Atlas Grove, once a dancer with dreams of dancing under the stars, now lives petrified in the shadows of abuse. To escape her living nightmare she must keep her head down and work hard, being her senior year this is her last chance to get out. Altho...
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I finish pulling my blonde hair tightly into a red scrunchie on top of my head and clip a butterfly clip just to the side of it. I look in my locker mirror once more straightening the retro uniform with my name embroidered on and shut the door with a small clank. I walk out of the locker room and join Layla behind the counter gathering a tray and my notepad. The diner's not overly busy tonight but it's still relatively early and a lot of the booths are decked out with school kids. I can see Emily, Carrie and Vixxie pouring over the menus in a booth down the middle of the diner. The jukebox in the corner is surrounded by teenage boys who select a selection of eighties songs that filter through the greasy air, the LED lights brightening the place as the sun begins to set. I walk over to Layla who's pouring sugar into shakers, I take a tray and begin to help her as Jess and Hedi are already taking half the current diners orders.
"Hey, girl." She smiles brightly at me then scowls slightly, "Still not heard?" I shake my head referring to the Julliard letter, "Don't worry about it I'm sure it'll come sometime soon but... In the meantime... you look different... like I don't know..." She puts the sugar shaker on the tray and scans me from head to toe with narrowed eyes, eyebrows hitching up slightly.
"What? I haven't done anything different I don't think." I scan my uniform and smooth out my hair again.
"No, no. I don't think it's physical... like aurally you've changed. Every time I see you you seem just that bit more confident and... you've really tapped into your sex appeal." She nods and whistles watching me blush.
"Sex appeal?" I cringe and withhold a laugh, what the hell is 'sex appeal' when it's at home?
"Yeah. You've always been a beautiful babe but now you just seem... I don't know... more mature and sexy. My baby girl's all grown up, I mean she made friends, she got a fucking gorgeous boyfriend, she's off to Julliard and she no longer carries her V card in her purse." She fake sniffles, wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug.
"Jeez Lay, keep your voice down." I blush deeper when the boys on the jukebox look over.
"Oh hush, this is massive and sex is sex. Prudes can go fuck themselves, pleasure is normal and thank fuck you're finally getting some." She winks again but this time I laugh and grab my notepad ready to serve some centre tables but the door opens, the bell chiming and four figures as tall as the frame its self barrel through the door in direction of the girl's booth. I catch B's eye as he waltzes past the tables, he smiles cheekily at me and blows a kiss before I see Blaze behind him, shoulders tenser than normal but when he sees me he sends me a wary smile.
I know it's my fault, my quarterback's been tiptoeing around me all week and I shouldn't have shut him out like that but my defence mechanism comes up first, shutting everyone out and talking comes a long time after. However, after our conversation this afternoon in Carries bedroom things seem clearer, less daunting and I know we need to talk. We're going to be okay... right?
