Salt and Sugar

Chapter 2: Pearl

          My phone pinged, notifying me that there was a text incoming. As I glanced at it, I groaned inwardly, careful to keep my face neutral.

Have you practised yet? The finals are coming, you know. Top dancers don't just laze around all day like what you're doing. 

     The text was from my mom, my strictest and harshest critic. She used to be a competitive dancer before she had me, where her doctor advised her not to continue dancing as they had faced some complications during my birth. I got the sense that she blamed me for stopping her bright career. However, at a young age, I had showed an interest in dancing (k-pop). Upon seeing this, my mother had enrolled me in dancing courses instantly from the tender age of three. 

    Mom had poured her hopes into me, in which I was grateful for sometimes, but as years passed, her overbearing expectations had drowned the small spark of interest I had had. Yes, I had "talent", but this "talent" had been "bought" for thousands of dollars. 

    Nonetheless, I refused to disappoint my mother. My sister was already a huge letdown to my parents, and I refused to be another source of grief to my parents. Honestly, inwardly I supported Tia. If she wanted to be a social media influencer, then so be it. She should chase her dream. However, my parents thought differently, saying that they had poured hundreds of thousands into her education, and she was just going to waste it like that? They had cut her down harshly, calling her a brainless blonde bi*ch and other names I never wanted to hear again.

      Six months later, I'm still ashamed at myself for not standing up for her. God knows she had always did when the kids at school bullied me. Instead, I had meekly stood there as my parents slandered Tia at dinner. The food I had swallowed tasted like rocks, heavy in my stomach and just as tasteless. Also, to make it clear, Tia is not a -- well, what they said. She graduated at the top of her class, and as a valedictorian.

   Older than me by nine years, I should have been seen by Tia as the annoying younger sister she always had to take care of, but she never treated me like a chore. She was like a mother to me. While her classmates partied till midnight, she stayed behind to babysit me. She was the one who watched Disney marathons with me when our parents went out to fancy gala dinners, the one who read to me before tucking me into bed. The one who brought me chicken soup when I fell ill. She took care of me, but when she really needed it, I failed her.

     Banishing all the negative thoughts from my mind before tears welled up in my eyes, I entered the dance room. Fortunately, it was empty and I would not need to share it with anyone. Pressing 'play' on my phone, I tied my hair into a ponytail and did a few warmups as music flowed through the room.

      Closing my eyes as muscle memory kicked in, practiced moves that had been drilled into me countless times. Already in the zone as I kicked and twirled, I was completely oblivious to the shadow leaning on the door behind me.

*** Bennett's POV***

    Holy shit. I didn't know why I had followed Pearl just now, but I couldn't -- no, wouldn't-- regret it. Yes, my friends would definitely be pissed off with me, but it was a small price to pay. Pearl was a sight for sore eyes, her elegance highlighting every smooth move of her's.

    I had known Pearl was a dancer the moment I saw her. Her lithe body, the way she treated every action like a dance she wanted to or had already perfected. That, and the fact that her eyes lit up every time she talked about the art. I just hadn't seen her in action. 

     As Pearl bent over, her beautiful arms wrapped around her slim body in a dance move (or something. I have no knowledge of dance), desire unfurled in my belly.