Page 3 of Part of Forever
“You may take your place, then the music will begin,” Babette tells me. I nod and head to the far right corner of the room. Just as it did in the practice room, as soon as the music starts, everything else fades away as it becomes a part of me, and I tell a story through dance.
2
“How did it go?”Mom asks only once we’re in the car, heading away from the studio. She hates talking about dance or how my personal auditions went in front of anyone else, because she believes they would be held in a gym and not a private studio if they were meant to be public.
I’m still on a high from my audition and can’t help but grin. “It was flawless.”
She nods in approval, as if she expected nothing less. I stare out the window, taking in the buildings of LA. It’s not a city I love. I personally crave the salty air and ocean breeze that comes from living in a beach city, but today, Los Angeles is full of promise and the beginning of my future. It is my friend today, even with the early rush hour traffic.
“Remember,” Mom says, and I catch myself groaning inwardly. A lecture already? I just finished the best audition of my life. Can’t we just enjoy that for a moment? “Even though the audition is over, we’re not done training. You’ll still need to be at the studio every day after school.”
“I know.” I sigh, even though I might have secretly been hoping for a tiny break, even just a few days. I love ballet, buthaving Mom be a part of that world sometimes makes it a little too intense. Up until this year, she’s been my coach. This year, though, she’s paying an arm and a leg for Maria Lilleth to coach me privately so that I will be ready for Paris. Mom still helps on the side, but Maria is the one I listen to most, even though Mom acts more like a coach than a mom most of the time.
I smile, thinking of Maria. She called me this morning to wish me luck and to remind me that to be the best, I had to act like I was the best. She is about to have a baby and is currently on bed rest— or on the couch in her studio.
“I’m going to text Maria and tell her how it went,” I say as I slide my phone out.
It was flawless.
I use the same words I used to tell my mother, because it was flawless. There’s no other word for it. She texts back moments later.
Maria Lilleth
Wonderful. We’ll talk tomorrow about our new training plan. Now that you’ve auditioned, we’ve got to get you ready to dance there.
These words, coming from Maria and not Mom, make me smile. I look at my phone again, opening the texts I didn’t read earlier.
The Four Musketeers Group Chat:
Grace
You’re going to do great, Rosie!
Nathan
Go rock it, Sis!
Also, tell Mom that we’re out of apples.
Tucker
What do apples have to do with the audition?
GOOD LUCK ROSIE!! YOU’RE GOING TO DO AMAZING.
Tucker (out of group chat)
Seriously, you’ll do great. I can’t wait to hear how it goes :)
I flush as I read the last text from Tucker. We’ve been good friends since he moved to California three years ago, during our freshman year, to be a country singer. He’s cute, but not the type of guy my mom wants me to date. He’s Grace’s cousin and moved in with her family while his mom stayed in Tennessee for work. He originally moved because he had a record deal lined up, which fell through three weeks later. But he stayed, because even though country music is his thing, he feels like LA is the place for him to make it in the music world. Plus, his dad isn’t here. I shake thoughts of his strained relationship with his father out of my head and instead remember the first time I met him.
We had an instant friendship after what Grace calls a ‘meet-cute.’ I think she’s been hoping we’d get together the whole time we’ve known each other. I won’t lie; there is something between us, but for now, we’re just friends. That’s all we can be while Mom has a say in my life, and she’s got the final say in everything.
I frown when I realize there’s no good luck text from Shawn, the guy my mom wants me to date. A flash of guilt rushes through me because of the pleasure I felt when I read Tucker’s texts. I shouldn’t be feeling that way about another guy, right? Even if I don’t have a relationship with Shawn. I’ve known him nearly all my life, and Mom thinks we’re destined to be together. Our dads are good friends, and at the beginning of our senior year, our moms started conspiring to get us to date. They talk on and on for hours and hours about how great he is and how he’ll be going to Yale in the fall to be a doctor, and I should date him because he’llbe dedicated to school and work while I have a dance career. Plus, she brought up that I’d had a crush on him when we were younger.
She doesn’t care that I don’t like him like that. Not anymore.
When I mentioned that after the Christmas dance, she told me that I needed to start thinking about my future after dance because I won’t be able to dance forever. But that’s not something I ever want to think about.
