Arrows by Melissa Gorzelanczyk Page B

happiness filled me, then hurried to stop the music, which had started over, and got my pointe shoes. “Ready to learn your parts?”
    “I have no idea.”
    Juliette stood before him and held out her arms. “In the beginning you’ll stand like this. Karma will dance her parts around you. You’ll go”—she moved his arm position twice—“and then she’ll stand here.” She glanced over her shoulder and waved me into his arms. There was just enough space for me to fit between his hands and chest, like we were at a middle school dance, leaving the exact amount of inches between our bodies. His hands hovered along the sides of my hips.

    Juliette tipped me forward, supporting my weight with her hand in the center of my chest. “The pirouette will only work if you lean forward while he holds you steady.”
    “Hold her steady where, exactly?” Aaryn asked.
    Juliette reached around me and took Aaryn’s hands. One. Two.
    She pressed them over my hips.
    “Like this.”
    His touch was gentle. Juliette pushed his wrists down, her mouth very straight, probably not so sure if this was going to work. His chest grazed my shoulder blades. The next second we were standing arm’s distance apart.
    “Hold her tight, Aaryn. Do not be afraid to hold her. This pirouette is simple compared to the lift you’ll practice, and lifts can be dangerous.”
    In the reflection of the windows, Aaryn squeezed my hips to show that he understood. My breathing was very, very shaky from the last piece.
    Juliette walked backward and used a hand-rolling motion. “Karma, try the pirouette and I’ll see how your angles are.”
    I rose onto the shoe boxes, though lifting my arms I accidentally bumped Aaryn’s nose.
    “Oh my God, no.” Juliette shook her head. “Start over.”
    Could she tell that my arms were trembling?
    “Hey,” Aaryn said. “We’ve got this.” His mouth nearly touched my skin.
    With a sharp inhale, I was up in an attitude en avant with my leg lifted and bent at the knee, as perfect as one of those glass ballerinas on a music box. Ready for the pirouette—the position I’d practiced since I was a little girl. Instead of his gaze, I met my own in the reflection and saw the fearless dancer I’d become over the years. Shining Waters was always the place I could shed being a mother and a student and a confused girlfriend. I could become the other part of me. I could be flawless.

    “Lean her forward, Aaryn,” Juliette said. She seemed to be holding her breath. “Remember, you have to hold her. You are in control.”
    He was strong. The ease he held me with was surprising, like maybe he understood more about dance than I thought, lies and all. He instinctively tilted my torso. I didn’t wait for Juliette’s cue. He had me, I could feel it, the way his fingertips dented the curve of my hip. My pointed toe sank toward the floor and with strong legs I pushed, hard.
    He let go so I could spin, then took me back and held me, keeping us steady and sharp.
    “That was good!” Juliette didn’t even try to hide her shock. Aaryn laughed a little, his arms falling to his sides.
    “Well done,” I said, and coaxed his fingertips into mine, enjoying the way his grin faded as I placed his hands over my hips once again. Slowly I turned my back to him.
    The reflection, that’s where I got his attention. A distant, ghostly image. I stretched my arms up with confidence. The trembling was gone.
    “Again,” I said.
    We did. Two times. Three.
    Each pirouette helped our bodies understand each other—the callus on his palm, the slender shape of my hips as I spun. I was breathing heavily, but I didn’t feel tired. I wanted more.
    I stumbled forward at the sound of rocks spraying in the driveway. A truck had pulled in. Aaryn grabbed me so I wouldn’t fall, my back pressing into his chest as he squeezed.

    “I think Danny’s here,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. He’d never come to dance before.
    “So he wants to do the pas de