What a Shortstop Does Ch. 11-14

Dear Reader,

Welcome to part 3! Read parts 1 & 2 to properly enjOy. As always, your feedback is read (and re-read) and greatly appreciated!

xo Kate

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Chapter 11: Ballet

The first two weeks of December were hectic for school. Exams loomed just a few days away and the student body was generally feeling the pressure. Carly's procrastination had caught up to her and she was downright snippy, while Sarah dealt with the studying by consuming large amounts of popcorn and caffeine. Rehearsals for the ballet were every night with Sundays reserved for the grueling technical rehearsals. Sarah saw Ro when she could, which mostly meant quick kisses in the parking lot, her dorm, or at the auditorium door when she brought her food during those long days.

They continued to text constantly, sometimes late into the night while Ro waited in her dressing room or Sarah poured over revisions on her papers. It was a lonely two weeks. But with all the extra studying, Sarah was feeling confident she'd at least scrape out passing scores. The Nutcracker opening night was a success, heralded as "magical" in the student paper. And with a ticket reserved for Saturday, Sarah was excited to see it herself.

Sarah gave her name to the woman at the ticket counter while David and Carly waited just off to the right for her to come back with the three tickets Ro had put aside for them. Sarah was grateful they'd agreed to come so readily. She wasn't sure how she'd feel about sitting in a theater surrounded by strangers who certainly knew a lot more about the ballet than she did. The bouquet of flowers she'd bought at the greenhouses in town were clutched probably too tightly in her hand.

As they entered the theater, Sarah felt excitement in the air like electricity. The little kids settling in their seats positively vibrated with it while more than a few of the adults seemed to feel it as well. The curtain glowed a deep red with stage lights above and intricate plasterwork around the outside. It drew your eye, demanding your attention as the hum of voices rose and fell. An usher guided the trio to their seats. Ro had clearly picked the best, close without being right up to the stage and on an aisle so they wouldn't be squished in the center of the row. David and Carly slid in leaving the aisle seat for Sarah.

"Ya know, I've been here three years and never set foot in this theater," David said conversationally as he opened the paper program they'd been given.

Sarah smiled, "It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Oh look! There's Roisin's name! And here too!" Carly took the program out of David's hands to peruse it on her own. "And Kate's! Wow, there's a lot of dances in this ballet."

"Yeah, Ro said she has three costume changes. Actually, for one of them, she has to strip it off in the wings. She doesn't have time to go back to her dressing room."

"I bet you know exactly how quickly she can take clothes off, huh?" Carly wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and elbowed Sarah's arm off their shared armrest.

Sarah just rolled her eyes. The first and only time she'd watched Ro take clothes off, or helped her, had been that evening in their dorm when they got back from Thanksgiving break. Since then, exams and rehearsals had conspired to keep them clothed and apart. She wondered where Ro's dressing room was and if she was in there right now, slipping into a pair of pale pink tights. Her body would be bent gracefully as she slid the translucent fabric up her tight thighs-

Sarah's thoughts were derailed by the dimming of the lights and excited shushes from the audience. Music swelled below the stage as the pit orchestra trilled into the classical notes. She stowed the flowers across her lap hoping the blooms wouldn't be squished before she could give them to Ro.

Of the opening music, Sarah recognized some of the pieces. Pieces often heard in the background of commercials around Christmas time. An omnipresent voice rang out through the swell of the music, welcoming them to the ballet and reminding them to silence all cell phones. Sarah triple-checked that her's was on silent.

"Now sit back, relax, and enjoy Western Ballet Company's rendition of The Nutcracker!" The crowd applauded politely as the orchestra swung into full volume and the curtain slowly made its ascent.

The set beneath the curtain was an elaborate mansion ballroom. Sarah knew Roisin came in dressed as a party guest and did a short waltz. Her eyes scanned the stage for the deep green gown Ro had described. Men and women filtered in while the music playfully greeted each new dancer. Children galloped and pretended to play around the adults.

A green shimmer caught Sarah's eye entering from the right and Ro stood tall and proud with a man on her arm and a child running ahead of them. The scene was...odd. Sarah tried to remember the fantasy, the story, but seeing Ro tote around a little family stirred something strange inside. Not jealousy, but just a feeling of wrongness. To avoid thinking about it, she poked Carly and pointed to Ro. Carly nodded and giggled as she watched the party scene unfold.

The mice and soldiers descended on one another as the story progressed through Act I. Sarah smiled at the shrieks of delight from the children in the audience as fake cannon fire blasted across the stage. Then the music shifted as the scene, and the Nutcracker, began to change. The toy-like mask fell away to reveal a beautiful, blond male dancer while the little girl, Clara the program called her, dotted the set with enthusiastic spins and leaps. The pair alighted into a wheeled carriage as snowflakes began to fall from the rafters above the stage. Real-life snowflakes, dancers dressed in white tutus and crowns, filtered onto the scene from every direction. Sarah again looked for Ro. She spotted her girlfriend with her dark hair and pale skin slide to the front of a row of snowflakes gently turning and stretching on their toes.

Sarah's face went hot.

She'd seen Ro dance. She'd watched her dance at a party, twirl around the room to a favorite song, line dance with a friendly crowd, and even rock in Sarah's arms...but this. This was something foreign and enchanting. Ro moved with strength and purpose. Her muscles rippled in her legs, her back, her neck, as she turned with utter control on the tips of her toes. Those long legs Sarah had appreciated from the start were tense and shimmering white under the lights. Her arms moved intentionally but with grace from one pose to another. She was fluid and solid at the same moment. Sarah's heart pounded and her fingers clenched on her thigh as she watched this beautiful woman glide across the stage in time to the slow, tinkling music.

Out of the corner of her eye, she felt Carly's gaze on her. Carly smiled ruefully. Sarah simply shook her head. Unwilling to move her eyes from the scene.

Ro's line of snowflakes stretched across the stage before curving around the rolling carriage. Sarah couldn't figure out how they were moving so quickly, yet not separating their legs. Then they bounded. Ro's body let loose like an arrow from a bow, shooting away faster than Sarah's dazed eyes could follow. She leapt, then leapt again. Her long legs coiling and unfurling in time to the music. Sarah forgot to breathe.

Then the curtain lowered. The snowflakes continued to escort the carriage as their heads, then their middles, and eventually their legs were covered by the beating, red velvet.

"Wow," was Carly's first word to her as the house lights came up, "your face is like...really red."

"Shut up," Sarah breathed.

"Yeah, Sarah, do you need some water or something?" David was laughing.

Sarah ducked her head and pressed her hands to her cheeks. Carly and David thankfully left the teasing at that. The three got up and stretched for the intermission, talking about their favorite parts and the unique costumes of the ballet.

After just fifteen minutes, the lights began to dim again. The redness in Sarah's face had yet to fully subside and she now had another whole act to go.

The second act began with more music Sarah recognized. The Nutcracker and the little girl danced, then, Sarah knew from the program, the Sugarplum Fairy emerged. Sarah watched as the exaggerated greetings and slow dances progressed through the lullaby-type music. Antsy to see Ro again, she lifted the program right up almost to her nose to see. Ro was listed under the Arabian (Coffee) dance with another name. Her leg started to jiggle a little with impatience to watch Ro. Carly chuckled next to her.

Finally, the "sweets" dances began. The first, Spanish, was a dance with three ballerinas who wore dark browns and golds and waved glittering fans around as they danced. Their tutus bounced with each jump and Sarah again found herself focused on the power and control of their muscles as they appeared to move without effort. Then the Spanish dancers bowed and exited as the next set entered. Ro.

Sarah sucked in air.

Ro's costume was very different from the white tutu she wore as a snowflake and not even on the same plane as the elegant party gown she first wore for the waltz. This one was two pieces, giving the audience a full view of her miraculous abs. The top was small, red, and shimmery. Sarah guessed it was some kind of satin the way it caught the lights. The bottoms hung on her hips and flared out in sheer fabric before gathering back at her ankles like a genie. She was barefoot.

The other dancer was dressed the same. Two women in red and gold, bare feet and bare midriffs.

Music started from low in the pit, swelling slowly and deeply as Ro and the other woman began to move. They bent around each other, arms raised, hands flat. Their limbs intertwined and suddenly, Ro's arm gripped the other woman's abs as she inverted herself, head inches from the stage floor. It looked effortless, but Sarah saw the ripple of muscle in Ro's arm holding the other woman aloft.

Gently, they folded and both were on their knees, facing each other. They stretched for one another and legs shot out sideways to provide counterweight to the pose they sank into. The music fueled the movement. Sarah forgot to breathe again. For three agonizing minutes, she watched Ro bend and twist and balance into poses she'd only ever dreamed about (and some she definitely hadn't). Sarah tried to focus on the artistry, the athleticism of the poses, but her mind wandered to Ro bending that way for her.

The final curl of the deep notes swept up from the pit as Ro and her partner bent backwards away from each other. Their hands touched the smooth floor as their feet remained planted, toes touching. Then in a trill of woodwinds, both dancers sank to their elbows, lifting their feet from the ground over their heads. It reminded Sarah of a scorpion the way their feet pointed at each other as their eyes connected below. They held the pose through the end of the song without wavering until the music died.

As they rose and made their bows, the audience was enthusiastic. A loud whistle echoed through the theater along with the thunderous applause. Sarah wasn't sure, but she thought she saw Ro glance their direction as she left the stage. She knew where they were sitting, she'd chosen their seats after all.

Sarah admired how the Nutcracker and girl sat through all the dances in lofty thrones at the back of the stage. They were committed to the act. Sarah would have been a jittery mess sitting on a stage so long. The other performers danced to music of varying speeds and themes. The costumes fit with the heritage and sweet they represented. She particularly enjoyed the Russian dancers leaping higher and higher to the breakneck pace of the music. Then, Ro was on stage again.

This was the quick turn around she'd described to Sarah. Though she tried not to picture her in the wings behind a curtain pulling off the top to the Arabian costume and shimmying out of those flowy pants.

Now, her costume was much more traditional. Pink tutus and pink tights with white and baby blue stripes along the bodice adorned the four women who took the stage. The music was some of the most well-known to The Nutcracker, at least in Sarah's opinion. The flutes the ballerinas held were a representation of the flutes which instructed them from the pit. It was happy music. The dancers hopped and twirled beautifully.

Ro held a soft smile on her face as she spun on her toes and held her mock-flute aloft. The pink tutu bounced with her bending knees as she moved with the other women, perfectly in sync. Sarah could again appreciate the shoulders and arm muscles that looked graceful yet strong through every turn of their bodies.

Rising and falling off their toes, the ballerinas hopped from place to place, sometimes quicker or slower with the flutes trilling in the pit. Ro's legs held Sarah's attention as she flew to the front. All the dancers spun, froze, spun, and sank into poses with a cymbal crash. The audience applauded more politely, but less enthusiastically, with this dance than they had with the Arabian.

More dances and more acrobatics filled the rest of this sugared-up world and the ballet began its conclusion with another dance from the Sugar Plum fairy, which Sarah found beautiful, but not as enthralling as watching Ro. Then the Nutcracker ushered Clara back to her world and the whole plot was wrapped up in a nice little bow with the young girl awakening on Christmas morning to a repaired nutcracker and a beautiful memory of a dream. The curtain fell on the scene, but rose soon after for the curtain call of all the dancers.

Sarah spotted Ro, back in her Arabian costume for the final bow. That was an image she'd have a hard time getting out of her head.

When the curtain fell the final time, David, Carly, and Sarah rose and stretched.

"Well, not bad for ballet, not that I want to make a habit of coming." David lifted his arms over his head, shaking out his shoulders.

"I liked it. It was beautiful!" Carly pinched the underside of his arm before he could get it down and laughed. "Sarah liked it too, didn't you?" She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Yes, it was beautiful. But I agree, don't think I'll make ballet a regular entertainment choice."

"Yeah, we'll see about that," Carly rolled her eyes.

The doors to the lobby were thrown open and people milled about everywhere, waiting for their dancers to emerge from the dressing rooms. First to come out were excited kids, those who'd been party guests or clowns during the sweets numbers. Next, came the older students. They filtered into the crowd in street clothes, only standing out due to the amount of stage make-up globbed on their faces. Sarah finally caught Ro among a group of about six dancers filing out of the dressing room area.

"There she is!" She grabbed Carly by the elbow who snatched David's hand and they threaded their way through the crowd. Ro lit up when she saw them approach.

"Hi!"

As they reached each other, she gave Sarah a peck on the cheek. Sarah smiled and held up the, thankfully, not squished bouquet. "Great job, Ro!"

"Aw, thank you, babe!" Her grin was dazzling as she took the flowers. Sarah's heart did a stutter step at the pet name. She fixed them all with a gaze. "So, what did you think? How was your first ballet?"

"Wonderful!" Carly gushed, "It was so beautiful. I want to wear a tutu now!"

David looked horrified, "No." He said emphatically, almost pleadingly.

The three women giggled.

"I'm just kidding. But really, it was magical. Thank you for including us in the tickets!"

"Anytime," Ro smiled and slid her hand into Sarah's.

"Okay, come on my aspiring ballerina, let's leave these two crazy kids," David wrapped his arm around Carly's waist and gave Sarah a wink. "We're going back to my apartment. You can get an escort back to your dorm or...wherever?"

Ro laughed, "I'll make sure she gets home safely, sir."

"Not a minute past eleven, young lady!" David shouted over his shoulder as he and Carly extricated themselves from the throng of people and steered towards the front doors.

Sarah turned back to Ro, "He teases because he cares."

"Of course," Ro laughed again. She looked gorgeous like this, happy, giddy almost. Her dark hair was pulled and slicked back into a full bun, though a few rogue curls were attempting to break free. The full face of make-up was a bit much, the dark eyeliner, bright rouge, and red lipstick were definitely for the stage, but it didn't look bad. "Come on," Ro squeezed her hand, "I want to introduce you to some people."

She pulled Sarah through the thinning sea of audience members over to the group of dancers she'd entered the lobby with. There were four women and two men, Sarah noticed one of the women was the other Arabian dancer.

"Hey everybody, this is Sarah, Sarah, everybody."

"Hi," Sarah gave what she hoped was a confident smile and a little wave with her free hand. Ugh, why had she waved?

"So we get to officially meet! Hi, I'm Devin. We sorta met at the Halloween party, but I was drunk."

"So was I," Sarah chuckled.

Devin laughed loudly, "Yes, is there any other way to celebrate Halloween? Oh. My. God. Did you bring her flowers? Rosheeeeeeeeeen, you're both so cute!" Devin talked almost as fast as Carly.

"Hi Sarah, I'm Gwen. It's nice to finally meet you. Ro talks about nothing else." Ro rolled her eyes at the other woman. She'd been the other Arabian dancer.

"Nice to meet you, Gwen."

The others introduced themselves and Sarah recognized some of their names from Ro's stories. They all asked Sarah what she thought of the ballet, if this was her first, which dance was her favorite. Of course she tried to answer all their questions with a steady gaze and just the right amount of flattery, but this last query made her weight shift.

"Uh- the, uh, Arabian dance," she stuttered.

Devin threw his head back as he laughed, Gwen fixed her with a wicked smirk, and the others smiled good-naturedly.

"Okay, thank you assholes. Now we're going to go. I'll see you for the matinee tomorrow. When's call?"

"One o'clock."

"Don't get hurt showing Sarah the finer points of the Arabian. We need you tomorrow!" Devin's laugh followed them out the door and into the dressing area.

"I'm sorry about them," Ro peeked at Sarah as she dragged her to her dressing room. "They promised they'd be on better behavior."

Sarah chuckled, "It's fine. Where're we going?"

"My dressing room, I need to grab my bag, then we can go...to your dorm?"

"Yeah, yes. That sounds good."

Ro led her through a double doorway and down a short hallway to a series of rooms with names pinned to the doors. She pulled Sarah along all the way to the end where a door with two names stood closed. "Roisin Daly" and "Gwen Peters" were scrawled on a piece of yellow paper affixed to the door. Ro pushed it open.

It was a small room taken up mostly by a long counter and huge mirror. There were those classic dressing room lights framing the mirror, but they were currently off. The room smelled of hairspray and makeup and feet. Sarah said so.

Laughing Ro wound her arm around Sarah's waist, "Yeah it does. Let me just grab my stuff." She gave her a quick peck on the cheek and gathered up some things before leading them out a side door to the alley.

Chapter 12: New Experiences

The night air was positively freezing as they darted through the parking lot to Ro's car. With red cheeks and noses, they crawled in and turned the heat up. It was a short drive around the campus to Sarah's dorm. In the summer it would have been a nice twenty minute walk from the auditorium, but as winter gripped the campus, it was better to drive.