Sparkle Baby, Shine

"And that, kids, is the meaning of Christmas." Mr. Graiver finished with a wide, winning smile. His spiel was perfectly timed to end just before the bell sounded. Chair legs screeched as they scraped against the dirty linoleum floor, waking up the group of people at the back of the room who had drifted off early in the lesson. Mr. Graiver stood from his desk, watching as his students filed out of the narrow doorway. "Gaskarth!"

Alex froze just outside the classroom, dodging the several people bursting out of the room from behind him to peek inside. "Yeah, sir?" His dark brow was furrowed curiously, and he adjusted the canvas strap of his messenger bag on his shoulder.

"Alex, I wanted to talk to you about your mark in my class." He said, gesturing for him to come into the classroom with two fingers. Alex's face fell and his shoulders slumped. He rushed out of every one of his classes for the last few weeks, assuming that he was doing poorly in all of them and trying to avoid a confrontation like this one. He instantly regretted that he took the time to stuff his books into his bag, wishing that he had just grabbed them and left before the teacher noticed.

"Uh, sir, I know it's bad, but I can assure you that I'll do better. I will, really. I've probably said it like, fifty times by now, but I will this time." Alex let out a long, slow breath. "Just please, please, please don't call my parents. I beg of-"

"What are you talking about, Alex?" Mr. Graiver chuckled, glancing up from the papers in his hands. "Your mark in my class is phenomenal. Really, you're doing great. That's what I wanted to talk about."

"Uh..." Alex looked down at the floor for a brief moment, relaying his words in his head a few times. "What? Really? Oh. Okay, cool. That's it, then?"

He started to creep back towards the door, his stomach twisting as the image of a brunette he knew would be waiting for him in the cafeteria flashed in his head. Just like any boy his age, his mind often wandered to the opposite sex at the most inappropriate times and right then, all he could think about was getting his greedy hands on her.

"Hold it! I'm not done yet." Alex stopped in his tracks, smiling innocently at the teacher. "Your marks are great, Alex, but I can tell that you aren't challenged in this class." Alex nodded slowly, sliding his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in moving up a level. It's only a month into the school year, just imagine being stuck in this class for another nine."

Alex was slightly taken aback, tilting his head from side to side as he thought. "Really? Well, like, I didn't think we were allowed to change levels this far into high school, especially when you don't have the proper prerequisites?"

"Well, you're not allowed when you try to do it yourself, but if a teacher suggests it, then what happens is you go into the class for a week, and in that time, you'll be set up with a tutor who will basically go over any big thing you've missed in the last three years and then after those weeks, you'll do a mini sort of exam to see where you're at and if you can be in that class. It's a lot of work, but I mean, if you're serious about it, then it's worth it."

"It is a lot of work." Alex agreed thoughtfully. Alex was never one to like work. That was partly the reason why he stayed at the lower level for the past three years, because he didn't have to do any work at all to get the grades that he had. But then he pictured his mother's face when she hears that a teacher is encouraging Alex to take English class at a higher level, because his grades were so great. That was something that he knew his mother had never ever expected to hear about her Alex. So naturally, like any boy who lived to please his dearest mummy, he agreed. It was time for Alex to work.

----

Her hair whipping around in the steady wind coming through the sun roof was a reminder of why Amelia always wore her hair up. She was constantly removing her hands from their 10 and two position on her steering wheel, just like she was taught, to push her hair away from her eyes. It was making her uneasy and she decided that from this moment on, she was not going to wear her hair down. Especially not when she was driving.

When she had finally made it to her destination and quickly nabbed the last available parking spot, Amelia immediately pulled her hair into a tight bun on the top of her head. Grabbing her bag from the back seat, she slid out of the car, yanking the bottom of the wrap sweater down self-consciously, for she was only wearing her leotard and a pair of tights underneath it. She glanced around nervously, relieved that there was nobody around to see her before she scurried inside the building. She could hear one of her instructors talking to the group of girls who were sitting on the floor, doing various stretches as they listened carefully. Amelia was quick to join them, removing her sweater and setting it down with her bag and shoes in the corner. She sat beside a girl named Katie, who sat a bit off to the side, but not so far that she wasn't part of the group of girls. She got along with Katie fairly well, for she was also painfully shy and just as okay with not talking as Amelia was.

Amelia hesitated before leaning into Katie just a bit and softly asked, "what did I miss?"

Katie sent her a timid sort of smile, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "Not much. They're just talking about the recital and want to hear some song suggestions."

Amelia nodded slowly, feeling slightly more talkative than usual. "Okay... Do you have any suggestions?"

Katie glanced at her quickly and then looked away, shaking her head. "Oh. No, not me. No... Do you?"

Amelia shook her head in the same quick and jerky manor. "No way."

And then they fell into a silence, listening as the other girls were raising their hands and shouting out their song suggestions. it went from only one person in the room speaking to everyone in the room speaking, with the exception of Amelia and Katie, who were merely listening.

Amelia was feeling a number of different things at that very moment. She was feeling slightly over-whelmed, because she didn't know who to be listening to at that moment since so many were speaking at once. She felt excited, for there was nothing Amelia enjoyed quite as much as dance class. And lastly, she felt nervous, because as much as she enjoyed dancing, the fact that the winter recital was coming up and she'd have to dance in front of so many people made her feel very uneasy.

Eventually, Amelia just tuned everybody out, not bothering to be part of the deliberation process and waited patiently for the songs to be chosen. She sat, stretching out her legs in front of her and leaning back, her hands supporting her weight behind her. After a while, her bum was starting to feel numb and she had the imprint of the carpet's texture on her palms. It seemed like forever when their instructor finally said, "everybody, up!"

Amelia sighed in relief, rising to her feet and shaking out the stiffness in her legs. She followed the group into the other room, watching her reflection in the mirrored walls as she made her way over to where Katie stood. There was something about this place that felt so much like home to Amelia. Even after all the changes that had occurred in her life, she still came back to this same dance studio with all the same girls, give or take a few over time, and it didn't feel any different. Even though her mother wasn't chatting with the other moms as they waited in the lobby, like she used to, and even though now it was usually only their house keeper, Mary, sitting in the crowd at her recitals, dance didn't feel any different to Amelia. Not the way everything else seemed to. School was different to her now. She used to get good grades because she loved the way her parents would praise her when she brought home her report card, but now she got her good grades for only herself, because her mother wasn't around to congratulate her and her father hadn't been enthusiastic about... Well, anything in a very long time. It felt good that this hadn't changed. When she looked into the mirrored walls, at all the girls standing in their leotards and with their hair up the same way, she still felt like they were those same little girls they were back about twelve or so years ago when she first joined.

Even though she wouldn't consider herself friends with these girls, they all had a strange sort of understanding toward each other. She barely knew them, but for some reason, she sort of... Loved them. They were like, a family, or at least the closest thing Amelia has had to a family for a very long time...