"I suppose so" I said somewhat weakly. I felt nervous and embarrassed by being in public in such a girly outfit, nervous that Sarah would suddenly start laughing at me, and most of all, I was concerned all this talk about 'childish behavior' would cause me to shrink, or have my leotard gain a ballet skirt or something.
"That bitch has really gotten to you" Sarah said crossly.
"What?!"
"Your cousin. Listen to me, Anna. You, Steph and Emily.. you 're just as much a part of this class as any of us. So ignore her, and pretend we're in front of the boys instead" Sarah said. I groaned internally; now I was getting a pep talk by Sarah, and worse, it felt kind of good. Except the boys part, since I had to assume that I.. or at least Anna's body, was attracted to them, since I had no reaction to Sarah. I knew a week ago, I would have loved, enemy as she was, to see Sarah in her leotard. Now, I felt nothing.
Stupid girl body.
"Okay" I said unsteadily. Least it'll give me an out when I screwed up. .I headed for the exit, but Sarah yelled, "Wait!"
I winced, instantly panicked, but Sarah just eyed my hair. "Forgetting something, Anna?" she asked playfully.
I audibly groaned. Of course. Dance meant a bun so it wouldn't get in my way. And of course something else the new Marie to tease me about. Sarah moved forward, as if she was going to help me fix my hair, but after a few seconds, she pulled back.
"What?" I asked, still on edge.
"Keep it like that. Everyone knows its your style" the older girl said, as she embraced me once more. Sarah broke the embrace and opened the door., leading me to the main studio. There was a dozen girls there, all dressed ready for dance. They ranged from my new age, to my old. Most I recognized from my pre-wish life, some from around school, albeit older than me, but also, to my growing horror, Emily from my new class. She smiled and waved which I instinctively returned, which was quite fortunate. If I hadn't been so stunned, I knew i would had just stared, with disastrous results. The only good thing was that neither Marie or Linda was to been seen.
"Like your hair" Emily said as I walked into the line next to her.
"Thanks" i replied awkwardly. "Any idea what we're doing?"
Emily gave me an odd look. "Anna? You serious? We're doing ballet?"
I instantly turned to hide my dismayed reaction. Ballet? Marie would be insufferable, especially after I'd made a complete fool of myself. There was no way I could do any of it, especially since I instinctively knew this was not a beginner's class.
"Nervous?" Emily asked. She sounded surprised.
"Yeah" I said quietly as the class actually started. I expected to fail, and badly, but it quickly became apparent I was good, which made me feel even more awkward; not that it showed externally. The only physical activity I was good at was ballet. Ballet! Both Karyn and Zoe would never let me forget it. By the time class ended, all I wanted to do was hide.
