Silence fills the hall as I stare out to the audience. The faces I once pictured as kind and loving stare at me in distaste. Ms Blakeson, Joel, Christina, Mia, Faith, Coral, all the students and parents. Everyone.
They hated my dance.
They hate me.
I have made a huge mistake...
I should have just not done the dance.
Dr Peterson implied that I shouldn't have.
I should have taken the hint.
I am not meant to be a performer.
Suddenly my mind fills with swirling pictures of everyone I know.
"You suck."
"You're not good enough."
"We all just pretend to be friends with you."
"I have always liked Taylor better."
"Stop trying to be the best."
"Try hard."
"You can't dance."
"I wish we never had you."
But only one insult stuck.
"Who could ever like you?"
I jolted from my disjointed slumber.
Looking at the clock on the small table beside me, and seeing that it says it 4:50. It's too late to go back to sleep, and there is no point. Turning on my bedside light, I quietly walk over to the small pile of clothes I have in the corner of the room. Picking out a set of full length black sports legging, with sheer patches on the back of the calves, and a neon chevron striped sports bra, I slip them on, also grabbing some ankle socks.
I probably shouldn't be going for a run with my wrist, but I need to clear my head from the nightmare I just had. It's not hurting at all, which is good, but just to make sure the vibrations of running don't make it start to ache, I pop two pain pills into my mouth and wash them down with some water.
I have always quite liked running. The steady sound of my footsteps to the rhythm of the music blasting my ears. It also never seems to trigger any anxiety. Dr Peterson said something about endorphins.
Soundlessly creeping down the stairs, I shove my phone into my bra. Walking out the front door, I twist the handle so it doesn't slam. Joel and Christina hardly ever lock their front door. They say they: "live in a safe neighbourhood" but I think it's because they are just too lazy. Plugging in my earbuds, I place one in each ear and listen to the music start to disperse from the small balls of plastic. I quickly stretch and then start on my run.
Starting in a slow jog, my pace quickly escalates until I am running at a reasonable pace.
The worries that are plaguing me come to the front of my mind. My parents being away was never an issue mentally. It didn't bother me where they were physically situated, I hardly saw them either way. But their empty promises always hurt. They promised, just for a small second, that they would come to my last showcase at Ms Blakesons. It wasn't something I specifically wanted, but just the thought that they would come to the first concert in 8 years, since it was also my last.
When I started at Ms Blakson's, Taylor started with me. This was after our mishap, but somehow our parents didn't quite understand the cavern between us, forcing us to still partake in exactly the same activities. Taylor, started off loving dance. Showing off, doing nothing particularly amazing. I loved it as well, picking up the moves extremely quickly, but stayed quite at the back.
That's how I met Faith. It was our second dance class. We both stood at the back, Faith because she was shy, whilst I was there because Taylor was up the front and I wanted to be as far away from her as possible. Ms Blakeson had just started the class, so we were all warming up with her, and then we started learning some basic steps.
Faith quite liked the kicks.
Of course, all of us liked the kicks. But Faith seemed especially fond of them. Although her form was terrible, and her kicks were not controlled, she enjoyed kicking her leg as high as it could possibly go. We all were lining up in the corner ready the do kicks down the room, and both Faith and myself were strategically placed in the middle, just happening to become partners. Taylor had finished her round with her partner first, and so in no time at all it was our turn. We started down the room, not locking eyes with anyone.
But everyone had their eyes locked on us. Faith's shoelace came undone, and she tripped on it, accidentally kicking me in the face in the process. Ms Blakeson sprung up, going to aid Faith after her fall. Lots of the girls behind us were laughing, including Taylor.
And that's where Mia and Coral came into the equation. This is not the time we all became friends, or had a conversation, that was our first music class together, but they came to our aid in the 'kicking incident', seeing if we were alright.
Faith came out of that incident with a stronger pull to stay hidden, and a constant reminder to do her shoes in a double knot, and I came out of it with a bleeding nose.
A great first impression.
My wrist ached. The running wasn't as painful as I thought it would be, although uncomfortable because of the bulky bandage. But the throbbing etching its way into the back of my mind reminded me I had to perform tomorrow in a showcase where I was dancing in 6 items.
One of my earbuds falls out of my ear so I can hear the wind whistle around me in the slowly lightening surroundings of the street. Coming to a gentle stop, I look at the time displayed my my phone screen.
5:56
Lucky the way I run when I am in Joel's neighbourhood is a loop so I am not too far away from the house. Starting up my running again I turn the corner and am running down Joel's street. My phone starts buzzing on my arm as I get messages about something on the group chat, probably who was picking up who this morning. Turning into the driveway, I stop my music and pull out the earbuds, reading the messages on the chat.
"Hi Dani." My phone drops to the ground in surprise from the voice beside me. Luckily the earbuds are still plugged in, so it just dangles helplessly meer inches from the ground.
Turning around, I look at the figure across the fence.
"I see you went for a run. Why so early?" Connor himself was in a workout top and some shorts, obviously getting ready to go for a run himself.
"Couldn't sleep." I follow his gaze, to my exposed stomach, quickly covering it up with my bulky bandages hand, the covering that with my normal wrist.
"What happened to your wrist?" The golden glow of the sun rising illuminated Connors figure.
I shrug. "Nothing major." Wanting to get out of this situation, I start to walk towards the door of the Norm residence.
"Do you need a lift this morning Dani?" Connor yells.
I turn around, seeing him plug in his headphones.
"Nup." I walk inside the house, straight up to my room.
6:05
"Dani, what are you doing up this early?" Joel walks into my room, rubbing his eyes, trying to rid the slumber.
"I went on a run."
"You do know you have a broken wrist right?" I nod, slipping off my running shoes, grabbing the neat pile of my school uniform to go and have a shower.
"As I said Joel, life goes on." Joel chuckles, shaking his head before heading down the stairs, probably to the kitchen to put on a pot of coffee.
Grabbing a plastic bag from the hallway cupboard, I head into the shower, prepared with some tape, to waterproof my bandage.
YOU ARE READING
In Your Company
Teen Fiction--Re-written-- When I was 8 we were playing hide and seek in the little park surrounded by bush down the street from my house. It was a large group of us. It was always fun down at the park, since our parents never really came and checked on us. Bei...
