Jeté

Piroutté

 Song of the chapter: Broken Glass- Rachel Platten (just came out and I'm so obsessed!)

The next few weeks I found a spring in my step I hadn't had in months. 

I was working at the studio three to four times a week for at least 5 hours a day, so it was keeping me generally busy. The rest of my time after teaching my classes was usually spent on my own studio time after the students left. I would normally just stretch or put on a song I had found online and choreograph a little something to it. 

I found myself super stiff and tense for the first few weeks that I was back. The first week alone was just me stretching and pushing myself back into the same pliant shape I had been in high school. Dancing at university wasn't near as intense as it had been in high school and I often had to struggle to force myself back into my old form. 

My minor at school only required five classes over the course of four years, so my daily studio time in high school had been dwindled down to three one-hour classes a week every other semester. 

It was the beginning of June and I was just finishing up my ballet basics class on Wednesday. I had been anxious to have my solo time today, as I had found a song online last night that I was itching to choreograph.

I had 7 girls in my ballet class, and they were progressing along nicely. Three of them were in middle school, while four of them were older elementary school girls. They all had happy demeanors and weren't ones to back down from any challenge I gave them, especially as we started working past the basics into some more advanced techniques. 

We finished the across the floor activities and moved into final stretches so they weren't too sore after the hour and a half class. 

Once they finished their stretches, they moved into the changing rooms to collect their belongings and wait for their rides. 

I started to pack up my shoes and my phone, which had been supplying my music for class. I tossed my shoes into my duffle and grabbed my sneakers. I was planning on grabbing a quick sandwich at O'Malley's across the street before coming back for some studio time. 

Other classes were moving around and changing as I walked out into the lobby.

I waved at Ms. Kathleen as I headed toward the front door. 

I walked outside into the cool evening air and turned to head down the street to the crosswalk. I looked over and noticed one of the students from my ballet class, Danielle, sitting on a bench outside the studio alone.

"Danielle, are you alright?" 

"Oh, Miss Lily, yeah, I'm fine. My brother is late," she responded rolling her eyes semi-dramatically as only a middle schooler would. 

"Oh, alright. It's getting dark. I can wait with you until your brother shows up if you want."  I didn't want to leave Danielle alone as it was getting late. The street wasn't unsafe but it wasn't crowded and she didn't seem sure when her brother would be getting here to get her.

"You don't have to Miss Lily. He shouldn't be too long," she said. 

"No, it's alright. I don't have anywhere to be," I said. The new song would have to wait at least a little longer. I sat down on the bench next to her. 

"Okay. Matt is just being stupid. He got so caught up in some baseball game on TV, he forgot what time it was," she half-laughed, half sighed, "mom and dad are gonna have his head if I tell them he left me waiting out here alone at night."

I chuckled at that. We talked for a little while. Danielle confided in me about a boy from her 6th grade English class whom she has a crush on. She was describing some joke he had told her when a silver Jeep pulled up at the sidewalk.