“I learned from my mistakes,” she nudged me. “I think you need to learn, too.”
“Are you saying I'm the problem?” I gasped. “You're supposed to be my best friend.”
“I'm just honest... not that I have seen you flirt, but how's your flirting game?”
“What do you mean?” I sat up, my forehead wrinkled in confusion. “Everyone knows how to flirt. You just smile and make small talk. It's not that hard.”
Daisy shot me a doubtful look. “Maybe we need to work on your game.”
“You want to teach me?” I asked, wiggling my brows.
She laughed. “God, no. But I'm sure we can find someone willing.”
“Fine,” I let out a long sigh. “Can we order some comfort fries? And watch a movie?”
“Yes!” Daisy grinned. “I'll get the fries; you pick a movie.”
The next day, I was still quite moody and irritated. As expected, my phone only had messages from Nova and my brother, both asking if I was feeling all right, while the asshole who had invited me to the party was radio silent. Not that I was expecting an apology after his Instagram stories were full of random girls. I was sure he was entertaining his bruised ego after I left.
“What a dumbass,” I muttered, deciding to block him as I hurried tothe studio.
The phantom pain in my hip ached as I remembered the way he had tugged on my leg to pull me closer once my back hit the bed. I shook my head, trying to push the images away. I had kicked him hard enough, which meant my old injury was aching from the impact.
With a sigh, I entered the Pilates studio I used as my new sanctuary. Ever since I couldn't dance and was forced to do Pilates as part of my recovery, I had fallen in love with the dance-like, fluid motion I could execute safely and get a taste of the thing I loved so much.
Rolling out my pink mat, I ignored the sinking feeling in my stomach. It was a reminder that my parents spent a lot of money on my education, since I didn't attend on a scholarship, unlike Aaron. Yet there I was, skipping class and stretching into a slow pace of sun salutation to wake up my aching muscles. The playlist called Slow Morning, full of acoustic covers of my favorite songs, played in the background as I lost myself in the yoga flow before activating my core.
Pilates, yoga, and ballet all had similarities, and I enjoyed mixing them. I could do a downward dog into a plank, then move into a side plank, extending my top leg to the side in a beautiful développé, creating my own flow of movement and playing with my body.
Everyone was pressuring me to pick a major and work toward a degree, but I was never really interested in anything other than sports. Aaron suggested I major in business with a minor in entrepreneurship so I could open my own business, but I found it stupid. Did I really need a degree and three more years of my life wasted to open a business? It couldn't be that hard, but it might have been.
Flex and Flow, the studio I used in San Matjo, was thriving, and the owner, Sam, didn't have a business degree, just pure passion. I could do the same. Use my passion and drive to create a space where people can come andrecreate themselves.
It has been my ultimate dream since last year. Before that, all I felt was desperation and pain whenever I thought about my future. But now, I had a vision.
It was unrealistic, and some even said childish, but it was mine. And it helped me push through the worst of the days when the pain in my hip was unbearable.
After all, getting a hip replacement at the age of seventeen wasn't something that usually happened with teens, especially when it numbed my career from the start.
Sweat trailed down my back, and I discarded my sweater, staying in my pink sports bra and matching leggings as I reached for the wrist weights after finishing with my core sequence. I moved into hip flexor stretching and strengthening before working my inner thighs and bum to keep them as rounded and lifted as I liked. After all, I hadn’t trained since I was four to lose all that because of an injury. The wrist weights made sure my arms got a workout as well, without me working them, as I hated arm exercises. I rather used inversion for strengthening them, along with wrist weights. Occasionally, when I was using the reformer, I would work on them too, but it wasn't my favorite.
My sweat drew shapes on my rubber mat as I closed out my workout with some deep stretches, mindful of the lost range of motion in my left hip, while my right one was still extra flexible. The unevenness of my two sides was laughable.
Indulging myself in a full body stretch before collapsing on my mat and staring at the ceiling, my phone pinged, the relaxing covers interrupted by a text message.
Rude.
I rolled onto my stomach and checked my phone, my eyes skimming through the unanswered ones from yesterday before settling on a new one from my brother.
Aaron
Meet me at Rise and Caffeinate in 10.
No “hello”. No “how are you” just a simple instruction.
Guess he ran out of pleasantries after I left him on unread for hours. Not wanting to bother with a reply, I reacted with a thumbs up and pulled my oversized sweater over my head.
Order me a Chai Latte with oat milk.
