His Tiny Dancer [COMPLETED]

VII

~Wednesday, January 5th~

Walking from my locker to calculus class in my skinny jeans and so called "ballerina flats," I immediately realize that I made a very poor decision while picking out my outfit this morning.

Last night when I took my pointe shoes and the toe tape off, my middle toe was swollen and beginning to turn purple - promising, I know. I iced it and propped it up high on some pillows while I ate dinner and texted Olivia as soon as I got home and after a while the coldness numbed the pain and brought down the swelling. When I woke up this morning it wasn't a strange color but it was still swollen, sore, and stiff to move. Regardless, I knew I had to push through, especially since I was going to be late for school if I didn't get out of bed soon. I rushed to pick out clothes, grabbing the first pair of jeans I saw, a purple knit sweater, and the nearest pair of flat shoes. After changing I rushed around my room, pulling my hair into a simple ponytail and brushing my teeth. I didn't even have time to assess whether I would be able to survive the day in these shoes or not.

If I did have the time, I would have realized that no, I will not be able to survive today in these shoes. Sneakers and sweatpants definitely would have been a better option.

I try to conceal any traces of a limp on my way to class. I certainly don't need any extra attention from people I don't know asking if I'm hurt. To my luck, as I walk carefully on my left foot, my right hip decides this would be a great time to cramp up. Now I'm sure I look absolutely ridiculous.

Step left. Ow, my toe. Step right. Now my hip too? Step left. These shoes are squeezing my feet together. Step right. This is going to be a long day.

I finally stumble into math, take my seat towards the front of class, and pull out the small agenda book where I write down my assignments. I start crossing off the tasks I have finished and writing in the new ones that I forgot to write earlier. Chapters five and six for English. Check. Textbook chapter twelve for chemistry. Check. The calculus homework is already written on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom, so I begin writing it in. I get halfway through writing "In class assignment pages 5-7" before a voice in my ear causes me to jump and draw a line across my agenda with my pencil.

"Were you limping?" I've heard that voice too many times in the past three days.

"No," I say as certainly as I can. I turn my head to the right to find myself nose-to-nose with Noah Thompson, who is crouched next to my desk. My green eyes widen as a spark of mischief bursts in his and I immediately pull my head backward, placing my hands briefly on his chest to push him back gently. He doesn't even budge, but I don't miss how firm his chest feels beneath his t-shirt. Noah smirks at my reaction, as if I helped him achieve his plan of making me uncomfortable. Jerk. What does he even want with me anyway? "What do you want," I snap, feeling suspicious about his curiosity in me.

"Oh please, I'm not allowed to be worried about whether my history partner is injured or not?" I narrow my eyes at him.

"I'm fine."

"I see you're getting some practice in with lying. You're still not very convincing though, keep working on it." I scoff. "What did you do?"

"Why are you so interested?"

"There's still five minutes until class and I haven't seen Mrs Linn since she left to make copies of our homework a few minutes ago. I'm bored, so spill."

"You wouldn't understand," I argue, knowing it would be complicated to tell him what I did to him since he knows absolutely nothing about ballet.

"Then explain it to me."

"Fine." I give in, shifting in my seat so that I'm facing him but still far away from his face, which still hasn't moved back at all. "I crushed my foot landing from a leap and I think I broke a toe." Noah's eyebrows scrunch together showing that even my simplified version of what happened doesn't make much sense. I try to look at the situation from his perspective. I place myself in the shoes of someone who knows nothing about what makes up my entire life, and try to explain, finding myself using words I would use to explain something to one of the five-year-olds. "A leap is a big jump that lands on one foot, but I did it wrong. I landed on my toes like this," I use my hand on the desk to show him what I mean. I point my fingers down towards the desk as I lower my hands, and as my fingers touch the surface I curl them into a fist. "But toes aren't supposed to bend like that. I felt and heard some cracks and it hurt a lot, and I think I broke my middle toe." I look up from my hand to gauge Noah's reaction to decide if I made any sense or not. He is still watching my hand, which I have now placed flat on the desk. He doesn't look up, and in order to try not to make the situation awkward I continue explaining. "My shoes are too tight, so it hurts when I-"

"I get it, I'm not stupid." A sudden coldness comes over his face as he meets my eyes again.

"Oh." What's gotten into me? Stand up to him! Don't let him walk all over you like this, that was rude! "Okay," is all I say, shocked at his comment. Something new flashes in his eyes - disappointment? As soon as I see it, it's gone again. In an instant, Mrs Linn opens the classroom door and Noah's gaze breaks away from mine. He stands and walks to his usual seat at the back of the classroom, leaving myself confused in my seat. I start erasing the line I drew when he startled me and try to figure out what just happened. First, he surprised me and made sure that I would be uncomfortable. Then he teased me about lying again. Then he actually seemed genuinely concerned about my injury. Then he snapped at me and was disappointed when I didn't - didn't what? What was he expecting me to do, hit him? Even though I hate him being superior to me, I don't think I'll be standing up to him again anytime soon after the last two times I did just that.

This boy is even more confusing than the calculus homework I was just assigned, at least there are methods and formulas for figuring out math.

~~~~~

Written 8/4/17, Published 10/15/17
Hiya guys! I had a super long and painful day of rehearsals today and now I'm doing homework so that's why I didn't update until now. Also, sorry this chapter is sooooo short lol. Anyway, that's all I really have to say.

Thank you for reading!!