The Ballerina

A whole month. A month without Luke. A week and a half without Jojo. She felt that her whole life she never had her mother. And her father was too blind to understand anything that was going in his, or his daughter’s life.

Acelynn had no one. Not even a goldfish to confide into.

To say she was a mess, was an understatement. The last time she smiled? She had no idea. The last time she spoke? Days.

Everyone around her could see it. She was falling apart. Classic ballerina; too tired to carry on and she crumbles. It was poetic, really. It should have been made into a play. It might as well be anyway; the people around her watched with such fascination.

But not one said a word. They just watched as if she were some zoo monkey, traipsing around for their enjoyment. Except she wasn’t some animal in the zoo – she was a human being. A human being with feelings that were stomped into the ground like some bug. Then again, she had done the same to Luke… And he had already felt this dark pain.
Silent sobs escaped Acelynn into her pillow as she lay in her bed. Was it Monday? Thursday? The ballerina no longer knew time. She tried her best to continue on with the life she pretended in. But it was hard, and she didn’t know how much longer she could pull off the facade. Acelynn didn’t know how Luke did it, with much more ease than her. Maybe it took practice. Ever since the two had known of each other, the girl saw the same characteristics in Luke since the day she saw him.

Did he even notice how deep Acelynn had been sinking? Probably not, since he never even looked at her anymore. Which wasn’t shocking – she had betrayed him in a way. There was nothing she could do about it; it wasn’t her fault Luke thought she was suicidal. That was his own assumption – and Acelynn should have been proud of the fact that she wasn’t. But instead she was ashamed of herself for not being whatever Luke wanted her to be. It was irrational. They had only even talked to each other for three days. Acelynn shouldn’t feel ashamed or angry at herself. But human emotions were not rational.

“Acelynn Claire Adams! You get out of that bed right now and go to your ballet class!” Her mother shrieked and Acelynn physically winced. These outbursts had happened on a regular basis, but it still wasn’t something someone could get used to.

When the ballerina did not move, Dana Adams ripped the covers off her daughter and yanked at her arm. The girl yelped, but her mother did not let go. Dana tugged at Acelynn’s arm until half of her body was on the floor and her head bent awkwardly. “Get up!”

“Let go!” Acelynn roared in her hoarse voice, and smacked Mrs. Adams’ hand away. “Let go, let go, let go!”

“Get up!” Dana’s voice continued to screech.

The battle continued for only a few seconds – but still felt like an eternity – when Tom Adams entered the room. “What the hell is going on?”

Dana immediately let go, almost on instinct. “Your daughter is turning into a zombie, and you’re not doing anything about it!”

“Well there’s no need to throw her on the ground for it.” Tom replied sarcastically, but logically. “You okay there, Acey?”

Acelynn feebly nodded and tried to get out of the awkward position. “Yes.”

“Are you sure, kiddo?” He asked again after his wife stormed off.

“I’m sure.” The girl hated lying to her father. He didn’t deserve it. He deserved to know everything. Everything. But she didn’t feel that he should be burdened by her dark thoughts. He deserved a happy daughter with a happy life.

“You know… You don’t have to go to ballet. You don’t have to make your mother happy.”

The last thing Acelynn wanted to do was make her mother happy. Dana was forcing her daughter (though, in her defense, the mother didn’t know that her daughter had found out her secret) to lie to her father. But she enjoyed dancing. Though dancing, she could physically express herself. She could forget the world and focus on her body doing beautiful moves though years of practice, have been perfected. It was the one control in her life. It’s what kept her on Earth.

“I want to go.” Acelynn said meekly. It didn’t seem to convince her father, even though for once, she had told the truth.

“If you really want to…” Tom replied, unsure.

“I am, Daddy.” She said in a softer voice. Faking innocence one of the greatest things she was good at. Second only to ballet.

“Then when you’re ready, I’ll drive you.”

Acelynn didn’t have a license. Getting your license would force the girl to concentrate on something other than dance. Something her mother would not allow. The ballerina had to be driven everywhere she wanted, which was just another way Dana controlled the girl.

With a heavy sigh, she pulled on a dusty red leotard and black sweat pants over it. She pulled her light brown hair in a bun, and grabbed her gym bag with her shoes, towel, extra running shoes, and some random ballet pamphlets.
“Dad? I’m ready.” Acelynn said after entering Tom’s office.

The older man turned and faced his daughter. With a smile, he got up from the computer chair and led the way to the garage. Acelynn’s bare feet were shocked with the cold concrete, but she said nothing.

The car ride was quiet. It was a mostly comfortable silence, but there was a certain air between the two that made it slightly awkward. It was like they both wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the nerve to actually say it. The statements kept getting caught in their throats, and no words were spoken. But that wasn’t new; the father and daughter never talked about anything. Sometimes he would ask how school was, and sometimes she would ask how the Chiefs were doing.

The answer was always the same: Fine.

Soon, the small Volvo parked outside of the dance studio. They sat for a few moments, still in silence. Still unmoving.

“You know… You know if you need to talk to someone… you can talk to me, right?” Thomas Adams stated hesitantly.

“Yeah, of course Dad.” Acelynn lied, and gave a small smile and exited out the door. She slowly walked up to the business doors and waved to her father as he drove away.

The ballerina waited until the small, black car was gone. Instead of going into the building, she sat down at the curb and opened her bag. Pulling out the red and white running shoes, she jammed them on her feet and began to tie them. She slowly manipulated the strings to tightly bind her feet into the shoe. Today, she wasn’t going to ballet. Even though she desperately needed the calming exercise, she needed to do something else even more.

She wasn’t sure if she could run the whole way. It would be hard. Acelynn wasn’t used to long-distance running, or running at all for that matter. But she had to. She only had two hours before she had to be back.

But unlike most track runners, Acelynn was running for a greater purpose; she thought, as she began to jog down the road. She wasn’t running for a medal or a trophy. Not a cup of water or a crowd to cheer her on.

Acelynn Adams was running for her life; she had to run to save herself. She had to run to save Luke. The ballerina would run to the park, where she was sure the boy was. And she would make him look at her.

Because in order to survive, she realized, Acelynn and Luke needed each other more than anything else in this world.