“And one and two and stretch,” Ms.Cohen lead the class, “and hold it there… good.” She placed her other leg on the railing, reaching her fingertips over her toes. “Hold it girls, hold it and stretch your muscles.”
“Hey Cassidy, who’s the cute boy over there?” Stacey whispered to her friend.
“What?” Cassidy searched the room.
“That boy over there, with the green shirt and the curly hair; he walked in here with you. You know him?”
“Justin?” Cassidy said loudly.
“Ladies, please I ask you to not talk during this time,” Ms.Cohen instructed.
“Great, so you do know him!” Stacey said excitedly.
“Uh yeah, he’s my best friend,” she said reaching her arms over her head, “why do you ask?”
“Well, don’t say anything okay?” Stacey asked as Cassidy nodded, “I think he’s kinda cute.”
“Cute? Justin is the biggest dork ever!” Cassidy rolled her eyes. “His hair is always a mess; you’d need a rake to get through it. And he always has these stains on his clothes, and he likes to be loud all the time and he eats like a pig!”
Stacey wasn’t even paying attention. “You think I could meet him?” she asked, finishing the last stretches.
“Sure why not,” Cassidy giggled, “hey Justin, come over here!”
Justin set down some dancing academy brochure he had been reading, and walked over to Cassidy.
“Yeah, you need something?” he asked.
“No, I just wanted you to meet my friend. This,” she said turning to Stacey, “is my friend Stacey. Stacey, this is my best friend Justin.”
“Hey,” he smiled and waved.
“Hi,” she said shyly.
“And I’m Andrea,” said a voice from behind Cassidy, “it’s nice to meet you.”
“Hey, I’m Justin,” he smiled again as they shook hands.
“So do you dance too?” Andrea asked.
“Sometimes, but I don’t take classes. Right now I mostly sing.”
“Alright class, get into your positions for the warm-up, and then the rest of class will be dedicated on teaching more of the routine, as well as polishing up the last part we learned last week.”
“Have fun girls,” Justin said, turning back to his seat against the wall.
“So, you gonna show up Mandy again?” Andrea asked.
Cassidy laughed, “We’ll see how the day goes.”
An hour later, class was over and Cassidy was gathering up her things into her bag. She was anxious to finally go home after a long afternoon of dancing.
“Hey Cass, you were good out there,” Justin came up and handed her a cold bottle of water.
“Thanks Justin,” she smiled, “Were you bored? I saw you reading that magazine over there with the pregnant lady on the cover.”
“I uh… I wasn’t reading that!” he lied.
“Right,” she rolled her eyes, “well at least today was good. I didn’t have to deal with that nasty-”
“Well look who is it,” Mandy said, walking to Cassidy, “little Miss Dancerella and her boyfriend.” Mandy folded her arms across her chest and looked them both up and down.
“Hi Mandy,” Cassidy said rolling her eyes.
“Yeah whatever,” she huffed, “so who’s this guy? Aren’t you gonna introduce me?”
“I’m Justin, it’s nice to meet ya,” he said extending his hand out. She dismissed it.
“Well of course it is,” she flipped her hair over her shoulders, “so what are you doing here? You came to watch Cassidy hop around like she knows what she’s doing? Cause if you wanted to see that you could’ve just looked for a headless chicken.”
Cassidy bit her tongue. This girl was really getting on her last nerve.
“I think she’s the best one out there,” he said honestly.
“Obviously Jordan-”
“Justin,” he corrected.
“Right. Whatever. Obviously Julian, you don’t know a performer when you see one,” she used her hands as she began to speak, “a performer has charisma, form, talent, fierceness, passion, beauty.”
“Cassidy has all of that! Even that carrotisma stuff.”
“Oh, no. You sure you’re talking about Cassidy? She’s just a naïve little girl who thinks that just cause she’s put into a dance class and slips on a pair of dance shoes she has what it takes. Any true performer would agree with me.”
“But I’m a performer too you see. I sing and dance and everything.” He didn’t know what this girl was trying to say. “Me and Cassidy performed together at the festival in October.”
“Sorry kid, but that’s what you call a circus,” Mandy spat.
“Look Mandy, I don’t know why you keep bothering Cassidy but I don’t think that’s very nice of you,” Justin said.
“Who said anything about being nice? Maybe Cassidy should just learn her lesson and just stay out of my business from now on.”
Justin was always taught to always be a gentleman, but boy did he want to tell this girl off.
“Justin, let’s just go home now,” Cassidy said, pulling on his arm.
“Hah well, I have to go anyway,” she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair, “I need to touch up my make up.” She smiled once more and turned away.
“Man, that girl is such a pain!” Cassidy rolled her eyes as she and Justin left the dance studio.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Found you!” Justin said happily, finding her hiding behind a wheelbarrow.
“Nuh uh! I saw you peeking!” she accused.
“Did not!”
“Did too!”
“Kids, come on in and eat,” Lynn called from the house.
They hustled inside, and washed their hands. Justin noticed there were only three plates on the table.
“Mom, where’s dad?” he asked, sitting down.
“Oh, he’s at work. Some things came up and he has to take care of them,” she said, placing a few pots on the table. Justin looked at Cassidy, who saw the sadness in his eyes. Lynn brought over a pitcher of lemonade and took a seat.
“Alright, let’s pray.”
They all bowed their heads and held hands as Lynn gave thanks to the Lord.
“So how was everyone’s day?” Lynn asked.
“Okay,” they both said.
“How was dance class?” she paused from spooning mashed potatoes onto her plate.
“Okay,” they said again.
“Is something going on?”
“No,” they said together. There was silence.
“Okay,” Lynn said unsure, “so when was the-”
“Is dad okay mom?” Justin asked suddenly. Cassidy shifted in her seat, knowing she didn’t belong in the conversation.
“Of course baby, why wouldn’t he be?” she laughed slightly.
“Are… you okay mom?”
“Yes, Justin,” Lynn nodded slowly.
“Are we okay mom? Our family?”
“Justin eat your green beans,” she said attending to her own food.
“Mom, you and dad have been fighting so much. You barely talk to each other anymore, and you barely do the things you used to do together. And how come he’s never here?” Justin needed an answer. “What’s happening?”
“Not now Justin,” Lynn said sternly.
“But mama-”
“Not now Justin!” Her hand slapped the table, making everything shake. Justin stared his mother right in the eye, before her eyes shifted to her plate again. “Eat your food. It’s getting cold.”
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Justin awoke with a sharp pain in his neck.
“Gosh,” he said rubbing the spot where it hurt. He looked over to his clock. It read 10:37 PM. “Must have fallen asleep.” His eyes looked around for Cassidy, wondering whether or not she went home.
He got up and stretched, checking under his bed and in his closet to make sure she wasn’t trying to scare him, as she had cleverly done a few times before.
“Hmm… downstairs maybe,” he left his room and made his way down the dark hallway. Hearing some noise he figured she was the cause of it. He quietly called out to her, “Cassidy? Cass, are you here?”
He tip toed his way around the corner, expecting her to be there. “Gotcha!” Nothing. “Aww man she-”
“BOO!” Cassidy placed her hands on Justin’s shoulders from behind.
“Cass!” he tried to catch his breath, “stop scaring me like that!”
“I get you every time,” she laughed.
“How long have you been there? I thought you went home?”
“Nope. I’ve only been standing here just a minute before you came outta your room. You’re sucha scaredy cat!”
“Am not!” Justin huffed, “I’m gonna get you!” He chased her around the hallway, running after her like a monster.
“Justin! Stop, stop! Okay I wont do it anymore!” Cassidy tried to say as Justin tickled her, “Just quit tickling-”
“ME!” a voice from downstairs said.
“Huh? Did you hear that?” Cassidy asked.
“C’mon Cass, stop scaring me its not going to work,” Justin said, tickling her again.
“No, no, stop,” she got up, “Really… did you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“It’s always me then I guess, right!” the voice said again.
“That sounds like…”
“My dad,” Justin said. He walked further down the hallway to the top of the staircase.
“Justin I don’t think we should be here.”
“Shh,” he hushed her. He took a seat, scooting down a few more steps. Cassidy decided to stay with him. From the kitchen they could hear what seemed to be a fight between Justin’s parents.
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore, not tonight,” Lynn said, raising her coffee mug to her lips.
“Well what are we gonna do then? Just ignore all the problems here and go to bed pretending everything is okay? No, Lynn, I’m tired of pretending! I’m tired of pretending to our friends that we are as happy as we seem, I’m tired of pretending to OUR SON that this family is okay, I’m tired of pretending to EACHOTHER that we’re still in love!”
“Pretend? Randy, you know I still love you,” Lynn said, crying.
“You can’t say that when practically every night we fight about the same things over and over! There’s too much to deal with Lynn. The money, raising a kid, stress that just keeps building up, the lack of love that goes on between us. How are we going to deal with this?”
“I don’t know, okay? I wish that just everything would go away and we’d be the family we’re supposed to be! Can’t we just try to work this out?”
“We’ve already tried, Lynn!” he yelled, “God knows we’ve tried! Now that we both see it’s not working there’s no way we can keep doin’ this! This shit has to stop.”
“Maybe if you listened to me before we wouldn’t be here now! We have a son to provide for, a son who needs you there! What is he supposed to do without a father?” Lynn stood up to face her husband, “You can walk the hell out of my life but I’ll be damned if you walk out of his!”
“Don’t tell me how to raise my son! I’d be more than happy to take Justin with me, he’ll stay with me.”
“Over my dead body he will! You haven’t even been there for him Randy! Do you know what it’s like hearing him ask me time and time again where you are? What am I suppose to tell him? ‘Sorry baby, but Daddy is out with his mistress right now, and she’s more important than we are’!” Lynn exploded.
Justin felt the tears immediately form and fall rapidly down his cheeks.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t know what I’ve been doing, so don’t talk ‘bout shit when you don’t know what the fuck is going on!” he yelled, “Who told you this shit?”
“I hear it around, Randy! Do you have any idea what it’s like to hear so much about you being here and there when you should be HERE with us! Your family, Randy! Dammit, stop thinking that you are the only one going through this, stop being so selfish you bastard!”
“Me? Selfish? Hah oh yeah you’re one to talk,” Randy spat, “you’re the one who’s trying to make me look like a bad guy to my own son! How fucking low is that?”
“Low? I love Justin-”
“Oh, and I guess I don’t right? Oh yeah, I guess that’s what ‘irresponsible fathers’ like me do! Go ahead Lynn, you can accuse me of being the biggest asshole in this universe but I have done nothing but love, support, provide, protect, and care for this family!”
She couldn’t argue with that. Randy had always been a loving husband, and the greatest father to Justin. So what was the problem?
“I hate this,” she cried, “I hate you!” Lynn threw the vase on the counter across the room, the strong contact with the wall made it shatter into a thousand pieces. “Just get out! Get the fucking hell out of my damn house you stupid son of a bitch!” Lynn began to sob.
Randy felt his own tears roll down his cheeks. He really wished things weren’t the way they were.
When he didn’t see her lift her head up, he sighed, deciding to talk about this with her when they both felt like it. Or not. He picked up his keys from the table, and made his way to the door. But as soon as he was ready to open it, he went back to the kitchen.
“I didn’t cheat on you.” He said, walking up to where Lynn sat, her face still covered by her hands. “I never could… or would.”
Lynn still sat there, sniffling.
“If that’s what’s been bothering you… well, there’s your honest answer.” Her head was still hidden by her trembling hands. He took his keys from his pocket again, preparing to leave. “I’ll be going now then… we can talk about this another time…”
“Randy,” Lynn spoke up. He stopped and turned to face her. “I’m sorry for thinking you were with some one else.”
“We both know that I’m not prefect. I make mistakes. But I wouldn’t do that to you Lynn. Never.”
“I do, I just… I don’t know how to take everything in. It’s happening so fast.”
Cassidy saw Justin rub his watery eyes. She cautiously scooted closer, draping an arm over his hunched figure.
“Look, I don’t like fighting with you Lynn, I really don’t. But I just…” Randy paced back and forth, thinking of what to say, “I just don’t feel like we can get back what we lost somewhere down the road.”
“No! No!” Lynn stood in front of him now, “That’s not what this is going to lead to! Dammit I don’t care what it takes we have to work through this! Maybe there are things I have to change… things we have to change but they’re not that tough if we stick with this together.”
“No Lynn, we’ve said that too many times. Look at us now! What more do you need? This… this is just empty.”
“What is?” Her vision was so blurred from her endless tears.
“This household. This marriage. Our hearts. They’re all empty… the love’s been drained.”
“No, I don’t believe you! The only thing here that’s empty is that head of yours!” she yelled.
“Will you please stop being so fucking immature about this? God, I sit you down so we can handle this like adults and there you go making smartass comments! That is so like you!” He rubbed his forehead in frustration.
“You know these rings on our fingers, they mean something don’t they? Or is yours just a piece of shit now?” she questioned.
“Lynn-”
“No, fucking answer me! Do I matter to you anymore?” She was hoping he would say what she wanted so desperately to hear.
“Of course you matter to me! Justin matters to me! It’s just a matter of what’s healthy for this family. And this… this fighting isn’t.”
“Justin doesn’t know anything though. It’s not too late for us to be happy.”
“Happy? Lynn… don’t fool yourself. It doesn’t do either of us any good.”
“I don’t have to fool myself! It’s the truth!”
“So what are we gonna do in the meantime? While we’re patching things up we’re just gonna let Justin believe that we’re still the same family we were? What’s going to happen when he grows up with the idea that families always stay together?”
“Well, don’t they? But of course I expect you to not know that,” she leaned against the wall, “Families are supposed to stick together! They’re supposed to love each other, grow together, and learn together!”
Randy paused for a second before quietly saying what he was dying to say the whole night, “Who’s to say that a divorce is going to stop our family from achieving that?”
----
Author's Note:
Hey guys,
I'm back! [: I really really apologize for not updating this story in almost 2 months. My life has been getting pretty hectic, & i found myself with less and less free time, which meant less and less updating. Nonetheless, I wanted to let all the reader's out there know that I appreciate your patience with me (you guys rock) & i hope you continue to follow along, I promise promise promise it'll be worth it. Also I wanted to take this time to give my condolences to anyone who has been tremendously affected by Hurricane Katrina. I know that right now is a difficult time, but I believe with a helping hand from everyone, we can pull through this. It's not too late to make a difference in these people's lives. For those of you who have already contributed into making things better, ya'll are heroes in my book.
Take care & God bless,
autumn_romance
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