Lost

Two

Naya

I rubbed my mittens together hoping the friction of the wool fabric gave off warmth. Michael and I stayed silent for a good portion of the ride, the only sound we could hear was the humming of his truck.

"So, you take dance lessons?" Michael asked, breaking through the awkward silence.

"I teach dance lessons," I corrected while whipping out my phone from my jacket pocket to check the time.

"So, what kind of dance do you teach?" He asked with his eyes flickering back and forth between me and the windshield.

"I'm a ballet teacher to young girls in the neighborhood who can't afford to pay for actual legitimate lessons at the expensive academies on the other side of town. It's my moms' old studio that we rent out from the owners of the space," I elaborated whilst leaning in closer toward the car heater.

Michael was silent for a moment, which gave me time to inspect him. I appreciated the side profile of his face, the budding scraggly hair growing in on the side of his face, the way his lips and nose sloped into different dimensions. His curls were tight and sprouted chaotically at the top of his head and some curls dangled over his forehead. Michael's skin was dipped in bronze, it was beautiful. He adjusted his glasses and stared at the road.

"I think that's pretty awesome of you to do something like that," He complimented with his dimples leaving an impression on his cheeks.

"I think it's pretty awesome of you to drive me over there,"

"No worries,"

Michael

I don't know why I decided to follow Naya in but it intrigued me. Without even thinking I was trailing behind her like a lost puppy dog. The sign outside the studio said "Lillian's Dance Co." in scripted white letters.

As soon as I entered, a toasty warmth overcame my body. The chipped floral wallpaper of a snug waiting area greeted me, decorated with blown up photographs and posters of dancers. Some of ballerinas posing gracefully with their toes pointed to perfection and others were captured in the midst of a strong and powerful leap with the lean muscles of their thighs displaying from underneath their skin. Some wore frilly tutus that matched the shimmery eyeshadow that masked their eyelids, meanwhile others wore nothing but a bare face and solid colored spandex.

There was a small window that revealed the inside of the actual studio. A room with a horizontal wooden barre attached to the wall and wall that was nothing but a large mirror. While Naya was throwing her thick hair into a neat bun classical music began playing from inside the studio.

Naya turned around to look at me standing in front of the door with my eyes wandering the waiting area.

"Uh, Michael you can have a seat in here while I teach a class. It'll only be 30 minutes, I promise," She spoke with her hands gesturing to the metal chairs lined up against the wall.

I do exactly as I was told and take a seat with a perfect view of the window. The class had already begun, about 8 little girls (none of them looked to be older than the age of 11) were all lined up with their left hands resting on the barre, following the orders of their instructor.

I watched Naya quickly rid herself of her jacket and sweatpants to reveal her milk colored leotard and white tights. Her small fingers quickly unraveled the knots of her shoelaces on her sneakers before sliding them off and quickly slipping on a pair of pink ballet slippers.

Naya

I swung open the studio door and the volume of the slightly muffled classical music from behind the door was heightened. Alex grabbed my hand pulled me into the corner. The girls practiced doing their pliés and occasionally looking over in the mirror to watch their progress.

"You're never late. Are you okay? I started class up until you got here," She whispered loud enough so I could hear him over the music but quiet enough so the the girls didn't hear.

"I don't know, the weather was really terrible out and-"

"Who's that?" She interrupted and nodded his head in the direction of Michael who was watching us bicker from the window.

"A friend who helped me get here," I murmured quietly with my eyes focused on the laminated wood flooring.

"'Friend'," Alex replied doing the quotation marks with her fingers.

"He is,"

"Of course he is," The disbelief remained in her tone.

"He's just a friend. I promise,"

"Good," Alex took a long pause before speaking again. "So, is he single? Because he's fine as- "

"Thank you Alex, you can leave now. I can take it from here,"

I rolled my eyes and directed my attention toward the class. Alex flipped her box braids over her shoulder and went back into the waiting room to sit at the receptionist desk.

"Alright, class! Let's start practicing our leaps!" I announced cheerfully.

Michael

Naya's body moved like poetry while she fluidly soared across the room; her legs separated themselves into a split in mid air. She gently landed on the soles of her slippers. The way she moved almost convinced me should could fly. It seemed like it took her no energy to do something so complicated. Naya made that seem so effortless, like she was made to dance. As corny as that sounds, it was true.

Of course her students followed behind her with their tiny bodies barely hopping has high as they could, their arms aimlessly flailing. Naya cheered them on anyways.

"So you're a friend of Naya's? You go to her school?" The young receptionist asked while filing away some paperwork. She looked to be about the same age as me.

"Yeah we're in the same English class," The classical music was muffled behind her voice.

"Oh, well what do you wanna major in for college?" She stacked the last file in the cabinet drawer.

"I hope to be an English major. Maybe write a couple of novels in the future or something," I replied while adjusting the bridge of my glasses over my nose.

"English? You're going to pay tuition only to be given a degree that satisfies the fact that you studied unemployment?" She tugged a Twizzler between her teeth.

"I'm not in it for the money but for the love of literature. I mean if I study law or medicine, I'll be rich in earthly possessions but I won't be happy with myself," I replied and the girl didn't really say anything for a few moments. All you could hear was the drowned out classical music and the continuous crinkling of the Twizzler package.

"You...you're different than the last one," She looked away and reopened the drawer at the front desk. She continued on saying,"You're not on some 'I'm just trying to fuck with no other intentions and aspirations' shit but you're not some pretentious asshole that thinks that he's above other people for being educated. And you're not on some 'I hate all women, I'll just sit here and bump Drake and Bryson Tiller' type of shit and because of that I respect you. Not saying that you're fully approved, you still have a few evaluations ahead of you but just take care of her. She's my best friend...and if you hurt her, you'll disappear like Frank Ocean. I'm Alex, by the way," The girl monologued before tearing the corner of a gummy bear package.

"Naya and I are only friends," I hurriedly blurted before she jumped to any more conclusions.

"But do you want to stay 'only friends'?"