Starlet

3. Aerial

We're standing in a big office with lots of windows. There are lots of royalty here. I see 5 princes and 3 princesses. Too many kings and queens to count. I wiggle to the back of the kids and stare at the floor. I push my hair over my face.

"Look a princess." The kids point out people and get more excited.

"Hi everyone. I'm Queen Thora Frode. You can call me Thora. Today we have some fun stuff planned for you. First is the money. There are lots of shops out there. So we have castle money for you. You can buy whatever you want with the money, but you have to spend it here. It's not good anywhere else." She keeps going, and I remember a time when I went shopping with my momma. She bought some fabric because she said it would look good on me. I loved shopping with my mom.

A servant touches my arm. "Did you want to put your name in the drawing for the princess dress?"

"No. Never." I remember princess dresses. Tiara's. Shoes and veils. I was a princess in another life. I'm not that anymore. I'll never be that again.

The servant guides me with the kids. They stop about 5 times to see more royalty. I've never seen so much royalty in one place. I keep my head down and follow along. We end up outside in a big arena. There are games and food vendors everywhere. A band plays in the middle of a stage for dancing. I wait until they tell us we can move around. Then I find myself a seat high up in the stands. I sit in the sun and watch everyone run and play. I close my eyes and listen to music.

"Hi, I'm Thora."

"Starlet."

"That's pretty. I brought you some juice, Starlet. It's warm out here. Did you get some of the castle money? Did you want any snacks?"

"Thank you." I am thirsty. "I'm perfect. Enjoying the sun and music. It's lovely here." I pull some hair down in front of my face. She's so perfect looking.

"We love it here too. Did you put your name in for the princess dress?"

"I don't want that."

"I'm sure you'd make a beautiful princess, but I won't push."

I wouldn't make a beautiful anything. I keep my head down. Maybe she'll go away.

"It's time to go in for dinner. We're going to eat in the ballroom."

I follow the other kids and end up in a huge ballroom. I sit at a table in the back and try to disappear. Some of the royalty dance. They seem to be having fun. Lots of smiling. Marcus dances with a princess. I can tell he's happy. I drink about 3 cups of water while they dance. I guess I was thirsty. The servants keep refilling it now.

"Will you dance with me?"

I stare at the man quickly and shake my head. I didn't even know he came up to me. I would have tried to run away.

"1 dance. Please. Then I'll go away."

"Why?"

"We have to ask 1 of you to dance. You look like a girl who loves to dance."

"I do love to dance."

He smiles and holds his hand out. "May I have a dance, Princess Starlet?"

I take his hand. "I haven't heard that in forever."

He guides me to the dance floor.

"SHE'S A FREAK."

I close my eyes and wish for death. Everyone is staring.

"Ignore them." He takes my hand and spins me.

Everything disappears. He leads perfectly. The dance lessons my parents had me take come flooding back in. I know the dances. He changes randomly but I keep up. It's been so long since I've danced.

It ends too soon. He guides me back to my seat. "Thank you for the dance."

"Thank you, sir."

I eat some pasta and drink some more water. I listen to music and try to get lost in it.

A prince sits beside me. "I'm Luke."

"Scar."

"Is that because of your face?"

"I guess so."

"Luke, leave her alone." Marcus chases him off.

"Sorry. He's my son. He has some issues."

"He's fine. He didn't do anything."

"You're a good dancer. I can tell you took lessons. Do you want to take some more? The girls are getting ready to take some kind of class. I can put you in it with them. I think it would be good for you."

I stare at him. I don't know what to think. I love to dance, but people would rather stay away from me. I shake my head.

"Will you try it? If you don't like it, you don't have to keep going. Try please. 1 class."

"Ok."

Luke sits down after Marcus leaves. "How old are you?"

"I was 322 once."

"I was 397 once."

He does look older. But he acts like a child. He's kind though. Most children are mean. "Another life."

"I like this life better."

"Not me. This life is horrible."

"What was your old life like?"

"I had parents and a brother that loved me. I took dance lessons and wore big dresses. I lived in a castle. I would go shopping with my momma. What was your old life like?"

"My momma wasn't good. She was mean. She never took me shopping. Wouldn't even feed me. I had to run away. But I found my dad and my new mom. They love me."

"I'm happy you have a good life now."

"Me too. I think yours will get better."

"Luke go." Marcus chases him off again.

I spend the rest of the evening hiding at the back table. Lost in music.

The next morning, the servants get me ready and pretty much push me through the door. I'm at a big theater.

Thora's here with 2 other girls, Marcus, and another boy. "It's a human city. The lessons are here at the theater."

There is a group of about 10 girls near the front. We go sit by them. I get some strange looks, but I cover my face more and look down. Marcus and the other boy sit in the back somewhere.

The instructor comes out and does a dance in a harness on the stage. It's neat. She flips herself all over the place with wires and cables.

"That is aerial dance. That is what I teach. You do not need a background in any other dance to learn this. Although it can help. If you work hard and practice, it takes about 6 months to master what I just did. This dance is about getting comfortable in the harnesses. Learning what they can do. Learning your own limitations. The sky is the limit with this dance. 5 practices a week. 1 hour each. 10am daily. You are expected to show up at 9:30 and stretch. There will be no time for stretching once the class starts. The cost for this class is 1k." I don't have money. "Each class will be held here. Dress code. Tight pants or shorts and tank tops or t-shirts. You will be hanging from wires and hooked to harnesses. I need to be able to see they are connected correctly and tight. Hair in a bun. It will get ripped out if you leave it down." I shiver. I know that hurts. "Absolutely no jewelry of any kind. You must have supportive shoes. Accidents happen, you will fall out of the air and the safety will stop you from slamming into the ground, but I will let you know now, it hurts like hell. Your entire body will immediately stop falling by wherever it is hooked to you at. Leg, waist, ribs. You're going to be sore. This is not by any means painless. You will hurt. Attendance. If you miss 3 classes in total, you will be removed from the class. Exceptions are given for those with a doctor's note. However, you will be staying over an hour after the next class to catch up. Those who want to sign up, I'll be in the concessions area in 5 minutes."

We go to the boys.

I shake my head. "I don't have any money."

"Don't worry about it." Marcus walks out.

We move to the concessions area. I watch 8 of the girls walk out the door.

"Good. This is a manageable size class. There will be a meeting today for an hour. Who is he?"

"Elek. I'm security for 3 of them."

"Elek, you are now security for 6 of them, or you are not security."

"Fine, but only during the practices."

"I need paperwork and the payment." She gives me paper and a pen.

The very first question: are you an adult?

Thora looks at her. "What constitutes being an adult?"

"Over 18 years of age."

I relax and mark yes.

She watches me and smiles. The rest is easy stuff.

"Who are you?"

"Marcus. Security."

"You will be security for all of them during practice or none."

"Yea that's fine." He pays her.

We go back to the stage.

"I want to go over some more basics." She sits on the edge of the stage. "As I said before, I do not give time for the stretching in my class. We only have an hour. I can't have you stretching for 20 minutes of it. You need to be stretched and ready to go at 10. I will show you now the stretches you need to do. However, there is a beginner ballet class here from 8:30 to 9:30. The beginner ballet class works mainly on stretching and the more core movements of ballet. So, if you want to join that class for the stretching aspect of it, it will help you. You will be stretched and ready to go for this class and learning a few ballet movements is not going to hurt you."

"Do you teach that too?"

"No I do not. But I do know the instructor. They work on stretching for the beginner ballet. It can also be used as a refresher course if you haven't done it in a while."

"Ok. Thank you."

"The next thing I want to talk about is the dress code." She opens a bag. "Tight dark clothes. There are no other options. Our harnesses are off-white. The darker the color, the more the harnesses stand out. We do have this for sale. The shorts are 5g each and the tops and pants are 6g each. Does anyone want to purchase these?" She hands us the order forms. "You do not have to order from here."

Marcus takes mine and does math in his head.

Thora hands her the papers. "Do you know anything about signing up for the beginner ballet class?"

"They had their sign-up this morning. She did give me a few of the sign-up papers. You will have to come tomorrow at 8:30 and get everything set with her if you chose to do that. That class is 400g. Make sure you have supportive shoes."

Marcus hands her my paper. I don't even see it.

"Orders will be here tomorrow at 10. You will be doing pickup tomorrow. The class doesn't officially start until Monday."