Designed for Submission

Chapter 9

"Shit!" I yell out as I drop my books again. That was the third time already, and I haven't even barely taken ten steps away from my locker. I am stressed.

The showcase last weekend was great. I got a standing ovation, but with the spring break in 4 days, there's still just so much more to do. Today could not have been any worse. I had three finals today: in music I composed a song and had to perform it; in theater I memorized a monologue, but did not get to perform it; and now I'm off to dance to show the class my new choreography. I was exhausted, frantic and in an all around bad mood.

Just then Aiden walks up to me but closes his mouth when he sees the look on my face. "Woah, there! You look..." he trails off and doesn't finish the sentence.

"Yes, I know. I look like crap. Well I'm sorry if this is the most hectic day ever and it's not even lunch time!" I snap. He puts his hands up in defense and gives me a concerned look. "Sorry. I'll be fine, Aiden. What do you have next?"

"Mathematics."

"I will never understand how you are majoring in the arts like I am, but still want to do weird shit like math and physics."

He just laughs at me and takes my books, "Here, let me help."

We walk to the dance room without any incident, I say thank you, he nods and heads off to his class.

-~-

"Elena Caramela!" Miss Susan calls out. "Please explain the concept behind your choreography and tell us what it means to you."

"The name of this piece is called shells," I begin my introduction. "The message I wish to portray is what it takes for those with shells to come out of them. For some all it takes is a little coaxing, but for others the shell needs to be shattered into pieces."

I walk to the middle of the room before continuing, "The significane of the concept to me is that I am an introvert, but I am not sure what it takes for me to come out of my shell. In creating the choreography, I discovered that somewhere in the middle is what I need. Patience, but also determination are the traits I seek in a companion, whether of the same gender or not."

Miss Susan nods and waves her hand for me to begin. I get into the first position. I stand, but bend over so my head touches my knees with my arms wrapped around the underside of my thighs. The music starts and I begin my dance. It goes smoothly until I stumble on a jump and tumble to the floor. I cover up the mistake, however, and roll out of it gracefully before continuing my choreography.

When the music stops and I stop in my final position, silence fills the room. I feel so embarrassed and quickly go back to my seat before anybody could say anything. Instead of calling the next name out, Miss Susan gets up and walks to the middle of the room and faces the class. She stands there for a while without saying a word, looking as if she's trying to find the right thing to say.

"Elena," she begins. I'm so worried at what she is going to say, so I put my head down and wait for her criticism.

"That was amazing."

I lift my head up to see a smile on her face. Suddenly, she begins to clap and the rest of the class follows. My heart swells and it's such an amazing feeling that these people that barely give me the time of day like what I just did.

"Alright, class!" her tone returns to it's usual crisp and stern voice. "The bar has been raised."

She returns to her seat and calls the next name. We get through three more people before the end of the class, and they are all amazing. They all came up with inspiring concepts as well. When the class is over, I am in a much better mood.