Fast In My Car
"I'm Not Hungry."
JULIE'S POV
'How have you been?' asked my lame excuse for a Dad as he drummed on the steering wheel.
'Fine.'
'I've missed you,' he said, not sounding convincing in the slightest. I shrugged off his comment and stared out the window, watching calmly as the world flew by my eyes.
'That's us,' he said - the car coming to a hault in a car park. I leaned back and grabbed my bag from the backseat before getting out of the car and making my way to the doors of the studio. Hot on my trail, he followed me to the door and stood awkwardly as I gazed into the building and then down at the floor.
'I'll pick you up at 4, see you later.' He opened his arms for a hug which I didn't want. Turning swiftly, I hurried into the studio.
I went to the lockers and took one on the second row, tossing my jacket inside. I slipped off my joggers to reveal black leggins, pulled my hair up into a tight but and removed my loose t-shirt to reveal a tight strap top. I tossed the clothes into the locker before inserting $1 and locking it.
I entered the hall and took a seat next to the other girls. The teacher rose from behind the piano and counted heads before beginning the workshop. 'Okay girls, today is a ballet workshop to help you get a scholarship. It's 5 hours of relentless dancing and I want to see your all. If I like what you do, I'll send a letter of recommendation to the performing arts college in the city. Stretch off and we'll being shorty.'
In unison with the other girls, I took to my feet and began to loosen up my muscles. One sufficently stretched, I leaned against the wall and waited for the last few girls to finish.
The teacher - Pamela - soon had us in rows doing pirouettes. We repeated the move over and over, her scruitinising every little flaw. 'Sharper,' she shouted, hands clapping frantically. 'Sloppy, spin faster!' I watched as the first girl crumbled under the criticism, falling to the floor and letting the tears stream down her tanned cheeks. She was around 13 and had dirty blonde hair which had been tied up in an incredibly tight bun. 'Up,' demanded the teacher, 'out you get.' The girl pulled herself up and ran out of the room, I turned to realise that the other girls had taken no notice.
'Stop,' she commanded. She posed and gestured for us to copy it, which we did. She strolled through us and fixed any imperfections. She poked one girl's leg, pushed another's shoulders out, sent another out for stepping back on the wrong foot and prodded another in the leg. 'Go to your nearest side,' she exclaimed. We all ran to the nearest side and stood in lines. 'I want you to do a split leap when you reach the centre of the floor, start from the top girl and work your way down,' she said whilst waving her finger at my group, 'and you do the opposite.' she said as she turned to the other set of girls.
The first two girls strided across the wooden floor and threw themselves into the air, forming beautiful shapes as they did so. Their feat landed and at that moment, me and the next girl made our way out. My legs darted in opposite directions as I tossed my head back and held my arms out, soaring through the air. I landed precisely where I planned to and strided to the other side, satisfied with my performance. The rest of the girls went and then Pamela stood in the middle - silent, judgemental.
'You, you and you,' she said, her wrinkly finger landing on me. 'Come out here.' I stepped out along with two other girls and we made our way to where she was standing. Taking hold of our shoulders, she moved us into a line so everyone could see our reflections in the large mirrors. 'Being a dancer requires discipline, something you three obviously don't have. This right here,' she said, pinching my side, 'this is lack of discipline. If you want to become a professional dancer you will have to kiss goodbye to the chocolate, darling.' She scoffed before continuing. 'The moves are much easier to see if they're not hidden in fat. This girl,' she turned to me, requesting my name - I mumbled it, desperately hoping she wouldn't hear. 'Julie needs to loose at least 4 stone before she could even be considered for the scholarship.' I glanced down at my body, 4 stone? I weighed 9 exactly and, according to the Doctor, I was a perfect weight for my height and age. I felt a tear roll down my eye as her words began to cut into me. 'Out,' she shouted at me. I stumbled back, wiping away the tears, and ran to the locker.
'Honey, you haven't touched your dinner,' said my Mum.
'I'm not hungry.'
'What did you have for lunch?'
'Nothing, I wasn't hungry then either.'
'Julie, you are not being excused until at least half of that meal is gone.'
I looked down at the meal which consisted of 4 bits of roast beef and vegetables. As I picked up the fork, Pamela's words became to swirl around my head. I got through exactly half of the food before giving my Mum a dirty look and leaving the room. As I climbed the stairs, I began to feel disgusting. Pamela's right, I do need to loose weight. I stumbled into the toilet and, without hesitation, put my finger down my throat and made myself sick. I breathed out deeply as I fell back from the toilet, struggling to flush it as I had lost all of my energy. I felt terrible, but I also felt a little less disgusting.
'How have you been?' asked my lame excuse for a Dad as he drummed on the steering wheel.
'Fine.'
'I've missed you,' he said, not sounding convincing in the slightest. I shrugged off his comment and stared out the window, watching calmly as the world flew by my eyes.
'That's us,' he said - the car coming to a hault in a car park. I leaned back and grabbed my bag from the backseat before getting out of the car and making my way to the doors of the studio. Hot on my trail, he followed me to the door and stood awkwardly as I gazed into the building and then down at the floor.
'I'll pick you up at 4, see you later.' He opened his arms for a hug which I didn't want. Turning swiftly, I hurried into the studio.
I went to the lockers and took one on the second row, tossing my jacket inside. I slipped off my joggers to reveal black leggins, pulled my hair up into a tight but and removed my loose t-shirt to reveal a tight strap top. I tossed the clothes into the locker before inserting $1 and locking it.
I entered the hall and took a seat next to the other girls. The teacher rose from behind the piano and counted heads before beginning the workshop. 'Okay girls, today is a ballet workshop to help you get a scholarship. It's 5 hours of relentless dancing and I want to see your all. If I like what you do, I'll send a letter of recommendation to the performing arts college in the city. Stretch off and we'll being shorty.'
In unison with the other girls, I took to my feet and began to loosen up my muscles. One sufficently stretched, I leaned against the wall and waited for the last few girls to finish.
The teacher - Pamela - soon had us in rows doing pirouettes. We repeated the move over and over, her scruitinising every little flaw. 'Sharper,' she shouted, hands clapping frantically. 'Sloppy, spin faster!' I watched as the first girl crumbled under the criticism, falling to the floor and letting the tears stream down her tanned cheeks. She was around 13 and had dirty blonde hair which had been tied up in an incredibly tight bun. 'Up,' demanded the teacher, 'out you get.' The girl pulled herself up and ran out of the room, I turned to realise that the other girls had taken no notice.
'Stop,' she commanded. She posed and gestured for us to copy it, which we did. She strolled through us and fixed any imperfections. She poked one girl's leg, pushed another's shoulders out, sent another out for stepping back on the wrong foot and prodded another in the leg. 'Go to your nearest side,' she exclaimed. We all ran to the nearest side and stood in lines. 'I want you to do a split leap when you reach the centre of the floor, start from the top girl and work your way down,' she said whilst waving her finger at my group, 'and you do the opposite.' she said as she turned to the other set of girls.
The first two girls strided across the wooden floor and threw themselves into the air, forming beautiful shapes as they did so. Their feat landed and at that moment, me and the next girl made our way out. My legs darted in opposite directions as I tossed my head back and held my arms out, soaring through the air. I landed precisely where I planned to and strided to the other side, satisfied with my performance. The rest of the girls went and then Pamela stood in the middle - silent, judgemental.
'You, you and you,' she said, her wrinkly finger landing on me. 'Come out here.' I stepped out along with two other girls and we made our way to where she was standing. Taking hold of our shoulders, she moved us into a line so everyone could see our reflections in the large mirrors. 'Being a dancer requires discipline, something you three obviously don't have. This right here,' she said, pinching my side, 'this is lack of discipline. If you want to become a professional dancer you will have to kiss goodbye to the chocolate, darling.' She scoffed before continuing. 'The moves are much easier to see if they're not hidden in fat. This girl,' she turned to me, requesting my name - I mumbled it, desperately hoping she wouldn't hear. 'Julie needs to loose at least 4 stone before she could even be considered for the scholarship.' I glanced down at my body, 4 stone? I weighed 9 exactly and, according to the Doctor, I was a perfect weight for my height and age. I felt a tear roll down my eye as her words began to cut into me. 'Out,' she shouted at me. I stumbled back, wiping away the tears, and ran to the locker.
'Honey, you haven't touched your dinner,' said my Mum.
'I'm not hungry.'
'What did you have for lunch?'
'Nothing, I wasn't hungry then either.'
'Julie, you are not being excused until at least half of that meal is gone.'
I looked down at the meal which consisted of 4 bits of roast beef and vegetables. As I picked up the fork, Pamela's words became to swirl around my head. I got through exactly half of the food before giving my Mum a dirty look and leaving the room. As I climbed the stairs, I began to feel disgusting. Pamela's right, I do need to loose weight. I stumbled into the toilet and, without hesitation, put my finger down my throat and made myself sick. I breathed out deeply as I fell back from the toilet, struggling to flush it as I had lost all of my energy. I felt terrible, but I also felt a little less disgusting.
Notes
thank you for all the support & for reading!hope you are all doing well!
(I bought The Fault In Our Stars today... w o w)
:)<3
aw, haha:3 check out the sequel! It's not over yet...
6/27/13