unconditional (BOOK #2) [TO BE PUBLISHED]

Chapter 26

A/N: not edited 

Chapter 26 (Chelsea POV)

After witnessing the disaster that was Madeline and Scarlet perform their solos as well as their duet with each other, I couldn’t make sense of what happened next. Professor Baptiste called them forward- able to hear unlike the few that were human in this room- offering Scarlet to dance as Louise in the winter show they were showcasing “the nutcracker.”

Madeline was asked to dance the part as Clara, which I’m not sure I understood why, but also how they could do something so attention seeking.

“We will be wearing masks, the costume designers have already begun working, and you will need to let them know of your sizes…”

Both Madeline and Scarlet, wore large grins, “Do we have those parts for sure? Who will be our understudy?” Madeline asked.

“You two have been training with us for 15 years, there are two others who will be your understudy but I’m hoping we wont have to use them as their technique is a bit lacking.”

Fifteen years of dance lessons and they had these mistakes? Their turnouts weren’t really 90-degrees, Madeline’s fifth position looked like her fourth and she attempted 10 fouettes and was unable to keep her spins tight and flawless during her solo.

With Scarlet on the other hand, her mistakes were slight but something even beginners knew, she began her triple pirouettes in fourth position but didn’t keep her leg turned out as she began to turn, nor while turning. Yet I believe her most noticeable mistake was that she didn’t always point her toes, she didn’t have the best feet, and continuously sank into the box of her shoe. Those two things in turn made her turns look messy and lack inconsistency.

Maybe they have better technique but since you’re not required to have everything polished up they didn’t really try Jamie thought validating my observations.

You saw the mistakes as well then? I still asked.

Yes, if they could do better, then they should have… why bother with bad habits unless that’s how they dance, terrible posture and technique as well, he shrugged.

“Okay, next up!” Baptiste called out as Madeline and Scarlet walked away. Most of the students after dancing left and I was hoping that would be the case with Madeline and Scarlet but they remained where they were not making a move to leave at all, but I could tell they were clearly happy with the news that they just received. 

And so it went, dancer after dancer, until Jamie and I were last. As we were about to dance three new people entered the room, stopping right near Madeline and Scarlet briefly before joining Professor Baptiste. While our duets had to be original, the solos did not have to be, so Jamie decided to use his own choreo and I decided to dance a part of Odette.

“I’m Jamie, 21 years old,” he said like the others had before and began dancing, and then, it was my turn. As I walked to the center I could feel Madeline and Scarlet glaring holes into my body.

Don’t worry about them, pretend you’re only dancing for Gabriel or your dad, even Ava… Aria tried to encourage me.

“I’m Chelsea Hobbs,” I stressed and watched as one of the new comers eyes widen, “I’m 17 years old.” Baptiste, looking down at the paper, she had and passed it over to the new comers without taking her eyes off me.

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Dancing. My second love, or tie for first. Drawing, the activity I started first and after 8 months Jason took me to see Swan Lake, and I can remember instantly loving how the dancers moved gracefully around stage and how they captivated the audience with technique, but also heart, using their bodies to tell a story. No words, just incredible movement, that took dedication and hard work to master. I can remember learning, that humans are so easily injured, they could spend their whole lives working to be a ballerina, and in their twenties one injury could break that dream. Destroy it completely, leaving them shattered.