Gone with an Angel

Chapter Eighteen:

Kris, gone out, I'll be back in time to pick Ty up from school. He's there now.

 ~James

 I pulled the bland yellow sticky note off of the coffee maker. It was eleven thirty in the morning, and I had slept in. I didn't hear any of the usually morning chaos, such as alarms or the noises of James and Ty getting ready in the morning to wake me. I sighed and plopped down onto the brown wooden chair next to the table in the kitchen. As any other day, breakfast was waiting for me. This morning, it was chocolate chip muffins in a Tupper-ware container.

I found myself doing nothing but staring into space, my eyes lingering on the clear container with the red lid. What was I supposed to do with James gone? And Ty? My whole life was with them now, and after my old one completely being terminated, I was at a lack of ideas for fun. Sighing, I reached for a muffin nearest to the top and bit into it. Ahh, Muffin heaven.

Deciding to try something new with the random burst of energy I was feeling, I stood up and began my quest. I started on my search for an iPod, stereo, radio, or anything that could blast music through the too silent house. The quest did not last long, as I found the large stereo seated in the corner underneath a window. I felt a smile stretch across my face as I looked to the left of the stereo, in search of CD's. I quickly selected a good pop CD, while idly wondering why James would have this, and popped it into the CD player.

I waited until the fresh sound of music captivated my ears before I found a big enough spot for me to freely move around in. I shut my eyes, planted my feet, and then lifted my arms slowly.

Turn, step, move, left, down, touch, turn, step, I narrated my movements inside my head as I did them. I released a quiet giggle, before turning up my movements faster, letting the beat of the music tell my body what to do.

 Just like old times. An involuntary thought passed through my mind and I stopped my dance, trying to decipher that thought, when I remembered something. I ran to my room, scooping through my bag, until I found a small box that I had tried to keep hidden away. I hardly looked at it, as it brought back bad memories. But now, I needed it to try and remember my past.

I found what I was looking for quickly; it was the first picture inside the box. A small, slender girl took over the picture. She had two arms stretched high above her head, bent at the elbows in slightly different angles. One leg was bent; her delicate foot attached to her other leg’s knee, both of her toes pointed. She had on a tight pink little number, with a deeper set passionate pink tutu enveloping her waist. Vaguely, you could make out other shapes of ballerinas, blurred into the background. But this girl, the one in the picture, she had a smile so large and beautiful it could cure cancer. Her eyes were tilted to the light, allowing the sky blue of her eyes to show more prominently. Her blond and golden curly locks were pulled behind her into a tight bun. She looked about age six.

It was shocking to remember I was looking at a picture of me.

 I used to have a passion for dancing, but that dream was killed when my family turned downhill. I remember loving to dance, and many classes. It was a love, for me, to dance.

Tears threatened to push behind my eyes so I quickly shut the picture away and stood up, returning to the living room where the music was still blaring. I had no idea what I looked like, but I didn't care, I resumed my dancing.

I danced for hours. And hours. And hours. I ignored the screaming of my muscles and the beads of sweat streaming down my forehead. I tuned out the world, and smiled to myself, doing what I used to love to do. Slowly, I regained the enjoyment of dance with every passing twirl.

Eventually I could barely hear the music; I was just moving free-style, whichever way my body told me to.

"Ahem..." I heard a man's voice say and I lost my footing and fell to the ground in a heap. James cleared his throat and walked over to me, holding out his hand to help me up. I flashed him a generous smile and grabbed on, pulling me up to my feet. I walked over to the stereo and clicked it off, biting my lip to turn around to James and Ty who had just returned home.

"That was...Wow..." James said, and I felt my face flush red. I had just started dancing, and I wasn't even planning on any one to know.

 "Wow?" I said shyly, wondering if it was a good thing or a bad thing. I had never been so self-conscious.

"Stunning. Beautiful. Amazing. I never knew you danced."

I turned my face up to look into James eyes, and I saw he meant it. His eyes were widened in disbelief as to what he just saw, and I felt my spirits lift.

Tucking a piece of golden yellow hair behind my ear, I mumbled, “I didn't know either."

James raised an eyebrow, intrigued, but turned away and bent down to be face to face with Ty. "You want to go shower?"

 Ty nodded his head enthusiastically and disappeared behind the corner, out of sight. James turned back around to face me, raising both of his eyebrows. I smiled, now being able to recognize this as his "Explain, pretty, pretty, pretty, please?" face.

"I was bored with nothing to do, so I thought I'd listen to some music," I said, nodding towards the stereo. "And then I just started to dance...and it felt so natural. And then I remembered..." I held up one finger to tell him to wait, and ran to my room to retrieve the picture. I handed it to him, and I saw his million watt smile stretch across his face.

  "Ballerina, huh?" His smile didn't waver. "Look how cute you were!"

 "Were?" I said, mock offended, putting a hand over my heart and making a surprised hurt face.

James cocked his head to the side, still smiling, and then reaching out towards me. For a moment, I wanted to be close to him, not caring if it meant forgetting it again. I only wanted a moment with him. Whispering into my hair before he walked away he said, "Are. I meant are."