Post by Claire Jayne Madden on Dec 17, 2011 19:41:58 GMT -5
Claire held her hands on her hips as she walked towards the other end of the studio and looked back in the mirror. Now that she didn’t have to worry about a showcase, or auditioning to get into a great academy, she could just relax and enjoy ballet for what she loved about it in the first place. Lace up and forget the world. She wouldn’t be able to do this soon, and she wanted to appreciate it while she could, cause after she delivered she had six weeks to prove to her company that they made the right choice by signing her as a principal. Claire looked in the mirror, readjusting her hair on the top of her head and smiled at the look of sweat against her chest and shoulders. She listened to the radio, rolling her shoulders out to loosen up her muscles before she shook the tension out of her hands and then stood up pointe on her toes quickly before she placed into an arabesque and quickly started doing turns across the wooden floor. She listened to the lyrics vaguely, concentrating more on keeping her center of balance but as she twirled her leg away from her body to spin she felt herself slow down as she heard one of the lyrics ‘ holding grudges over love is ancient artifacts’. Claire caught herself as she stumbled back onto her feet and took in a few deep breaths. You would think her mind would jump to Anthony with that line. Or any guy that had done her ‘wrong’ really. But instead she backed away from the mirror, reaching down to unlace her pointe shoes quickly as she thought of Ethan. She peeled them off quickly, running out of the studio. She was sure it had to be an odd sight, pulling on a pair of shorts over her tights as she hopped down the hallways and once she was in the elevator finally pulling on her ugg boots. “ Hi…” she said to one of the younger girls in the academy and gave a small smile.
Once the elevator opened up, Claire dug through her duffel bag, taking out a hoodie and winced slightly at the cold that came to her legs even though she was wearing tights before she threw her hand up in the air and hailed a cab. “ Midtown Manhattan” please she said breathlessly before she finally relaxed against the backseat. Even if Ethan wasn’t her brother, he’d still be one of her best friends. How many siblings were fortunate enough to say that? Claire blinked as she watched the different buildings as they drove by them, wondering if Ethan was awake, or what she was about to walk into. She looked down in her duffel bag, taking her phone out to check the time. 8:43 AM. She debated sending Shane a text before she decided against it and turned her phone off. By the time she looked up the cab had stopped and Claire jumped out eagerly, reaching in to pay for the ride before she shouldered her duffel bag and made her way to Ethan’s apartment and the place she used to call home. Claire took her key out, pushed the door open quickly and dropped her duffel bag down, a routine she had done many times when she lived there. “ Ethan?” she called out, stepping into his living room and looking around. Claire wiggled her lips from side to side before she headed down to Ethan’s room.
Claire pushed Ethan’s door open and then lifted her eyebrow as she looked at him passed out on his stomach, arm hanging off the bed as his hand grazed the floor and then looked to the side of him. Awesome, he brought home some bar skank. Claire opened her mouth to wake them up before she stopped and leaned away from the doorframe and headed back into what used to be her old room. She pushed her chair to her closet and stood on it, reaching into the top of her closet for her paintball gun and then opened the container to see how many paintballs were inside of it. Plenty. Claire took the safety off of it before she went to the kitchen, lazily grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl before she made her way back to Ethans room and pushed the door open with the barrel of her paintball gun. “Morning” she said lethargically, taking a bite of her apple. “ ….. Morning” Ethan said without opening his eyes. Clare chewed the apple, placing her finger on the top of her lip as she spoke to him. “ Hey Ethan, what’s her name?” she said, tilting her head to the girl in bed with him. “ ….Ughh..” he sighed drunkenly before he lifted his head to look at the girl. “ ….Michelle?’ he asked, but the girl was slowly shaking her own head, clearly drunk in her own right. Claire smiled slowly before she closed one eye and shot Ethan in the back, splattering pink paint all over him. “ OW!” he shot up, “ WHAT THE FUCK” he yelled out, holding his hand against his back where he would surely get a bruise. “ How old is she?” Claire asked again, taking another bite of her apple. Ethan glared as he looked at her, doing his best to stand up. “ Nineteen..” he said though the girl shook her head again, Ethan held his finger up at Claire. “ No no no, twenty. She’s twenty.” he said but the girl was pulling on her shoes at the end of the bed now, “ Eighteen” she stammered quietly, looking like she was about to hurl. This time Claire didn’t hesitate at all and popped another shot at Ethan, this time hitting his upper left chest. “ God Da-“ he grunted, turning away from it and getting his foot caught in the sheets before he turned and slammed himself against the ground.
Claire frowned as the girl got up and walked past her and into the hallway. “ Leaving so soon, Michelle?” she asked sarcastically before giving her a small. “ Nice meeting you!” she said before she turned her attention back to Ethan and shook her head, finally leaning away from the doorframe. “ You’re lucky you’re pregnant” Ethan said, finally getting himself up. Claire threw her fingers up in a deuce sign as she walked down the hallway. “ Meet me in the kitchen,” she said, kicking the ugg boots off as she headed into the kitchen. Claire opened the fridge and took out a few things to make Ethan breakfast. He may have been an idiot, but he was her brother. Her idiot brother. She took her iPod from her duffel bag, putting it on the sound dock before she started slicing up bell peppers, putting sausage on the stove so she could get it ready to put in an omelet for him. She looked up a few minutes later, seeing him walk in shirtless and groggy, running his hand over his eye before he sat at the bar. She smiled at the trace of pink paint across his chest and back that he wasn’t able to get off and set a glass of juice in front of him. “ You’re not going to want to drink that or eat the omelet but you’re going to, you’ll feel better.” she said, trying to steal an authoritative tone from Dalton.
Claire turned her back to Ethan, going back to the stove to focus on his omelet before she took in a deep breath and spoke up. “ Are we going to talk about it?” she asked, not looking over her shoulder but instead focusing on the omelet. “ Talk about what? How me and your best friend broke up and I look like the biggest ass in the world?” he asked. “ Well if it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck,” Claire said sarcastically, alluding to the fact that he actually was an ass. She smiled at him sweetly before he sarcastically flipped her off. Claire flipped the omelet over and shook her head. “You gotta make a choice in life, sometimes they turn out sometimes they don’t. I mean… I dated your best friend,” she said, going to the cabinet to get him a plate. “ Yeah but Anthony and Natalia aren’t anything alike.. And one, I think if you and Anthony had put a little more effort into it you could’ve made it work, now he and I aren’t even friends…. I mean, it doesn’t feel like it. Which sucks. I don’t feel like he’s got my back or like I can trust him. But, that’s not your fault. That’s not what I’m trying to say,” he said, before Claire cut in. “ Anthony makes a lot of choices, his just tend to bite him in the ass more often. But at least he’s making them,” she said, placing the omelet on the plate before digging around in the fridge for some fresh fruit. ” I suppose that’s how you choose to see it…. But Natalia and I… that’s more like…. That’s more like you and Shane. You and I.. ‘famous’ in our circle for different things. Soccer. Ballet. That’s not mainstream. Then there’s Natalia and Shane.” he said, finally taking a drink from his juice.
“ Yeah, then there’s Natalia and Shane,” Claire said, setting the plate in front of him after she washed off a few strawberries and put them on the plate. “ So?”. Ethan looked down at the plate, deciding to start eating by eating the strawberries instead of diving straight into the omelet. “Well.. people keep telling me if I truly loved someone then I wouldn’t care about Natalia’s fame, but maybe I’m not explaining myself very well. I don’t care that she’s famous. She earned it, I’m proud of her. I’m.. I’m mad about what it creates. The frenzy. People need to know every detail of our lives. And she fed into it. I don’t think she thinks she did, but she did. Even if it was just once. Our relationship was supposed to be ours, be private, personal, just for us.. this elusive thing that no one else could be a part of. I didn’t mind fighting with her, there was something worth fighting for. And I know it sounds dumb, but that status update she did really set me off. She wants an ending like Ronnie… really? People already knew we were on the rocks and then she throws something out like that. And I’m a private guy. I don’t like my stuff on blast, and that seemed like a personal invite into something that I thought was just for the two of us,” He put his hand up as Claire was starting to interject, probably to defend Natalia, “You’re not going to change how I feel about it. Being with someone famous doesn’t bother me. Having to answer questions, I can learn to deal with it. Cameras, award shows, bullshit like that? I can learn to smile for. I hate it, but I can do it for a night. I just didn’t feel like we were on the same team,” he said, finally picking his fork up and cutting off a piece of the omelet before he took a bite. “ You and Shane… you guys feel like a team? You’re in it for the long run?” he asked and Claire narrowed her eyebrows slightly before she looked up at Ethan.
“ Yeah, he’s my team” she said giving a small nod. She licked her lips slowly before she hesitantly took in a breath , “ Ethan.. you don’t want to hear it..” she said, but pushed on not really giving a shit if he wanted to or not. “ Natalia probably didn’t even realize she did that. You could’ve talked to her. She is on your team. God, she’s been more on your team than she has mine. Not that I blame her. I’ve been pretty team Shane lately. I’m just saying… she made a choice,..and it bit her in the ass. People make mistakes. When’s the last time you made one… Michelle?” she asked before she smiled faintly and moved over to sit by him behind the bartop counter where he was eating his breakfast. “ You don’t get to drown yourself in …” she leaned over, sniffing him quickly and made a face, “ Rum.. and sluts” she said giving him a lift of her eyebrow. “ You’re not going to find what you’re looking for at the bottom of a bottle or in some girls pants. Where is it that you feel the most yourself?” she asked, already knowing the answer. It was the soccer field for him, just like it was the ballet studio for her. Claire leaned over , taking one of the strawberries from his plate. “ I mean, even if you don’t know who you are right now or what you’re looking for.. at least there’s one place where you feel whole. And that’s the best place to start to finding yourself, don’t you think?” she asked with a small smile before she took a bite of her strawberry and leaned back in the chair, bringing her legs up into it as she watched Ethan.
Outfit
Song At The Ballet Studio
Once the elevator opened up, Claire dug through her duffel bag, taking out a hoodie and winced slightly at the cold that came to her legs even though she was wearing tights before she threw her hand up in the air and hailed a cab. “ Midtown Manhattan” please she said breathlessly before she finally relaxed against the backseat. Even if Ethan wasn’t her brother, he’d still be one of her best friends. How many siblings were fortunate enough to say that? Claire blinked as she watched the different buildings as they drove by them, wondering if Ethan was awake, or what she was about to walk into. She looked down in her duffel bag, taking her phone out to check the time. 8:43 AM. She debated sending Shane a text before she decided against it and turned her phone off. By the time she looked up the cab had stopped and Claire jumped out eagerly, reaching in to pay for the ride before she shouldered her duffel bag and made her way to Ethan’s apartment and the place she used to call home. Claire took her key out, pushed the door open quickly and dropped her duffel bag down, a routine she had done many times when she lived there. “ Ethan?” she called out, stepping into his living room and looking around. Claire wiggled her lips from side to side before she headed down to Ethan’s room.
Claire pushed Ethan’s door open and then lifted her eyebrow as she looked at him passed out on his stomach, arm hanging off the bed as his hand grazed the floor and then looked to the side of him. Awesome, he brought home some bar skank. Claire opened her mouth to wake them up before she stopped and leaned away from the doorframe and headed back into what used to be her old room. She pushed her chair to her closet and stood on it, reaching into the top of her closet for her paintball gun and then opened the container to see how many paintballs were inside of it. Plenty. Claire took the safety off of it before she went to the kitchen, lazily grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl before she made her way back to Ethans room and pushed the door open with the barrel of her paintball gun. “Morning” she said lethargically, taking a bite of her apple. “ ….. Morning” Ethan said without opening his eyes. Clare chewed the apple, placing her finger on the top of her lip as she spoke to him. “ Hey Ethan, what’s her name?” she said, tilting her head to the girl in bed with him. “ ….Ughh..” he sighed drunkenly before he lifted his head to look at the girl. “ ….Michelle?’ he asked, but the girl was slowly shaking her own head, clearly drunk in her own right. Claire smiled slowly before she closed one eye and shot Ethan in the back, splattering pink paint all over him. “ OW!” he shot up, “ WHAT THE FUCK” he yelled out, holding his hand against his back where he would surely get a bruise. “ How old is she?” Claire asked again, taking another bite of her apple. Ethan glared as he looked at her, doing his best to stand up. “ Nineteen..” he said though the girl shook her head again, Ethan held his finger up at Claire. “ No no no, twenty. She’s twenty.” he said but the girl was pulling on her shoes at the end of the bed now, “ Eighteen” she stammered quietly, looking like she was about to hurl. This time Claire didn’t hesitate at all and popped another shot at Ethan, this time hitting his upper left chest. “ God Da-“ he grunted, turning away from it and getting his foot caught in the sheets before he turned and slammed himself against the ground.
Claire frowned as the girl got up and walked past her and into the hallway. “ Leaving so soon, Michelle?” she asked sarcastically before giving her a small. “ Nice meeting you!” she said before she turned her attention back to Ethan and shook her head, finally leaning away from the doorframe. “ You’re lucky you’re pregnant” Ethan said, finally getting himself up. Claire threw her fingers up in a deuce sign as she walked down the hallway. “ Meet me in the kitchen,” she said, kicking the ugg boots off as she headed into the kitchen. Claire opened the fridge and took out a few things to make Ethan breakfast. He may have been an idiot, but he was her brother. Her idiot brother. She took her iPod from her duffel bag, putting it on the sound dock before she started slicing up bell peppers, putting sausage on the stove so she could get it ready to put in an omelet for him. She looked up a few minutes later, seeing him walk in shirtless and groggy, running his hand over his eye before he sat at the bar. She smiled at the trace of pink paint across his chest and back that he wasn’t able to get off and set a glass of juice in front of him. “ You’re not going to want to drink that or eat the omelet but you’re going to, you’ll feel better.” she said, trying to steal an authoritative tone from Dalton.
Claire turned her back to Ethan, going back to the stove to focus on his omelet before she took in a deep breath and spoke up. “ Are we going to talk about it?” she asked, not looking over her shoulder but instead focusing on the omelet. “ Talk about what? How me and your best friend broke up and I look like the biggest ass in the world?” he asked. “ Well if it walks like a duck and it talks like a duck,” Claire said sarcastically, alluding to the fact that he actually was an ass. She smiled at him sweetly before he sarcastically flipped her off. Claire flipped the omelet over and shook her head. “You gotta make a choice in life, sometimes they turn out sometimes they don’t. I mean… I dated your best friend,” she said, going to the cabinet to get him a plate. “ Yeah but Anthony and Natalia aren’t anything alike.. And one, I think if you and Anthony had put a little more effort into it you could’ve made it work, now he and I aren’t even friends…. I mean, it doesn’t feel like it. Which sucks. I don’t feel like he’s got my back or like I can trust him. But, that’s not your fault. That’s not what I’m trying to say,” he said, before Claire cut in. “ Anthony makes a lot of choices, his just tend to bite him in the ass more often. But at least he’s making them,” she said, placing the omelet on the plate before digging around in the fridge for some fresh fruit. ” I suppose that’s how you choose to see it…. But Natalia and I… that’s more like…. That’s more like you and Shane. You and I.. ‘famous’ in our circle for different things. Soccer. Ballet. That’s not mainstream. Then there’s Natalia and Shane.” he said, finally taking a drink from his juice.
“ Yeah, then there’s Natalia and Shane,” Claire said, setting the plate in front of him after she washed off a few strawberries and put them on the plate. “ So?”. Ethan looked down at the plate, deciding to start eating by eating the strawberries instead of diving straight into the omelet. “Well.. people keep telling me if I truly loved someone then I wouldn’t care about Natalia’s fame, but maybe I’m not explaining myself very well. I don’t care that she’s famous. She earned it, I’m proud of her. I’m.. I’m mad about what it creates. The frenzy. People need to know every detail of our lives. And she fed into it. I don’t think she thinks she did, but she did. Even if it was just once. Our relationship was supposed to be ours, be private, personal, just for us.. this elusive thing that no one else could be a part of. I didn’t mind fighting with her, there was something worth fighting for. And I know it sounds dumb, but that status update she did really set me off. She wants an ending like Ronnie… really? People already knew we were on the rocks and then she throws something out like that. And I’m a private guy. I don’t like my stuff on blast, and that seemed like a personal invite into something that I thought was just for the two of us,” He put his hand up as Claire was starting to interject, probably to defend Natalia, “You’re not going to change how I feel about it. Being with someone famous doesn’t bother me. Having to answer questions, I can learn to deal with it. Cameras, award shows, bullshit like that? I can learn to smile for. I hate it, but I can do it for a night. I just didn’t feel like we were on the same team,” he said, finally picking his fork up and cutting off a piece of the omelet before he took a bite. “ You and Shane… you guys feel like a team? You’re in it for the long run?” he asked and Claire narrowed her eyebrows slightly before she looked up at Ethan.
“ Yeah, he’s my team” she said giving a small nod. She licked her lips slowly before she hesitantly took in a breath , “ Ethan.. you don’t want to hear it..” she said, but pushed on not really giving a shit if he wanted to or not. “ Natalia probably didn’t even realize she did that. You could’ve talked to her. She is on your team. God, she’s been more on your team than she has mine. Not that I blame her. I’ve been pretty team Shane lately. I’m just saying… she made a choice,..and it bit her in the ass. People make mistakes. When’s the last time you made one… Michelle?” she asked before she smiled faintly and moved over to sit by him behind the bartop counter where he was eating his breakfast. “ You don’t get to drown yourself in …” she leaned over, sniffing him quickly and made a face, “ Rum.. and sluts” she said giving him a lift of her eyebrow. “ You’re not going to find what you’re looking for at the bottom of a bottle or in some girls pants. Where is it that you feel the most yourself?” she asked, already knowing the answer. It was the soccer field for him, just like it was the ballet studio for her. Claire leaned over , taking one of the strawberries from his plate. “ I mean, even if you don’t know who you are right now or what you’re looking for.. at least there’s one place where you feel whole. And that’s the best place to start to finding yourself, don’t you think?” she asked with a small smile before she took a bite of her strawberry and leaned back in the chair, bringing her legs up into it as she watched Ethan.
Outfit
Song At The Ballet Studio
