I woke up to the sound of my alarm going off. It was 7am on a Saturday morning. I had to go help teach at a dance class. It was one of my two jobs that I had. I needed two to help pay rent with my dad. He works as a mechanic. We didn't have much money. We lived in a small, run down apartment in Reseda. It wasn't much, but it was all we could afford.
I quickly slipped on my grey leotard, brown wrap skirt, and pink tights. The leotard left little to the imagination, with its spaghetti straps and wide open back, but it was all I owned. Then I put my hair into its usual bun and went to make sure my dad was awake. He was not.
"Dad!" I yelled as I jumped on the bed to wake him up.
"What?" He groaned.
"Come on! We can't be late again, at this point we're both on the verge of getting fired"
"Shit!" He panicked as he hoped out of bed, slightly stumbling due to the clutter in his room, mostly beer bottles.
I rolled my eyes at his unpreparedness and walked to the kitchen, sitting at the table waiting for him. I took notice to one of the only pictures on our fridge. It was my brother Robby from when he was 9, by now he's 17 like me. He was a little older than me though, but only by a few months. Robby didn't live with us. After our parents divorced, he decided to stay with our mom, I would have gone with him, but I couldn't just leave my dad. While he was a shitty person at times, on the inside he was just dying for someone to love him. From what he's told me, he didn't have the best life growing up. From the whole LaRusso and karate issue, I couldn't blame him, I wasn't too fond of the LaRusso's either, mostly just Sam LaRusso. She likes to spread rumors about me, saying that I'm bad news and that I'm just like my dad. I was nothing like him, other than inheriting his badass karate skills and incredible music taste, I was nothing like him. I did enjoy living with my dad though. He was fun most of the time, when he wasn't drinking.
My dad ran into the kitchen and quickly cooked up some pork rolls, as usual.
"Did you eat?" He asked.
"Yeah, don't worry. Just eat so we can get on the road" I lied. I hadn't eaten, but I didn't want to lose anymore time. Besides, it wouldn't hurt for me to skip one meal. I was pretty insecure and would often resort to starving myself. My best friend Moon always told me not do that to myself because I was beautiful just the way I am, but I never listened. My dad never even took notice to me not eating, I guess he was just too busy with his own problems.
My dad finished eating and we bolted out the door. I was too focused on getting to the car that I hadn't even noticed the boy I ran into, causing me to fall over.
"Shit! Oh my god, I'm really sorry" he said as he helped me.
"No, no, no I'm sorry. I wasn't looking" I said as our eyes finally made contact.
"Uh- I'm Miguel, I just moved in next door" he offered his hand out to me.
"I'm Blair" I said with a smile as I shook his hand.
I suddenly heard my dad yell from the car.
"Jesus christ! Come on Blair, you can make out with him when we get back"
My cheeks heated up at his words and so did Miguel's.
"Sorry, I got to go. I'll see you around"
"Bye Blair"
I ran into the car as my dad started to pull out of the driveway. I sighed in relief as I buckled myself in.
"That your new boyfriend?" My dad asked as he started to blast "You Give Love A Bad Name" by Bon Jovi.
"What? No, he just moved in next door" I quickly responded, "Besides, you know I like someone else" I added with a smile.
"Yeah, yeah. When do I get to meet the kid anyways?"
"Never" I laughed.
-
My dad dropped me off at the dance studio and I ran out of the car to get to the class. I ran into classroom to find that they were in the middle of warmup, doing bar stretches.
"I am so sorry I'm late again" I said as I found my way to one of the instructor bars.
Mrs. Carre just gave me a look of disgust and continued on announcing the combination.
"Psst" I heard a little girl say from behind me.
"Is everything ok? Do you need help with the combo?" I asked as I turned to face her.
" Your skirt has dirt on it" she snickered.
I looked at myself in the mirror to notice the bits of dirt on my skirt, as well as a few tiny holes. It must have been from this morning when I fell. I brushed it off and continued with the class.
I enjoyed teaching dance - or assisting. It was comforting to see the progress the little girls were making. It was one of the only ways I could actually participate in a class. My dad couldn't afford to put me in any dance classes after he divorced my mom. That's why I started to be a dance teachers assistant.
The class continued on. We did work in the center, as well as a few things across the floor. Saturday classes always seemed to go by the fastest, probably because it was in the morning, all of my other classes are at night.
The girls filed out of class one by one. Before I could leave, Mrs. Carre asked to speak to me.
"Miss. Lawrence, I need a word with you" she ordered.
I hung my head in shame, knowing where this conversation was headed.
"Mrs. Carre, I am so sorry for being late again I-"
"Don't worry, I'm not firing you" she interrupted, "I enjoy having you in the classroom"
"Then what is it?" I asked.
"I was going to mention that you should audition for company next week. You're such a talented girl, I would hate to see you waste your potential in a toddler class"
I was flattered by her comment, but I couldn't do it for obvious reasons.
"Mrs. Carre, you know I can't-" I shrugged.
"I know, I just thought I would try again" she smiled. "Come on and you should think about getting a new skirt" she laughed as we started to head towards the main lobby. When we got there, we found a boy my age as well as a little girl who I assumed was his sister. He was struggling to put his dollar into the vending machine.
"I'm afraid that's a loss cause young man. That vending machine hasn't worked in the last month" Mrs. Carre said.
When the boy turned around, I was surprise to see Eli. He's gone to my school for the longest time. We're kinda friends, I think. We would chat whenever we saw each other in the hallways, but other than that, he was really shy. Everyone at school bullied him for his lip deformity. I never thought much of it, I always loved the way he looked. From his looks to his personality. Well actually, everything about him was perfect! I guess that's why he's my crush and has been for the past 5 years.
"Hey Eli" I said as I wrapped my arms around him, bringing him into a hug.
"Blair?" He asked with a smile.
I heard his little sister gasp at my sight.
"Is this the girl you're always talking about?" She whispered, tugging on Eli's shirt.
I blushed at her comment. I didn't think much of it. He probably talks about all of his friends at home.
"Shut up Charlotte" Eli said.
"What are you doing here?" I asked as I let go of him.
"I came to sign my sister up for classes, my parents are away for a while, so they asked me to do it"
"What classes?"
"That's the problem, she doesn't know"
"Well you can sign her up for a weeks worth of classes. This way she can try them all and pick out the ones she wants to do. Its completely free" Mrs. Carre added.
"That would be great" Eli smiled.
"Perfect, I'll get you the paperwork. Blair, do you mind showing them around?"
"Not at all" I said.
Charlotte jumped for joy and grabbed my hand.
I lead them down the hallway, showing them all the classrooms as well as the dressing rooms. When we finished with the tour, I decided to let Charlotte watch one of the classes that was going on from the hallway. To break the silence I finally spoke up.
"So you're all alone at home?" I asked
"Yeah, my parents are doing a trip to Europe. They invited me, but I didn't want to miss a month of school."
"That's cool"
"Yeah, you should come over sometime" He awkwardly added.
"I'd love to" I smiled.
Before I could continue the conversation, my phone started to blow up, it was my dad.
(D = Dad, B = Blair)
D: Where the fuck are you? You're gonna be late for your job at the pet store
D: Get your shit together
14 missed phone calls from Dad
I cursed under my breath in frustration realizing he was right.
"Is everything ok?" Eli asked.
"Yeah- I mean no, I gotta go." I say as I grabbed my shoes and water bottle.
"I guess I'll see you on Monday"
"Yeah" I smile as I start to walk to the front door.
"By Blair!" Charlotte yelled.