Who: Dietre and Glory When: Monday evening Where: The ballet studio What: An unexpected meeting Rating: Low Status: Incomplete
Practice had not gone well. Glory didn't know if she was out of practice or if she was somehow just getting worse, but today, just as yesterday and the day before, she hadn't been able to manipulate her body in any way that even approached grace. She felt clumsy, incompetent; her balance just seemed off, and it didn't help that she'd been having dizzy spells on and off for the past few days. Glory was used to hunger, but she had made it a point to eat a little more since the dizzy spells had started, but nothing seemed to help. Her ballet instructor, fed up with Glory's clumsiness, had taken her aside after rehearsal and demanded that she practice more, accusing her of letting her body lapse out of shape. Rather that protest, Glory just kept her head down and nodded, barely suppressing her tears. She had practiced. She'd practiced and stretched every day. So why was it that she couldn't do anything right?
Glory hid in the bathroom until everyone was finally gone, emerging only after she heard the last car leave the parking lot. She walked home from dance regularly, and she was certain that she could be a little late. Toby and Jake might worry, but she didn't even know if her parents were home. She crept back into the studio, still wearing her practice skirt. Maybe she'd do better when she was away from all the prying eyes of her teacher. Glory crossed the room, looking wistfully for a moment at the empty piano, before sifting through her teacher's CDs until she found her favorite music, which she switched on. As Bach's powerful melody filled the studio, Glory began to move across the empty space, first cautiously, and then with more and more abandon as the singing strings reached their crescendo. Lifting her arms, Glory began a jump, but, as had happened so many times that night, couldn't execute it successfully and rolled onto the ground.
"NO!" Glory cried - to herself, her body, the world in general. Curling her legs beneath her, Glory bowed her head, her hot tears stinging her cheeks. "Why can't I do this?"