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"It was so fun!" I smiled as I walked by Aileen. "I mean I never thought I'd be the type to like being in a band, but I loved it.. and I didn't even play that day." Reminiscing on the night of the concert that I got to stay backstage for was all I had been doing for the past couple of days. I was always behind the stage and on the stage performing because of ballet, but it was a completely different experience with music.
"Well, you seem to be talking a lot more now." Aileen grabbed a shopping cart then walked into the store. That felt a little passive aggressive. "What snacks should we get?"
I felt a little surprised by the change in topic. "I..." I stuttered. "I mean I don't care. I'm not going to eat them." I told her. She knew this already. "Anyway, have you met Teddy's younger brother before?"
"Yeah, I remember when he was born." Aileen stopped in the middle of the aisle to look at the chips.
"He's literally the cutest little thing on the planet, and he liked me too." I remember Catalina telling me that Charlie really didn't like anyone that wasn't her or Daniel, so when Charlie liked me, I felt just a little special. "And I never knew Teddy's name was Theodore."
"I think everyone named Teddy is named Theodore." Aileen threw the bag of tortilla chips into the cart before continuing to walk down the aisle.
I paused before following her. "Are you mad at me?" Aileen had really never been mad at me before, so I was hoping the answer was no, but going by her attitude, I felt like it was going to be a yes.
Aileen shook her head. "I'm just trying to hurry up so we can drop these off at home, then head to the dance studio, and you're kind of stalling me." That sounded exactly like something I would say a couple weeks ago. "I literally had like a million people who could help me turn, and I wanted you to, so..."
Hearing this from Aileen made me realize that before, I used to constantly put ballet before everything else, including the only friend I had. I wasn't saying that Aileen was doing this now, it was just really making me realize how invested I was.
I was supposed to be helping Aileen learn how to turn today. We'd met at the Joffrey this morning, then she took us both to the store in her car. I was actually pretty excited to get to dance a little bit. It was great because I was there to just dance for fun for the most part. I didn't have to worry about a time limit, or someone watching me over my shoulder, or having to do everything perfectly.
"Why are you in such a rush though?" I asked her. It shouldn't have been such a big deal for me to teach Aileen right this second. "I mean it's not like we can do it any day, but—"
"It just has to be today, Joey." Aileen grunted as she picked up the case of spiked lemonade. "Why don't you go get something and I'll buy it for you, okay?"
I stared at her. I wasn't a kid... but at the same time I wasn't going to deny this offer.
"Make it quick and meet me at the front." She said before walking off.
