“How does it fit?” I called through the changing room door, the sports place quiet around us.

“I think it’s giving me a wedgie!” I could not contain myself and laughed loudly at Caleb’s subtle revelation.

“Don’t worry. I will find you a unitard. It will sit more comfortable,” I said back, still full of amusement.

“Please,” he called back, almost desperately. As a woman on a mission, I set out to find him a unitard his size. Luckily he was rather skinny, otherwise this task would be problem. As I searched for the unitard, I found a number of beautifully designed leotards which I threw over my shoulder to try on myself. I found him three different types of unitard which I, very subtly, gave to him through the dressing curtain. I am ninety-nine percent sure he was almost completely naked and thus kept my eyes trained elsewhere. Then I went to fit the leotards.

I loved the new leotards’ back patterns which have been appearing lately. They were beautiful.

“Alice?” I heard Caleb’s calling.

“Give me a second,” five minutes later, I exited with three leotards I was satisfied with. Returning all unwanted clothing to their racks, we headed to the tills and paid for our clothing. I offered to pay, but Caleb was a gentleman when he wanted to be.

“So I have the perfect idea for my new photography project,” he told me as we exited the mall, heading over to the smoothie place. I refused to get smoothies anywhere else and he knew me too well.

“What really? Tell me,” I was eager to hear about it.

“I was thinking that maybe I can do sports with a twist? You gave me inspiration on that,” I was a bit confused by what he meant and waited for him to go on. “Like ballerina with purple hair?” my mouth went wide with understanding and surprise. “And others as well. Like a very thin guy playing football, or a girl in pink playing basketball, or an emo tennis player. Stuff like that,” I smiled in encouragement.

“That sounds very creative,” I complemented.

“I know right! I’ve already got three people I have asked to work with but I need six photos. Therefore, Alice?” he looked towards me with a bright smile which made me doubt myself.

“Caleb?”

“Would you mind being my model?” I smiled brightly at this.

“Of course,” on the inside, I was eccentric. I have been his model before but never for something so important.

“Yeah I was thinking to give you a ‘scene’ style, if you understand?” I nodded. “And then you can do that amazing ballet which you do and I will capture all of your beauty in an everlasting image,” this made me blush and look away, not wanting him to see my cherry red cheeks. He chuckled, probably at how shameful I was, before he took my cheeks into his hand and turned my face to his. He planted his lips on mine, giving me a warm kiss which made me immediately melt.

A car honked behind us and Caleb quickly pulled away and saw that the stoplight had gone green. Oops.

The café was not too far and was perched next to a normal goods store. It was my favourite place in world, whether it be coffee or smoothies. But mostly the smoothies. I did not even know the name of the place, only that their colour scheme was clearly that of ‘unicorn poop’. It warmed my little pastel heart.

Our waitress had a sweet ginger colour to her hair. It was cute and it kept bobbing as she spoke. I wanted to giggle but contained myself as Caleb ordered for us.

“What’s so funny?” he questioned as soon as the waitress left.

“Nothing. Her hair is adorable,” trying not to look too obvious, Caleb gave a glance back as he spotter the girl’s ginger bob.

“Would you ever cut your hair like that?” he asked me, eyes fixed on my hair which reached my upper back. I shook my head immediately.

“No chance. I love my hair too much,” he smiled.

“I can tell,” it was then that I pulled over the bag of clothes we bought and pulled out the unitard. He groaned at the sight of it.

“Couldn’t I just have gone in sweatpants and a tee?” I shook my head furiously.

“No chance! Madame is strict when it comes to her dancers’ appearances,” I told him sternly, trying to mock a French accent. Of course, being a royal meant that I was taught the language. Still, it did not mean I could pronounce it correctly.

“Even those she will never see again?” I nodded. “Even those with purple hair?” I snorted. How did it always come back to this? I held up the unitard over the booth, observing the material and design. It had a blue stripe that looked like a belt. Was it to defy the hips?

The ginger waitress returned with our smoothies and threw a strange glance at the latex material. I looked at her with a smile.

“Don’t worry; it is not mine. It’s his,” I said, pointing over towards Caleb. His jaw fell as if I just told his darkest secret.

“Because you’re forcing me to go to the open class!” I giggled.

“You will enjoy it!”

“Open class?” the waitress inquired, confusion etched into her brows.

“A ballet open class where anyone and everyone can come,” I explained briefly. She stood there for a second before realization passed over her, as if she was hit straight through the face.

“I’ve always wanted to do ballet. Do you mind if stop by?” she asked rather shyly, but I was glad at her revealing nature.

“Sure!” I stole the pen from her pocket, which made her cast an almost disturbed look at me as I wrote on a napkin the address and time. I returned both objects to her, and Caleb proceeded by paying for our drinks.

“Thanks for this,” she waved the napkin as we made our exit.

“No problem…” I squinted to see her nametag. “Molly! Hope we’ll see you there tomorrow!” and with that, we exited my favourite haven.

♕♥ ♕♥ ♕

“Sarina!” a frantic Molly ran into the gym, a few stopping to stare at her. She still had her waitress apron on, her breathing revealing how she had ran all the way. The gothic girl was busy practicing her beam dismount when her friend suddenly barged over.

“Molly! What’s wrong?” she immediately asked, worried for her friend. After taking a few breaths, Molly perked up straight and took out her phone. After a few moments of clicking away, she turned the screen towards Sarina. On the screen was a picture taken from within the café, pointing over the counter and towards a booth at the back. It was zoomed in on a girl with beautifully coloured violet hair, a tremendous smile on her face as she laughed at whatever the person in front of her said. Only a bit of the other person was in the photo, not enough to distinguish anything.

“That’s her! That’s my pastel ballerina!” in that moment, nothing could kill Sarina’s hype. She had fully intended to never see this girl again, yet here she was. With a photo. Deciding it must be fate, she made the quick decision to not let this pass. One meeting. One meeting to see if it was only her appearance that had Sarina hooked, or if she was beauty with a brain. “Molly, I love you!”

“Well you’re about to love me even more. I have the address of the place she’s going to be at, tomorrow. And this event is an open class where anybody can show up!” throwing fuel on the fire, Sarina let out sequel before taking Molly into a bone crushing hug.

“Is it my birthday? I feel as if it is my birthday,” Molly chuckled at her friend’s strange antics.

“Does that mean I don’t have to get you a present this year?” in once swift movement, she was released from the hug and Sarina’s face went void of all emotions.

“In your dreams,”

♕♥ ♕♥ ♕

Showing up to the open class was rather odd, especially if you know no one around you. Everyone was cladded in leotards and stockings with ballet pumps. Sarina had nothing on but a black leotard, which was a bit strange depending on which ballet form you focus on. In this case, it was purely classical. She looked strange.

She brought socks along to act as leverage against ballet shoes. A few glances at other people and she realized that some wore slacks and that made her feel better. She soon realized they were all spectators and that the open class would have an audience. The open class was not in a studio as she had initially thought, but rather on a stage.

She’s never been on a stage before.

A podium, yes, but never a stage. It was a little frightening because now she was in a higher position where everyone could look at her. It was a bit freaky.

There were many people, but that was to be expected. The private studio was rather famous and many wished to get into it but only the best were satisfactory. For them to host an open class was a dream come true to many.

Sarina’s eyes trained through the crowd, in search of the one. She found her fairly quickly, her hair standing out between all the other normal hair colours. She was wearing a baby pink leotard which adorned her figure and complemented her perfectly. She didn’t wear ballet pumps, instead wearing pointe shoes as Sarina had seen other professional ballerinas do as well. She was joking with a boy much taller than herself, his brown hair looking as if it was gelled back for this occasion. Probably her handy work.

He was dressed in a unitard, and he seemed highly uncomfortable in it but played it off as he seemed to be flirting with the pastel ballerina. She was standing promptly on her pointes, showing off her new height to try to beat his. Even with the extra centimetres, she still didn’t match it. Unsatisfied, she pouted and plunked down to a flat foot with her arms crossed. Sarina stared at their interaction from afar with her jaw lowered, her eyes wide. The boy shoved at the beauty, and she shoved back before it became a playful tugging war. It resulted with the boy scooping her into his arms and planting kisses all over her face, herself giggling at the action.

Sarina stood dead still as she witnessed it and gulped. So her pastel ballerina already had a lover… how disappointing.

Still, the girl was an enigma. Sarina had come all the way; no way was she leaving without at least one conversation.

“Alright ladies and gents! Welcome, welcome! I just have a few words to say before we start,” everyone calmed down as the ballet instructor entered: a previous prima ballerina. From what Sarina could figure out, this woman had accomplished much in her life and deserved only but the best at this stage. She would argue the pastel ballerina was also highly

♕♥ ♕♥ ♕

“I’m going to die. It’s settled. It’s all over for me,” Caleb was overexerting himself just thinking of everything the instructor intends to do today. I could not help but laugh at his actions.

“Calm down you big baby. Attempt everything today. Maybe you will find that you are good at this,” he scoffed, clearly worried. He was exaggerating.

We were taught a simple routine after a warmup. It was incredibly simple but none-dancers were struggling with remembering everything. It was quite funny to see Caleb attempt a sissonne, as he had no posture or any reason to jump before today. On occasion he would tell me to shut up. I could not stop my laughing.

We were paired into groups of five for a ‘grand’ performance where Madame would judge to see if there was anybody she wanted to recruit. For some reason, she suddenly needed more dancers. Of course Caleb and I were together, as he clung to me like a baby koala. He looked absolutely adorable.

Surprisingly, Caleb was not all that half bad. He knew a little technique from coming to watching days at the studio. Obviously, my parents could never attend. My performance was good, if I say so myself. My leaps were at the straight one-eighty height more a metre from the floor and my technique was polished. Caleb absolutely sucked, trying to copy my every mode.

At least he tried, and that is all I wanted.

We went to sit in the audience as we watched the other groups, me recognizing my detailed dance mates and some beautifully delicate other ballerinas. Then came something I would never expect.

A girl with her black hair completely loose, her makeup all black and she wore no stockings; only socks. She looked peculiar and I took notice of her, but after seeing her rather stiff posture, I paid no mind. She was definitely no dancer but then she did something amazing. She did a leap but it was far further than one-eighty. It surprised me even more when she bend her head back in the leap and managed to touch her leg with her head and landed as if it was no big deal. The rest of the audience was in shock as well. Later Madame called her to the side and I overheard that the girl was a gymnast. That made much more sense.

“What’s wrong?” Caleb asked me as he saw my focused look. I smiled and shook my head.

“No worries. I just wish I was that flexible,” he sighed as if in great despair.

“Don’t you think you’re flexible enough?” to prove a point, he held me around the waist with one arm while the other picked up my leg from the floor, surprising me as I almost lost my balance had he not held me. He illustrated by pulling my leg up until it nearly touched my face. I scoffed.

“Stop right there!” I suddenly heard Madame as see her storming over towards us. “Who is this?” she demanded, pointing her long finger towards Caleb.

“Caleb Adams,” I answered, unsure. He was still pulling my leg towards my face.

“You know him?”

“Well, yeah, he is my boyfriend,” she suddenly clasped her hands together loudly and a smile took over.

“Perfect! You two will be doing a pas de deux,” was what she said before quickly disappearing. I was left in shock.

“What did she just say?” Caleb asked me, lowering my leg. I turned to him with the most excitement I have ever had. This was my dream: my dream come true.

“We will be doing a duet!” I could not help myself from throwing my arms around him, forcing him to bend lower and hug me back. “I’m so happy! I’ve only dreamed of this! And a pas de deux with the person I love is even better!” he chuckled back softly and hugged me even tighter.

“I love you too,” he whispered in my ear, and I could not be happier than what I felt in that second.

The gothic girl watching felt the complete opposite, for she felt despair about the girl she didn’t even know the name of.