Foundation of Dance

Chapter 14

Olivia

The car sent vibrations through me as it drove down the street. The sun gave off the rays of an afternoon glow and I rested my head on my hand, clutching my dance bag tightly with one hand. It was Sunday and I was finally returning home. The drive was silent, only the soft humming of the radio filling the void. Mrs Reynolds hands were gripped tightly on the steering wheel and her eyes were focused, her face taut. I knew she was hesitant about me going home, I was the one to insist it after all, I knew I was out staying my welcome after the first few days. Both Mr and Mrs Reynolds tried to convince me to stay but they couldn't fight my argument of my mother having the right to call the police.

We pulled into the driveway of my house and I sucked in a breath as my chest began to ache. I reached to open the car door but Mrs Reynolds quickly turned to me. "I'm going inside with you," she stated. My heart leapt in fear and I shook my head rapidly.

"No, no," I said. "I-I'd rather you didn't, I'll be fine."

I couldn't help but call forth the memory of what happened in the car park and how much anger was jumping off the two of them. I didn't want to think of what would happen if either mum or Mrs Reynolds said the wrong thing. 'They're both stubborn and set in their ways,' I thought. 'Neither one of them would back down in a fight.'

"Olivia, this isn't up for a debate." Mrs Reynolds pointed a stern finger at me. "I'm not taking no for an answer."

With that, Mrs Reynolds got out of her car, slinging her hand bag over her shoulder. I quickly closed my mouth and followed her, softly closing the car door behind me. The house seemed to loom over me like it was haunted and my mouth went dry, I wanted to go to Mrs Reynolds home, better yet, I wanted to go see Alexandra. I pushed down the anxiety and unlocked the front door. I stepped aside for Mrs Reynolds to go through.

I followed her into the living room and the bubbling of a kettle brought my attention to the kitchen. "She must be in the kitchen," I said to Mrs Reynolds, I led her to the kitchen and mum was there. Her back was turned and she was leaning on the counter waiting for the kettle to boil, a coffee cup was to the side and Mrs Reynolds held her head confidently.

"Miss Locke," she spoke confidently. Mum lifted her head and turned slowly to face us both. The atmosphere immediately changed, becoming tense and suffocating. "Olivia is safe and has decided to come home, however," Mrs Reynolds said, her voice was suddenly dark and stern making me shiver. It was sterner than when she would snap at us for being silly at the studio or made a stupid msitake at a competition. "If something like this were to ever happen again, I will not hesitate to call the police and make sure that custody of Olivia is transferred to Ivan."

I had to stifle a gasp and my nerves stood on end. My heart dropped down to my feet and I clutched my bag tighter. Mum's jaw tightened and her nails scratched the surface of the counter, I forced myself to close my eyes and take a deep breath. 'Mum always gets touchy when custody comes up, making sure dad only got limited visitation rights was hard enough,' I thought. I knew I was going to get an earful for this and the urge to run started to seep back up.

"Of course," mum said tightly, her face was pulled taut and Mrs Reynolds put her hand on my shoulder.

"You have my number," she whispered. "You can call me if you ever feel unsafe, okay? I expect a call tomorrow after school before dance."

She squeezed my shoulder and left. Both mum and I were silent as the car pulled out of the driveway, the urge to run outside and jump back into the car got harder to resist. I bit my lip harshly, as though it would do anything to push the urge back down. I held my breath when mum glared at me, baring her teeth. "You were gone for over a week!" Mum snapped, her eyes were narrowed and her fists clenched tight enough that her knuckles were white as snow.