Practice Makes Perfect (Completed)

Chapter 19

Anastasia was supposed to be watching the new girl leap around the stage and taking notes on her strengths, but her ankle was driving her nuts and she couldn't seem to take her eyes off of the boy sitting in the back row. His familiar hat clashed with casual clothes, and he checked his phone again and again without ever committing to full time use. He was out of place in the gym, and Anastasia couldn't stop thinking about the girl he had brought with him, and who she could possibly be.

"I think the jumps are intentional. No one does that many in a row unless it's all they can do."

Anastasia nodded, and for a few seconds she turned back to the stage. The girl wo had beat her out for outstanding performance was up on stage, and she did seem to be doing a lot of leaping. Her technique seemed mostly right, and Anastasia had to admit that she was impressed with the flow of the routine, but every move seemed about half a beat off, and the routine was not particularly varied.

"Right. I agree." She said half heartedly.

She had barely caught aglimpse of the girl traveling with Luke, and the information she did have did little good. The girl had been white, with brown hair at least to her shoulders and a fairly average build. She had been maybe an inch or two taller than Luke, which was almost as typical as the rest of the descriptions. An average girl with average hair and average height would not be easy to pick out of a crowd.

"Did you see that Anastasia? She stuck the landing like it was nothing. Even you have trouble with that."

Anastasia nodded, but kept her attention on Luke. He was clearly trying to pay attention, which Anastasia supposed was more than she could say about herself. She wondered if she should go confront him, give him a reason to be distracted.

"Did you see that slip? She has trouble with anything on the ground."

Anastasia nodded without looking back at the stage.

"Do you think the handstand is a bit much? It's not really ballet."

Anastasia barely heard her coach and nodded. The moment she realized what he had said, her eyes shot up to the stage. Allison was struggling through some basic floor moves, and without being on pointe she seemed leaps behind the other competitors. She was no where near a handstand.

"You know I can tell when your attention is elsewhere. Who's the distraction." The coach gestured back at Luke.

Anastasia blushed, knowing what her coach probably thought, but decided it would be better not to explain the situation.

"He's just a kid from school. I didn't know he liked ballet."

"I saw him outside the studio."

They both looked back at him. To Anastasia's horror, he was scanning the audience himself in his boredom, and their eyes met across the sea of people. She started to hide her head, but knew it was already too late. He stood, much to the inconvenience of those around him, and made his way to the aisle. He was approaching at a rapid rate, and Anastasia had no idea what she could say to him.

"Look what you've done!" She scolded her coach.

"This is no my fault."

Before Anastasia had a chance to refute that argument, Luke was at their side. Sitting at the edge of a row for convenience had seen smart at the time, but now it seemed only to provide access to unwanted conversations.

"Hi, Luke."she smiled awkwardly. "I thought that was you."

Luke didn't seem awkward at all. He grinned widely as he tipped his hat and greeted her. "I actually wondered if I would see you here. I know ballet is kind of your thing."

"Did you see me preform?"

Luke shook his head. "I didn't get here that long ago."

So he either hadn't noticed or hadn't recognized her on stage when he ran in with the other girl. She didn't know whether to bring up that she had seen him or not, and opted to probe a bit more first.

"Yeah, why are you here in the first place? No offense, but ballet didn't seem like your kind of thing." She hoped the question would bring out some answers.

"Its actually a long story, and this isn't really the place." He gestured around at the irate strangers around them. He wasn't tall enough to be much of an obstacle to their viewpoint, but they were clearly audible in a quiet auditorium. Luke gestured towards the doors at the back, and reached for her hand.

Apologetically, Anastasia shrugged and gestured to the crutches. Leaving now would make a spectacle of themselves, and she was still mad enough at him that it didn't seem worth it.

"Well I promise to explain everything later. I probably won't stay to the end, but we'll catch up at school or something, alright?"

Anastasia nodded, but she couldn't stop thinking about who Luke was leaving for.

He tipped his hat and started to walk away, but turned back at the last second.

"You lol beautiful today, Anastasia." He said, and walked away.