Breaking Away (Assassins, #5)(31)
“Okay, I had therapy today, so stupid.”
Reese laughed as Claire sat on the floor, stretching her legs out.
“It’s supposed to help you.”
“I don’t need help. Shit happened, I’m fine.”
Squatting down, Reese went to her eye level, but Claire wouldn’t look at her as she asked, “Do you want to talk about it?”
Claire looked up and then rolled her eyes.
“Hell no, why would I want to do that? I just want to dance, that’s all.”
Letting her shoulders fall, Reese said, “You know I’m here.”
“I know,” Claire said offhandedly as she reached for her foot. When Reese didn’t say anything, Claire looked up and smiled.
“I’m fine, I promise. As your sister always tells me, things can only get better.”
“She’s right; you’re very lucky to have everything you do now.”
Claire shrugged her shoulders as she said, “Now I do—where was it all eleven years ago?”
Reese cocked her head to the side, confused.
“What do you mean?”
Claire shook her head, reaching for her other foot.
“Just that I never would have needed therapy if Phillip would have come for me a while back. I get that I cause a lot of the crap I’ve done, but a lot of it was my mom. If I had Phillip back then, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I would be normal. Instead, I’m scared that I’ll end up like my mom, and I don’t want that. At all.”
It was the first time Claire had said more than a sentence at once and each word broke Reese’s heart. She didn’t understand how something like that could happen to a child. Reese was brought up in a loving home, one that gave her guidance, believed in her dreams, and helped push her to follow those dreams. Her parents and sisters were the best and she knew that all kids weren’t as lucky as she was, but she had a feeling that Claire had it worse than she could imagine.
“I don’t think Phillip would let that happen to you, but most of all, I won’t. I am going to give you all the opportunities in the world, which reminds me!”
Reese got up and went to the area that held random stuff, along with the iHome. Grabbing a file, she turned and grinned at Claire as she said, “You are off probation, and you are now a Reese Allen Dancer!”
Claire raised an eyebrow as she said, “That probation was for real?”
“Uh… yeah!”
“Oh, okay.”
Reese made a face.
“You’re supposed to be excited.”
Claire’s mouth turned up on the side before she softly said, “I am.”
“You sure don’t act like it.”
Claire looked up at Reese and gave her a real smile, with teeth and bright eyes. She said, “I really am. Does this mean I get to go to real classes and stuff?”
Reese was giddy as she said, “Yes, and you get to compete, too. I have a lot of stuff in mind for you!”
“Yay,” she said with a little wave in the air. It was all a show, but it still made Reese smile.
“So, today, we are gonna learn a new routine for your solo. Tomorrow will be your group classes. You can’t miss those or be late, okay?”
Claire shrugged. “Okay.”
“And then I am thinking of doing a duet, but I can’t figure out if I want a boy one or a girl. Still messing around with things in my head.”
“Okay,” Claire said again, standing up and stretching her arms.
“Are you ready for this? You’ll be eating and breathing dance for a while. Over the summer, it will slow down, but it will pick up again in the fall.”
“I’m ready,” she said confidently, causing Reese’s heart to swell. She wanted so desperately for this girl to succeed and do something great with her life.
“Awesome, only one thing left before we get started for today!” Reese said with a grin, opening the file and pulling the pen off the paper.
“Yeah?”
She smiled as she took a deep breath. She had been asking this same question for weeks and prayed that today’s answer would be different. Looking up at Claire, she asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Claire looked down at the ground, pushing up on the tip of her toes. She didn’t say anything for a few minutes, and Reese let her have her time. She needed it, so Reese waited until, finally, Claire looked up, her eyes shiny with tears, as she said, “I want to be a choreographer with big-named artists or maybe Vegas shows or something. I want to be known around the world for the amazing dances I come up with. I want to be like you.”
Reese felt the rush of tears to her own eyes and somehow kept them in as she nodded, writing down what Claire said. She wanted to hug the girl, she wanted to tell her that she was going to make her dreams come true, but most of all, she wanted to call Phillip and tell him about it. She wished he were here; he would have loved to have heard Claire say that, to want dreams and aspirations. Looking up, she smiled so brightly at Claire that she was sure her face was going to break, saying, “Let’s get to work on making those dreams come true.”
Suddenly, Claire’s arms came around her, and she froze as Claire hugged her tightly. When Claire whispered, “Thank you,” Reese was surprised the tears didn’t rush down her face. She knew that the ice between her and Claire had broken. It also meant that even though she hadn’t wanted anything to happen between her and Phillip before, now, she knew for a fact nothing could happen. She was in too far with this girl, and she couldn’t risk losing her because of a stupid breakup between her and Phillip. Not that she wanted to date him, but she couldn’t risk anything happening between them.