ˢᵉˡᶜᵒᵘᵗʰ · ᵒʳⁱᵍⁱⁿᵃˡ ˢᵗᵒʳʸ

ii [v]

i came home from class that day and didn't say a word to my mom on the ride, nor to my dad or rosie when we got there. my dance bag ended up on the floor by my bedroom door and i flopped down on my bare mattress with a sigh, staring at the star stickers on my ceiling. i'd been so excited to get out of astoria. there was nothing wrong that i could come up with, and i missed my friends and family dearly, but the idea of being able to make a whole new band of friends and dance at walker was enough to originally sell me on the move. now here we were, moving into our house and me dancing at the school, but completely barred from making any friends because of one girl who danced two people away from me and lived the same number of houses down.

how could someone i barely know ruin my new chapter before it even began?

i was left to wrestle with my thoughts for a few moments before my little sister came up the stairs and bounced me out of my head by sitting at the foot of the bed. her blue eyed stare bored into my chin before i matched it with my brown and sat up, the defeated expression on my face unchanging. "don't ask about dance. there's nothing for me to tell you."

"i wasn't going to ask about dance," rosie replied, much to my surprise, "i was going to ask why you've gone and given us the silent treatment. and you owe me an answer because i saved you from dad's lecturing. you know how hard it is to listen to him once he gets going, his accent is the last thing you want to hear when you're getting talked to like he does."

i pulled my knees to my chin and relaxed against my headboard with another sigh. she was right, every word of my father's lectures started to sound like tea and crumpets after a while. "i just expected more out of this town than i'm getting," i admitted, "i was hoping for nice people, pretty views and good weather, and a dance teacher that didn't want to bite my head off like meredith back home. instead, i got...maybe two nice people in my dance class taught by a teacher who only glares at me. but, all the girls are super close to that one from this morning who made us move the truck. i get that we were in the way, i'm not upset about that, but she must've run into a series of trucks in the way by the time i got to class. you know how dad used to look at some of his coworkers when they asked stupid questions? or how you look at me when i want to pick the movie on friday nights? she looked at me like that every time i spoke to her- all because i was asking for her name! how hard is it to tell someone your name? it's not like she doesn't know it."

"well yeah, everyone knows their own name, but maybe she just didn't want you to know it," rosie reasoned. even if we looked like twins on the outside, same light blonde hair, bushy eyebrows, and small, downturned noses, we were almost completely different below the surface. she always said she was smarter than me but i think she's more cynical. "realistic," is what she says. after i gave up on trying to rub my positivity off on my sister i really did start to enjoy the reason that she brought to the table. she was the one i always asked for advice. doesn't mean i always liked what she said, the conversation at hand was a good example of that, but i did listen to her nonetheless. "some people are just difficult, vee, you know that. you can't force yourself on difficult people, it only makes them worse."

i furrowed my brows and looked down at my feet. i really hated when rosie was right, especially in social matters like this one. this was supposed to be more of my domain than hers. "i just think she's dismissing me before i get a chance to really make an impression. i'm not forcing myself on her, but it's such an easy opportunity to make a friend! she lives right down the street and dances at my studio, if it all works out we could be having sleepovers and carpooling! like i used to with lexie," i explained.