CHAPTER 2

Anita was worried about her daughter so she decided to pick her up. She knew that Catherine had been blaming herself for losing her younger brother but it was their fault for not looking after their children during those times. Both of her and her husband were assured that their little angels would be safe since they would be just gone for a minute but little did they knew that in a glimpse one of their children could be missing.

   Anita stopped the car outside the school gate and she was right on time since she had seen Catherine walked past the gate. Catherine heard a honk and saw her mother’s car which she found sort of unusual because it had been ages since her mother had picked her up but she wouldn’t want to risk commuting either so she went to her mom’s car.

   “Hi, sweetie.” Her mother greeted her sweetly before starting the engine. The silence between her and her mother felt kind of awkward but she had nothing to say to Anita.

   “Would you love to come and watch my class?” her mother asked

    It sort of caught Catherine off-guard since her mother rarely invites her to watch her class or maybe because it was only herself who invites her to come to her mother’s ballet class.

    For Anita, she thought it would be great if Catherine had a change of environment and she also knew that her female students sees Catherine as their inspiration. She was a talented ballerina and even considered as a child prodigy by a few instructors and those who had watched her. Catherine had even won a few awards in ballet but she became a wrecked after she lost her younger brother and eventually stopped dancing after 3 years. However, it didn’t really stop her from coming to Anita’s studios because she sometimes help her mother setting up the dance hall and sometimes even help her mother correct the forms of her mother’s students.

    “Sure, yeah.” Catherine answered in a monotone voice. She has other things to work on but she thought she needed to preoccupy her mind for a while and needed to go somewhere where she wouldn’t think of her younger brother.

   Anita and Catherine arrived a bit late and they saw the ballet dancers already warming up, however, they all stopped when they saw Catherine. It had been almost 2 months since she had visited because of her thesis and some other things she had been working on.

   The ballerinas had always looked up to Catherine. She has the figure of a ballet dancer and a strong facial features that brings out a lot of charisma. Aside from that Anita had showed them videos of Catherine’s ballet competition and they would have thought that she could have been famous by now if she had not given up on ballet.

   “Enough staring! The concert is almost nearing and there is still a lot to polish.!” Anita shouted and Catherine went to her spot which is near the sound system as she would be operating it.

   “You may take a 15 minutes break.” Anita shouted after they finished their warm up. Since Catherine had nothing ti do she took out a novel from her bag and started reading but stopped when she heard a music playing. She lifted her head and saw the ballet dancers practicing. It was only past 5 minutes and usually students would rest the whole break or so she thought.

    But then it looks like it was the ballerinas solo that they were practicing and Catherine could see that some of them are still struggling in the movement. Catherine just shook her head and continued reading but then she felt some ballerinas approached her.

    “Hey, Catherine can you help us out?” Hazel asked nervously and it looks like she was the one who had been pushed to talk to her. Catherine just continued reading her novel until the silence got awkward. Anita saw her students waiting for the response of Catherine so she approached them.

    “Ladies, if you please.” Anita said in a gentle manner and the ballerinas went back to their position. She had been trying to make her daughter interact with people but it was no use. Catherine still thinks that she might lose her friend if she got attached to them. Anita had thought that it was an unnecessary thought, however, she couldn’t blame Catherine either for having that kind of idea.

   “Sweetie, it does no harm if you help them.” Catherine closed her novel and looked at her mother “I’m not the instructor.“ There was no hint of emotion when Catherine said that and Anita knew that this conversation will gain nothing but she thought it is worth trying.

   “They just want your help because you are an inspiration to them.” Anita knew she had said the wrong statement when she saw Catherine scoffed a bit. “Well if that’s the case they should quit ballet, don’t you think?” Anita gave a sad smile to Catherine and tucked Catherine’s hair “Sweetie, I know what you feel but you don’t have to keep that forever.”

   After that Anita went to her students and told them that it was time to start the practice. Catherine went back to reading the novel, however, what her mother said left her in distraught. She hated when her mother does that. She knew that her mother was quite right and that her mother knows what she really is going through but she couldn’t help it. The nightmares hunt her in her dreams and in her reality and the only way for it to be gone is to find Felipe. She shrugged of the thoughts as she was here to clear her head and so she just watched the ballet dancers practice their piece for the upcoming Ballet Concert.