A/N: It's been a tough week for me but I'm trying to stay positive.
Here is a short chapter (sorry) but I wanted to have something put out before the next one. Chapter 10 is going to be very fun for me to write so I'm eager to get started.
"Maintenant, class!"
Ms. Chaudet looked around her student as they sat in semi-circle rows of chairs. Dance class didn't have the normal desks one was accustomed to. This was arranged deliberately so that they faced the space in the room like a tiny theatre. On occasions when a large group or the whole class participated at once, the chairs were all stacked and pushed back so that they had all the room.
"I can see that some of us are still struggling with the basics of ballet..."
One boy raised his hand.
"Oui?" she pointed.
"Sorry, Madame Chaudet. But what use is me tiptoeing around like a swan?"
The teacher recognized such arrogance. A typical young man who joined this class because it was "easy", or he wanted to be around mostly girls.
"Quel dommage!" she said shaking her head. "You think this isn't a real skill?"
He just shrugged.
Ms. Chaudet turned to Mia and clapped her hands.
"Mia!" she always called out in that singsong way. "Demonstrate, s'il vous plaît!"
The woman stepped aside to give her student the floor, literally.
The teen looked around and huffed as she got up in front of everyone.
Veronique was quick with the music on her laptop connected to two big Bluetooth speakers.
Mia closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she discarded her long-sleeve shirt.
She preferred jeans but for the sake of making dance class easier it was beneficial to wear dancing pants. They were baggy like sweatpants but didn't carry the stigma. And Mia sure as hell didn't want to be sporting no yoga pants. She'd rather not have the added attention.
Mia owned a few pairs in khaki and white. Today, she had on her black pair, and she made sure that the string was cinched beforehand. These pants were very flexible and if you tied them to your body well enough, they would hold on for the entire routine.
Letting the music get her in the right head space, Mia began her ballet routine to the accompaniment of Chopin. Those who were not very familiar with Mia were impressed that the gruff-looking girl who looked like she was ready to start a fight was moving with such grace to this beautiful music. She looked like she could hold her own with her contemporaries on the Russian stage.
[FLASHBACK]
Tori put her hand on Mia's leg. It was bouncing up and down. She was nervous.
"Mia, you'll do fine. I promise."
That stage might as well had been a burning ship. And she was about to stand on it.
Helen looked down toward Tori and gave her the nod.
"You're up."
Mia bit her lip and walked with trepidation to the stage.
She went up the little steps, each one felt like part of a mountain.
"Good afternoon, Mia!" called out Helen. "What will you show for us today?"
The rest of the teachers sat alongside the principal, save for Tori. She sat further down so that Mia could see her better. She really wanted to encourage her daughter.
"I..." she cleared her throat. "I will d-d-dance for you."
Mia took her phone and plugged it into the C-port cable connected to the speaker system. This would automatically override any other source and play whatever music was on Mia's phone.
She was about to push play when she froze.
"Mia, is everything alright?" asked Helen, concerned.
"I-I...I can't do this..."
The girl rushed off the stage, much to everyone's supply. Tori turned around and got up to find her.
Having never been at the school before, Mia got hopelessly lost behind the curtain. Backstage was a maze to the newcomer, and she just collapsed against the concrete wall and sunk to the floor, sobbing.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I can't."
"Hey, you okay?"
Mia wiped her eyes and looked up at a girl wearing a bright red, yellow and green shirt with some black accents. She recognized her but failed to catch her name. This girl auditioned as a singer, and she was amazing.
"Go away," Mia sniffed.
The girl didn't leave. She sat beside her instead.
"I'm Lauren. What's your name?"
She coughed before answering.
"Mia."
"It's nice to meet you," she smiled. "Why are you so sad?"
"Nothing much. I'm pretty sure I blew the audition."
Lauren didn't even see an audition from this girl. But she decided against pointing that out.
"What were you going to do?" she asked.
"I was..." Mia sniffed. "Going to dance."
"Oh, ballet or street or...?"
Mia brushed back her hair.
"Street, very freestyle. Never really did ballet since I was a kid."
Then the crying started anew.
Lauren didn't know what to do so she just hugged the stranger.
"It's okay to be nervous."
"That's not it!" Mia moaned. "I never danced in front of this many people before and... when I did, my dad was always there."
"Oh, I see."
Mia hugged her knees and buried her face.
"How long has it been?" Lauren asked.
"I was...eight. He died when I was eight."
Lauren just hugged her again, feeling sad for her. She had only met her and was very empathetic. That just how the girl was wired.
"Mia, listen to me. I don't know what heaven is exactly, even though I pray to it all the time. Is it a far-off place, or is it closer than we think?"
She didn't answer.
"I don't know but if it were far away, I know your dad would be here no matter what! Nothing would prevent him from being there to watch you dance."
Mia sniffed and looked to Lauren.
"You think so?"
"How could he not?"
Lauren took Mia's hand into hers.
"Close your eyes."
Mia did and Lauren followed. They gave a silent prayer, Mia wishing her dad was there and he was proud of her. Lauren hoped that Mia would find comfort from talking about it and letting herself cry without judgment.
Tori finally found Mia and noticed the other girl.
"Mia, thank goodness!"
The mother got eye to eye with her daughter.
"Honey, I'm sorry. I didn't...if this is too much, we can..."
"No."
Mia got back up with Lauren's help.
"I want to."
Tori led her back to the stage with Lauren following close behind.
"Is everything alright?" asked Helen, who was now closer to the stage.
"Y-yes," Mia nodded, looking back at her mom and Lauren. "I think so."
"Okay," Helen smiled. "Go right ahead."
Mia started the music and a hip-hop/house mix she put together played. It was sparse on the lyrics; mostly call outs. The beat was paramount, and she let it roll.
She took off and left the auditorium speechless. Mia was like the wind; your eyes had a time keeping up with her. Mia wasn't double-jointed but that didn't seem to limit her at all. The girl was certainly busting a sweat with her moves, synchronized perfectly with the chosen musical accompaniment.
When she finished, Mia clutched her beating heart and looked out into the audience as all the faculty members applauded. Veronique was especially enthusiastic, shouting for Helen to admit the girl at once! The principal shook her head and turned to Mia.
"Congratulations, Mia. You did your family proud. Welcome to Hollywood Arts!"
[END OF FLASHBACK]
Mia went on with a very relaxed expression on her face, almost meditative. At this moment, there was nothing else. Mia danced alone and she had everyone glued to her.
When the routine ended, Mia fell and landed as planned on her knees with her hands firmly on the floor.
Ms. Chaudet burst into applause.
"Bravo! Belle! Belle!"
The teen sheepishly grabbed her shirt and didn't fully get to her feet again until she was back to her chair.
The other students were all clapping, save for one. Savannah just sat there, disinterested.
"Harupmh!"
Alice noticed the default gait of Geoffrey. She was used to it.
"I can't figure out this ending!"
"Well, maybe you could try some-"
He whipped around and Alice clammed up.
"What I need is time to think!"
Geoffrey then stormed away and whistled.
"If only everyone could get their parts right, I could actually focus on stage direction!"
Billy leaned toward Jenna and whispered, "Who pissed in his cornflakes?"
"Who said that?"
The blond boy stiffened like he was in line for inspection at the barracks.
"I know this is all funny to you, but this is my last year here! I'm going to be consumed by finals next semester, so this play is my last chance to be a part of a production! If you all took this as seriously as I am, maybe, just maybe, we could all be better off!"
The silence hung there like a smog until Geoffrey left to "clear his head" as he did after one of these outbursts. And they've been becoming more frequent.
"This guy's a dick," commented one of the other actors.
"You think?" Billy agreed, folding his arms. "How do you deal with it?" he then asked Jenna.
"I try to imagine my old team slam dunking him."
He smiled.
Alice hung back, getting tired of these meltdowns. Geoffrey blows up, leaves for who knows how long, which grinds everything to a stop. He doesn't want anything done without his say so, but he will get mad that everybody stood around and did nothing.
"I thought this would be more fun," she said to herself.
A/N: I saw there was some curiosity what Mia did to enter Hollywood Arts. And as a bonus, we saw this was when her and Lauren met, before even being told she was in she already made her first high school friend.
That scene between Lauren and Mia is very important because it's very much the heart of this story. Some characters in here are in need of growth and others are in need of healing. Through love and compassion, they can get to where they need to be.