Pointe Shoe
Julia's eyes turned to slits when she noticed the wrinkle in her dark gray trousers she spent too much time trying to iron on Eli's bed that morning. Ignoring the blemish, she looked herself over again in the girl's bathroom of Degrassi, overall satisfied that she looked put together and professional. She was dressed extra formally today, the bun in her hair imprisoning her long raven hair. She wore a black camisole with a matching small cardigan.
She let out a deep sigh. "You can do this Stone. You've dealt with worse."
Pushing her shoulders back, she walked tall as if an invisible string was tugging at the top of her head. Julia was grateful ballet taught her good posture. A few moments later, she was sitting across from Fiona Coyne inside office walls, early in the morning. The girl hadn't looked up from the proposition she was reading that Julia handed her. Her demeanor was unreadable and that was making her start to worry.
"That's the layout of our project," Julia stated as the rich girl flipped the stapled paper to the next page. "And that's our timeline. It's a short documentary that gives people insight on the pointe shoe that's used in ballet. Like—what it costs? How it's made? The wear and tears on the dancer and shoe…."
Fiona didn't say anything, still reading the paper. Instead, she took a deep breath and exhaled loudly.
Julia chewed on the inside of her mouth, drawing blood as the taste of nickel flooded her tongue. She wasn't even sure Fiona was listening, giving her no indication she had. More worry washed over her, picturing a disappointed boyfriend whose project failed to get off the ground because of her.
Mentally she could recall Eli persuading her earlier that morning on why it was better for her to give the proposition to the student council rather than himself. Julia knew she wasn't the woman for the job. "You know this better than anyone," he argued, "you can really sell them on the project because it's about your art." She rolled her soft blue eyes automatically at that part.
Eli was just saying that to avoid his friends he wasn't speaking to at the moment. Ever since his talk with Adam, his demeanor changed. It made her see him a slight bit differently….
It was all about them twenty-four-seven at the moment. He stopped seeing his friends at the student council room, he would lure Julia to secret make-outs at the library or his hearse. If they wanted to have lunch at school, they would take it by the lockers where no one could disturb them. If the dark-haired girl tried to bring up the subject, he'd merely deflect or pretend he didn't hear. Eventually, Julia got tired and just played along. After all, the homeless teen was fine dropping the subject about his friends and his weird past seeing as she had her weird past she didn't want him snooping into.
Snapping back to reality, the two girls spent some more awkward moments in silence as Fiona looked over her request. Julia took the opportunity to look over Degrassi's student body president. Her last name sparked interest, but she didn't know how or from where. Either way, she suspected with a last name like that, she probably read it from some sort of tax evasion or fraud scandal. The raven-haired teen didn't fail to notice Fiona's well-manicured hands, her expensive clothes, and pristine soft hair. The rich girl reminded her of some of the other ballet students from her old school.
"Your project asks for three-hundred dollars of the school budget," Fiona stated matter-of-factly. She finally peeled her eyes away from the written text, only to bore them into Julia.
"Uh—y-yeah!" the ballerina stammered, taken aback by her sudden presence. She straightened her back immediately. "That's for the cost of the shoes—which is what the project is about. They're pricey little things, and they don't last very long." Julia gave a hesitant chuckle.
Fiona let out a hearty sigh. "It's toward the end of the year, and the school still has to put most of the budget towards senior events and prom…." The rich girl sat back in her chair, crossing her arms in front of her, staring at Julia, and waiting for her to elaborate.
"Umm….well….we don't need the entire amount," the raven-haired teen offered, raising a concerned eyebrow. "I'm sure we can work with half."
Fiona's features scrunched in distaste while Julia's heart quickened with anticipation to her counter…
"We," Fiona repeated, pursing her lips.
Julia's left eye cringed, the air in her lungs expelling, causing a tightness in her chest.
"Look—I don't want to get in between Eli and his friends. He really really wants this to be his last high school project," Julia explained in a rush, "plus he thinks it'll win over his chances for N.Y.U." Even if Eli wasn't speaking to his friends, Julia knew she could appeal to the student council president by keeping the focus on her boyfriend. Julia was sure that Fiona still cared for him and his well-being. And that meant his future as well.
The curly-haired girl huffed, instilling a silent pause in the room. "Fine—fine!" Fiona finally announced, waving her arms in defeat, "Tell Eli he's got the green light. You can use the theater room before, after school, and during lunch. No one's using it currently. You have half your budget. And the school cameras and equipment are his." Her well-manicured hands picked up Julia's written proposal and handed it back to her.
"Thank you, thank you! It's going to mean the world to him!" Julia, giddy with excitement that she had pulled it off was about to stand up to leave until Fiona cleared her throat.
"Tell Eli he can stop avoiding us. Tell him we just want what's best," the pristine girl spoke in a lighter tone. Fiona sounded sincere, her piercing eyes softening. She forced a weak smile at Julia. The dark-haired girl had no option but to nod in agreement, pushing her way out of the student council room.
Using the school budget, Julia and Eli were able to buy one pair of the pointe shoes they were going to need for his short documentary. Since they only had one shoe to work with, they had to make it count. Julia had to practice as much out of them as possible, so that weekend she dusted off her old leotard, and spent as much time trying to get her body acquainted with the discipline and moves she was expected to do. She spent hours in Eli's dark room awakening the muscles in her legs while he either watched or tried to distract her…
Sitting on her boyfriend's bedroom floor, the ex-ballerina started her stretching routine to get herself flexible and nimble. Julia began with her feet, pushing them as forward as unnaturally possible and then pulling them back as far as unnaturally possible. Eli was at his desk working on the timeline of shots he wanted to lay down throughout their week-long production time. He explained that since it was such a downscaled project, then it wouldn't be a long shooting process. There was utter silence in his room, except for the sound of their breaths.
Fifteen minutes later, she leaned over to reach for her toes, and caught Eli's eyes on her, his thumb against his lips. His pupils were wide, causing a blush on her cheeks to appear from the intensity of his stare. Julia swallowed, reaching for her other foot and stretching it. The dark-haired boy crossed his arms over his chest, leaning even further back in his chair, and crossing his ankles in a leisurely position. Julia tried to ignore his presence as heat started to radiate on the skin of her neck. Instead, she focused on rolling her head clockwise, rubbing the back of her neck to relieve some tension already forming from the stretching.
Eli's lips parted, taking in how soft the exposed pale skin on her neck looked. He wanted to close the space between them and inhale her kisses but restrained himself with a deep exhale.
"Mr. Goldsworthy, can I help you?" She stood up from the floor, bending over to place her palms flat on the ground. The muscles on the back of her thighs and calves stretched like a stiff elastic band.
"I think there might be something back there for me Ms. Stone." He cocked his head to the side, a large portion of Julia's backside exposed from her leo' and in his line of sight. His yearning to touch her only increased, now gripping his armchair tightly.
"Mmm...I'm quite sure there's nothing here for you." Julia bit her lip, still stretched but pivoting her torso to work on her left side, palms still flat on the ground.
Eyes on fire, Eli bore into her backside some more. "I completely disagree! I think I need to take a closer look for myself." Pushing out of his chair, he placed himself right behind her, his pelvis touching her butt. Julia gently lifted herself so she was standing tall and up against him.
"That's odd," Eli spoke above a whisper in her ear. Julia sucked in air, her eyes shutting from the sound of his vibrating voice. One hand reached for her thigh while his free one was placed on her ribcage. She stifled a moan and gulped audibly, noting how dry her throat was.
Julia opened her eyes, trying to get her mind working on the task at hand. Usually, she would gladly welcome his distraction, but not with ballet.
He urged his lips down on her neck, pressing his chest closer into her back, as his body temperature rose. "I swear something here belongs to me." His breath spread from her ear and to her neck like wildfire.
"Eeeeli!" Julia complained at his final move when he snaked his hand up slowly to grab her breast. He lingered his hand there, gently massaging and tugging at the soft tissue.
"Yes?" He asked lazily after he placed a simple kiss on her temple. It was soft and soothing. She sighed, turning in place so she was now facing him. Placing a quick peck on his lips, she studied his eyes. They were dark and yearning with more intent.
"Eli, I have to seriously focus. I want to look good doing this so that you look good doing your documentary."
Eli didn't fight her. He got her message loud and clear. Raising his arms in defense, the teen boy backed away from her to go sit back on his desk chair. He still didn't take his eyes off her. Julia's cheeks burned as a broad grin crossed her face from his yearning for her. She nodded her head in mocking disapproval and continued to work on her flexibility.
After working on her technique all weekend, she found it wasn't like what it used to be after her hiatus. Mentally that dragged her down, but she tried to focus on Eli instead and what it meant for him. Julia was doing this for no one else except him. For them and for New York. That was it. No other eyes. She had to keep reminding herself of that.
When Sunday afternoon rolled around, Julia was getting tired of practicing in Eli's small room. The dark-haired boy helped her situate herself in the living room instead. Using a dining chair from the kitchen, he'd brought it over to her to act as a barre. Seeing as there was nothing else to use, she steadied herself against the chair to practice more on pointe. Eli swapped between watching her change from the third position to the fourth and working on laying out the documentary's filming timetable.
"You know what? I'm gonna go up to my room," he scratched his chin, looking over his phone, "I'm going to call up this pointe shoe manufacturer to see if they'll humor us with some footage on how the shoes are made for the project. Maybe they'll even give us some quotes we can use." Eli's face lit up at the idea and hopped off the couch.
"I'll be here," Julia called after him, starting back up and working from first position and into second. A few minutes later, the front entrance to the Goldsworthy residence swung open, showing Cece with bags full of groceries. The ballerina quickly lost her balance, gathering herself to rush over to Eli's mother.
"Oh, what's this?" Asked Cece, walking through the door, "Don't you look adorable!"
Julia's cheeks instantly flushed red, forgetting what she was in the middle of doing and in her dance practice attire. Her boyfriend's parents didn't know anything about her ballet background. Mentally, she panicked, realizing that there would be questions. Questions that not even Eli had answers to yet.
"Umm, yeah…." Her brain scrambled for her mouth to give any type of explanation.
"Umm, just rehearsing a little something for Eli's movie….I got a part in it…." The raven-haired girl reached for the other grocery bags Cece wasn't able to pick up and brought them inside.
When she placed them down on the kitchen counters, she turned to find the middle-aged woman staring at her with a hand on her hip and a wide smile.
"You two really are the cutest thing! I was a little worried for him because of the stuff he's—you know—dealing with."
Flashes of Eli getting upset or rumors surfaced but Julia pushed them away from her mind immediately. Instead, she nodded politely.
"I'm sure he's told you…."
"Yeah, he let me know that day I moved in. I'm well aware."
"Good," she hummed. Cece started taking out food items from the bags and placing them around the kitchen where they belonged. "Anyways—I was a little worried, but you've been so great for him. I haven't seen my baby boy this happy in a long long time." The blonde woman turned to her again with a sincere look, her eyes showing a little glint of something. Julia tucked a hair behind her ear, knowing full well that he'd been the bigger blessing in her life but took the compliment silently.
Cece was wearing boot heels that clacked against the linoleum floor as she crossed the kitchen to Julia. Opening her arms, she enveloped the teen in a quick embrace. The raven-haired girl didn't know quite what to do, but her instinct was to hug her back. Especially because she was so warm and inviting. Julia's eyes started to swell, but she blinked away any excess moisture that was there. That was the most affection a parent figure had ever shown her and it was nice.
Cece was wearing boot heels that clacked against the linoleum floor as she crossed the kitchen to Julia. Opening her arms, she enveloped the teen in a quick embrace. The raven-haired girl didn't know quite what to do, but her instinct was to hug her back. Especially because she was so warm and inviting. Julia's eyes started to swell, but she blinked away any excess moisture that was there. That was the most affection a parent figure had ever shown her and it was nice.
"My baby is lucky to have you in his life," she chuckled and then added, "Plus my grandbabies are going to be the cutest things ever!"
The corner of Julia's lip gave a weak tug. She shifted her posture to the back of her heels, feeling a sudden weight cling on to her back.
Both Julia and Eli had started working on the documentary bright and early on Monday morning. The shooting was not at all like how she imagined it would go. Eli's focus was one hundred percent zeroed in, with a clear vision in mind for what he was trying to capture. It showed Julia a new side of him, one of passion and determination. Nothing but focus and it reminded her of herself. Of herself just a few weeks ago about ballet. Julia was one-hundred percent zeroed in on Julliard and only that for so long. Her mind went into a slight panic, chewing on her bottom lip and feeling a sudden tweak of tension in her neck. The raven-haired girl messaged at her neck to relieve the pressure.
That's not my life anymore. My new life is with Eli.
By the time the first morning bell rang, they set up the lighting and camera. Eli just went on and on about lightning, the shot, and something about post-production…Julia meekly smiled and nodded along to her boyfriend having no idea what any of it meant. However, it made Julia's part almost crucial to nail down right. She didn't want to let him down. It had to be perfect.
The plan is that by lunch, they could rehearse some of the questions so when last class of the day ended, she and Eli started shooting the official "interview portion" of the short film.
They were all questions about ballet and her experience and knowledge about pointe shoes. Eli and Julia had both gone through the questions and vetted them to make sure they were relevant and followed the informative narrative they were trying to tell. When it came to that part of the project, they balanced each other well.
"In essence, why do ballerinas destroy their shoes to be able to dance in them?" Eli asked, his green eyes zeroing in on her well-lit face. He was seated behind the camera but in front of Julia.
The dark-haired girl's shoulders stiffened at the sound of his voice. Her eyes darted from the camera lens, and back to Eli's face where she was supposed to look.
"Umm well…" Julia contemplated, tugging a loose strand of black hair behind her ear.
She studied the questions front and back, working through her answers…but she was drawing a blank. Her neck was accumulating sweat and her legs were fidgeting in her chair.
"...you see, pointe shoes don't come custom to a ballerina's foot-even if you get them custom made for you." Julia let out a nervous chuckle and continued. "You need to break it down." She took a deep breath and glanced down to her lap. "We have to take away or add certain things to our pointe shoes to make them-well, you know-work best for our feet…and to just dance."
She heard Eli sigh deeply. "Okay-cut." The camera beeped audibly, signaling to her that the camera stopped rolling again.
Julia flailed her arms in frustration. "I'm sorry!" She whined, "I'm no good on camera. It's awkward-I'm awkward!"
"No-No! You're doing great," he reassured her with a warm tug to his lips. Julia glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow. He stayed silent for a moment and merely analyzed her, his eyes dancing on her, causing the air in her lungs to dissipate.
The dark-haired teen chewed in the inside of his mouth. "I haven't been a good director…" Eli mumbled. He didn't skip a beat afterward and grabbed Julia behind her neck and urged her to kiss him. When their lips met, there was no urgency at all. It was a deep kiss that they slowly built, their lips parting methodically. Julia let her shoulders drop in pleasure, a familiar warmth running across her chest. She sighed in too the kiss which the green eye teen took as an invitation to nibble on her bottom lips. That fueled Julia and she longed to kiss him more, but before she could, Eli parted away from her ever so slightly and ran his thumb over her bottom lip. Almost as if healing over the pink skin where he just damaged. He scanned her eyes over, content to see a much less anxious Julia.
"There you are," he breathed. Julia's heart skipped a beat and a smile etched on her face.
"I've been going at this all wrong. Instead of talking to the camera-talk to me. Forget the cameras there and just respond to my questions as your boyfriend instead of an interviewer." Eli smirked at his last few words. "Alright, let's go at it again. Remember, it's just you and me."
Julia nodded in reassurance, as the camera beeped once more.
Julia was gripping tight onto the floor-to-ceiling curtains that adorned the back wall of the auditorium stage. Eli had her pinned up against it, in a dark corner of the stage, as she desperately tried to muffle her moans. Julia pressed down hard on her bottom lip as Eli sent another pleasure shockwave to her right nipple. His right hand tweaked and pulled at it in a way that sent both shivers of pleasure down to her core while also being undeniably painful. Goosebumps raised in her arms.
He was taking her from behind as crash after crash of his pelvis hit her again and again from behind. Something about their filming, being on campus, and after-school hours, brought them to this desperate point of being unable to wait to get home and do it in the safety of Eli's room. It's not like Cece or Bullfrog would be home. Both would probably be heading to work. But maybe that was part of the excitement…at any moment they could get caught.
Julia could feel his warm breath caressing the nape of her sweaty neck. His breath was erratic and she knew he had to be close like so many times before.
"God Eli, I can't take it anymore," Julia whispered in agony. She gripped onto the curtain tighter.
"I need you to cum so I can cum too."
Eli responded with a low grunt. He hunched himself over Julia, his sweaty forehead touching the bare parts of her back while he still pumped away inside her.
"Julia, I love you!" He kissed her salty pale skin with desperation and completely ignored her plea, "I love you so much."
Julia didn't know if it was her need to finish, or their recent bonding on the movie project, or getting him to say those words again with such tenacity but she felt the desperation to say it right back for the fist time.
"Ugh, god," she gasped, "I love you too Eli. Fuck, how I love you!"
Eli's pumps were feeling harsher but still more unpredictable and Julia knew she'd pushed him to his limits with her words. The thought of him finishing sent her right over the edge, just like every time. Her knees spasmed and her spine grew weak, struggling to keep herself up. The teen girl held onto the curtain with her strength to support herself and the dark-haired boy did the same as well as groaned in her ear.