I do not own! All belongs to Stephanie Meyer.
I honestly didn't think I would take forever on this chapter. I'm literally at this point where school is almost over and I'm working on a bunch of projects lol. Overall this has been an FANTASTIC YEAR for me so far and I hope your year has been just as fun as my has. Only one more month left and school will be out for the summer. Hope you all had a great weekend! Happy Monday. Once again thank you for being so patient!
HEADS UP!
I've decided to make a decision...in about 6 or 7 chapters i'm gonna end this story, and then the next part is gonna be all about their life at College in New York.
Any ideas for the title? Let me know!
Here is Chapter 40! Hope you guys like it.
Love,
~Dazzler 916~
Chapter 40
Moment of Truth
(Ella's P.O.V.)
A roar of applause echoed through the auditorium.
We were frozen in place, the curtain slowly began to rise up...
And then the music started.
Madame always finds songs that we've never heard of and I end up buying it on itunes because I love it so much. The song she chose for our first dance was called "In This Shirt" by some European group called The Irrepressibles.
I love this dance.
We're all dressed in white and it all started in slow motion. The dance is about the fear of a young adult who is about to face the real world and they long to be a child again.
Madame choreographed this piece just for us. She wanted to create something us high schoolers could easily relate to. She was spot on with this one.
Not gonna lie I'm pretty scared to leave the nest, but at the same time I'm ready to experience what the world has to offer on my own…and with Seth.
The stage lights turned blue.
It's only been about thirty seconds since the music started and I was beginning to let myself go. The lyrics of this song are so poetic. They have such a deep meaning.
I am lost in a rainbow
Now our rainbow is gone
Overcast by your shadow
As our worlds move on
In This Shirt
I can be you
To be near you for awhile
In This Shirt
I can be you
To be near you for a while
(AN-Go look up In this shirt by The Irrepressibles on Youtube. It's such an awesome song!)
(Sasha's P.O.V.)
I couldn't miss this. I wasn't gonna miss it for the world. I wore a black leather jacket, black pants, black biker boots—it was all Esme's idea to have me dress up like some biker chick. Alice provided the wardrobe, Rosalie gave me a wig that make it look like I have a bob-cut and Edward let me borrow his silver motorcycle.
Not gonna lie, I felt like total bad ass when I was riding that bike.
This would have to be the first time I've ever really been out in public. No one's recognized me so far, then again I don't recognize anyone in this crowd except the Cullens, Seth and some of the other wolves...and then there's my family...and Elijah and his family.
I was sitting in one of the aisle seats and my family was seated not too far away from me. They all looked so happy. They are happy.
And Ella is perfect.
Lucky me to be sitting right behind a row of college scouts. They think she's absolutely perfect too. She just finished doing her first solo of the night and Ella has no idea that she's already got Julliard wrapped around her finger.
We're only about an hour into the show and my sister's kickin' ass!
She's an even better dancer than me now.
"Well, Julliard would love to have Ella and anyone else in this program who wants to pursue classical ballet in the future." I heard one of the scouts whisper behind me.
"They're all fantastic. I can't believe they're high schoolers! Just imagine what kind of dancers they'll be by the time their done with college." I heard someone next to him whisper.
My sister has nothing to worry about now.
(Seth's P.O.V.)
My god she's so perfect.
She's beautiful in every possible way. This has always been her dream and everything is finally coming into place for her. College is the next step and we would get to live it all out together in New York.
Ella dances with such grace and poise. Everyone I know has nothing but nice things to say about her and I'm so lucky to be that guy she calls her boyfriend...and eventually her fiance.
And once this is all over I'll be the first one standing and hopefully the first person she comes and talks to after the recital.
I got her some really nice flowers.
(Ella's P.O.V.)
Chloe just finished doing her second solo of the night and she did so well. I wouldn't be surprised if she gets offers from several schools. But I have a feeling she might say no because she's wants to stay in the area with Gabe and Nora.
Now it's my turn again only I'm doing a duet with Xander.
It's something Xander helped me choreograph. A contemporary piece.
We're dancing to the song "Samson" by Regina Spektor.
I chose this song because it reminded me of Randy. The dance itself is about our friendship. I kept going back and forth on whether I wanted to perform this for the showcase.
At the same time I wanted to pay a tribute to my friend. I still haven't been to his grave. That's one thing I don't think I'm ready to go see, but I promised myself I would go before I leave for college.
I never got the chance to give him a proper goodbye. That's the least I can do for the both of us. Madame Peutrova's intermediate jazz class is halfway done with their dance. For some reason I can't stop shaking. In my head I'm thinking 'you can't mess this one up.'
Don't lose focus Ella you're kicking ass! You're almost done.
"Ella," Someone put their hand on my shoulder and it startled me.
"Madame," I whispered. "Everything okay?"
"Everything is fine. You're doing such a beautiful job...I need you to do something for me."
"Sure." I nodded.
"Before you start this next number, I want you to say a few words about Randy. I already told my son to wait just a moment before coming on stage. If you don't feel comfortable then that's okay—"
"No no, I'll do it." I assured her.
"Thank you." She gave me a pat on the back before walking away.
Great. Now I have twenty seconds to come up with something to say now that the jazz dance is finished and the audience just finished clapping. Xander was on the side of the stage looking at me from the wings.
"We got this." He mouthed.
Just breathe.
The lights went back up and I walked to the front of the stage. The audience applauded and I patiently waited for the clapping to die down.
"This next dance is about a young man who was very special to this company. His name was Brandon Matthews...um.." I looked back in the wings at Xander only to find Chloe and Belinda standing with him. They all gave me an encouraging nod to keep going.
"To all of us he was just Randy." I paused. "Madame made the two of us partners on our first day of class. He had only been dancing for almost five years and he was already that good. Randy always walked into rehearsal with a smile on his face and you could just tell he was having such a great day. Eventually I took out the time to get to know more about him...what he wanted to do with his life, where he wanted to go to college. Within about two or three weeks he became...one my best friends." Tears slowly rolled down my face.
"Unfortunately the two of us got into a bad car accident and he didn't make it." I closed my eyes for a moment, taking deep breaths.
Then I looked down in the middle section of the audience only to look right at Seth. He gave me a warm and comforting smile and I smiled right back at him before I continued
"But, this dance is in honor our friendship...and I really hope you all enjoy it." Everyone began clapping again once I finished. I looked down towards the audience and Seth caught my eye. He just looked at me and smiled and I smiled right back at him.
Okay now I feel better. I moved back to center stage and met with Xander for our starting pose.
The music started and I heard the first piano chord of the song play.
You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the sheets of paper lies my truth
I have to go, I have to go
Your hair was long when we first met
Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
He ate a slice of wonder bread and went right back to bed
And history books forgot about us and the bible didn't mention us
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once
As I continued dancing...the more that I got into the dance, the more I began to think of Randy and next thing I know...I was dancing with him.
Randy and I were doing the duet together. I knew it was probably just my mind playing tricks with me but for the remainder of the dance I wanted to live in the moment and dance with him for one last time.
You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first, I loved you first
Beneath the stars came fallin' on our heads
But they're just old light, they're just old light
Your hair was long when we first met
Samson came to my bed
Told me that my hair was red
Told me I was beautiful and came into my bed
Oh I cut his hair myself one night
A pair of dull scissors in the yellow light
And he told me that I'd done alright
And kissed me 'til the mornin' light, the mornin' light
And he kissed me 'til the mornin' light
If only this were real and the two of us were actually dancing together. At the same time I feel like he really is on stage with me.
Nostalgia took over my body as the duet continued.
Randy is with me. I can feel is prescence. He's here.
Samson went back to bed
Not much hair left on his head
Ate a slice of wonderbread and went right back to bed
Oh, we couldn't bring the columns down
Yeah we couldn't destroy a single one
And history books forgot about us
And the bible didn't mention us, not even once
You are my sweetest downfall
I loved you first...
The entire audience was on their feet. The show wasn't even over and our duet received a standing ovation.
Xander came back to the front of the stage and we took a bow before going back into the wings.
"That dance was so good. I'm seriously about to cry." Ainsley sniffed.
"Well you're definitely getting into a good school." Lauren told me.
"I'm pretty sure we're all gonna get into a good school." I corrected her.
"Girls we have to go change. We have ten minutes till the final dance! Belinda whispered.
"Just don't forget us little people when you're off in New York dancing with the Rockettes on Broadway." Corrine told me.
"Sure sure," I rolled my eyes and followed the girls out the door and back to the dressing rooms.
~AFTER THE RECITAL~
I can't believe it's all over. We've worked so hard and hopefully all of our hard work has paid off. All of us senior girls were crying when we took our final curtain call.
When the curtain went down all of us got into a big group hug and just enjoyed the moment. Madame came back a few seconds later and made us go back into the dressing rooms and clear out all of our stuff.
"Well...we definitely had a great season." Chloe said.
"At least the hard part is said and done with now we have to go out the in lobby and face all of the college scouts. Now I'm even more nervous than I was before the show started." Lauren muttered.
"Relax," I told them. "We did really well tonight girls. Now, we get to dress up and go socialize and have people tell us how MARVELOUS we were." I said the last part in a british accent just to be funny.
"I don't know about you guys but I'm taking all of my stuff out to my car before I go out in the front and start talking to everyone." Ainsley said.
"From the looks of it all of us look presentable—if not beautiful in our dressy but casual outfits so I say we go put all of our stuff away so we don't have to carry it around later." Chloe suggested as quickly put on her high heel boots.
We made sure everything in the dressing room was the way it was before we got here and then we went out of the back of the theater to the parking lot. My left shoulder felt so relieved after I put my duffle bag into the trunk of my car. I raised my arms straight up just to stretch them out for a second.
When all of us went back inside the lobby was packed with so many people. We found all of the other dancers in our group towards the middle of the crowd socializing.
I quickly began to search for my family in this huge sea of people. "Ella," Someone placed their hand on my shoulder. I turned around to see that it was Madame.
"So what did you think?" I asked her.
"We'll have time to talk later but there are some people that are eager to meet you." She grabbed ahold of my arm and nearly pulled me to the calmer side of the room and towards two people with clip boards in their hands.
"Ella, these are some of my old friends Violet Williams and Allen Crow." She introduced me to them.
"Hi, nice to meet the two of you." I shook both of their hands.
"I must say Ms. Gardner, never have I ever seen a young woman of your age dance like that. For a second I could've easily mistaken you for one of my senior pupils at Julliard." Mr. Crow said to me.
"Julliard?" I turned my head towards Madame who gave me soft pat on the back.
"I recognize you from the Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive—only that was when you were maybe fifteen or sixteen but we've definitely been keeping an eye on you and you have made such exponential progress in your dance training. Julliard would love to have you as a student in the fall." Ms. Williams said.
Mr. Crow cut me off before I could even say anything. "And just to seal the deal before any of the other schools' recruiters come and make a offer—let us be the first to offer you a full ride to Julliard. If you choose us then you won't regret it."
"Thank you so much. I don't really know what to say." I shook their hands again.
"Well it's pretty simple. You should receive a packet in the mail from us by next Tuesday so you can look over everything with your parents and get back to us as soon as possible. We really hope to see you walking around our campus this fall. Now if you'll excuse us, we have to try and recruit some of your equally talented friends who seem to be having a chat with the Anaheim Ballet scout. I suspect they'll be headed your way shortly."
When the Julliard scouts walked away I was speechless.
My number one dream school offered me a full ride! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
"I can't believe it." I froze.
"I'm so proud of you Ella. You really are one of the best and most dedicated students I've ever had. I see a great deal of myself in you and I see nothing but great things in your future." Madame gave me a hug.
Damn it. Better go find Xander later and give him his five bucks we made a bet on.
"I have you to thank for that. You've taught me a whole lot in these past few years of being your student and have really prepared all of us seniors for the next big step." I told her.
"Ella!" I saw Seth making his way towards me.
"See me in my office on Monday." Madame said before walking away and back into the crowd to go congratulate some of her other students.
Just as Madame walked away Seth removed his hand from behind his back to reveal a beautiful bouquet purple roses.
My favorite.
"Wow," He said before the two of us leaned in for a tender kiss. "You took my breath away. You're amazing." He handed me the flowers.
"Means a lot coming from you." I kissed him again.
"God I love you." He whispered.
"I love you too." I bit my lip and smiled.
"Who were those people you were talking to?"
"Oh, they were just Julliard recruiters who just offered me a full ride to their school." I shrugged and did my best to make it sound like it was no big deal.
"Yes!" Seth picked me up and spun me around in a circle before setting me back down on my feet. "There's no way you could've not got in. This is perfect." He was so happy.
Now we're for sure going to college together in New York. YES! It'll be just us living the next four years of lives! Could this get any better.
"Don't look now but we're about to get surrounded by a group of people we know in 3...2...—" Before Seth could finish, we quickly got surrounded by some our family and friends.
"Oh my God you're amazing." Lucy said.
"You made me cry. End of story." Macy added.
"Aww I'm so glad you were able to make it! Thanks girls!" I wrapped my arms around the both of them.
"Okay my turn." Jared nearly shoved right between them and bulled me into a death gripping hug.
"I can't—breathe." I gasped for air.
"Don't squeeze the life out of her." Kim said to her fiance.
"Okay," Jared let go. "Not gonna lie...that was pretty horrible."
"Thanks for the sarcasm." I rolled my eyes.
"You should've heard him. Every time the guys were lifting up the girls in those dances, Jared kept whispering to all of us and bragging about how he could totally pull that off." Embry said.
"Was not." Jared folded his arms.
"That does sound like something you would do." I told him.
"Yea yea," He shrugged it off.
"Great job tonight." Embry gave me a quick hug.
"You were perfect!" Quil was next.
"Thanks boys!" I said to the both of them.
"My turn—" Leah was the next person to give me a hug. "That was beautiful Elle."
"Thanks Lee! I'm so glad you were able to come." I told her.
"Me too!" I said.
"Alright alright future mother in law coming through!" Sue said.
"Mom," Seth gritted through his teeth.
"Hush Seth—sweety that was so good! You always seize to amaze me." She told me.
"Thanks Sue."
"Wonderful job Ella." Emily said.
"Thank you!"
"Ella!" I looked down to see Nora standing right in front of me. She can finally say my name now.
"Hey cutie." I picked her up and set her on my hip. "¿Cómo estás?" I asked her in Spanish.
Before Nora could reply she yawned and then turned around reaching her arms out towards Gabe and said "Daddy." She was eager for him to hold her and Nora rested her head on his shoulder.
"She's had a long day." Chloe explained.
"I can tell." I chuckled.
"Good job tonight by the way." Gabe said to me.
"Thank you." I replied.
"Alright well we're gonna head out and get her to bed. We'll see you guys tomorrow." Chloe said to all of us.
"Love ya girl." I gave her a quick hug.
"Love you too! Call me later." She said as she started walking away with Gabe and Nora.
"I will!" told her.
Well those three seem to be acting like more of family every time I see them. And when did Nora start calling Gabe daddy? Either way it's so cute. It's nice that Chloe and Nora have a stable and trustworthy man in their lives now. I couldn't be happier for them.
"Mom!" I practically attacked her.
"We're so proud of you Ella!" She was crying.
"Please don't start crying mom. I haven't even graduated from high school yet." I said.
"I'm your mom and I can cry if I want to. You danced beautifully on that stage. Sasha would be so proud."
"Thanks." Mom and I hugged for a good minute or two until Dad came in and broke us up.
"Beautiful," He kissed me on my forehead.
"You almost made Dad cry." Megan giggle.
"Really?" I raised my eyebrows.
"No," He lied.
"Very funny Dady." I rolled my eyes at him.
"Mind if we cut in for a sec." I turned around to see Elijah and his family.
"Hey! I'm so glad you came. How are you?" I was eager to give him a hug.
"Pretty good and you?" He asked me.
"Fantastic," I said and then looked down and noticed the little girl that quickly wrapped her arms around Elijah's leg after we parted. That's when I realized who she was.
"Oh my God...she looks so much like you!" I was in shock.
"Sadie you remember Ella?" Elijah asked his daughter.
She looked at me and then back at her father, gave him a small grin and nodded.
"Awww," I took a step towards her. "Did you like the dancing?"
"Yes I did." She said to me before she looked back at her mom. "Mommy I wanna dance like that."
"That's a lot of work sweetheart. What about your fiddle lessons?" Sage asked her.
"Mommy I can do both!" She told her.
"We'll see about that, but for now...we're gonna go back to your Aunt Maggie's house cause it's way past your bed time." Elijah said.
"Elise is already asleep." Sage kissed her younger daughter Elise's on her forehead.
"Both of your daughters are beautiful. "I said to the both of them
"Thank you." Sage smiled.
"Well we're gonna head on out," Elijah said to us before he turned back to his wife. "Go get the kids settled in the car, I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay. Well it was nice seeing all of you again. Enjoy the rest of your night." Sage grabbed Sadie's hand and they quickly made their way out the door while Elijah went off in the opposite direction to the bathroom.
Perfect opportunity.
A few seconds after he walked away I went after him.
"Elijah wait!" I got him to stop.
"Everything okay?" He asked me.
"Oh no everything's fine it's just...someone wanted me to give this to you. They told me to tell you not to read it until you have a moment alone and this person only wants you to read it." I handed him the blank envelope with Sasha's letter inside.
"Can I ask who it's from?"
"Just it read it later. You'll see." I assured him.
"O...kay. I'm gonna go use the bathroom now so...i'll talk to you later."
"Alright," I gave him one last hug. "Nice seeing you."
I ended up being at the concert hall for another thirty minutes and by the time I left I ended up receiving offers from twelve other schools apart Julliard. So technically all I have to do is choose one.
Lucky for me I've already made my decision.
Seth got a ride with here with his sister and since I was so tired, he took my keys and drove my car home while I fell asleep in the passengers seat.
When the car slowed down I woke up and automatically assumed we were already in front of my house. Funny how fast time flies when your asleep.
The only thing I wasn't expecting was to wake up in the First Beach parking lot.
"Seth," I yawned. "I gave you my car keys so you could drive me home, not to the beach."
"We're making a quick detour." Seth got out and walked around to open the door for me.
"Baby, I'm tired." I closed my eyes.
"Come on, let's go for a walk." Seth pulled of my shoes for me and pulled me out the car.
"It's almost midnight," I whined.
"You're already up and out of the car. I have something to show you." Seth grabbed my hand and made me start walking.
"This better be good." I mumbled under my breath.
"Oh trust me it is."
We made our way toward the rock cave on the northern end where people go cliff diving. Now I was even more confused as to why he brought me here in the first place, especially since we go over here ALL THE FREAKING TIME.
"Close your eyes." He said.
"It's already dark Seth, there isn't that much to see." I reasoned with him.
"Just close your eyes for sec," He snapped at me this time.
"Fine." I huffed.
I closed my eyes and then Seth stood right behind me with his hands on my shoulders. It must be some sort of secret surprise.
"You can open your eyes now."
I opened them only to realize were standing right in front of the rock cave. I looked down and there were a bunch of candles standing up in the sand.
"What the..." The candles spelled out a word and I took a moment to read what the candles had spelled out.
PROM?
OH MY FREAKING GOSH!
I totally forgot that prom is next week on May 11 and I haven't even gone shopping or anything!
"So what do ya think?" Seth was waiting for my answer.
I kissed him for a long time before I gave him my answer.
"YES! YES! HELL YES!" I screamed.
Now I can check off two things from my list.
Offer to Julliard, CHECK!
Prom date, DOUBLE CHECK!
Prom dress...better give Alice a call in the morning.
"Now we can go home." Seth told me.
"What about all of these candles?"
"Rosalie and Alice set this up right after they left your recital, they'll probably be back in a little bit to take care of this—"
"Wait! Let me take a picture!" I pulled my Iphone out of my purse and took a quick snap shot. I'll just post it on facebook when I get home.
"Now I'm really tired. Let's go home." I sighed.
It was pretty chilly on our way back to the car, thank god my boyfriend runs a "normal" temperature of 108 degrees. It only took about a minute to get to my house from here.
"Thanks for driving me home," I yawned.
"You were great." He gave me a kiss on the cheek.
"Just think, we'll be going to college in New York in the fall."
"Maybe instead of getting dorm rooms, we can talk our parents into letting us get an apartment." He suggested.
"Ooooooo, I like the sound of that idea." I but my lip.
"Me too," Seth kissed me this time.
We got back out of the car and he helped me bring all of my stuff inside.
"Call me when you wake up in the morning." He told me.
"Don't worry I will. Love you Seth."
"Love you too," He kissed me on my forehead and I watched him walk down the middle of the road and back over to his house.
God, I love my life.
I honestly don't feel like making two or three trips just to bring all my stuff upstairs. I left my duffle bag downstairs in the living room and just took my purse and phone up into my room with me.
It's so quiet in my house. I'm guessing they all went to bed as soon as they all got home. Quietly I crept into the bathroom to brush my teeth, take off all my make-up and then wash my face.
When I went back into my bedroom my phone was lit up. I got a new voice message.
It was from Elijah. I called my voicemail in an instant.
"You have, one new message." The automated voice spoke. "Message 1."
"Hey Ella it's Elijah...um...so I just read this letter—I mean it's in your sister's handwriting—or so it looks like it and I." You could hear him breathing for a moment before he went on to continue.
"Is this really from your sister? Um...call back tomorrow as soon as you can. We need to talk." The phone hung after.
Oh my...now this is about to get very interesting.
REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! So sorry it took me forever. I will update soon. Thanks to everyone for reading :)
~Dazzler 916~