The Ballerina

Acelynn studied her now-bruised palm. It was a dark bluish purple and ran over the edge of the face of her hand. And it ached all the time. Her head too – after it was smacked against Luke’s window.

Her mother didn’t come home until nine that night – four hours after Acelynn. Mrs. Adams’ looked guilty yet satisfied. It made Acelynn want to puke. And she did. Twice, after everyone went to sleep. Then she took three Tylenol pills to ease the headache and awful feeling all over her body.

She couldn’t tell anyone about Luke and his truck – they’d freak out. Her parents, Jojo… And that was about it. She didn’t really talk to anyone other than those three people.

‘But you have Luke now.’ She reminded herself for some odd reason. Yet, could she be sure of that?
Luke was a mysterious boy. Acelynn didn’t know anything about him, or his motives. He could have been dared to try and befriend the ballerina, and then crush her. But Luke didn’t seem like the person whose actions were based on peer pressure, and he didn’t seem very interested in Acelynn herself.

Her bruise was due to her falling in the hallways of Huckleberry High. Nothing more.

Luckily it was now Saturday morning, and it was the only day in the week Acelynn had nothing planned. Her day of rest. Usually she lay around and watched TV. However, she usually didn’t get sick. So on that particular Saturday, she spends under her covers, still in her pajamas.

“Acelynn, please get up. Face the day! It’s lovely out, why don’t you go and play? You should be excited – your recital is tomorrow.” Her mother encouraged.

“No, Mother.” Acelynn hissed from underneath her red sheets.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately.” Mrs. Adams sighed, and exited the room as if her daughter was some big mistake.

But Acelynn wasn’t the one who did anything wrong. It was all her mother’s fault. She felt like the world was swallowing her whole, and nothing would be good again. She betrayed her husband. She betrayed Acelynn.

“You.” The teen whispered.

She had read it in books, and seen documentaries on it at school. But she never knew that heartbreak could hurt so much.



People cheered. She got roses. She smiled. She was happy as she nailed each move. She was truly in bliss as she preformed. Acelynn loved being a ballerina more than anything in the world. But when she saw her parents, the weight of the word returned.

“You did wonderful, Ace.” Tom Adams congratulated his daughter in a bear hug.

“Thanks, Dad.” Acelynn smiled and hugged her father back.

“Just perfect, Acelynn.” Her mother squealed and tried to hug Acelynn, but the teen refused. It didn’t matter; as soon as Mrs. Adams said the girl’s name, her attention was somewhere else. The ballerina had a good guess at whom.

“You really nailed it, Tiger.” Mr. Adams whispered to his daughter, smiling. She could see pride reflected in his eyes. Acelynn smiled back.

“Beautifully done, my dear.” Johannes drawled. Acelynn turned around and faced her instructor with a hidden disgust.

“Thank you, Johannes.” She replied evenly.

“Acey! You were fantastic!” The awkward vibe from the group was interrupted by Jojo, who was glowing.

“You too Jojo. You got the spins!” Acelynn countered, and embraced her ecstatic friend. “You did awesome.”

“Thank you! Well it was great catching you – hey Mr. and Mrs. Adams! – But me and my parents are going to go eat a victory dinner. See you!” And then Jojo was gone.

“She sure is hyper after a gig, huh?” Tom Adams chuckled and put a hand on his daughter’s head.

“She’s always hyper.” Acelynn rolled her eyes, but smiled.

“One should learn to control her emotions.” Johannes interrupted rudely, with an arrogant tone in his voice.

“Well one should feel free to express themselves in any way they want.” The tiny ballerina hissed. Everyone looked surprised. Acelynn never said anything offending. She was the perfect daughter.

“Acelynn, what has—“ Her mother looked totally appalled.

“Well it’s been a blast,” Johannes growled. “But I’m going to go home now.”

“Acelynn, apologize.” Mrs. Adams demanded as they all watched the tall, lanky man disappear through the crowd.

“No.” She responded firmly.

“Well I for one am glad you said that. That German guy needed a taste of his own medicine.” Acelynn’s father interfered, and winked at his daughter to show he understood her negative feelings toward Johannes.

But did he know about his wife – the mother of his child? Or did he just know of the great dislike his daughter harbored for Johannes?

“Thomas, really? Don’t encourage this kind of awful beha—“ Dana Adams cut herself off at the sight of something.

This is how romantic fairytales are supposed to be. The creepy-ish yet hot boy stalks the beautiful princess, and they fall in love. However, the boy was just plaid creepy, and Acelynn wasn’t a princess. And most fairytales didn’t have Luke Spencer in them.

But this Luke was different. He wore a red polo, and regular jeans. He usually wore a black shirt with skinny jeans or jeans that went past his butt. That’s why Acelynn gasped when she saw him. Her parents took it as an ‘I want his body’ sort of way.

“Hey, Ace.” Luke smiled. Ace. Acelynn only let those closest to her call her ‘Ace’. She could feel her parents give each other a ‘what the hell’ look.

“L-luke. What are you doing here?” She stuttered. Acelynn's palm began to ache even more when she addressed the boy. For the recital, she had covered it up with make up and was completely invisible.

“I came to see you perform.” He smirked. He just smelt of old paper now.

Where were his cigarettes? Then a thought dawned on Acelynn. Was he trying to impress her parents? Why would he do that? Did he even know her last name? “Hello Mr. and Mrs. Adams.” Apparently, yes.

“Hello… Luke, was it?” Tom Adams stretched his hand out for Luke to shake.

“Yes. Luke Spencer.”

“How did you even know about it?” The ballerina interrogated.

Luke looked amused. “I pay attention.”

“Who are you? And how do you know Acelynn?” Dana Adams asked with narrow eyes.

“He’s obviously a friend of Ace’s.” Her father rolled his eyes.

Luke smiled back. “I actually wanted to see if you would let Ace come and get a bite with me. I know you probably want to be with her but—“

“Nonsense. It’s good for a young girl to be with people her age. Being around old folk can be mundane after awhile.”

“No!” Dana exclaimed.

Luke looked a little torn between taking Acelynn out, and crawling into a hole. He looked back and forth between Dana and Tom. When he looked at Acelynn’s father for help, the older man rolled his eyes and gestured for the two to leave.

Acelynn’s jaw dropped. Luke took her hand in his. Luke took her hand in his. Luke took her hand in his. She was in too much shock to do much about it, except let him lead her away.

This was bad. This was very bad – the whole of ballerina code was being destroyed in five minutes. She bad mouthed her dance instructor, her mother, and now she was leaving a recital with a boy.

Her world just turned into a circus. And right now, Luke Spencer was the ring leader.