The Silver Lining (The Salvatoré Series)

1. Ballerina

"Should I?" Katarina said as she stared intently at the case of wine her father had bought for her as a house warming gift. She was currently debating how deeply she wanted to drink. "No. I shouldn't." She said at last getting up and walking to her bedroom of the studio apartment.

With the sky high prices of New York City, living in this apartment was a previlage. Her father agreed on paying for the apartment, after Kat yelled at him about ruining her life, but then again what father hasn't heard that before? Manhattan was the perfect place to escape anything. It wasn't that far from Brooklyn but it was far enough so that she didn't have to live at home with her father.

Kat got out a tank top, cotton shorts and her pointe shoes. She powdered the inside of the gels with baby powder and slipped on the tight pointe shoes. She tied them as tight as she could will herself too. She pulled her brown hair up into a bun and began stretching.

She had only been here for three days but she was already completely unpacked, except a box in the corner. She hadn't meet anyone that lived in the building except the landlord.

"Better than drinking alone." She mumbled to herself. Yes, she spoke to herself. Kat didn't see a problem with it. She was 20 turning 21 soon. Outside, the few trees that lined the streets were orange and growing bare. The wind picking up slightly, bringing a whistling through the window into the apartment.

To silence the room, she put on Yellow Flicker Beat by Lorde. The beat was slow enough for her to move. The sound of the music hummed through out the apartment. The living room was pretty empty, everything pushed against the walls.

The fire in Kat's feet began to turn on her toes and she piqued her foot against her ankle. She danced to release the tension in her legs.

Katarina had never gone to college. She would have loved to dance her way to one of the top dance schools in the state but she had her eye on the bigger prize. She wanted to join and become part of the New York City Ballet. She trained under some of the most amazing dancers in Russia. That's where her heritage was from.

Her grandmother was one of the most famous and beautiful dancers in the world. Her mom was trained under her grandmother. Then Kat's mother taught her how to dance. Kat could still hear the hours spent on pointe shoes. When she did turns on pointe, her mom would clap the turns. The claps were loud and would make her dizzy.

"Davay, Katarina! Davay, Davay, Davay!" (Come on, Katarina! Come on, Come on, Come on!) Mother said the claps loud in Kat's head.

Her turns become quick and heavy breathed. The ground shaked slightly, when her other foot came down to push the turn. The pointe shoes created an echo in the room, yet she couldn't hear it. Instead she heard the clapping of her mother. Pushing her. Pushing her till her feet gave in.

"Turn!" Clap. "Turn, Katarina! Davay!" Clap. Clap. Clap.

Suddenly she realized the clapping wasn't in her head. It was knocking. The realization caused her legs to tangle and sent her to the floor with a thump.

She scrambled to the door, despite the pain her her toes, and looked into the eye piece that was taller then her. In the eye piece all she saw was a fedora leaning forward. She opened the door slightly to find a... beautiful man. He was in a black fedora, black slacks, a grey dress shirt and a black bow tie. He towered over Kat.

The man straightened up upon seeing her, his hand still proping him up on the door frame. He had a stubble and his hair looked like a dark brown under his hat.

"Hello." The man said not really looking at her.

"Hi..." Kat said surprised she could speak anything. The man's eyes traveled down her body, down to her pointe shoes she was figetting in, and up to the bun that was no longer there. When had her hair fallen out of it? It was now disheveled and rubber band nowhere to be seen.