Chapter Eleven
Still intoxicated by the cheers and applause, I rush backstage with an armful of flowers and Adam’s hand resting on my lower back.
“Well-done!” Ms. Azizen gushes; she pulls us both into her arms, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. “You made me very proud!”
Chapter TwelveOn Monday, after classes, I go to the park to see if I will find Malik there. I sit on the bench I danced on, nursing a Styrofoam cup of coffee and watching the high variety of people walk past. After two hours of waiting, I decide to head back to school. As I pass the coffee shop, the delicious aroma makes me duck in to buy another cup for the road. Cleo wanted us to go on a shopping spree together but I made her cancel the
Chapter ThirteenI miss his face completely and the ball goes flying over his shoulder. The large dog barks and goes chasing after the ball. He looks at me with his head tilted at an angle and a shy smile on his face. That is all it takes to make me a sobbing mess. “Hey, hey, hey,” he says in a low, comforting voice, coming closer to me. “I am so sorry you missed me, should I give you the ball so you will try again?&
Chapter Fourteen“What school do you attend?” I ask when my body functions have returned to a small semblance of normal (unfortunately, my body forgets how to work normally around Malik). “Apex State University,” he says with a ghost of a smile on his lips. He seems amused that I have finally found my voice after a sip of energising coffee.
Chapter FifteenWhen we reach the school building, I am reluctant to go in. I do not think that I can face Cleo and Adam. Even if I do not talk to them, there is no escaping seeing them. I wonder what everyone thinks now that they are a couple days after I was strutting down the hallway hand-in-hand with Adam. I must be a laughingstock! The thought of taking a break and going home becomes palatable to me once again. But then the image of my Mum’s smiling face fills my mind. She would not have run away when faced with such challenges at ballet school. She would have faced it head on.
Chapter SixteenI do not speak to Cleo after our atrocious exchange and she did not speak to me either. When our eyes meet from across the room, we quickly look away like the eye contact burnt us. She is always in Adam’s arms; laughing and talking about something interesting with their heads lowered together and their lips p
Chapter One.My whole life I wanted to be a ballerina. It wasn’t some childhood fascination like the ones my pee
Chapter TwoI lean over the toilet, expelling the minute contents of my stomach. Hot tears sting my tears as they rolled down my cheeks and into my mouth. I barely made it out of the hall before crumbling into a mess of hot tears and choking sobs on the floor. I forced myself to hug Cleo congratulations before making my getaway. Hopefully, she will be too busy getting congratulated to look for me. I do not want her to see me in the pitiful state that I am. I cannot believe that I am casted as the understudy of the Sugarplum
Chapter Three “Gigi.” I twirl to meet Adam’s mesmerising eyes. The corner of his lip hikes up in something that resembles a smile and a smirk at the same time. I hear Cleo gasp from beside me. I am more shocked than she is.
Chapter SixteenI do not speak to Cleo after our atrocious exchange and she did not speak to me either. When our eyes meet from across the room, we quickly look away like the eye contact burnt us. She is always in Adam’s arms; laughing and talking about something interesting with their heads lowered together and their lips p
Chapter FifteenWhen we reach the school building, I am reluctant to go in. I do not think that I can face Cleo and Adam. Even if I do not talk to them, there is no escaping seeing them. I wonder what everyone thinks now that they are a couple days after I was strutting down the hallway hand-in-hand with Adam. I must be a laughingstock! The thought of taking a break and going home becomes palatable to me once again. But then the image of my Mum’s smiling face fills my mind. She would not have run away when faced with such challenges at ballet school. She would have faced it head on.
Chapter Fourteen“What school do you attend?” I ask when my body functions have returned to a small semblance of normal (unfortunately, my body forgets how to work normally around Malik). “Apex State University,” he says with a ghost of a smile on his lips. He seems amused that I have finally found my voice after a sip of energising coffee.
Chapter ThirteenI miss his face completely and the ball goes flying over his shoulder. The large dog barks and goes chasing after the ball. He looks at me with his head tilted at an angle and a shy smile on his face. That is all it takes to make me a sobbing mess. “Hey, hey, hey,” he says in a low, comforting voice, coming closer to me. “I am so sorry you missed me, should I give you the ball so you will try again?&
Chapter TwelveOn Monday, after classes, I go to the park to see if I will find Malik there. I sit on the bench I danced on, nursing a Styrofoam cup of coffee and watching the high variety of people walk past. After two hours of waiting, I decide to head back to school. As I pass the coffee shop, the delicious aroma makes me duck in to buy another cup for the road. Cleo wanted us to go on a shopping spree together but I made her cancel the
Chapter ElevenStill intoxicated by the cheers and applause, I rush backstage with an armful of flowers and Adam’s hand resting on my lower back. “Well-done!” Ms. Azizen gushes; she pulls us both into her arms, grinning like a child on Christmas morning. “You made me very proud!”
Chapter TenFinally, it is Friday. The air in the whole school is charged by anticipation and excitement. Even though the show is later on in the day, nobody seems to be calm in the refectory. I toss the contents of my sandwich on my plate with my fingers. Cleo is nowhere to be found and Adam does not seem to be at his usual table. That means that they are off together practising. Suddenly, I lose the miniscule appetite I had worked up. I
Chapter NineSomeone calls out from behind me. I duck into the shelter of a store, standing in front of the door. A figure jogs up to me. I can tell that it is a male. Broad shoulders, long legs and lean built. The figure ducks into the shelter and lets down his shield of umbrella. When he looks up at me, the first things I see are his amber eyes. They glint and gleam under the light like the jewels they are named after. I want to open my mouth
Chapter EightOn Wednesday, after breakfast and classes, I go to the studio to dance. I cannot afford to give Ms. Azizen the pleasure to yell at me once again.