Submitting Information:
Stacked with: N/A
Individual Challenge(s): N/A
Representation(s): lead female characters engaging in activities and conversation without men as characters or subjects
Primary & Secondary Bonus Challenge(s): FPC
Tertiary & Generic Bonus Challenge(s):
Word Count: 3,107
Author's Note: Inspired by my own experiences with lyra (though with slighly less falls). I made sure to use discipline-accurate terminology, so if you're not sure what anything means, it's easy to google image search!
Disclaimer: Any characters and situations you recognize are not mine.
Canon Variation: This is an All Human (AH) story. No vampires
Bella watched in horrified fascination as one of the acrobats unraveled herself from the silks, from probably twenty feet off the ground, stopping just about a meter from the crash pad below. The girl swirled her leg around to release the rest of the giant silk ribbon before gradually lowering herself to the ground, doing a forward flip from the air to land gracefully on the mat.
"Alice, what would make you think bringing me here would be a good idea?" Bella asked incredulously.
"It'll be fun! It's great bonding. Besides" she shrugged. "We're not taking a silks class anyway. We're going to be trying Lyra."
"Which is what?"
Rosalie, who had just walked back to the other two, covered in a white powder, pointed her hand in the direction of a different part of the gym, where an instructor was releasing large hula hoop-sized rings from carabiners attached to the walls. "It's an aerial hoop. And you should chalk up; our class starts in five minutes."
"Let's take Bella to an acrobatics class. What could go wrong?" Bella muttered, as she followed Alice's lead, covering her hands in the white powdery chalk. "Have you both forgotten that I'm completely athletically impaired?" She tripped over the ledge, as if to illustrate her point.
"You have two left feet; that doesn't mean you can't be an incredible aerialist," Alice countered.
"Figured this was better than pole dancing," Rosalie added with a smirk. "That's how I learned of this studio in the first place. I've graduated to pole in heels."
Bella shuddered as the three of them left the chalk bowl and approached the area of the studio where their class was being held. "No, thanks. I'd rather not break my neck."
"Hello, ladies!" They were greeted by the woman they had watched release the hoops moments ago. "It's just you three today, so when you're ready, we'll start our warm up."
"We're ready!" Alice declared. "Lead on!"
They were led through about fifteen minutes of relatively safe warm ups-simple stretches, leg kicks, and such. The only risky move for Bella was an attempt at what the instructor called Delilah pull ups from the hoop.
But then came the dangerous part: actually using the apparatus.
"So we'll start by going over how to mount in lyra. This is called the Delilah Mount. I'll demonstrate first and then walk you through it." The instructor grabbed the hoop with both hands, put one leg forward, and then kicked up with the other, threading it through the hoop and connecting at the knee. "And if you're comfortable there, you can also drop your outer arm like this," she let one arm drop, so she was now suspended in the air, hanging just by her knee and one hand. A few seconds later, she dismounted.
She smiled wide at her three students. "Now, it's your turn to try. I'll walk you through it step by step. So to start, you want to grasp the hoop with both hands. And make sure that, as you do, you keep the strop taught. If you don't, the hoop could swing and you really don't want that. A little swing and spin is normal, but you don't want to feel out of control."
Bella took hold of the hoop, looking around at her friends as she did so. She'd kill them both for this.
The instructor came to stand by her. "You're gripping it like you're scared for your life. Don't be scared of it. Right now, you have your wrists wrapped around the hoop which might feel more secure at the moment, but it'll make moving harder. Just wrap your hands around it and pull your elbows in as tightly to your sides as you can." She demonstrated.
Bella fixed her grip, and the instructor nodded her head. She backed up and spoke to the group again.
"Great! So now you're going to put one leg out in front of you, under the hoop. It doesn't matter which leg you start with, we'll try both sides. Pull your arms into your sides as tight as you can and when you're ready, use your front leg to propel your back leg up and into the hoop."
Bella watched her friends on either side of her. Alice had done it almost perfectly on the first try, her petite frame making it easy to maneuver her leg into the hoop. She dropped one arm.
Rosalie had gotten her ankle up on the hoop but hadn't had enough momentum to complete the mount. She pulled her ankle off, swapped her legs, and tried again, this time making it through.
Bella took a deep breath. What were they thinking, bringing her here? This was a trip to the hospital waiting to happen.
"Let's see you try," the instructor said, suddenly standing by Bella's mat and hoop once again. "Don't worry too much about falling; that's what the crash pad is here for. So you're holding the hoop; your hands are positioned much better this time. So put one leg out under the hoop; there you go, just like that. And if you lean back as you kick off, it'll help too."
Bella stood in the starting position, just trying to psych herself up to move. When she finally pulled her back foot up off the ground, without nearly enough momentum to get it anywhere, the hoop started to rotate, and she panicked, letting go and falling to the mat below her.
"That's okay. It happens. That's why we practice. Why don't you try switching your feet? Just like we have a dominant hand, you have a dominant leg too, and you'll have to play around to see what your good side is."
Bella swapped her legs, holding on to the hoop but still not moving. At least the mat had been there to cushion her fall. She hadn't gotten hurt, even though she had wildly lost control.
As Bella stood there, psyching herself up, the instructor backed up, returning to her own hoop, and turned to Rosalie and Alice.
"For the other two, when you're in that Delilah pose, you can try climbing by grabbing farther up the hoop with your bottom hand. If you can't reach too high, just climb one hand at a time, one over the other." She had remounted the hoop and was demonstrating as she spoke. "And once you're high enough, grab the hoop on the other side of the strop, and then you can pull your second leg through to sit. The most basic seated position is the Gazelle; just shift your hips so you have one knee high and bent, and the other leg straight." She demonstrated with all three girls watching.
The instructor stayed up in the hoop, watching the other two try this new maneuver.
Bella had a sudden burst of confidence, and she kicked herself up off the ground, managing to get her leg through the hoop, but ending short, mid calf. She dangled there for a moment, but her hands were starting to hurt from the force of her grip, so she let go, falling onto the mat again.
"That was better!" the instructor praised, still seated on her own hoop. "See if you can try again, just jump with a little more power."
Bella shook her head no. This was exhausting and she was far too physically uncoordinated for this. But as she glanced over at her friends again, she felt a bit of smug satisfaction to see them both struggling to climb up the hoop.
"You have a hoop that's closer to the ground," the instructor commented, bringing Bella's attention back to her own apparatus. "Why don't you try starting with your leg already through the hoop, locked into your knee pit?"
Bella continued shaking her head stubbornly. If she had it her way, she'd completely throw in the towel right now.
The instructor dismounted. "Okay. That's alright. But I think you'll have fun once you get into the hoop, so can you try just pulling yourself up like this?" The instructor stood in front of the hoop, put her arms through it, grabbing the top, and then jumped, pulling her butt over the bottom of the large ring.
Bella copied the movement, and because her hoop was so low to the ground, she was grateful she didn't have to jump high to successfully sit on the hoop. But as soon as she was there, she understood why the gazelle pose had been demonstrated. Sitting like that hurt!
"You've probably already noticed that's not very comfortable, so shift your weight so that one hip is more forward than the other and that'll get you into that gazelle pose."
Carefully and slowly, Bella shifted. She gripped the hoop above her head for dear life as she shifted her right hip forward. While still uncomfortable, this was better than sitting with hips aligned.
"Let's all get into our gazelle pose, and I'll show you a new pose."
Bella watched as her friends shuffled around, completing Delilah mounts and then pulling their free leg through to sit in gazelle. They made it look effortless. It was so unfair.
"So next, I'm going to show you the Inside Mermaid. For this, you'll want to realign your hips in front of the hoop, keeping your feet together, so it looks like a tail. And then you'll be able to drop your torso in the opposite direction and again, if you feel comfortable, you can drop that outer arm."
Alice and Rosalie had already started moving, but Bella had watched the entire movement first.
She took a deep breath. Might as well try, or else the instructor would hover. She gripped the hoop tightly and shimmied her hips forward. Naturally, her body began to tip sideways in the opposite direction. She clung to the hoop with her upper body. It turned out, this was much scarier than mounting. At least when she'd been trying to mount the hoop, she'd been on the ground. If she fell now, she'd be falling from about two feet up in the air.
"Bella, you're doing it!" She had been concentrating so hard on trying to get into this new position, she hadn't noticed that everyone was watching her until Alice had cheered.
"Good job!" the instructor encouraged. "Do you want to try letting go with your outer arm?"
Bella shook her head stubbornly.
The instructor chuckled. "That's okay. If your body is telling you no, you should listen to it. But let's go ahead and move back to center."
Bella tried to move back up, but she felt stuck. And the hoop was spinning slowly again.
She squinted her eyes shut. If she couldn't get out of this somewhat gracefully, then gravity would certainly get her down.
She slowly shifted her hands up to the top of the hoop, but she couldn't figure out how to move her legs. Her arms were growing tired too, and without her permission, they gave out, her grip slipping, and she tumbled out of the hoop. She met the crash pad on her hands and knees.
"Are you okay?" the instructor asked.
She rolled over onto her back. "I'm fine," she muttered.
"Why don't you take a breather? Get some water, maybe get some more chalk, and we can try again? The next pose I was going to show you is fully within the hoop so I think you'll feel a little safer with it."
Alice bounced over and offered a hand.
Bella took the offered hand and pulled herself up, shaking out the ache in her fingers and wrists.
Once out of earshot of the instructor, Bella grumbled, "You and Rose owe me big time for this. Especially if this class ends with me in the ER."
Alice giggled. "Bella, relax! You'll be fine. You're in a controlled environment, I doubt you'll get severely injured. But you do have the ability to take things at your own pace."
"That's easy for you to say, when you move like you were born for this."
Alice shrugged. "Don't worry so much about what I'm doing or what Rosalie is doing. Just focus on what you can do."
After a long swig of water and adding more chalk to her sweaty hands, Bella sighed, resigned to her fate, as Alice pulled her back across the gym by the hand. She glanced up at the clock as they passed and noticed that they were a little over halfway through the class. At least that was a positive.
"So the next pose I want to show you is called Man in the Moon. When you're ready, let's all get back into the gazelle sit in whichever way is easiest for you."
Bella sighed, grabbing the top of the hoop and hoisting herself up. She shimmied into the gazelle seat, gripping onto the hoop once again. At least here, her hands weren't straining.
"Once you're here, you want to shift your body so you're within the hoop. You should be able to sort of notch onto the hoop by resting one shoulder against it, where your shoulder meets your neck. And once you're there, slowly pull up one leg into the hoop with your foot against it. And once you're comfortable there, tuck in your knees and put the other foot in the hoop a little higher. And if you're comfortable, you can drop your arms to get this pretty picture." The instructor had been moving through her entire explanation, now sitting in the pose she had been describing.
She glanced around the room. Alice was already in the pose. Rosalie was halfway there. She took a deep breath. At least with this pose, there wouldn't be any major hip shifting like there had been in the others they'd tried so far.
Grasping hard at the hoop with both hands, Bella slowly lowered her torso down, until she felt the hoop against her spine.
"Excellent!" the instructor commented from beside her. "Now find the groove in your neck, and you should just kind of sink into it. And if you round your back, you'll kind of mesh against the hoop."
Bella allowed her spine to relax into the hoop and found that this actually wasn't the worst position to be seated in. It was certainly easier on her body than anything else she'd done thus far.
"Excellent! You're halfway there. Since you're nestled into your right shoulder, start by pulling up your left leg. Bend your knee so you can get your foot up there, it should rest right into the hoop. Great. One more leg."
With a renewed burst of confidence, Bella hoisted her final limb up into the hoop, struggling for a moment to get her knees to cooperate so she could position her foot.
"If you engage your core, that'll help you squeeze your knees together so you can make room for that second foot. And you got it!"
"Yay," Bella muttered.
"Do you want to try dropping your arms?"
Bella shook her head so fiercely, she set the hoop in a rotation.
"What if you just drop one?"
She let her fingers slip off for a few seconds before grasping at the hoop again. "Nope, I'm good."
"That's okay! You did awesome!"
She stepped back to address all three once more. "I have one more pose for you all to try. This is going to be our Starfish pose. So for this, you're going to move your hips over the edge of the hoop until it meets the small of your back. And the easiest way to get there is to bicycle your legs, but you can do that as gracefully as you'd like. Once you get the hoop into the small of your back, you can flip your legs up and your shins and hips will lock you into place so you can drop your arms into the full starfish. But only do what you're comfortable with, since this pose is inverted."
Bella decided what she was comfortable with was being right side up, so as her friends attempted this new pose, she stayed right where she was, on the moon. Or in it, she supposed.
"Are you ready to try?" the instructor asked, Bella.
"Nope. I'm good right here," Bella answered as she tracked the instructor with her gaze as the hoop continued its slow rotation.
Every once in a while, she caught glimpses of her friends as they practiced. And as they moved into the freestyle time of the class, where they could film themselves practicing what they'd learned, Bella still remained in the man in the moon pose. Eventually she'd have to find a way out of the pose, hopefully without falling on her face, but she would meet that challenge when the time came.
The instructor approached her one last time. "Class is almost over; I can walk you through how to get down."
"Um. Yeah. I guess I should do that," Bella agreed reluctantly.
"So first you want to bring your feet down. You can bring them down to straddle the hoop or you can bring them both to one side like how we started, that's up to you."
Bella let her feet fall on either side of the hoop. It wasn't very comfortable, encouraging her to follow directions for dismounting quickly.
"Now walk your hands up the hoop to pull your upper body off the hoop as well."
Bella did this with a bit more struggle, but was relieved to find that once upright, her toes could brush the mat.
Ignoring the rest of the instructions, she stretched her toes out to make a bit more contact with the mat and once she had her foot planted, she allowed the rest of her body to fall out of the hoop, keeping her hands grasped around it for support.
She let herself fall to the ground. "Oh thank god, I lived."
Alice giggled. "It couldn't have been that bad. At one point, you even looked like you were having fun."
Rosalie rolled her eyes. "What happened to the daredevil Bella who rode motorcycles for fun?"
"Someone else was controlling the motorcycle. I just had to sit there and hold on tight."
The instructor led them through some brief cool down exercises, all on the floor. "Well, it was nice meeting you all today. I hope you enjoyed your time here and that you learned something. And I hope to see you again!"
Rosalie and Alice happily agreed. Bella kept quiet. She'd be back when hell froze over.