Breaking Pointe

Chapter Eleven

Arabella led Tyler into her room by the hand. She started toward the window and dropped his hand to open it up. When she started to climb out the window his jaw dropped.

“Ella!”

“It’s fine” she smiled, “Follow me.”

He looked nervous but did as she said. He climbed into the tree and sat down beside her, obviously stunned. “What is all this?”

Arabella lightly touched the oldest carving in the tree. A big heart with her mom and dad’s initials inside and hers added in later underneath. “One day when I was little my  mom brought me up here. This was there without my initials. She told me a story about when she moved here with my dad and found this tree. They got all cheesy and carved their initials into it. Then she carved my mine into the heart, too. We spent a lot of time together up here. When I have a flashback I want to go to the place I feel closest to her, which is here. I get so nervous and anxious because I’m afraid I’ll forget it so I carve something into the tree for each memory to remind me.” 

He started pointing to carvings and asking what they meant. After a few he pointed to the little heart and she blushed. “Just a reminder from my mom that some things might be more important than ballet.”

“Is that from today?” he grinned and her blush answered.

“What about this one?” he asked, thankfully changing the subject. He was looking at the ballerina holding a book. She recounted the story. When she was done he said, “So that’s how it all started.”

“She always supported me so much.”

He looked deeply into her eyes, making her catch her breath. “I want to see you dance.”

“OK” she managed, breathless. He still smelled deliciously like cinnamon.

“There’s something I need to show you first.”

They left the tree and Arabella quickly changed into her ballet clothes with a light pair of sweatpants over. He went to help her into the truck but stopped her before she got in. He put his hands on her waist and just held her there for a second. her heart was beating out of her chest.

Tyler leaned in and sweetly pressed his forehead to hers. “Thank you for letting me in, Ella.” She smiled brightly.

When he started the truck classical began to play and he hummed along. “I’ve been meaning to ask you, how do you know all these classical songs? Aren’t you a country kind of guy?” she asked. He just smiled mischievously and wouldn’t answer.

They pulled up to a two story town house just outside the congested part of the city. “Wait, is this your house?”

“Yes ma’am” he said. She loved it when he called her that. Almost as much as when he called her Ella.

“Is your family home?” she asked nervously. She wasn’t good around new people. Too shy. 

“Probably” he shrugged and jumped out. He saw her nerves as he helped her out. “You’ll be fine.”

It turned out to be just his mom. “Tyler?” she called out from the next room.

“Yeah, Mom, it’s me. We have company!”

A woman only about an inch shorter than Arabella walked around the corner. She had jeans and a flannel shirt on and hair exactly the color of Tyler’s to her shoulders. Her eyes were big like his, but blue instead of brown and she had a dash of freckles across her nose that somehow didn’t make her look too young. Arabella could see where Tyler got his good looks, his mom was beautiful.