Converse ·· Luke Brooks

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It’s not easy being an only child. I mean, your parents always expect the best out of you. Not to mess up, get good grades, be the daughter every father wished he had. It’s not as simple as that. I hate it. Absolutely hate it. Sometimes I swear they don’t even love me. They say they do, but I don’t think they don’t. My parents always say, they want to give me the best. In their case, it’s putting me in ballet classes. Ever since I was 6, I’ve been doing ballet. I’m now 17. Which means, I’ve been doing ballet for the past 11 years of my life. Not every girls dream.

I tried to tell my parents that I don’t want to do it anymore, but they don’t listen. That’s why, they’ve sent me to Melbourne’s Ballet Academy, also known as MBA. Let me give you a run down of the place. Everyone who goes there, goes there so they can become world famous and do ballet for the rest of their lives. No one is friends. They all compete with each other for the top spot. I don’t even try to get the top spot, somehow though, I always seem to be in that spot. Which is why, everyone hates me. One last thing as well, the principal of the school just so happens to be my auntie. This gives another reason for everyone to hate me, for sometimes getting ‘special treatment’.

My parents think I’m a goody too shoes, who always does the right thing. That isn’t me though. I would rather go out and party or do something that will make a memory. I’m more on the crazy side. Anything adventurous, dangerous or thrilling, I’m in. This explains why I always seem to get grounded by my Auntie, for not doing the 'right' thing. It’s not my fault though. She expects me to stay indoors and practice ballet routines. Nah-uh. That’s not me.

“Okay class, I think that’s a wrap for the day. I’ll see you all tomorrow,” Ms Kelly yelled out to the class. Everyone fell to the ground, exhausted. I stayed where I was, picking up my water bottle from the ground below me.

I could never understand why I was never the person to get exhausted as everyone else here. I hardly ever broke a sweat. Everyone else, they were puffing, chugging down water. I noticed everyone glare in my direction as I put water bottle down. Of course. They’re pissed that I hardly found this class difficult.  It’s not my fault, they just need to work harder. I guess, I’m just naturally good at this sort of thing, just like my Auntie. I would never admit that to her though.

I sighed, plopping myself down on the ground to take off my ballet flats. I quickly untie them as fast as I can, so I can get out of here. Everyone else was taking their time, knowing they didn’t have any more classes for the day. I, however, wanted to go out for a few hours before my Auntie noticed I was missing.

Once I got my flats off, I slipped on a pair of $5 shoes that I had brought from Big W. They weren’t fancy, just plain black, with white shoelaces. I liked wearing them straight after class, so I wouldn’t have to walk around the school in my flats, which nearly every other girl did.

I heaved my bag over my shoulder and walked out of class. The hallways weren’t as packed as they are normally, but I would say that was because, class was supposed to end about half an hour ago. Everyone would either be back in their dormitories or going out before curfew or in one of the spare dance rooms to practice routines.

Curfew on a Wednesday was at 7pm. It was 4 now, which meant I had 3 hours free. I smiled to myself. I quickly walked through the hallways, dodging anyone who was still out here. My room was on the second floor of the building, room 106. This building all together, was 4 floors. The classrooms were found on floor 1, while the practice dance rooms were below ground. I’m not sure why they put them there, but I’m guessing it is so no one distracts them. The rest of the floors are dormitories.

Each floor, had showers for everyone to share, which I found ridiculous. I mean, we all have bathrooms, but none of them had their own shower. Each floor also had a games room, which included a big screen, separate couches, a pool table, a table tennis table and a ping pong table. I never went out there though, I would only get stared at and everything would fall silent when I walked into the room. I decided it was best if I just stayed in my room whenever possible.

Once I walked into my room, I quickly through my bag onto my single bed and ran over to my wardrobe. I quickly found some short shorts and a superman shirt. I got out of my tights as fast as I could, but it was a little difficult, as they always got stuck on my toes. Once I got them off though, I threw my clothes on, leaving on my $5 shoes.

I yanked my hair band out of my hair as I walked out of my room, letting it fall from its perfect bun and sprawling over my shoulders. I used one of the bobby pins that were in my hair to pin of fringe to the side, so it wasn’t in my face.

I scurried down the stairs, nearly running down them. I had to be quick so my Auntie wouldn’t see me leave. She never trusted me to be out by myself, let alone a school night. I never understood why. She always said, “The top student must try harder than the other students, to keep the top place”.  I never practiced these days, didn’t need to.

Once I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw the main doors and checked down the hallways to see if anyone was around. Not a person in sight. I smirked to myself and sprinted for the main doors. I pushed them open, still running to get as far away from the building as possible. I laughed to myself when I rounded the corner. I pressed my back to the bricked wall and laughed even harder. I don’t know why, I just loved the feeling when I knew I had made it free. I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay out for long, but it was still, nice.

“Avery?! What are you doing out here? I thought I told you, you are not permitted to leave the building on a school night! What are you parents going to say when they hear about this?!” My Auntie’s voice carried throughout the car park. Looks like I didn’t make it after all.

“I just came out to get some fresh air” I lied. I plastered a smile on my face and breathed dramatically through my nose, showing her. I always found it easy to lie to her, with all the practice I had.

“I’ve heard that excuse plenty of times before. You’re not going out tonight Miss Johnson” My Auntie said. She was standing by her car. The boot was lifted open and it looked like she was grabbing boxes out of it.

She was wearing a dress today. It was blue, which really complimented her eyes, which were blue as the ocean. Her hair was in a perfect bun, as usual. I have never seen her in my entire life, wear her hair down.

“Can you stop calling me that. I hate it. It sounds so-“ I paused, thinking for the right word to use. “Professional!”

“Which is exactly what this academy is and you know that, Avery.” She looked over in my direction. I wonder why she never just, let loose for a while. She was too stuck-up. “Now, since you’re out here, you might as well help me with these boxes.

I groaned in annoyance and stomped over to her. She gave me a look of warning, telling me that if I kept up this behavior, she would ground me. I quickly stopped stomping my feet and picked up the last two boxes in the boot. They weren’t light, but they weren’t heavy either.

“What are in these boxes anyway?” I asked as we headed back towards the main doors.

“They’re the costumes I ordered over a month ago. It’s about time they arrived” She answered, guiding me throughout the hallways. From the left turn we made earlier, I’m guessing we were going towards the back of the building, which is where the theatre is. I guess I forgot to mention that as well. Behind the building is the theatre, where we do all our productions. It’s quite massive really.

“What for?” I asked.

“Avery, I don’t understand why you must always ask questions. I’m sure you already know. It’s for the musical coming up, you know, the one for which you are the lead” She answered. Oh right, that one, I thought.

Mind you though, for every musical we have, you have to audition for the part you would like. Nearly every girl and guy auditioned for the lead roles. I was pretty much the only girl who didn’t audition for that part. I auditioned for the smallest role. However, I was chosen for the lead, due to I was the only one capable of doing the difficult stances.  You could probably tell that made me really popular throughout the academy. Hahaha, not.