Boy Meets Ballet by Giselle R.

High School Ballet: Part 1

Beep Beep Beep. The sound of Troy McColton’s alarm immediately woke him up. Today was his first day of school and he was now a junior. Finally he was an upperclassmen, something Troy had looked forward to since he walked through the halls of West High School. After he changed and grabbed his backpack, he almost ran down the stairs without his basketball. He ran back up and grabbed it dreading how his parents would react when they saw it.
As he walked down, Troy could hear the irritating sound of his parents arguing on who was the better dancer. “Does the whole world have to revolve around dance for them?” Troy thought to himself. Quietly sitting down at the table, Troy silently ate his cereal while his parents’ argument simmered down a bit.
“I hope you guys realize that you argue every single day on who is the better dancer,” said Troy.
“Of course we do, dear! Honestly, we wouldn’t have to argue if our little prodigy took an interest back in ballet…” implied his mother.
“NO. I said no. That part of my life is over and done with. I grew out of that stuff, and really, you don’t see a teenage boy prancing around in ballet tights doing twirls. It’s just…not right.” argued Troy skeptically.
“Leave him alone, honey. He has found a new hobby bouncing balls on a court and throwing them into some type of basket,” said his father.
“I was voted captain of the varsity basketball team. It’s not a hobby, but a sport…when will you two every understand that?” said Troy.
Troy couldn’t stand to hear this topic of discussion any more. After he finished eating, Troy grabbed his bag and ball, said goodbye to his parents, and walked to school.
“Such a waste of talent. He had so much potential and yet he hasn’t recognized it. What will I ever do with that child.” said Troy’s mother with disappointment.
“It’s peer pressure honey. He’s afraid of being made fun of…that’s all,” replied her husband.
Approaching West High, Troy saw his best friend, Brad Murray, waiting for him on the steps along with some of his other basketball teammates. Brad was this tall, Asian boy with smarts and a sense for adventure. Troy and Brad had been the best friends since kindergarten when Brad brought Troy over to his house to play with his new GameBoy.
“Yo man. Are you coming over to my house today to shoot some hoops? Basketball season may have finished, but I need to start training again.” said Brad, as he pushed his glasses up to his eyes.
“Not sure about today bro…my parents want me home early to watch the house while they go watch some ballet production up in the city.” replied Troy.
Troy, Brad, and the rest of the basketball posse walked through the halls headed towards their lockers. While he looked through his locker and picked out his books for the next class, Troy couldn’t help but notice something sparkly walking towards him and Brad.
“Hey Brad, your ballet princess is approaching,” said Troy, mockingly.
“Where?!” Brad replied, looking anxiously.
“Coming to your right,” said Troy.
Sharpie McShevans was the school’s ballet princess. Along with her brother, Bryan McShevans, they were always the leads for whatever ballet production West High did. If they could, they would be the directors of their own production where the only dancers were themselves.
“Brad! Can you tutor me in Geometry after school today? I don’t understand shapes and I don’t know why a square is a rectangle and a rectangle isn’t a square,” said Sharpie.
“Sure, then will you go out with me this Saturday? asked Brad.
“Maybe, I’m not sure yet. The tryouts for the Nutcracker are on Saturday, but I’m sure I’ll get the lead as always, so I guess I can go, but I better get an A on the next test,” replied Sharpie.
Troy noticed he was going to be late to class and told Brad, Sharpie, and the rest of the basketball team he would see them tomorrow morning.
As he walked out of his last class, Troy happened to notice Ellie Montezy walking down the hall towards the dance studio. Troy had an enormous crush on Ellie since the day he sprinted right into her on his way to the cafeteria. Unfortunately, Ellie’s lunch splattered all over her shirt and that fueled her anger even more. Troy remembered her yelling at him to tell him to watch where he was walking next time. While she yelled at him, Troy thought about how beautiful she was and wondered if she was single. He had tried to make it up to her by asking her out on a date, but she refused and walked away.
After Ellie past him, not even giving him a second glance, Troy decided to follow her. Every so often, he hid behind a locker so she wouldn’t see him. “She’s going to think I’m a crazy stalker. If she sees me, I’ll never be able to get a chance with her!” Troy thought to himself. When she finally reached the studio and walked in, Troy waited a few minutes before peeping through the window in the door. Troy knew that she was a ballerina, but he didn’t know how good of a dancer she actually was.
After a few minutes of silently watching her, Troy walked inside the studio. Ellie noticed he came in, but concentrated on her stretches.
“You’re a terrible stalker. I had a feeling someone was following and watching me,” Ellie said as she finished up stretching.
“Well, I can explain….you see….I….uh….you’re a good dancer,” stammered Troy.
“Thanks. Since when have liked watching people dance? Or just liked dancing in general?” asked Ellie.
“Actually, believe it or not, I used to be a really good ballet dancer, but Brad only knows that…and now you,” confessed Troy.
“Wow! I’m surprised….maybe you should try out for the Nutcracker since you’re such a good dancer,” teased Ellie.
“You don’t believe me….I guess I’ll just have to show you my abilities,” thought Troy.
Troy leapt with grace through the air across the room. He leapt back and forth until he got tired then continued on to twirling. Troy twirled around Ellie until she got dizzy. After, Troy did a combination of leaps and pirouettes to end his dance routine.
Ellie was speechless. She never saw anything like that and wanted Troy as her partner. Ellie thought that with Troy as her partner they could be the leads for the nutcracker.
“I don’t care what you’re doing on Saturday. You and I are going down to the school theatre and auditioning against Sharpie and Bryan for the Nutcracker,” proclaimed Ellie.
“If I agree to all this, will you finally go on a date with me?” asked Troy.
“Fine.” said Ellie with a smile.
“See you Saturday then,” said Troy.
On Saturday morning, Troy woke up early and stretched in the dance studio at home. A wave of fear overcame him when he thought what the school would think when they saw him dance. “I’ll just have to deal with them after opening night,” thought Troy. After he stretched, Troy put on a black V-neck, a pink leotard, and headed out on his drive to West High’s theatre.
The theatre was empty except for the director who sat at the desk in front of the stage. The farther Troy walked down he realized that not only was it him and the director, but also Sharpie, Bryan, Brad, and Ellie were already there as well.
“Troy! I wasn’t expecting to see you here,” laughed Brad.
“Mr. McColton, you’re late,” said the director. “I want Sharpie and Bryan on stage as well as you and Ellie. I believe if you all dance individually, I will have a hard time making a decision, so I made this proposition. Both teams will compete in a dance-off and whoever I feel is the better couple will be cast as the leads for the Nutcracker. If the first team manages to mess up their dance whatsoever, the second team has the opportunity to begin right away.”
“Don’t worry I got a plan. Just follow my lead,” whispered Ellie.
When the music started, Sharpie and Bryan immediately began their dance. Sharpie and Bryan did a perfect pirouette. After a few minutes of graceful twirls and leaps through the air, Sharpie ran towards Bryan so that he could hold her up. Suddenly, the music changed to a hip hop beat and it threw the team off balance. Bryan was able to hold her up, but when the music changed he dropped his sister. As soon as Sharpie got up, Troy and Ellie rushed to center stage and started with some hip hop moves. The music changed again to a classical song familiar to both of them. Ellie and Troy started to leap across the stage and finished with twirls and pirouettes. To end their dance, Troy held Ellie in their air. For the ten seconds he held her up, the two looked into each other’s eyes and saw the other in a different light. The director smiled and knew he had found his lead couple for the Nutcracker. When Troy lowered Ellie down, the director stood up and started clapping. Though Sharpie and Bryan were defeated, they clapped in unison as well.
“Congratulations Troy and Ellie, you have won the two leads. I am happy to see that you were flexible to the music being played and were able to adapt. You both are well-rounded dancers.” Said the director to Troy and Ellie
“As for Sharpie and Bryan, you did a good job too, but I’m sorry to say you didn’t get the part,” stated the director.
“Good job Troy! You and Ellie were really good. You can count on me coming to watch the Nutcracker on opening night!” exclaimed Brad.
“That was simply amazing. I hope you do well in the production. As for future productions, my brother and I will work even harder to compete with you. Keep up the good work,” said Sharpie, smiling.
“Thank you everyone so much! If you will excuse us, I have reservations for two at the Italian restaurant in the mall,” said Troy.
Troy and Ellie exited the theatre and headed to his car. He knew from then on that everything would fall perfectly into place as he opened the door for Ellie, got into the front seat, and drove away.