The Dancers: An Artist Story

by M.L. Cameron

us.

  “Good afternoon,” I responded.

  “It’s nice to see that young couples still take walks in the park,” she said and grinned. “Have a nice evening.”

  She walked to catch up with the little boy who was calling for her. We kept walking to the car. “Why didn’t you correct her?”

  “Why didn’t you?” I countered.

  When she didn’t answer I smiled. In the car she ate the ice cream and took a deep breath. “With your sister and that guy,” she started and I turned to hear what she had to say. “I think he’s a half a beat short. He needs to take a longer stride the first step so that he’s a little closer to her… I think maybe that’s what’s wrong.”

  I started to stare at her and then remembered I was driving. “How can you tell?”

  “I could hear his steps and hers, and they don’t sound the same.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, that’s what I think.”

  “We’ll try it,” I said and nodded to myself. Maybe I wouldn’t have to get on stage and completely disappoint my father.

  Scarlett

  Scar!” I heard Luke call right after I heard the door open and close.

  I ran down the steps yelling, “What happened? You’ve been gone forever!” I stopped at the bottom of the stairs when I saw Anastasia Faith standing silently beside my brother.

  “Ana thinks she can help you get the lift,” he said and slid his arm protectively around her waist. He liked her, I knew that the second they walked into the studio. And she trusted him… They look so different, standing side by side. She was thin and he was built, her light hair and his dark hair, his bronze tan face and her pale skin.

  “What do you mean?”

  “She doesn’t think it’s the lift. It’s the timing.”

  I nodded, if anything could help me with this lift I would take it. I had been transferring ice and heat on my hip from where I had slammed it onto the floor earlier that day. “So come on, let’s go try it.”

  “All right, I’ll change real quick.”

  I turned and ran back up the stairs. My idol was standing in front of me, in my house, and all I could think about was how I could impress her. She couldn’t see me, so that ruled all looks out, not that she cared anyway. I wondered if she had said anything about me, but there was no way I could be sure.

  Luke

  Anastasia walked beside me as we made our way to the studio. “She wants to impress you,” I said.

  “Who?”

  “Scarlett.”

  “Why would she want to do that?”

  “The only reason she danced was because of you. And then, the only reason she kept dancing was because of you. She looks up to you, not literally because I think she’s a couple inches taller, but as a role model.”

  She shrugged. “You have to dance for yourself and want it enough… Want it to the point where nothing else matters. Otherwise, it’s pointless.”

  I opened the door to our studio and she sighed. I wonder if she felt like she was in a studio. It was about the size of the one Scarlett rehearsed in. “All right, you just tell us what to do and we’ll do it.”

  Scar came in the room, wearing a leotard, tights and a pair of shorts. “Okay, I’m ready. Just don’t drop me.”

  “Do the lift,” Anastasia murmured and shut her eyes, not like she could see anything anyways. She seemed to be paying attention to us though. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure he’s a half step off.”

  “What do you mean?” Scarlett asked.

  “All right, stand where I’m standing and watch.”

  I shook my head while they switched places. “Okay, now what?”

  “Watch where his foot falls on the first step and then the follow through. Ready? Step one…”

  And the follow through lift. She was lighter than Scar I realized. Maybe it was because she was shorter, maybe it was because she was not eating anything. Her hands rested on my wrists as I brought her back to the floor. “And then watch if he takes a couple inches off the first step.” I went back to my side and waited. “Just take a half step instead of a full one. Step one…”

  I knew by the time she was a half step in front of me that I wouldn’t be able to do the lift. But she didn’t stop. I put my hands on her waist and her hands went to my shoulders. When I started to lift her my foot went back under her weight and I fell backwards.

  “That’s what happens if he’s a half step off.”

  “But I could barely see the difference. And you can’t see it at all.”

  “Maybe, but I can hear the difference. When your steps are off the entire routine is off.” I opted not to stand up but to wrap my arms around Anastasia’s waist. She attempted to tug away for a second but I just tightened my hold.

  “I’ve got to go call Holland and get him to come and see if that’s it. Thank you, so much.”

  Scarlett ran out of the room. “Why don’t you dance anymore?” I asked and released one of my arms to smooth a strand of hair from her face.

  She started to pull away. “No, why?”

  “Just… Nothing. You wouldn’t get it.”

  I decided again not to push her. “All right. Do you want me to take you home now?”

  She didn’t answer. I took that as a no, I doubted she liked sitting at home. “All right, I would say we could watch a movie but…” I trailed off and she sighed. “We could do school work. When my mom gets home I bet she’ll make you eat something.”

  “School work sounds all right.”

  I stood up with her cradled against my chest. “I can walk,” she said and I laughed.

  “Yeah, I know.”

  She tried to hide her smile and turned away from my face. I carried her out to the front stairs and saw Scarlett opening the door. “Come on,” she said to Holland and started walking back to the studio room. “Hey Luke, is she staying for dinner?” I nodded. “Well you’d better call mom.”

  I continued walking up the stairs, then to the attic staircase.

  Upstairs I sat on my desk and Anastasia sat on my bed. “If you have a dodecagon what is the measure of one interior angle?”

  “Is it regular?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then it’s something that has to do with n and a hundred eighty.”

  “Close enough.”

  She laughed and fell backwards. “What color are your walls?”

  “Purple.”

  “What kind of purple?”

  “More blue than red, dark but not depressing.”

  She smiled. “I liked my room. It’s gold. I can feel it sometimes, when my windows are open. And I don’t have to see it to know that it’s all warm and light.”

  I set the math book aside and took a deep breath. My phone rang and I picked it up off my desk. “Hello?”

  “Luke, is Anastasia there? Scarlett said she’s there.”

  “She is here.”

  “Why didn’t you call? I have a dinner to make. And how that girl looked last week at her follow up was not all that great. Are you sure it’s all right for her to be at the house? Her father could be worried, or angry.”

  “He told me to take her. I asked what time she needed to be home and he said he didn’t care.”

  “He’s working a late shift at the hospital tonight. He probably doesn’t care.”

  “Okay… Are you going to keep yelling at me?”

  “No… I’ll be home in an hour all right?”

  “All right. Bye mom.”

  I rolled my eyes at the phone and set it back on my desk. “Okay, so… Tired of math yet?”

  Anastasia shrugged rolled onto her side. “What does your mom do?”

  “She’s a pediatric surgeon and a nurse for teenage athletes. She’s one of your nurses actually.”

  “Oh,” she drew the word out and sighed. “My dad’s a doctor. Well, sort of. He owns an insurance company and he’s a doctor. Does she like working with children?”

  “Most of the time. Sometimes it’s hard.”

  “What d
oes your dad do?”

  “He’s an optometrist.”

  Anastasia laughed. “That must be fun.”

  “Oh it is. It really is.” I tapped my pen against the desk. “What does your dad think about your dancing?”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Huh? How could you not know.”

  “He hasn’t seen me dance since… I must have been three or four. Once my mother died he stopped coming to practice and started spending more and more time at the office. Then he stopped going to rehearsals and recitals all together. He had the studio built when I asked for it but he’s never come in. I don’t mind really… He’s supportive and pays for everything I need, which is more than I could ask for.”

  I just stared at her. I couldn’t imagine going to a hockey game without my parents cheering me on. Or Scarlett going to a recital without at least one of my parents there to watch. How could she be okay with her father never watching her dance? “Wow,” I breathed and she shrugged. Instead of asking questions I changed the subject, “Why does everyone call you Anastasia?”

  “Uh, it’s sort of my name…”

  “I know but why not Ana?”

  She shrugged again. “Some people do… Well not really. I think you’re the first one who’s called me Ana since…” She trailed off, thinking. “Since once I was five and the announcer for the medals at one of my recitals called me Ana.”

  “Really?”

  “I guess. I don’t mind. Sometimes Anastasia gets a little long and when I was little I loved the name Ana.”

  “So you don’t mind if I call you Ana?”

  She shook her head and smiled.

  Scarlett

  We all sat around the dinner table. Dad was glaring at Luke and Mom was attempting to get Anastasia to eat something. I was going over costumes for my individual performance at the end of the year. “Scarlett, put that book away and eat your dinner,” Mom scolded and I set the binder on the floor beside me. She smiled, I knew she was stressed and anything I could do to make her life easier, I would do.

  “Why is she here?” Dad suddenly asked, he had been silent the entire meal. I only hoped he would keep it that way.

  Luke mumbled something and looked down at his plate. “Zackary, one dinner. That’s all I want. Leave Luke alone.”

  “Fine,” he grumbled. Luke looked nothing like either of my parents. My father had dark auburn colored hair and brown eyes. My mother had light brown hair and blue eyes. I looked like them both, with the red hair and blue eyes. And then… Luke… Dark brown hair, sometimes it was almost black and green eyes. He looked like our grandfather though, Mom said that’s where he must have gotten it from.

  I sighed and stabbed a piece of broccoli with my fork. The phone rang… The whole room was silenced. The only reason the phone rang was school and work. No one wanted to find out what it was. Luke stood up and Anastasia jumped a little. He put his hand over hers and went to get the phone. I hadn’t seen him so comfortable with a girl in ages.

  He went into the kitchen and grabbed the phone from the counter. “Hello?” He waited for a long time. “No… She doesn’t go to school anymore… Well she’s homeschooled… Okay… Mom?”

  She stood up and he sat back down. “Who was it?” I asked.

  “Someone saying something about how you need to be attending classes and that skipping is not tolerated. I don’t know, it wasn’t my school. Which is where you would be going if you were attending classes.”

  I shrugged and looked at Dad. He was still glaring at Luke. “Daddy,” I said to distract him. “Are you coming to the show?”

  “I bought the ticket didn’t I? Of course I’m going Scar. To at least one performance.”

  He smiled at me and I forced a grin. Mom sat back down. “That school is insane.”

  We all laughed, it sounded completely natural. I wished it really was. “How was your day?” I asked mom and she shrugged.

  “It was all right, better than most days. Got another football player. They think that training is when they need to push themselves.”

  “Why is she here?” Dad asked again and Mom laid her head in her hands.

  “Because Luke invited her to the house,” I said, hoping it would soften his blow on Luke if it came from me.

  “Why? I mean, he’s only known the girl for a few days.”

  “Stop it,” Luke said and Anastasia turned her head, almost as if she was looking at him.

  “Stop what?” he asked calmly. He turned back to me and continued speaking. “Why did he invite her… of all the people he could be spending his time with. I mean, she’s just some blind, has been, ballerina.”

  Anastasia froze. Luke took her hand under the table and glared at our father. But he didn’t stop. “Obviously she isn’t that great, she fell.”

  “So have I!”

  “Yeah, but she was supposed to be perfect. Why is he hanging around with her? She’s not all that amazing.”

  “Stop,” Mom said and he took a deep breath.

  “I’m just saying that he could do better, that’s all.”

  Anastasia looked like she was about to cry. “Can you take me home?” she whispered and Luke stood up.

  “Yeah, come on.” They were both quiet as he led her out of the room. We all heard the front door slam.

  Mom glared at Dad and he shrugged, continuing with his meal. “Why did you do that?” she asked. “She’s a perfectly fine young girl.”

  “Why do you hate him!?” I burst out and then ran from the room. I opened the front door and saw Luke holding Anastasia. She was sobbing and he was trying to comfort.

  “It’s all right,” he murmured and I was struck speechless. I hadn’t seen my brother act that way with a girl… ever. He loved me and that was it. He never fell for anyone…

  “He didn’t mean it,” I said and Luke turned. “He’s just… He’s just dad. He didn’t mean it.”

  He shook his head and turned away from me. That was the first time my brother had ever turned away from me to comfort someone else. I turned and blankly went back into the house. Could he be in love? I never pictured my brother in love… I didn’t see him with a girlfriend or wife or kids…

  I went up to my room and pressed my back into the closed door. I slid until I was sitting on the floor. I pulled my head to my knees and took deep breaths. I didn’t know what I would do without my brother. He was always there… Always. I was so afraid that now something was going to change that.

  Luke

  I sat on the park bench beside Ana and waited for her to calm down. “Do you really want to go home?” I asked and she shook her head.

  “No, but I couldn’t stay there.”

  “He’s just an angry person. Just ignore him.”

  “I can’t just ignore him.”

  “Why not?” I asked and smoothed one of my thumbs across her tear stained cheek. She looked like a little girl when she cried. She turned away and I pulled my hand back. I had turned away from Scarlett, she hated it when our father yelled at me. But when Ana was crying… She mattered more.

  How could I like her so much after just two days with her?

  She shook her head. “Everything he said was true. All of it. About the fall, and how I’m supposed to be perfect. That performance was supposed to be my best. It was supposed to be completely perfect, flawless, nothing out of place. No ribbon or hair or piece of lace was supposed to be messed up. And then everything got messed up. And I wasn’t supposed to let that happen.

  “And you do deserve more than some has been ballerina. He was right about that too. More than anything he was spot on when he said that.” She shut her eyes and rubbed her cheeks dry. “Maybe you could just take me home…”

  I took her hands and stared at her, I knew she couldn’t see me but I didn’t care. “My dad is stupid and wrong, okay? When you fell it wasn’t anyone’s fault. All right? Things happen. He was dead wrong about me and what I deserve. Okay? He was wrong about you and about whether or not you�
��re right for me. Just forget what he said.”

  “No, he was right. Could you just take me home?”

  “Listen to me Ana, he was wrong. You aren’t any less to anyone because you fell. That’s it, you fell. Anyone could have done it.” I stood up and took her hand. She had no idea where she was going so it wasn’t like she could protest when I wrapped my arm around her waist.

  We walked to the car and I drove her home. All the lights were off and there were no cars that I could see. I walked her up to the door and figured out it was locked. “Do you have a key?” I asked and she shook her head.

  “I’ve never needed it.”

  The sun had set long before and it was starting to get cold. I rang the bell. “I don’t think anyone’s going to answer it.”

  She shrugged and shuddered. I rubbed my hand on her arm and she leaned into me, she had probably forgotten that she wasn’t talking to me. “Well, you have two options now. You can come home with me and I could drive you home in the morning. Or you could sit out here with me and we wait for someone to get home.”

  “My dad probably won’t be home until tomorrow morning.”

  “Then let’s go, it’s cold.”

  We got half way to the car when she stopped. “I have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow…”

  “Well my mom can take you to the hospital in the morning when she leaves for work.”

  “No, not doctor like physical. It’s an eye appointment. It’s an examination to see if I could get the surgery to make me see again.”

  “Even then, I’ll drive you in the morning. It’s cold, let’s go.”

  We walked the rest of the way out to the car.

  Scarlett

  I laid on my bed and sighed. Luke had been gone for three hours. I thought he was only driving her home. My door opened and I rolled over onto my side. I didn’t want to talk to my father. I pulled my stuffed flamingo closer to me and shut my eyes. “Scarlett? Are you asleep?” I didn’t answer. The door closed and I let my breath go.

  A car pulled up to the house and I knew it was Luke. He would come check on me, make sure I was okay. So I waited… The front door opened and I heard him come up the stairs. He passed my room and went up to the attic. And the tears came…

  He walked around the attic and then went back downstairs. I heard my door open. “Hey Scar,” he whispered and stepped into the room. “Are you all right?” He sat on my bed beside me. I didn’t want him to see me crying.

  “I’m fine,” I murmured.

  “Why are you crying?” he asked and I didn’t answer. “Come on Scar, you can tell me anything.”

  I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. “What’s going to happen when you admit that you love her?” I asked and he laid his hand on my shoulder. “You’ve barely known her for three days and it seems like you care more about her than anything else. What happens when you’ve known her for weeks and then months?”

  “I’ve known her for years Scarlett. Since before grade school. Our parents work in the same hospital, we’ve always gone to the same schools. We were friends when we were little. Scar, she’s just a girl that I might be falling for. You’re my sister, that could never change. It couldn’t ever change. I will always care about you. And one day, maybe a dancer, maybe not, he’s going to fall for you and you’re going to be together. And you’re going to understand everything that I feel for Ana.”

  “I’m never going to understand that.”

  “You will, some day. You have to remember that you’re two years younger than me. That puts you a year younger than Anastasia. You’ve got all the time in the world to find someone. You still have college and a career.”

  Everything he said was making me feel so much better. I loved him, more than I wanted to admit. “Maybe it’s only been a few days that I’ve gotten to actually spend time with her, but it’s two days more than I would have had a year ago.”

  I nodded. He hugged me and kissed my temple. “Now, I’m going to go to bed and you should get some sleep too, you have an early practice. And when you get home we can go over your solo performance.”

  ♪♪♪

  It got to the point where Anastasia spent more time in our house than anywhere else, or that was how it seemed. Sometimes they went out, some nights she stayed at home, some days she went with her father to a doctor’s appointment but most of the time she stayed with us. I grew to love her like a sister. She helped me with my solo piece when I was having trouble landing a leap or controlling a turn.

  With every day that passed Luke seemed to love her more and more. Most nights she slept on his bed and he either slept on the floor or he would fall asleep next to her. My father grew more and more accustomed to seeing her around and he learned to deal with it.

  Two weeks went by… And then three. My recital drew closer and I still had a costume to get fitted and twenty four hours of rehearsing to do.

  I ran up the attic stairs and threw open the door. Luke was sitting at his desk, reading a book… Anastasia was nowhere to be seen. “Where is she?” I asked and he jumped. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “It’s all right. Ana had an eye appointment.”

  “Another one?” He nodded. “When are they going to give her the surgery?”

  “Today she’s supposed to get her final exam and they start surgery next week. But it might not even work. No one is completely sure. But why?”

  “I was just going to ask her if she’s helping me pick a costume…”

  “But she can’t see them.”

  “Exactly.”

  He made a face but didn’t question me. I shrugged and turned to run back down the stairs. I needed to pick a costume.

  Luke

  I parked my car and went into the doctor’s office. Anastasia was sitting in the lobby. Her father had dropped her off and I had been instructed to pick her up. “Are you all right?” I asked and sat next to her. She nodded and yawned. “Are you ready to go?”

  “First the doctor said he would bring out the paperwork. And that he wanted to go over it with me when I had someone here with me.”

  “All right,” I said and took her hand. “How do you think it went?”

  “I think it’s going to be all right. It’s expensive but that doesn’t really matter. And it might not work but it’s worth a shot.”

  “That’s good.”

  The examination door opened and my father stepped through the door. I glanced quizzically at him. “I’m supposed to be going over a surgery procedure with…” He flipped a paper over on his clipboard and sighed. “Anastasia Faith. If you would follow me to my office we can begin discussing the process. Isn’t your father supposed to be here?”

  Ana shrugged and walked beside me. “He said that Luke was going to pick me up and that I wasn’t allowed to leave with anyone else. And the doctor said I couldn’t leave until my surgeon talked to me but I wasn’t supposed to talk to them until someone else was with me. Luke is someone else.”

  He looked at me and opened a door. I guided Ana to a chair and then sat down next to her. My father went behind the desk and sat in the high backed leather chair. “All right, well I’m Dr. Surmise and I’ll be performing your operation. Your father will be going first and he’s already signed off on the forms needed to complete the process. We just wanted to go over any questions you might have or concerns you may want to discuss.”

  “Do you hate me?” she asked blatantly and his jaw fell. He stuttered for a second and then cleared his throat. “It’s a simple question really. I just don’t think I feel comfortable with you as my surgeon when you don’t exactly approve of me.”

  “I… To have me taken off a surgical procedure proper papers must be filed and complaints filled out…”

  “And with the amount of money my father has I have no doubt that those papers could be overlooked. I have no trouble playing that card Dr. Surmise. I am my father’s only daughter, his only child. And he’s not going to be having any more. So he will do anythi
ng to keep me happy. And I can throw a fit when I want to. Now, I would like to request another surgeon to complete my procedure or you could just get used to the fact that I’m not leaving any time soon.”

  I stared at Ana, I had never seen her act