“That’s awesome. Can we frame this?” Preston leaned over. “I want this for my room.”
“I’ll have to charge,” Lukas joked before leaving us and returning to his spot.
Not too bad of a run, I thought as I smiled at Millie and the rest of the corps, all giving me thumbs up and silent applause.
***
After we all practiced the final bows for the show, rehearsals concluded for the day, much to my relief. My feet were aching, my back was sore, and I had a growing headache from the constant brave face I had to wear.
I sat under the side barre near my ballet bag and slowly untied my pointe shoe ribbons, unwrapping them from around my ankle.
“Oof!” Millie exclaimed, dropping down next to me. “My feet are killing me!”
“I hear that!” I laughed, pulling my feet out of my pointe shoes. “Which mate do you think I can get to massage my tired feet?”
“Oh, definitely Preston, probably Dem,” Millie smiled as we both glanced at Preston and Dem talking together at the front of the room. “You might have to sweet-talk Lukas.”
“Isaac?” I shot Millie a knowing glance. We both shook our heads, laughing at what exactly Isaac would say about rubbing my feet.
“He’d probably demand you rub his,” Millie shook her head, still laughing as she pulled her shoes off.
“No doubt,” I replied. “And I probably would too. I’m pretty sure that man could get me to do anything he wanted.”
I picked up my pointe shoes and gave each of them a small bend.
“Those look pretty dead,” Millie said.
I sighed with a nod. Pointe shoes only really lasted so long, depending on the dancer and the strength of their feet. Every few weeks, I needed to replace mine, which meant sewing on the ribbons and elastics on each new pair.
“Looks like I’ll be sewing shoes this weekend,” I said, standing up off the floor as I watched Lukas walk over to me. Turning to face him, I said, “I need to grab new shoes, then I’ll be ready to go.”
“Sounds good, I’ll wait down here for you,” he replied, rubbing my arm slightly. “Great job today, both of you.”
“Thanks!” Millie laughed. “I really feel like I stood out amongst the other eleven girls dancing around me.”
“You did to me,” I smiled. “I couldn’t take my eyes off you!”
We both turned our attention back to Lukas as I batted my eyelashes at him. “Lukas, my feet are pretty sore. Would you give me a foot rub tonight?”
Lukas snorted, amused by my question. “Sorry love, you’ll have to beg me harder than that, especially when Preston would so eagerly do it.”
“Oh,” I said, letting my face drop to a look of disappointment. “I see.”
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Lukas said, rolling his eyes.
“Wow, you four are so cooked already,” Millie laughed as we turned and gave each other a high five. Lukas pursed his lips together as he shook his head at me.
With a wave goodbye to a few people around us, Millie and I took off for the dancer’s lounge where the extra pointe shoes were stored. There was a twinge of anxiety in me as I proceeded into the lounge; the last time I was in this room was the day everyone had discovered I was the pack’s omega.
A lot of dancers were either lounging about, gathering their things, or preparing to leave. Off to the side, thechanging booths were full, most likely people changing out of their dance attire to leave. Several eyes looked at me as I walked through the room, but luckily, most were ignoring me.
I paused at the large rock that had been placed in front of my locker a few weeks ago. It still sat exactly where I’d moved it. Much to my surprise though, the hurtful messages had been erased. Drawn on top of them were friendly pictures and new messages along the smooth surface of the rock.
Ivy, you’re so inspiring to watch!
I smiled slightly to myself; that message was much preferred to calling me an anchor. Catching up to Millie, I followed her into a side closet where all the extra pointe shoes were kept. Each dancer had their own cubby with their name written across the bin, and mine was at the bottom left of the stack.
As I moved closer to my bin, I felt a sharp prick on the bottom of my foot.
