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Chapter 8-Tara and Christian

Chapter 8-Tara and Christian

*Tara*

            I had this sick feeling in my stomach for the rest of my visit at the academy. Although Ben had had apologized repeatedly, I still found myself sticking to Christian’s side as if we were joined at the hip. I knew he was worried though, by the way he kept glancing at me every so often.

            “I figured you’d be here.” Sammy said, as we walked unto a studio where a girl was going through barre excises like a pro. Her movements were so effortless. Suddenly she stopped and the elegance was gone; she turned to us with a sheepish smile.

“Sorry, I didn’t meet up with you like we planned.” She apologized, “But I needed to blow off some steam. They made me weigh in.”

“And?” Kat prompted with a smile.

“I’m two pounds over the weight minimum.” She grinned. She had a pretty smile that went well with her dark black hair, and bright brown eyes. I felt my head cock to the side. Why did she have to weigh in? She looked healthy to me: not too big, not too skinny.

            I didn’t get a chance to think about it too much, before Kat all, but ran to the dark haired girl, hugging her tightly.

“Abigail! I’m so proud of you!” She squealed loudly. A whimper left my mouth then, as I tried to hide from the loud noise. Although I was ninety percent sure Kat wouldn’t hurt me, loud noises still frightened me when they came unexpectedly.

            I felt Christian release my hand, before wrapping his arms around my waist. From where I had my face buried in the side of his neck, I could feel the vibrations as he chuckled.

“It’s okay, Training Bra. Kat just can’t control her excitement sometimes.” He ran his fingers through my hair.

“I’m sorry, Tara. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Kat said a moment later. Her voice was now soft and gentle. Nodding my head, I turned in Christian’s arms and gave her a small smile.

            The dark haired girl or Abigail, as Kat called her, cleared her throat.

“So Chris, are you going to introduce me to your new girlfriend?” She asked. Heat flooded my cheeks while my best friend began to sputter…

            “No, Abigail! No,” Christian moved his arms from my waist and placed his hands on my shoulders. “This Tara Webster, an old friend of mine that has recently moved in with Drew, Molly and I. And Tara, this is Abigail Armstrong. Another one of my friends, Sammy’s girlfriend, as well as the resident betty bun head of our little group.”

“Wait, she’s living with you now? How did that happen?” She asked.

“It’s a very long story.” I heard him sigh, “That I’m sure Tara doesn’t want to talk about.”

            The rest of the day passed at a steady pace. I sat against the wall while I watched them practice their dancing. They even asked me to dance with them, but I was so out of shape that I could barely keep up with them.  They twirled in circles; their movements were as fluid as water, and as graceful as the wind. Toes perfectly pointed and poised with each step. But even with my eyes mesmerized with their dancing, I couldn’t shake the thought of how fast Christian shrugged me off as being his girlfriend. Maybe it was off gaud we both were. But he sounded disgusted.

            Ritchie gad always told me that I was too repulsing for boys to even spare me a small glance. At the time, I had been thirteen and couldn’t agree with him more. My hair had been one big frizz ball that I could never tame. Per Ritchie, my body wasn’t much to look at either. He had been right, because my bra size wasn’t even a size yet. I was still wearing training bras while girls my age were moving into cup sizes. Even now three years later, I was still borderline between training bras and a-cup. Was that it? Was I not pretty enough to be mistaken for Christian’s girlfriend?