silent

28

• AMALIA •

I wave goodbye to my dad once I get out the car. He smiles at me. "I'll pick you up in three hours, okay?"

     I nod.

     "Alright. Bye, baby, I love you."

     I offer him a smile before he drives off.

     I love you too, dad! I can't say it, because that's dangerous.

     I throw my dance bag over my shoulder and walk into the double doors of the dance studio. Kiera is waiting at the front desk when I walk inside.

     "Hi, Little Miss Wonder." I smile when she uses the title I earned at the competition. "Everyone's in room six. You can go on in, they're just stretching. I'll be there in a moment."

     I nod and walk to the room she's talking about. I push the door open nervously, and when I step in everyone turns to look at me. I catch Ollie's gaze, and he stands, walking over to me.

     "Hey, Amalia. Come sit by me." He says, taking my hand and walking back to where he was sitting, by two girls. They smile at me when I sit down after sliding my shoes off and setting them to the side.

     "Hi! I'm Holly, this is Edie." The blonde girl tells me, motioning to the brunette.

     I smile back at her.

     "I already know that you're Amalia. Everyone does. We all saw your solo. It was amazing! Can you teach me how to do as many turns as you did?"

     I nod, putting one leg out to the side and straightening it, stretching my arms toward it. In the process, my hoodie sleeve slides up, exposing the bandages there. Ollie glances at them, but I'm already shoving them back down, over my hands to ensure it doesn't happen again.

     I refocus my attention on what Holly is saying.

     "...normally I get dizzy or my leg feels like I have pins and needles, but if you can teach me how to do so many without that or how to deal with it, that'd be great."

     "And how did you stay so balanced..."

They continue to ask me questions I can't answer for another couple minutes, complimenting my dance at the same time, which I smile at, until Kiera walks into the room, clapping to gain everyone's attention.

"Alright, all of you up!" She exclaims. "We're starting two new dances. Each will have six people in it, so the group will be split. However, since there are eleven of you one person will do both. I'll play the music for the first one now, then the second afterwards."

She plays our music, and I find myself really liking it. I'm hoping to be part of that dance when she plays the second song, and I decide I want to be part of that too.

     I push that aside. As long as I'm in one, I'll be happy.

•

When dance class is over, I'm sweaty, my hair is everywhere, and my feet are aching. I walk out into the car park and let out a breath of relief when I see my dads car, happy I won't have to wait and I can get home as soon as possible.

     As I climb into the passengers seat once depositing my bag on the car floor, he asks: "hi, darling. Did you have fun?"

     I nod and lean over, leaning my head on his shoulder as I wrap him in a hug. He seems to be a bit confused at first, but he wraps strong arms around my waist and plants a kiss on my temple. I play with his hair.