Practice Makes Perfect (Completed)

Chapter 25

Anastasia still had several months until she was technically allowed to take off her cast, but under the circumstances, she really didn't have that long. It took some fancy talk and some bribes, but she eventually was able to convince the doctor assistant that she would be fine in a brace and a boot, so song as she tried to stay off her foot. Her status as a ballerina did make things somewhat easier, as she could make the argument that she knew exactly what her body could and could not handle.

Whether she obeyed her body's limits was a different question entirely.

Without the limitations of a hard plaster cast, she could do a lot more with her foot. After snatching a few more vials of lidocaine from her cousin the dentist, she number her foot and wrapped it into a pointe training shoe. It was built to take pressure off the ankles and toes of beginners, but with the extra wrapping it effectively forced her bad ankle into pointe and kept it there.

The only problem was that the lidocaine wore off after a couple hours, and about halfway through her independent practice she started to feel the pain of dancing on a broken ankle. Every jump was agony, every twirl dizzingly painful.  She probably should have taken a break to inject some more, but rewrapping her ankle into the wooden brace would have taken more time than it was worth. She gritted her teeth, bit her lip and danced through the pain.

"You're on your feet again! That's great!"

Anastasia came to an abrupt halt, and nearly fell before she remembered she couldn't take her bad foot out of pointe. Even though she managed to keep her balance, she felt incredibly awkward without being able to put her foot flat on the ground, and stood lopsided in front of Luke.

"Its actually just for training."

She watched his eyes flick from the wrapping on her leg to the brace and the boot and the crutches in the corner. He raised an eyebrow. "Are you supposed to be doing this?"

"It doesn't matter what I'm supposed to be doing. It matters what I have to be doing." She limped over to sit next to him. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"Well I was going to bring you some flowers."

Anastasia glanced around, but saw no flowers anywhere around the studio. Luke shrugged apologetically.

"It took a couple of bribes to find your personal studio."

It was absurd, and perhaps a little creepy that Luke was doing that much for her. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but smile. It was sweet how much he cared.

"Since that's out the window, is there anything else you'd be interested in?" She started to unwrap her foot, in case he planned on taking her anywhere.

"I was thinking we could--woah, are you okay?"

Unwrapping her ankle had revealed ghastly purple skin, discolored and dark. Even for a ballerina, it looked bad.

"I'm fine." She assured him all the same. "It's just a bit of wear and tear."

She moved quickly to put the brace back on and conceal the discolored skin. Luke had turned a bit pale, and was obviously uncomfortable around her injury. Neither said anything until the brace was secure and the boot that fit over it was fastened into place.

"If you want to go to dinner or anything, I have some time." She offered.

"Oh, absolutely." he smiled, semmingly recovered from seeing her injury. "I almost forgot why I came here in teh first place."

Anastasia tilted her head. "The flowers?"

"The flowers were only part of it. I wanted to invite you to accompany me on an official date this Saturday."

"Have none of our dates been official?"

"Don't get em wrong Anastasia, I've loved every minute with you. But I'm a bit old fashioned, and I think at least one of our dates should be crippling cliche."

She smiled. "I'd love that."

"Friday at three?"

Her face fell. "I can't."

He was visibly disappointed. "Why not?"

"I have a tournament Saturday. I'm sure you understand."

He nodded. "Yeah. Of course."

Anastasia wasn't sure he really did.

"I promise I would be there if I could, but this means a lot to me."

His smile seemed far too sad as he tipped his hat. "It's alright Anastasia. I completely understand."

The way he tipped his hat made her wonder if he was leaving, and her suspicion was confirmed as he stood.

"I actually have to go watch my brother's soccer game. Rain check on that dinner?"

"Yeah," Anastasia agreed, still worried she had upset Luke. "Absolutely."

As Luke walked away, she couldn't help but think she had ruined something.