Gems of Her Heart

Abbygeddon

"So, I set up a meeting for you two at MSA tomorrow."

Instantly my head pops up, from where I was unpacking my luggage; besides me, Anaïs does the same. The three of us arrived in New York a couple hours ago, and after stopping for a quick lunch, we checked in to our hotel.

"Repeat that, please. I think I heard you wrong."

"Well since neither of you wants me to be your manager-"

"Incredible sulk," Anaïs whispers to me, causing me to stifle a laugh.

"- I got you two an appointment at MSA tomorrow, right after practice."

"And we have an appointment at Gaynor today," I remarking, looking longley at the bed.

Anaïs groans. "We're not gonna get any sleep, are we?"

I shook my head. "It's New York, the City that never sleeps."

"That's right Adrienne, we're gonna take the time that we have in New York to get you guys as many opportunities as we can."

"Yay," we deadpan.

After unpacking we left the hotel, Mom got one of the producers to call a cab for us. When the car arrived, we were on our way to 16th Street. When we arrived, Mom ushers us out of the cab and into the store.

"Hi, welcome to... If it isn't Anaïs and Adrienne! How are two?"

"We're good," Anaïs and I respond.

She looks up at Mom. "What can I do for you?"

"Thay have an audition for Joffrey in a couple days..."

"And you want to put your best foot forward with some new pointe shoes," she comes out from behind the cashier. "If I remember correctly, you two have Egyptian type feet," we follow her further into the store until we reached the back of the store where the dressing room is. "Cone box, right?"

Mom nods. "Right and Column for Adrienne. Anaïs as a low arch and Adrienne as a high arch. And their width her both narrow."

It wasn't long before Anaïs and I both had boxes of pointe shoes in front of us.

After taking my sneakers off and putting on a different pair of socks, I took a pair out from the boxes and put them on. I rose up on demi-pointe and walked around the little area in the store.

"How does that fit?"

I did a few roll-throughs and nodded. "It feels great."

Mom gestures to the barre. "Let's make sure."

Staying on pointe, I walk over to the barre and did a couple piles until Mom was satisfied.

Getting your shoes to fit just right in dance is so important, especially for ballet. If it's too small, you're gonna be in pain while dancing, and if it's too big, it can cause sprained ankles, so find just the right shoe is essential.

"Okay, your good," Mom tells me, and I walked back over to the bench and took them off.

It took another hour before Anaïs found the perfect pointe for herself. Once she was done, we left the store with our shoes, two new black leotards, and three white ballet tights. Dropping our bags off in our hotel, we headed out to dinner with the other girls and their Moms. By the time we got back to the hotel, the city lights were on everywhere, I laid my head on my pillow and was out like a light. I didn't even change out of my day clothes.

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"Girls, this is the big time," Mom tells us the next day. "We are here in New York City in the dance mecca of the world. Right here. And I want you to take it all in. Everybody you pass on that street probably took a dance lesson at some point in their life. Do you understand that? Yes, there's a lot of kids that win competitions, a lot of kids that get crowns on their heads, and there's a handful that makes it in the industry. Remember that."