"Thanks Anthony! I'll see you again tomorrow!" I call out.
"Wait, hold on!" he calls out. I stop and turn around to see him running out of his office.
"What's up?" I ask.
"How would you like to teach a ballet class for little kids? Even though you don't take any classes anymore, you come here every other day to practice in that empty studio," he offers.
"That's amazing! I would love to!" I exclaim.
"Alright, we'll talk about this more later. I'll see you in two days," he says, and he goes back into his office.
I walk home with my duffel bag slung over my shoulder. I walk past Starbucks and notice a group of boys standing in line. I know exactly know they are. I'll skip Starbucks today, I think to myself. I need to cut back, anyways, if I want to teach that class.
I plug in my earbuds and hit shuffle. Immediately, Taken Away by Before You Exit starts playing, and I sing along as I walk down the street. Some people give me weird looks as I pass by, but I ignore them.
"Mom, I'm home!" I call out when I walk through the front door. She walks into the foyer and smiles at me, drying her hands with the dish towel.
"Hi, sweetie. How was practice?" she asks.
"Good! I finally nailed that ten turn pirouette that I've been working on for two months now," I tell her, closing the door behind me.
"That's amazing, honey! I'm so proud of you," she says. She hugs me before walking back into the kitchen. She asks over her shoulder, "Would you like anything to eat?"
"Yes, please! May I please have my usual?" I ask.
"Sliced apple and peanut butter, coming right up!" I sit at the counter, letting my bag fall to the floor.
"So, I talked to Anthony today," I start.
"This is either good or bad, but by the smile on your face, I'm guessing it's good, so spill it," she demands, cutting the apple.
"He's giving me the opportunity to teach a ballet class for little kids," I tell her.
"Shut up! Do you know how old they'll be?" she asks. She slides the plate over to me, and it stops right in front of me.
"No idea, but he said little kids, so I'm guessing five or six, maybe younger," I mumble.
"Alright, finish that up, and then go to bed. You have an early start tomorrow," she says. I nod and finish my snack before rushing to the stairwell.
"Oh, and Foster?" she calls out. I poke my head over the railway. "Congratulations on everything. No matter what, you make me proud."
I smile before running up the steps. Walking into my room, I strip off my unitard, skirt, and flip flops, and then I walk into the bathroom. I take a long shower to rinse off the sweat and grime from dancing for seven hours. I dry off, changing into a large t-shirt and some boxers that Jackson left over here and crawl into my bed, turning off the lamp on my nightstand and quickly falling asleep.
