Giselle

ACT 1

The pointe shoes hit the wooden floor in perfect time. It made for a rhythmical drumming amidst the piano that was being played from the corner of the room. The dancers moved one after the other across the center of the room.

"Give us a little more lift, Nina, show us how it's done." clapped the older instructor, a woman called Natalia, turning to the line of young women about to begin again. "Veronica, go, and give us a proper jeté. En deuxième arabesque, les filles. Mind your arms."

Out of breath and heart pounding against her neck, Nina caught her breath on the other side of the room, facing her reflection as the rest of the girls went. Her fingers trailed against the pane of the mirror as she watched the rest of the dancers jump out of the corner of her eye.

"Good. Good." Natalia clapped loudly and the piano playing ended.

The last of the dancers landed softly to the ground, wooden shoes lightly tapping in the silence as she moved rapidly from the centre to join the other women.

"That is enough. We will meet back in forty."

The grey fire doors of the well lit practice room swung open and close heavily as everybody left, a nervous chatter resounding in the air, quite different from the lyrical piano playing moments earlier.

Nina grabbed her things and spent a few moments focusing on her breathing as she sped alongside the mirror. For a first day back, the familiarity was at once undoubtedly easy and yet crushingly terrifying. Nina glanced into the mirror in a moment of vanity just before leaving the practice room, her bag slung casually over her shoulders.

She had hoped this day would never come. Time to hang up the ribbons, the wooden boxes, the blisters and the injuries up and take up cooking, or something. Resolutely, she had wished her world goodbye, relief pouring over her as blood pooled onstage.

But her recovery had been unlike anything any in the Company had ever seen. Within a month she was back on her feet (wobbly, like a deer caught in the headlights, wide eyed and disbelieving.)

A voice drew her out of her thoughts. "Lily! Lily! You're back!" The girls ahead in the grey cement hallway were squealing with joy, turning around a corner that Nina could not see. Almost imperceptibly Nina could hear Lily's voice: "Yeah, my flight from Cali was late. Again! Did I miss anything good?" And then the voices of the others gleefully responding...

Nina quickly turned back and headed for another way out.

For the audition, she unwrapped new pointes from the light beige papier de soie. She had half heartedly taken them the night before and shoved them in her bag. They were her last unused pair from the previous season.

They were not quite broken in, and not quite ready for her feet. As she wrapped her toes in wool, the other soloists walked into the principal studio, chatting and laughing. Nina looked up briefly before gingerly placing her left foot into her the wooden shoe. She couldn't think of a sensation that brought more conflicting feelings. Despite the rigidity of the brand new box, Nina couldn't help the delight bubbling up in her chest.

Her first day in the studio, her first day on pointe in months. Thomas knew of her circumstance, she knew that she would not be expected to shine.

Nina could not tell if this pleased her or not. She wrapped the pink ribbon firmly around her left ankle and moved to place the right one on properly.

The door swung open abruptly and the last of the soloists entered the room.

A familiar voice made Nina look up. "The weather was kind of a drag, actually. Just too hot, I felt like a lazy bum all summer, I think I'm finally getting used to East Cost living you know?"

Breathing in deeply, she bit her lip and looked back down.

It was her sixth year with the company and nobody was more surprised than Nina at her still being there.

She stood up, working out the stiffness as she rose like a cat from her crossed legged position on the floor.

In first position, she closed her eyes, took a breath, opened her eyes once more to her reflection and in one smooth relevé was on pointe again.

Thomas and Natalia and several other choreographers and directors walked in, and set up a bench to watch the soloists. A few male dancers walked in as well, picked for the partner pieces. As everybody set up, Nina was quite thoroughly lost in the sensation of being on her toes again. The morning during the warm up at the barre and in the centre she'd been on demi pointe, feeling slightly isolated from the other dancers who seemed to be floating effortlessly around her as she stepped back into the water, ready to attack the waves.

She twirled slowly, staying on pointe, her ankles already feeling the strain. Taking care not to stress her legs, she executed a few more relevés and stretched her legs out by her sides.

Thomas glanced her way and she was quite careful to meet his gaze. He had put a lot of faith in her once, and though he had had little choice in her staying in the Company, he was visibly apprehensive.

Lily walked by Nina, a genuine smile on her lips. "Hey!" she exclaimed into the reflection. "You ready?"

Nina got off her toes and met her former alternate's gaze.

Lily raised an eyebrow. "Well it's now or never, right?" Her grin was intact, but not unkind. "You'll do great."

"Thanks." Nina almost whispered. "You too."

"We'll have to catch up, hmm? Maybe we should get a drink sometime." Lily said, eyes sparkling. Tying her light brown hair above her head, she turned and walked away. Nina craned her neck to watch her leave, an indescribable feeling fogging her mind.

Thomas clapped his hands and spoke, his voice like a boombox in the echoing studio. "Okay girls. Let's begin."

She's not picked for the lead, which was to be expected. Her audition is even less successful than her disastrous one last season. She is unable to do the fouttés on anything more than demi pointe, and she stumbles three times during the dévelopés. Thomas sighs and places his hands behind his head, thanks her and asks her to return to the side.

As Nina watches Lily execute every grand jeté with ghostly airlessness, she watches Thomas face of relief as her formal rival becomes the new Company star.

A phantom pain in her stomach surges and her breath hitches.

Nina unties the soft ribbons of her pointe shoes and tears them off. While Thomas and the other directors review each other dancer, she fights the urge to grab her things and leave.

As she watches Lily's infectious smile and the effortless way she charms everyone around her, a cold shiver crawls up her arms.

ACT 2

The mirror stares back at her faithfully. Nina picks it up faithfully, fingers lightly brushing against the edges, before placing it on the bed next to a small pile of miscellaneous things to take with her.

"Nina, you don't... You've got to be kidding me. You've hardly been back on your feet, this is much too soon... Nina. Nina, stop. This isn't wise!"

Nina lets Erika speak as she takes another duffel back from the closet. She's bought three new large bags over the past three weeks for this purpose. Finally she has enough to fit all of her dance clothes and shoes, the little street clothes she owns, needles, hair products, jewelry, books, manuals, and two journals from her childhood.

"This is quite possibly the worst idea I've ever heard! I'm... Nina. Nina put that back!"

Nina looks at the object between her fingers. It's a spare roll of ribbons.

"I need this, mom."

"Just...how do you expect to get back on your feet without help, Nina?"

Nina zipped her last duffel bag closed. "I'm on my feet already."

The statement, while valid, only seems to infuriate Erica more. Her eyes are gleaming with tears and her black, long clothes sway as she collapses in a chair by the door.

"I can't let you leave. You don't know how to live alone. You don't know what it's like."

Nina looks at the dejected Erika muttering through tears by her bed. Unflinchingly, she takes her belongings and walks out.

Downstairs, she pushes the doors of her building open with her shoulder. The sky is grey. It is not raining heavily - the droplets fall lazily. Nina places the two largest duffel bags on the curb and sits on them. The rain falls on her neck, exposed. She'd packed her scarves, and was not bothered enough to fish one out.

Her cell phone vibrates in her pocket. She flips it open.

"Incoming voice call: Mom", the display reads.

Sighing, she shuts the cell phone off and closes the lid. For a few moments, her hand hovers, leaning against her knee, fingers enclosing the phone...and then she lets her arm go limp. One by one her fingers loosen and the cellphone drops onto the street, where it rolls and splashes into the gutter.

She'll get a new phone eventually. A new number. A cab finally stops and the cabby picks up her suitcases and asks her where she wants to go.

She thinks about it for a moment as she slides into the backseat. She gives the cabby the name to a small but nice hotel on the Upper East Side near the park.

The room smells like a hotel room. It's better than a hospital room, and it's better than her room at home. It smells clean, with a hint of something flowery. She lowers the air conditioning strength almost as soon as she walks into room 12.

She showers and changes and spends a moment on the crisp, fluffy sheets of the hotel bed. Lying down and facing the ceiling, she presses her cheek against the light blue sheet and stares out the window.

The sun is peaking through the rain, and Nina smiles.

She starts to laugh. It feels absolutely lovely.

Getting up, Nina puts on a pair of jeans she hasn't worn in months, and pulls on a black sweater. She sees the duffel bags strewn across the floor and resolves to pack everything as soon as she returns.

Grabbing her wallet and her key card, Nina leaves the room, shutting the door delicately behind her.

"Nina?" a perplexed voice calls out amongst the raindrops. "What are you doing here?"

Turning around, Nina quickly tucks her long brown hair behind her ears. Lily catches up to her, a light brown leather jack nearly falling off her shoulders. In one hand Lily's carrying a small purple umbrella, and every step she takes is marked by a soft clic of a high heel on the cement sidewalk.

Nina feels like a wide eyed animal having spotted a predator advancing. She tries her best not to sound breathless. "Walking."

"No, I mean, what are you doing in this part of town?"

Nina does wonder what is so extraordinary about her being here, of all places. Perhaps because there is no precedent of this kind of afternoon for her. She rarely strolls, spending an afternoon in the light breeze on a showery August day.

On the street next to the pair, traffic stalls and drivers start swearing at each other brashly.

"I'm staying at a hotel nearby." Nina says, difficultly speaking over the noise, "I just decided to take a walk."

Lily's face clears with understanding, and her slow smile of comprehension sneaks to her mouth.

"Well," she said, something like determination creeping on her face, "I have a wonderful idea. Come out to dinner with me? And then I'm meeting some friends at a bar. Galina said she might drop by too."

Nina nods slowly at first. "Where are we going?"

"Come on, I don't feel like walking after a whole first day back at the studio. Let's grab a cab." Lily motions to the four way intersection not too far ahead, and walks by Nina quickly.

Lily's hand trails along Nina's arm for no more than a brief moment. Nonetheless through the soft fabric of the black sweater Nina feels the feather light touch and shivers.

"You know, I'm really glad you are back on your feet. How'd you feel about this afternoon?"

Nina doesn't respond that it feels like the audition had happened centuries ago. She shrugs instead.

"So what's with all this white ballet era stuff? It's like Thomas is having a huge Romantic boner these days. Maybe we should just say melodramatic instead of romantic..."

The chatter continues, about ballet, about men, about San Francisco. Nina finds herself half listening. The other half of her mind is nowhere to be found. For the rest of the cab ride, she finds herself enjoying the sound of Lily speaking animatedly.

Galina, another dancer in the Company, complains none too loudly at Lily for having dragged Nina to the trendy Soho bar. The other friends of Lily's have no idea who she is or what she's done and ask her questions about dancing and Lily's crazy life. Nina doesn't let too much sink in - the ambiance is relaxed and soaks through her. They are on an outside patio and amidst the cigarette smoke and smell of summer and perfume there is still the August breeze cooled with rain. And Lily smiles with blazing eyes and Nina finds herself unable to remember which way the ground is and which way's the sky.

The next morning her sheets are ruffled and she orders up orange juice and toasted bagels to her room.

"Who needs mother when you've got room service?" she smiles to herself while brushing her teeth.

She pulls out the largest duffel bag containing all of her dance clothes and sorts through what she wants to wear quickly. She has to warm up and stretch for a good bit before heading down to the subway.

As Nina is on the floor and is stretched out in a full split, forehead gently pressed against her knee as she works out the seemingly eternal aching from her stiff legs. She hears the shuffling of sheets, and a muffled sound not unlike a hum or a pleased moan from the bed.

She straightens her back and twists to gaze at her empty sheets.

There is a knock on the door. It's her orange juice and bagels.

Note: First attempt at writing fun stuff in a good while. Ballet terminology is not to be taken too seriously though I shouldn't be too off the mark. This fic will come across like a lot of Nina/Lily stuff out there, especially at first glance, with the fact that I picked Giselle before even reading any of the other fics because I've been studying Les Sylphides and Giselle choreographies for class so I was like "herp derp let's put this in and sounds knowledgeable!" Also, if you dislike lesbians and the fun things they do consider yourself warned.
So yeah, Act 1 and 2 are light and fluffy, but expect the pace to pick up quite a bit.