Chapter Eight: You Don't Have To Do It Alone

Author's Note: Oh my. This took a very long time to get to you. Thanksgiving weekend up here in Canada. Craziness and whatnot. I should be studying for my midterm coming up, but this seems more important. Thank you for sticking with this story! I hope you love it as much as I do. PS: this chapter's entirely Dahlia's POV, and the next will be entirely Adam's. Then we'll get back to mixing it up. :) Okay enjoy!

As Dahlia pedaled her vintage Schwinn bicycle through Queens Park, she barely noticed the beauty of the place. The grass was emerald green, the cerulean sky was just visible through the leaves of the colossal trees. Black squirrels were bouncing all over the place, and children were climbing on the statue of King Edward and his horse, right in the center of it all. Dahlia saw none of this. She was moving entirely on autopilot, thinking only of Adam. She wondered if he was thinking of her.

Once she finally arrived at her destination, she snapped back into the present world, and remembered what she was doing there. Her audition. She and Bridget were there to audition for the Toronto Ballet Company's production of Swan Lake. Dahlia had seen the ballet nine times in person, and a million more on her DVD at home. Odette had been her dream role for as long as she could remember. The story of unconditional love always got to her. Plus, if she got the lead role, she'd be secured a spot in the Company after she finished school.

She was more nervous walking into that building than she'd ever been before in her life. Not only because of how badly she wanted the role, but because she knew Bridget would be inside. Dahlia had promised to skip class to practise with Bridget that afternoon. Instead she skipped class and went to the beach... how could she explain what she was really doing there? She couldn't lie to Bridget. She always hit her harder when she lied.

Dahlia signed in and got her audition number. She took a deep breath and walked toward the change room. Just as she was about to go in, she was suddenly on the floor.

"What the fuck, Dahlia."

Dahlia's eyes took a minute to focus, and she realised she'd hit her head pretty hard against the wall. She stared up into Bridget's dark, narrowed eyes and tried to remember what she'd ever seen in them. She thought back to the day they'd first met. Dahlia was so broken, and Bridget had picked up the pieces and somehow put her back together. For the first time in almost a year, Dahlia began to think that maybe she wasn't together right at all. The pieces were the same, but the person Bridget had constructed was not Dahlia.

Dahlia struggled to stand.

"What now?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head with one hand.

"You inconsiderate piece of shit. Where were you today?"

Dahlia remembered the first time Bridget had ever hit her. It was after one of the many dance duets they had performed that year. Bridget had fallen, and Dahlia did what she was taught to do in every dance class she'd ever taken – she kept dancing. Apparently Bridget had decided that this meant Dahlia wanted to look like a better dancer than her. That she was trying to make Bridget look bad. Dahlia got a black eye for that one, and every day since then, she'd tried to stay out of Bridget's way so it wouldn't happen again. She stayed in Bridget's shadow, hiding her light so Bridget could shine.

Not anymore.

Not today.

"You don't care where I was, Bridget, you're just mad I wasn't with you."

"...Excuse me?"

"You didn't have your little slave girl around to reassure you that you're a good dancer, and you couldn't bear to dance alone, so you didn't even practise at all, did you? You just waited for me."

In a split second, Dahlia was on the floor for a second time in less than a minute. Her cheek was red and stung in an entirely too familiar way.

"What is going on here?"

Dahlia and Bridget looked up to see a short blonde girl holding a pile of tutus staring at them in shock.

"Umm... she just... fell." Bridget stammered, holding out her hand to Dahlia.

"No... no, she didn't." said the short girl, as Dahlia got to her feet without Bridget's help. "You hit her. I saw you."

Bridget stammered something inaudible as the short girl picked up a walkie-talkie and told someone what she'd just seen.

"You're going to have to go into the lobby and wait for security there." The short girl said to Bridget, looking unbelievably fierce for someone so small.

Dahlia guessed Bridget saw the fierceness too, because she only glared at the short girl as she walked away.

"Are you okay, hun?" the short girl asked. "God, that looks painful. I can get you some ice..."

"No, it's okay. It never hurts for long." Dahlia said, immediately regretting sharing so much with someone she didn't know.

"Never... she does this often?"

Dahlia hesitated, then nodded.

The short girl dropped the pile of tutus and pulled Dahlia into the best hug she'd ever recieved.

"Hun," the short girl said "My name's Paige. I'm going to give you my phone number, and you're going to call me. Tonight, tomorrow, and any time after that. I understand what you're going through, and you don't have to do it alone."

Paige handed Dahlia a business card that read: Paige Michalchuk – Wardrobe Designer – Toronto Ballet Company. Dahlia doubted this girl had any idea what she was going through, but she seemed nice, so she stuck the card in her wallet anyway.

Paige smiled and walked away with her pile of tutus, and Dahlia smiled back. She loved when random good things happened in the middle of hideous storms. It didn't happen often, but it gave her strength whenever it did. And since this audition might be the most important one of her life... Dahlia needed as much strength as she could get.