⋆ ballet is no place for redemption ⋆
Juliet had been dancing ballet since she was 2 years old and was what people commonly referred to as a prodigy. Her parents were star dancers at the Archer School of Ballet and, ever since the age of 7, so was J...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
After Neveah got back from visiting her mom with Shane the two met up with Jules.
"How did it go?"
"Not good" Shane shook his head
"She didn't want to see me. She just wanted her perfect 'Future of Ballet' daughter to go cry in front of a parole board."
"Aww Veah I'm sorry" Jules went in for a hug before they started walking. They didn't make it far before Neveah noticed her brother.
"Tyler?" She called out and ran over to hug him
"Hey! Big lil' sis!"
"I missed you. Even if you didn't come clean about why you really came here."
"Just gonna step in here and say hi. My name's Shane. Nice to meet you." He said sticking his hand out. Tyler shook it and smiled before turning to look at Jules
"Ms. Ballet Royalty" Jules laughed and went in for a hug "Lindy says there's a party tonight" He motioned towards the girl standing next to him
"Not for us" Neveah turned to look at Shane and Jules, a silent signal that she wanted to be alone with her brother.
"Shane, Lindy, Jules! Save me from this buzzkill" The three laughed as they made their way up the stairs.
♛
When Ramon and Delia opened the door they were surprised to say the least. They were expecting Bette and Oren but what they got was a house full of teenagers and it didn't take long for the teens to turn the dinner environment into a party one. Jules was dancing with Neveah when she realized Bette was occupied with Delia and took it as her chance to go over to Oren.
"Hey you" she smiled as she sat on his lap
"Hey"
"Thank you for holding my hand when I was worried about Cass" She lightly tapped his nose
"Anytime" he smiled "Are you drunk?"
"Isn't everybody" Truth is Jules never drank enough to be fully drunk. She didn't want to risk waking up with a hangover and not being able to dance but tonight she had more than usual and Oren could tell.
"Let's go get you some water" She got off his lap and started to walk, passing up the kitchen. "This isn't the kitchen" They were standing in a hallway that was just out of sight of everyone sitting on the couch
"Obviously" She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled
"Jules" he smiled back
"Oren"
"We shouldn't do this"
"Do what?" He made a face at her "You means this?" She moved her face so that it was closer to his but left a small gap. She could tell that there was tension between them and Jules would be lying if she said she didn't like it. Oren pulled away and looked down the hall before leaning back in, still leaving the small gap. Jules knew that she shouldn't, especially since his girlfriend was in the other room but she closed the gap between them anyway.
What had been a few seconds felt longer to the two. Neither of them wanted to fully admit it but they missed each other too much to go along with the 'let's not talk for a while' plan. They were lost in each other, so much so that they didn't hear the footsteps coming towards them.
"You guys need to come see-" The two quickly pulled away and saw Shane. Oren looked back and forth between the two before leaving to join the others in the living room
"Oh, no"
"Juliet, what were you thinking? You're so lucky it was me that came over and not one of Bette's little minions" The sound of her full name made Jules pout a little
"I wasn't. How did you even know where we were?"
"I saw you walk over there" realization started to set in for Jules
"Oh my god, what did I just do?"
"I'm wondering the same thing"
"I'm a terrible person"
"Just promise no more kissing boys with girlfriends"
"Promise"
"Now come on, Bette found some stuff from the night Cassie fell" Shane grabbed Jules' hand and pulled her into the living room.
"Cassie had only one drink that night. I know this because she went in on a four-pack of wine coolers with me, Gwen, and June." She held up her phone so everyone could see the video "Gwen and I were in the dorm room until 9:45, then minutes later on the roof."
"We're June and Cassie still together?" Jules asked, earning a nod from Bette
"What time do we think Cassie fell?"
"Had to be before 10:13, when I took this."
"You can't be serious." Caleb grabbed the phone
"What else was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know. Not take a photo?" Jules said as she turned away from it. Seeing her best friend lying on the concrete made her sick to her stomach
"She drank her wine cooler in her room, and then ten minutes later is on the roof and falling off."
"Except the drug doesn't work that fast. I barely ate all day and still didn't feel a thing till, like, 30 minutes later." Caleb added
"So if that didn't send her over what did?"
"Someone could have pushed the bitch"
Like every beginning, it's the start of the solo that's the scariest. That last, lonely breath in the wings. Then the music starts. You've trained for this moment, fought for it, bled for it. There's nothing else to do, but take your cue and step into the light.
