This is a story I wrote in fourth year which half of my class ended up reading…I think they figured out that I like girls from reading this…
Alice had given up trying to impress her mom a long time ago. They still loved each other deep down. Often it seemed that the love was barely visible because it was down so deep. “What was the point of it all, if nobody noticed?” this thought had plagued Alice for years on end. She worked and worked but nobody ever noticed. Not since Emma had arrived. Emma was her mother’s ‘angel’. Her ‘star in such a dark world’. Alice wanted so much to be her mother’s ‘star’. She wanted to be the one her mother never shut up about. Emma wasn’t even related to them. Alice was her daughter, her only child, and still Emma got all the devotion.
Alice’s Mom’s name was Christie. She was thirty and owned her own dance school. She adored it. Alice sometimes wondered whether she loved the school more than her. Christie taught the advanced ballet class. Alice and Emma were both students in the class. Christie spent most of her time at the school working, teaching and dancing. Alice didn’t mind much now that she was older. It meant she had the house to herself, which made playing her violin more enjoyable and less restricted.
Alice was eighteen and there was nothing like the feeling of playing. It made up for the gap between her and her mother. Alice loved to play continuously until her fingers had deep red grooves at the tips. The joints in her thumb would ache and her fingers would stiffen. A hysterical urge to giggle would well up in her as the quavers would repeatedly run through her fingertips.
She adored music, especially her violin. It was ninety-two year old masterpiece from Germany. It was a sandy-brown colour and was covered in scratches and nicks from past owners. She liked the rough look because it gave it a used and realistic feel that she loved. Alice hated prim and proper things, that is why she was never passionate about being in her Mom’s class with all the rules and demands. Alice had won prizes for her playing. She never played to win though. She merely played for the comfort, the joy, the challenge and the peace it brought her. Christie rarely bothered to praise her and when she did Alice knew how superficial it really was.
Emma was from a wealthy family. She was also eighteen, good at school and had loads of friends. She got on very well with her parents who meant so much to her. She spent most of her time at the dance school. It was her greatest passion. She had been dancing since she was five and could move like no one else in the school. Her talent was partly due to her teacher’s dedication. She appreciated it enormously but never knew how much Christie had sacrificed for her. Her naivety was shattered during one dance class.
The new routine had put a strain on Alice. Christie had promised that the routine would “separate the men from the boys or the women from the girls”. The steps where complex and put a strain on most of the students even Emma. It was clear to all the other students that Alice wasn’t as dedicated to dancing. She was clearly only there to please her Mom. She was finding it hardest.
One Saturday evening in the dance studio, Alice slipped and fell on her side. Christie slammed down on the stereo as she walked back up to the top of the class. Alice heaved herself up and faced her Mom as the usual torrent of abuse rushed out of Christie’s mouth. Alice’s hand moved so fast that no one realised what she had done till a ‘smack’ sound resonated through out the dance studio. All the other students gasped but Alice didn’t show any emotion. For once Christie was speechless. Alice opened her mouth and spoke her mind for once,
“Stop telling me what I can’t do and try to focus on what I can do. I can play Mom. I can play really well. You never listen to me play. You just shun me or pretend I don’t play! I love my violin and music. Why can’t you recognise that? You just spend all your time training Emma for some competition. You spend more time here and with her than you do at home or with me!”
Christie turned and faced the full-length mirror, paused and hit the play button on her remote for the stereo. The violins played an ironically as she ordered everyone to take their positions and go from the top. Alice, along with everyone else, began the dance as if nothing had happened. After another hour of awkward and messy rehearsal Christie dismissed the class with frustration. As the class filled the changing rooms and showers, Christie took Alice aside and told her that they would talk at home and that she had some extra work to take care of.
“I wouldn’t expect anything less” snapped Alice as she slid quickly into the changing rooms.
Alice was to irritated to care what the extra work was but she had a hunch that it wouldn’t involve the top studio, which they had just vacated. She knew this because if it did then it also would have involved Emma and therefore they would still be there.
She showered and changed like everybody else. She did everything very slowly so that they would all leave before her. When they had all left, she snuck downstairs past the junior studios which were now empty, the advanced class were always last to leave, and into the storeroom. She crawled to the back using her usual root. Past the bass drum, the gothic costume and carefully lifting the brightly coloured suitcases from last summers show, she found the old rectangular case. She slid it slowly from under the black suit she last put it under. Holding it close to her she crept out of the storeroom making as little noise as possible.
Emma, still in the changing rooms, let her hair down and put on her ballet shoes. As she placed her hand on the door leading to the studio a sweet melody hummed from the other side of the door. Alice pulled the bow across the string as her fingers moved in succession. The door into the changing rooms swung open but she didn’t move. She knew who it was. Emma stepped into the room and began to move towards Alice. As she moved closer she let her body move naturally to the music Alice was creating. She swayed and spun, leaped and soared. Alice quickened the pace of the melody. Emma tried to keep up with her but Alice kept playing faster and faster till instead of playing an emotional lament, she was now playing an extraordinarily rapid quick step. Emma stumbled over and fell into a chair. Alice stopped playing and they both laughed.
This was the time of the day that they both lived for. It was what got them threw the bad days and nights. Alice always gave her Mom the impression that she hated Emma, merely because it made sure that Christie would not suspect that they spent time together and wouldn’t get involved. Emma and Christie never actually talked about Alice in rehearsals, Emma still knew that they were mother and daughter but that was really all she knew. There was an unspoken rule between Alice and Emma, and Emma and Christie that they never spoke about the world or events outside of that room and that moment. Emma found this funny because it seemed to be the only obvious similarity in their personalities apart from their temper.
“Again?” suggested Alice.
“One second,” Emma was breathing heavily; she was always amazed at how fast Alice could play. ”All right lets go. But slower, please.” begged Emma as she stood up.
“Fine, I suppose.” Alice smiled.
She began to play a classical piece, which she knew Emma loved to dance to. Emma smiled, closed her eyes and began to dance. She danced in a broad circle around Alice. The circle got tighter and tighter until she could reach out and run her hand along Alice’s shoulders. They caught each other’s eye and a spark went of. Alice stopped playing and Emma stopped dancing and faced Alice. They leaned closer together. Their minds cleared and the world melted away. The studio door flew open and their worlds fell apart.
