocking out the rest of the people she danced with.
Then she tore into the large bag of Skittles her mother had bought her and, ever so carefully, selected only the red ones. She placed a few of the red Skittles in the bottle of water her mother had bought her. She closed the bottle and began to shake it. The water turned an odd red color. She took a sip and, deciding that it was up to par, ate the rest of the red Skittles. She placed the rest of the package of Skittles back into her dance bag.
Seeing that his quarry was occupied, Lee moved to talk to Emma.
(AN: Again, this chapter was for the people I dance with. I've gotten them again! By the way, red Skittle water is quite good as long as you put only a few Skittles in)