Dress Rehearsal by Brianna Stark

Author:Brianna Stark [Stark, Brianna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781777006785
Publisher: Stark Publishing
Published: 2020-08-11T16:00:00+00:00

Kent is at the Lincoln studio when we arrive. He’s marking out the theater dimensions on the hardwood floor. There’s an empty water bottle placed downstage right, a chair at downstage left, a black Chelsea boot at upstage right, and he takes off his other black boot and places it at upstage left.

“This is around the size we have to work with. It’s tighter than what we originally anticipated. Apparently the white dance floor we worked with in “Push the Limit”, two seasons ago, was damaged while in storage, and there isn’t enough time to order a new one.” Kent scratches the back of his neck in agitation. Clearly, he is choosing to bypass the ‘eviction notice’ topic.

“We were…” I am about to say “just at Driven.” I want to know what Kent knows about the eviction notice. But Jonas gives me a look that warns me to focus on the rehearsal time we desperately need.

I kick off my shoes. This is so fucked up.

The studio smells like dirty feet. The wood floors have black and pink marks all over them. There’s a small strip of mirror that only covers half the wall and is cracked in the right bottom corner.

I place my hand on a rickety barre and my ankles pop as my knees bend into plié. I do my own warm-up as Jonas does his, which is faster and includes push-ups and squats. I stick to a version of Katherine’s old barre, ignoring the hole in my heart where her tough orders once were. Katherine and I were never that close. She kept her distance from the dancers, but I have a lot of respect for her.

I look at Jonas in a hamstring stretch on the floor, and he looks away with a tic in his jaw. Ouch.

“Ready to start?” Kent addresses us.

The start of rehearsal comes as a relief. I need something to bury myself into—other than Jonas, of course.

We walk to the center of the marked space. Kent rubs his hands together then looks at Jonas in shock.

“What the fuck happened to your face?” Kent barks.

“I walked into a…” Jonas tenses, and I jump in.

“Yuck, yeah, it was awful. We were walking down Forty-Second and I dropped my dance bag, so he turned around to get it, and then when he stood up—you know that stupid sign on—”

Kent holds up his hand. “Forget I asked. Let’s just hope the color goes down by tomorrow. We need to go through the choreography.” Kent shakes his head, as though he’s on his very last nerve.

Jonas clears his throat and adjusts his sweats.

“From the beginning?” I raise my shoulders with a gulp. I am dreading this run due to all the awkwardness between us.

Kent gives us a serious look, which we take as a yes, and then I look at Jonas. He looks as uncomfortable as I am.

Jonas places his hand on my collarbone, and I swallow. I stiffen at his touch. It makes my skin come alive, and I have to breathe through the tension and sensation to focus.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.