kaycee blindly pushed open her door and felt around for the lights. she squinted as the lights blinded her. she winced and shut them back off. she dropped her dance bag on the floor and fumbled her way across the floor of her room. she stumbled onto her bed and immediately laid down— feeling around for a blanket. she wrapped herself in it and fell asleep within minutes.
at this point, it is 2:15 am. kaycee was wrapping up a paper downstairs that is due tomorrow. she honestly wasn't even sure if it was good, but she was so exhausted that she submitted it as soon as she finished the conclusion paragraph. this was finals week, and even though kaycee is homeschooled, she has several assignments, exams, and final projects to complete, like this paper. on top of that, she is demonstrating for a convention this coming weekend. she, her boyfriend and partner, sean, and several other dancers have been attending classes from 7:00am to 4:00pm each day to learn the dances they are demonstrating as well as a few performance pieces for the end of the convention. today was tuesday, and kaycee already felt wrung dry. she was trying not to think about making it to sunday because it made her too anxious.
she felt like her alarm went off only thirty seconds after she closed her eyes. "mmm" kaycee groaned and reached for her phone to silence it. she quickly got dressed and threw fresh clothes into her dance bag since she didn't bother doing to last night. "do you want breakfast?" her dad asked as she filled her water bottle. "that's okay, i have a granola bar in my bag" kaycee smiled. this was true, but she probably wouldn't eat it. she did not even feel hungry, she just felt tired. "okay, have fun!" her dad smiled and waved as she left out the front door. she tried to wake herself up by listening to loud music, and it did help a little bit by the time she arrived at the studio. sean happened to get there at the same time. "hey!" she smiled and jogged over to him. he wrapped her in a tight hug "good morning, sunshine." she giggled as they walked in together. "how are you?" sean asked. kaycee set her bag down and began to take her shoes off "i'm doing okay, how are—" she was betrayed by a yawn, but laughed it off "how are you?" sean laughed. "i'm fine— looking forward to this" he said referring to the two duets they were meant to learn today. "me too!" kaycee agreed genuinely excited.
there was nothing kaycee loved more than dancing with sean. she felt so free and also so connected with him at the same time. the choreography came easily to them because they were so eager to take it in. they practiced for about two hours. kaycee could feel herself getting more tired. the joy of dancing was exciting her, but she could feel her body becoming weaker. "can you guys try that lift one more time?" the choreographer asked the duo. they nodded and got into position. kaycee was meant to leap toward sean and allow him to catch her and then swing her over the top of his shoulders with a pause in the middle. so they tried it: kaycee leapt toward sean, but when he flipped her around behind his back, she missed grabbing his hand for the landing. as a result, she landed too hard and began to tumble backwards. sean immediately lunged forward and caught her by the shoulders to help her regain her balance. "i'm so sorry," kaycee signed, "can we try again?" "of course"
sean agreed.
the dancers returned to their starting positions. again, kaycee leapt, and sean swung her around. however, again, kaycee missed sean's hand, and she landed too hard— this time rolling over her left ankle. "woah, kayc!" sean exclaimed and caught her on the sides of her arms and gently lowered her to the ground. "ah— i'm sorry , i'm sorry, can we try—" "no no no..." sean gently interrupted her with his eyebrows furrowed with concern, "let's take a breather?" he asked, but kaycee knew it was far more of a firm statement than a suggestion. the choreographer quickly agreed and encouraged them to break for lunch. kaycee nodded because she felt too defeated to argue with either of them.
the choreographer exited the room quickly to let the partners relax. "kaycee, what's going on?" sean asked as he knelt down to look at the ankle kaycee was still holding onto. "nothing, i just..." kaycee trailed off as she tried moving her foot around. "it's not nothing— you're shaking..." sean looked into her eyes, which now that he really looked at them, were slightly red and had large dark circles underneath them. "kayc..." sean sighed "are you sick?" "no no," she quickly corrected him "i'm just a little out of it today" she smiled and stood up. she rolled her ankle around a bit and then gradually put pressure on it. "lunch?" sean sighed and looked up at her "i'm alright" she insisted and started walking toward their duffels— she didn't walk with a limp, just very slowly.
