Two days later, Eva lowered her bag from her shoulder onto the side of the stage. The stadium was empty, probably due to the fact that there wasn’t a concert that night and it was the lunch hour. Michelle and Eric wanted all the dancers there for two o’clock but she had decided to come early.

Sitting down on the stage, she opened up her duffle bag and pulled out her ballet slippers. The large, wide stage was perfect for dancing and it felt like forever since she had been able to just do her own dancing.

After lacing up the ballet slippers, she stood up and stretched her muscles. She raised herself up on her toes and flexed her calf muscles and then moved to the middle of the stage.

She had no music but she still remembered every dance that she had learned in her later years in ballet. She could hear the music in her head and that was enough.

Moving to the middle of the stage, she got in her starting position and then began dancing. She lost herself in the silent music and did three full dances before pausing. She stood still on the stage, catching her breath. With the lack of music in her head she realized how quiet it was. Only forty minutes had passed and there was still time before everyone else got there. And because she still had energy left, she took a drink of water and then began dancing again.

* * *

Yawning, Justin walked through the backstage area towards the stage. It seemed kind of empty considering they were supposed to start practice in ten minutes.

Maybe they’re all out there already, he thought as he walked through one of the wings leading to the stage. He quickly discarded that idea because of the lack of noise. If all the dancers were out there, he would be able to hear them.

Walking a bit further, the stage came into eyesight and he stopped abruptly when he saw Eva.

She’s a keener, he thought, seeing her dancing. He was about to move onto the stage when he realized that she wasn’t doing their choreographed dance. He moved further into the shadows as he watched her dance so she wouldn’t see him. He had never watched anyone up close do ballet and it was really interesting. There was no music going but that apparently didn’t matter to her. The only sound was her slippered feet moving across the stage.

He stood there for a while, becoming more and more impressed the longer he watched her. He had always considered ballet a dance of spinning in circles but he was amazed at how complex it looked. Eva almost seemed as if she was gliding as she moved across the stage and leaped into the air. It looked completely effortless although he knew it couldn’t be. He knew none of the other dancers could jump that high or do moves like that.

He had been standing in the dark for close to ten minutes when Eva stopped. He watched her bend down and unlace her ballet slippers and change into running shoes. Picking up her bag, she began to walk offstage towards him.

“That was great,” he said as she passed him, stepping forward and touching her arm. She let out a small gasp and stumbled forward a bit. “Whoa there,” he laughed, grabbing her waist to steady her on her feet. “You okay?”

“You scared me!” she said, clutching her chest. “Why are you just standing in the dark?”

“I didn’t want to interrupt you.” He suddenly became aware that he still had his hands resting comfortably on her waist and he let them drop to his sides. “That was really good,” he said, gesturing towards the stage.

Her face went a bit red. “How long have you been standing here?”

He shrugged. “Fifteen minutes maybe.” He leaned back against the wall. “You’re really good.”

“Thanks.”

“So why did you stop doing ballet? You’re so good at it.”

“I had to stop.”

“Why?”

“Just…some personal things that I had to deal with.”

“Well you’re really talented.”

“Thanks,” she repeated. She checked her watch. “Why are you here already?”

“Well don’t we have practice? Where is everyone?”

“Practice doesn’t start for another hour.”

“I thought it was at one.”

“Two. Michelle changed it yesterday.”

Eva shrugged and didn’t say anything.

“So why are you here so early? Just to dance?”

“Yeah. Any other time during the afternoon there are so many people around and I’d get in the way.”

“I guess.” Justin looked towards the stage when he heard footsteps. “Damn, Michelle’s out there,” he said softly. “If she sees us both here she’ll make us start practice early.” He grabbed Eva’s hand. “Come on.” He pulled her with him as he walked through the wing, away from the stage.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“Away from our evil choreographer.” He heard Michelle call his name and he began to jog, dragging Eva behind her. He went through the backstage area, through the corridors, until he found a small door that was unlocked. He opened it and went in, pulling Eva in behind him. He shut the door and then searched for a light switch.

“That was a lot of effort just to avoid a bit of extra practice,” she said, a little breathless.

He found the switch and flipped it on, discovering they were in a small storage room. “It wouldn’t have just been a bit of extra practice. It would have been an hour of hell.”

She looked around. “So we’re just going to stand in here for an hour?”

He shrugged. “Just until Michelle gets tired of looking for us.” He put his hands in the front pockets of pants jeans and leaned back against one of the walls. “How long have you been here?”

“Since eleven.” She looked around again and then sat down on the floor, sitting cross legged.

“You have way too much energy to get up early after driving on a bus all night and come here to dance before practice. Aren’t you tired?”

She shrugged. “Not really.”

“You must drink a lot of coffee.”

“I don’t like the taste of coffee. I hardly drink it.”

“Really? I couldn’t live without it. I can’t believe you don’t drink coffee and still have energy.”

“I guess I don’t need a lot of sleep.”

“Good thing. You get like half as much sleep on a tour. Your sleep schedule gets so messed up. Usually by time it’s over all I want to do is sleep for a month.”

“So far it’s not too bad.”

“Just don’t burn yourself out. Sometimes that happens on tour.”

“Yeah.”

He slid down the wall to sit on the ground across from her so they were at eye level. “Okay, so what I’ve always wondered about ballet is how you guys stand on the top of your toes. Doesn’t that hurt?”

She smiled a bit. “When you first start it hurts so bad. I’d go home after practice and my toes would be bleeding.”

He winced a bit. “Why do people do it then?”

“It’s part of ballet. Once you’re accustomed to it, it doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s just at the beginning.”

“Do you think I’d be able to do it?”

She raised her eyebrows a bit. “Somehow I think you shouldn’t even try.”

He laughed and stretched out his legs in front of him, his feet almost touching her legs. “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t handle it.”

She smiled and shook her head.

It was quiet for a minute and Justin listened to someone walk by outside the room. “So how long have you been going out with your boyfriend?”

She looked over at him. “What?”

“Your boyfriend?”

“Oh. About six months.”

“Where did you guys meet?”

“I was picking up my friend from work and I ran into him there.”

“So are you and him and your friend all friends then?”

“Uh…not really. They don’t like each other.”

“Oh. That sucks. It’s always shitty when your friend and the person you’re dating don’t get along.”

“Yeah.”

“Does it smell weird in here to you or is it just me?”

“Yeah it does. I think it’s that mop over there,” she said, pointing to a mop sitting in the corner. “It looks a little moldy.”

He wrinkled his nose. “Yeah.” He checked his watch. “Michelle’s probably given up by now. Want to get out of here?”

Eva nodded. “Yeah.”

He stood up and then offered his hand to her to pull her up. As they stepped out of the closet, they ran into Olivia. She raised her eyebrows.

“Hey guys,” she said slowly. “What’re you doing?”

He smiled. “Seven minutes of heaven.”

Olivia laughed. “Oh really?”

“Yep.” He turned to Eva. “Right, Eva?”

She blushed. “You would be so lucky.”

He laughed. So she does have some sort of a sense of humor. “Eva, don’t deny the magic we shared in there.”

“I’m doubting any magic happened with that smell going on in there,” Olivia said. “What is that?”

He pulled the door closed. “Moldy mop. It really added something special to the sexy atmosphere.”

Olivia rolled her eyes. “I’m so sure.”

“Has Michelle been looking for us?”

“Yeah. She wanted me to come find you guys because everyone else is here.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. Chelle and Eric want to start now so we can leave early.”

“Okay.” He began to walk with Olivia, Eva trailing behind. He could literally almost see Eva going back into her shell as they neared the stage but at this point, he was beginning to realize that he wasn’t going to be able to draw her out around the other dancers so he didn’t push is and let her go off into her little corner as he joined the others.