Chapter 4

I wake up and roll over to see what time it is. My clock reads 7:30. I have another hour I could be sleeping. I might as well get up. I haven't talked to my mom in two or three days. That is probably the longest I have gone without talking to her. I wonder if she is awake. Might as well find out. I call her and she answers on the second ring.

" Hey, Shawn."

" Hey mom, what are you doing?"

" Fixing to go to work. What are you doing?"

" Nothing, I just woke up. I have practice at nine."

" What are you doing up?"

" I woke up and I know I wont be able to go back to sleep."

" How are practices going?"

" Good, we are both so excited. The first show is Monday are you and dad coming?"

" Of course, we are thrilled we're finally going to get to see you dance again. We have missed you."

" I have missed ya'll too."

" Are you learning your dance pretty good?"

" So far yes, I have learned half of it. But we have only had one practice so I still have a lot to learn. But our song is really good."

" Have you talked to Ryan any?"

My smiling face fell when she asked me this. I hated talking out my ex-boyfriend. We have had a lot of ups and downs. We have been through a lot together. We broke a couple months ago. He cheated on me. I have not talked to him since I threw a remote control at him and walked out of our apartment. I changed my locks, phone number, and moved my stuff out of the apartment.

" No, mom I haven't seen nor talked to him in months."

" Well that is good. You can do so much better than him. And you do not need all that drama that comes with dating him."

" I agree completely. I am going to take a shower I will talk to you later."

" Okay, love you."

" Love you too."

I hang up the phone. I need a hot shower to get my mind off Ryan. He is the last person I need to be thinking about right now. You would think after everything he did to me I wouldn't still care about him. But I do. I don't think I would ever get back together with him, but I still care about him. I am surprised he hasn't contacted me yet. We broke up before I got offered to dance. I am sure somebody has told him about it and that I am in LA now.

I take the longest shower I have ever taken before. It was so relaxing. I get dressed and get my make up on. I'm wearing a tight orange Nike tank top, Capri yoga pants, and bright neon orange Nike tennis shoes to match my tank top. I look at my phone and it is only 8:00. Another hour till practice starts. I think I will head to the studio and stretch. Maybe that will make time pass. When Derek gets there we can begin and he won't have to wait on me. I have always grew up stretching before you do any kind of physically activity. I should probably text Derek and let him know. I bet he is still asleep so I will just text him, I wouldn't want to wake him up.

" I am going to head to the studio a bit early and start stretching. I will see you when you get there. : )"

I get my bag and walk out the door. I see a man mid thirties waiting for the elevator. It dings and I step in first.

" What floor?" he asks

" Ground." I say

I walk out the apartment building heading towards my car. There are two or three paparazzi waiting outside. I smile at them, this time a real smile. They don't bother me as long as they aren't shoving the camera in my face or are surrounding me. I don't like being in small places with a lot of people. I get in my new car, and plug my phone into the radio and turn my Pandora on the county station.

It doesn't take me long to get there. I am glad my apartment isn't far from the studio. There are more paparazzi outside waiting, but they aren't that bad. I smile knowing these pictures will end up in a magazine or on the internet. I walk into our studio we practiced in yesterday. This time the cameras are not in there. I guess they only have them in there when they need a segment for the show. I sit my bag down on the steps and pull out my headphones. I hear my phone dig across the room. I walk over to look at it and Derek has replied to my message.

" Okay, I will see you there in a little bit."

I guess he just woke up. He will be at least thirty minutes, or so. I have plenty of time to stretch. I put my headphones in my ears and turn up the volume as loud as it will go. I sit down and put my legs together. I can reach my toes with ease. I spread them apart and reach for my right foot, then my left. I do a couple more stretches. When I look up from the ground I see a person in all black with a mask on pointing a gun at me.

A/n I know I left a cliff hanger. I had to have a little bit more drama in it. When I talk about her and Ryan's past, I am not sure if they are dating or not. I hope not though. I am just making up most of the things as I go. I hope you like this chapter. Not much of her and Derek but there will be next chapter. I will not make you wait long for the next chapter, I will have it up tonight. - Mallory