Immaculate Misconception

Alice's POV

Beep, beep, beep I wake up to my alarm, pulling me out of a
dream. It's six in the morning.

"Great" I grumbled to myself as I get out of bed. "Another long day of
practicing a spin I'm nevergonna land."

I change out of my pajamas and into my tights, leotard, and yoga pants. I pull back my hair
into a tight bun, wash my face, brush my teeth, put on a little bit of eyeliner, grab my dance bag, and slipping on some flip-flops, head out the door. I walk down the hall way of the hotel I'm staying at and to the elevator. When I step into the elevator I press the number one. When the elevator stops at the lobby I walk out, and to the front desk.

"Good morning Ms. Hilliard, how are you?" The receptionist girl asks.

"Tired, but good, I guess." I say to her with a smile on my face. "How are you, doing this morning, Hailey?"

"Umm... 'bout the same. Are you going to practice?"

"You know it." I say in my 'why do you ask such silly questions?' voice "Is there anyone in the ball room?"

"No, but it's reserved for eight thirty."

"Oh, that's okay I have like two and a half hours to land that god forsaken spin."

"You'll get it, just keep practicing."

"Thanks Hailey." I say as I make my way to the ball room. "And Ms. Hillard was my mother, call me Alice."

I'm the lead in The Swan Lake, and as the lead I have dances that I need to learn, and spins that I need to land. Well, THE spin I need to land. All the others were simple pirouettes or a form of jumps. The one spin I can't land is at the end of the ballet right before the white swan jumps off of the cliff. I'm never able to land the when I'm practicing but always find a way to land it during the shows. How, I'm not sure, but I do. I never land it perfectly though, I usually pull a cheat and do three turns so it looks like it was meant to happen.

Once I'm in the ball room I walk over to the CD player I have set up. I turn it on and play the last song on repeat. I strip out of my street clothes, leaving me just in my leotard and tights. Slipping out of my flip-flops and lacing my pointe shoes on I talk through the motions of the spin. I count out everything, making it perfect in my head. I pull out the small bag of chalk and powder the bottom of my shoes to keep them from sticking to the floor. I walk into the center of the room, doing releve en pointe’s to warm up my ankles.

The song starts out slow, but gradually gets faster. As the song gets faster so do my feet. I'm dancing perfectly, then comes the time for the spin. I jump into the air and spin, when my feet hit the ground I fall flat on my ass. I try again. Thud. Again. Thud. Again! THUD!

"God fucking DAMN it!" I say in frustration as I pick myself off of the ground. "I'm never gonna land that fucking turn!"I walk over to the CD player and turn it off. Then walk over to one of the tables set up in the room and just sit and think.

'Why can't it be easy like the others? Why can't I land that god dammed spin!' I think long about the time when ballet used to be easy, when I used to dance for fun, when I used to love it. Then I start to think about my mother, and how she would always smile when I danced. I would always feel happy with her around.

"God I miss her." I whisper as I feel tears start to burn in my eyes, and I start to cry. The thought to just sit and cry crosses my mind once or twice, but I quickly wipe away my tears. I close my eyes and try to think about all of the fun times that I had with my mother, before she passed away. I must have been thinking so much that I dozed off, because next thing I know Hailey was shaking me awake.

"Ms. Hillar... I mean Alice, its seven thirty." She says as she gently shakes me awake.

"What..." I say as I rub my eyes and stretch.

"It's seven thirty." She says again

"Oh, I must have fallen asleep. Do I still have time to practice?" I say frantically. As I quickly get out of my seat and jog over to the CD player.

"Yes, you do but you better get to it." She says with a smile. Seeing her smile I can't help but smile back. She gives me a small wave and then leaves the room.

I turn on the CD player and begin to dance. I don't start from the end like last time, no this time I start from the beginning of the ballet. I dance gracefully and as I'm dancing I think about my mother. As I do so I can't help but smile. I feel happy dancing now, and next thing I know it's the last dance. I start dancing then jump to do the spin. As I'm spinning, I see somebody out of the corner of my eye; I lose my concentration, and fall to flat feet a lot harder than I should have and end up falling to the ground because of my damn weak ankles.

The person I see is a man. A man that quickly runs over to the stage and puts out his hand for me. He looks so familiar. He's a tall guy with longer dark hair, tunnels in his ears, three lip piercings on his bottom lip, and tattoos. Tattoos everywhere. It isn't until he starts to say something that I know EXACTLY who he is.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He says me “If you’re busy I can come back later."

"No, that's okay," I say as I grab his hand and he gently pulls me back to my feet. It's at that moment I'm sure I know who he is. The difference in our height is what tells me. But I'm not 100% positive.

"That was quite a fall you took there." He says as I dust myself off.

"Yeah," I say with a smile on my face. "Are you the one that reserved
the ball room for eight thirty?"

"Yes, but it's only like eight. So if you’re busy I can just come back."

"No that's okay; I should probably take a break anyway."

"What was that you were dancing to?"

"Oh, umm... The Swan Lake." I say as I unlace and relace my shoes making sure they held the right support to my arch.

"Oh okay, so are you like the lead or something?"

"Yeah, I'm the Swan Princess, and the Black Swan."

"Is that why your shoes are black?" He says as he looks down at my pointe shoes.

"Yes, well they're only black when I'm dancing as the Black Swan. The dance I was just doing was the White Swan's part, but I keep my white shoes at the studio, so I have to practice in these ones. It’s a lot easier to keep black shoes black when practicing." I laugh.

I finish relacing my other shoe then I sit on the stage. "I don't think that I ever caught your name." I hinted, praying that he confirmed my hopes.

"Sorry, I'm Chris." He says as he holds his hand out for me to shake.

'Yes! I knew it! I knew that I knew him from somewhere. I fucking knew it! Calm down Alice, calm the hell down! But Holy Shit! It’s Chris Fucking Motionless Goddamn Cerulli!’

"I'm Alice." I say as I shake his hand successfully hiding the Cheshire grin trying to force it’s way out.

"Well it's nice to meet you Alice." He says as he smiles at me

"It's nice to meet you too, Chris." I say as I try not to blush.

"So...are your dances hard?" He asks as he sits next to me.

"Some were at first, but not so much anymore it's just this one fucking
turn that I can never seem to land." I say in a calm voice.

"Is it the one you were just doing?"

"Yeah"

"Well, not that I know anything about ballet, but when you’re doing the spin try not to think about it so much, clear your head, and just before you're about to jump, think of something that makes you really happy."

"You think that'll help?" I ask

"Oh, yeah I'm sure it will. You still have time to run through the dance before my band comes down."

'Band he said band. The rest of them are here, too!'

"You're in a band?" I try to question nonchalantly

"Yeah, we're touring, and we have a couple shows in town."

"That's cool, I travel a lot too. Being a dancer and all. What's the name of it?"

"Motionless in White, I'm the lead singer."

'Ding, dang who's your boss? DAMN I'm smart, but I mean why wouldn't I be? I've only been a fan of MIW for like ever! Good job, Alice all those years of practicing what to do if this moment ever happened, have finally paid off. Oh god am I blushing? No, Alice, compose yourself it's not like you haven't met famous people before. Oh who am I kidding? I've never met the famous person I've been crushing on before. OH MY GOD CHRIS CERULLI IS SITTING NEXT TO ME!!!'

Those are all of the thoughts that are running through my mind as the fact that I'm sitting next to Chris Cerulli from MIW, processes in my head.

"Well that's cool." I say trying to sound composed

"So are you gonna dance?" He asks as he motions towards the CD player.

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"No I don't mind at all, I'll even turn it on for you, which number?"

"12" I say. As the song starts I feel Chris looking at me. 'My god he's looking at me...calm Alice calm.'

I stand up and get into position; I dance through the whole number then come the part right before the spin.

'Okay Alice think about something that makes you happy.' Just before I jump, I think about my mother and how graceful she was when she was the Swan Princess. That thought makes me smile and next thing I know my feet are back on the ground, and the song is over.

I look over my shoulder to see Chris clapping.

"Good job. See you cleared your head and you landed perfectly." He says as he keeps clapping. "If you don't mind me asking, what did you think about?"

"I thought about my mother, and how graceful she was when she was the Swan Princess."

"Oh, so your mother was a ballerina too?" He asks as he walks over to the CD player to turn it off.

"Yeah...one of the best, she's the one that got me started in ballet."

"Well that's cool, how did she start you in ballet?"

"Well, she didn't ever force me to do anything that I didn't want to do, but I remember sitting and watching her practice, and just looking at how graceful and strong she was, I just remember thinking that's what I want to do. That’s who I want to be."

"That's really cool." He says as he sits back down next to me on stage.

"I remember when I told that I wanted to be a ballerina; she was really happy, and supportive."

"How old where you...you know when you knew that you wanted to be a ballerina?"

I pause for a second to think, and then I answer. "Five... I was five when it finally clicked that I wanted to do it for the rest of my life."

"Wow, you were young." He says with a shocked look on his face.

"Yes, I was, very young. I remember my first ballet class like it was yesterday. I walked in the class, with my mom, and instead of being nervous I was really excited. My mom said that the reason that I wasn't nervous was because I was meant to be a dancer.” I say with a smile on my face.

"You and your mother sound very close."

"Yeah, we were."

"Were?" He says in a puzzled voice

"Yeah...she passed away when I was 18."

"Oh... I'm sorry." He says looking guilty.

"It's not your fault." I say trying not to sound sad. " So who got you started into music?"

"My grandfather." He says with a smile on his face

"Oh that's cool"

"When I was younger, like 7 or so, he took me it a guitar shop and was going to get me a guitar, and the one he wanted to get me I didn't want, because it wasn't cool enough."

"Wow" I say with a giggle

"Yeah, I know." He says as he runs his hands through his hair. "But, a while ago I got a tattoo of the guitar, with one of his cow boy hats on it, tattooed on my calf."

"That's sweet! Can I see it?"

"Oh, of course!" He says as he pulls his pant leg up reveling an amazingly detailed tattoo of an old fashioned guitar.

"Wow that's amazing." I say as I touch it. "It's so detailed... beautiful!"

"Yeah." He says with a little laugh, and looked down to my hand as I traced his tat.

"Oh, sorry!" I say as I pull my hand away from his calf.

"It's okay." He says still laughing. Then looks at me.

"What?" I ask as I try to hide my blushing face

"It's just that, you are so excepting of people."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, when most people look at me they either turn the other way, or call me and the others faggs."

"You were expecting some prissy, nose in the air, ‘ain’t I special’ ballerina? Well, I'm not judgmental, because I know what it's like to be judged, I may not know what it's like to judged because of how you look...but I know what it feels like."

"Wow, you know you are very smart." He says with a smile

"Eh, I've been told once or twice." I say laughing.

"You still have time to run through your dance one more time...if you want too... I mean."

"No, that's okay." I stand up and walk over to the food that is set up and grab a banana to keep from getting any cramps, and a cup of tea. "You want anything?" I ask as I turn to Chris.

"No thank you," he says "I already ate."

"Oh, ok." I say as I peel my banana.

"Is that all you're gonna eat?"

"Oh, yeah... being a dancer means that I have to watch what I put into my body, and keep my weight in check." I say impassively.

"What?! You're tiny! What are you like a size two?"

"Yes, I am, and it's only until tomorrow, because tomorrow is my last show, and then I can stuff my face with chicken wings and down a 32oz Dr. Pepper!"

All Chris does is laugh, and so do I.

"Did you say chicken wings?" He asks

"Yes...why?"

"I love chicken wings! In fact I love them so much that this morning I ate my guitar player Ricky's chicken wings." He says still laughing.

"What is he gonna do when he finds out that his chicken wings are gone?" I ask laughing as well

"Probably be pissed, and go on a rampage. That's okay though because it's payback for him drinking my Rock Star."
A few minutes pass with us just sitting and laughing. After I finally finish my banana I throw away the skin and then finish my lukewarm tea.

"Did you seriously just finish that?" I raised my eyebrows at his exaggerated question.

"Yeah, I hate bananas, but hey it's food... Why do you ask?"

"Because I could've finished six bananas, and like 12 cups of...that" he says pointing at my cup of tea. "In the time it took you to finish that one banana."

"Well, I don't eat a lot." He stands up and looks at me and smiles. I can't help but smile back as I look into his beautiful brown eyes. It's quit for a minute, then yelling.

"GOD FUCKING DAMN YOU CHRIS! I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL YOU!" Ricky's voice screams.

"And that would be Ricky." Chris says trying not to laugh

"You fucking ASS! Why did you eat MY chicken wings?" Ricky says as he stomps his way into the ball room.

"Me? I'm hurt! Ricky, why would Ieat your chicken wings, maybe it was Balz." Chris says in a horribly sarcastic voice. Ricky just stands in silence and looks at Chris, then laughs, apparently letting Chris go while there were witnesses.

"And this is my cue to leave." I say as I walk to the door.

"Hey, Alice wait!" He says as he runs over to me. "Here's my number, call me and maybe we can have a chicken wing eating contest sometime? If you want."

"Sure, I would like that... and I would win." I teased, winking at him.

"Yeah, sure." He says laughing. I walk out the door but before I do I decide to let him in on a secret.

"Hey, Chris?"

"What?"

"I love your music!" Then I walk to the elevator. I press the up button and when the elevator, opens Balz walks out followed by Angelo, and Ryan both, of which are carrying their instruments and Balz' keyboard.

"Are you seriously not gonna carry you keyboard Balz?" Angelo asks Josh in a 'grab your shit or I'm gonna kill you' voice.

"Do you need help?" I ask

"Nah, they're fine." Josh says.

"Yeah, you say that, because we're the ones carrying your shit!" Ryan says

"I can help you...if you like." I say.

"No that’s okay." Angelo says as he holds the elevator door open for me.

"Thanks." I say with a smile. I get into the elevator just in time to see the shock on Chris' face.

'Wow, I'm must of really shocked him when I told him that I love MIW. Which is true... I do love MIW. Their music got me out of the dark place I was in when my mother died. I'm smiling like an idiot when the elevator door opens, not at my floor, and a very happy looking Devin Sola steps in.

"Good morning." He says with a goofy smile on his face

"Good, morning." I say

"Why so happy?" He asks

"Eh...because I just met all the members of my all-time favorite band!"

"Oh...and which band is that?" He asks as the elevator door opens again, this time on my floor.

"Yours." I say as I walk out of the elevator door.

"What??? No fan girling?"

"Nope" The elevator door closes and I walk to my room.

"Wait till I tell, Kiegan." I say to myself as I open my door.