The Ballerina & The Fighter (Book 1) (6 page)

I raised my thumb to caress
her lips. “It’s all right. We’ll only do what you’re comfortable with doing.”

“But…”

“No buts, Ivy. I’ll do
anything for you.”

“You’re too good to me.”

“No, you’re too good for me,
so I damn well better treat you right.”

She smiled and I couldn’t
help but kiss her. Then I sat up and grabbed her t-shirt where I’d dropped it
on the bed and pulled it back over her head. “I don’t usually dress girls ya
know. But I like dressing you.”

She grinned. “Damn straight.
And thank you.”

I stood up and grabbed my
t-shirt where I’d thrown it on the floor. Holding out my hand to her I said,
“Come on I’ll drive you back.”

“It’s such a beautiful night.
There’s no rush, let’s walk instead.”

Damn I found myself falling
in love with this girl. How the hell did that happen! I smiled at her and
squeezed her hand. “Good idea.”

Chapter Six

Ivy

I breathed a sigh of relief
as we left his room. Glad he understood my hesitancy. In truth, I was still
unsure of him. I knew I was falling in love with him, but he scared me with
that fight. Yet after the way he handled me, changing my mind about getting
away from him, I knew I could trust him.

It was just he was leaving
soon. I had no idea if our relationship would survive him being out of the
country. And the kind of rigorous dance schedule I’d have in the fall wasn’t
helpful to sustaining a relationship. Especially a long distance
cross-continents one. I was glad when Maze agreed to walk me home, we could
spend more time together. We stayed on the street though instead of taking the
beach to get to my house, it would have been faster, but I didn’t want to run
in to those guys again.

I glanced over at Maze and
caught him looking at me and grinned. The spark was still there between us,
connecting us, just like the first time I’d seen him on the beach. At first I
hadn’t been able to say anything. The ache in my gut was one I’d never felt
before, yes he was gorgeous, but it was more than that. Like something inside
of me recognized him. I shook my head. What the hell am I thinking? We’re both
so young. Too young, and there was a lot of stuff we had to get through before
we could even deal with anything deep. The sounds of an ambulance coming closer
broke the peace of the night, and had my heart racing. The screeching sound
grated on my nerves.

“That’s not a noise you hear
around here very often,” Maze said.

“No.” I hoped it didn’t have
anything to do with earlier tonight. My anxiety level kicked up again as I
remembered the fight. When we neared the street my rental was on we could smell
smoke, and then we saw it in the distance away from my neighborhood.

“Come on,” Maze said. “Let’s
see what’s going on. That looks like it’s coming from that path between the
complexes.”

As I walked beside him, I
realized he was right. We took a short cut toward the path and as we got nearer
the noise from the ambulance told us we were headed in the right direction.
That and the smoke. The closer we got the stronger the smell of burning rubber.

“Oh my God!” I said, “Do you
think someone went off the path?”

“Don’t know.”

Suddenly my body felt flush,
not like it had been before. A cold snake slithered down my spine. I began to
move faster toward the spectacle. There were a lot of people around now heading
toward the area, but I shoved them out of the way. I had to get closer. Had to
see for myself. It couldn’t be what I was thinking.
Impossible.
There was an ambulance and a fire truck blocking the
path. The vehicles were too wide, there was no way they could have driven on
it. It was barely wide enough for the golf carts. I snuck my way around the
fire truck, I felt Maze’s hand still holding mine, anchoring me in my weird
reality.

A fireman finally noticed us
and stepped in front of me. “I’m sorry, miss but you can’t go any farther.
Please step back.”

“What…what happened?” I
asked. My voice was shaky, and again for the night my body began to tremble.
Dread flooding my brain. I opened my mouth to take in more air but it got
filled with smoke instead.

“A golf cart went over the
side.”

“Did it explode?” The
question came from Maze behind me. His hand still in mine, the other now rested
on my shoulder.

“We’re not sure what
exploded. We’re trying to get the fire out and get down there. So please step
back.”

I raised my head and glanced
around looking for a familiar face. I saw my mom and dad and Shelly’s parents.
I made my way over to them. My mother reached for me and hugged me. It was only
then I let go of Maze’s hand. “There you are,” Mom said.

“Where’s Shelly?” I asked.

Shelly’s mom looked at me.
“We thought she was with you.”

I shook my head. “We…we were
together but…but got separated.”

“We’ll talk about you all
leaving each other later, young lady,” my mother said. “Right now let’s find
Shelly.”

“Yes…yes.” I pulled out my
phone and texted her. Usually she’d text right back. We waited for a couple of
minutes and my phone never vibrated. Then I tried calling her, it went straight
to voice mail. I began to shake in my mother’s arms.

“Are you cold, honey?”

But I couldn’t answer her.
The dread that had been coiling in my gut took root and began to spread. I
turned to look at Maze. He must have seen something in my eyes because he said,
“I’ll go see if I can find her.” My parents nodded at him, they’d met him
briefly once one day when Shel and I were tanning with our parents on the
beach, and he stopped by during his run to say hi. I watched him disappear into
the crowd.

I lost track of time, how
long we stayed there I don’t know. Eventually, the firefighters had bright
lights illuminating the area and put the fire out, then they rigged some kind
of rope to get down to the crash site. We couldn’t see anything from the angle
where we were. But a whisper rushed through the crowd.
They were bringing up two bodies.

“Oh God,” I whispered.
Raising my hand to my mouth. With my other hand I checked my phone again.
Nothing. “I…I have to go,” I said. “I have to go find Shelly, she…she’s
probably still at the party.”

I didn’t give my mother a chance
to stop me. I pulled away from her and didn’t turn at the sound of her and my
father calling my name. I pushed my way through the crowd toward the ambulance.
The crowd was too much and the path too narrow, but I made my way up the dune.

I arrived just as they
brought one of the bodies up. Thanks to the bright lights I could clearly see
the scarred leg, blood ran down it. But that’s not what brought the scream up
from the depths of my soul. I recognized the sandaled foot. The rest of the
night and day were a blur to me. There are parts of it I might never recall.
The only thing I remember clearly is coming to in Maze’s arms and then being
surrounded by my mom and the paramedics and Shelly’s mother screaming her name.

EEE

The following two weeks I
wish I could forget. Unfortunately, those weeks I remember it all. Both Shelley
and Tony had died that night. He’d been driving. The coroner’s report indicated
they were both over the legal limit for driving while intoxicated. Not to
mention both were under age. The thing that surprised me the most was Maze. He
called and texted me, my replies to him were more automatic than anything else.
But he showed up at the funeral. I was only able to hug him, he couldn’t return
to the house after the interment. He had to catch the train and be back in
Philly later that night. He left for Japan the next day, his departure date had
been moved up.

I didn’t know if I would ever
see him again. We promised we’d keep in touch. Even though all those feelings I
had for him were still there, I knew they were, but I just couldn’t reach them.
Part of me was numb. Dead even. As dead as Shelly was. I hoped in time I could
move past the numbness. No one blamed me for my part in Shelly’s death. Not her
mother or her father, nor my own parents. I just blamed myself. I should have
stayed with her.

Maze:
‘Sorry haven’t heard from me for awhile but things are really hectic and
intense here. It’s two in the morning and I’m breaking the rules to text you
but I know I hadn’t answered your last text. Just wanted you to know I am
thinking about you and I do miss you just busy. XXX’

I stared at the message for a
few minutes trying to figure out how to respond. If I should respond at all.
I’d been doing a lot of thinking. It’s all I’d been doing. I took a deep breath
and texted back.

Me:
‘No problem miss, you too. Things are pretty hectic here for me. I leave for
New York tomorrow and my life will not be my own for awhile either. XXX’

I pressed send.

The next day I left for New
York with my mom. She got me settled in and then went back home. By the time my
training started I really had no time for texting. No time for much except,
eat, sleep when I could and dance. I immersed myself in it; I did it to honor
my sister of the heart. I would live my dream for the both of us. It was the
only thing that brought me solace and still made sense. There were no phones
allowed in class or at rehearsals. By the time I made it back to my apartment I
shared with one of the other dancers all I wanted to do was sleep and forget.
Over two months I’d gotten two texts from Maze. I only returned one. His last
one said he’d made it through the first round of challenges. If he made it
through the third he’d be accepted into the society of fighters. I wished him
luck. I really did. But in my heart, I knew we were each headed in different
directions, whatever we might have been…well just wasn’t meant to be.

Another month went by before
I heard from him again. He’d made it through the second round. It was almost
Thanksgiving and final auditions were being held in two days for parts in the
Nutcracker. I told him I was being considered for the Sugar Plum fairy. I knew
he had no clue that was the prima role. Over the course of the year I rose in
the ranks and Maze rose in the rounds. We each were on the roads we wanted to
be. Those two weeks we spent together became a distant memory, both fond and
painful. We still texted from time to time, usually birthdays, holidays and Xs
at the end but that was it. Our relationship never had a chance.

Still there were times in the
middle of the night in that place between wake and sleep, I would remember that
night we had together, still feel has arms around me, feel the connection to
this other person that I have never experienced with another. Not even close.
Then I’d remember what happened afterward. I hated those nights cause in the
morning I woke up empty.

Chapter Seven

The Present

Maze

I sat in the balcony, in a
sea of aloneness; I’d bought out the entire box. I didn’t want anyone near me.
I wanted no distractions as I looked down upon the stage and watched Ivy dance.