A few weeks had passed since Aria had joined the world and Andy couldn't have been more satisfied with how his life was going. The band was making new music and planned to have an album be released soon. Carolyn's father had apologized and the two had made up. And now, he had a beautiful daughter to hold, and teach the ways of rock and roll.

As hard as Carolyn tried, she couldn't seem to be completely happy. She was so glad that Aria was healthy and just as beautiful as her father. She was happy that Andy was home to be with their daughter. Everything was falling into place, except one aspect of her life that was still off. She needed to dance. Without dance in her life, she was lost. She didn't know where her life was headed and her brain twisted into knots of confusion without dance to clear and ease her mind.

Andy was in the kitchen feeding Aria with a bottle and her dad was sitting at the island, reading the newspaper as he normally would if he were at home. Carolyn stood in front of the mirror in her bedroom, clad in all her dance clothes. Her hair was up in a tight bun, her leotard was black and cinched around her waist was a pink ballet skirt. Her legs were covered in pink tights and stuck on her feet were a pair of Vans because she didn't want to get her ballet shoes ruined in the street. Today was the day to start looking for auditions.

Carolyn sighed, before breaking her gaze from the mirror and swinging her dance bag over her shoulder. She entered the hallway and slowly approached the kitchen, hoping no one would spot her leaving.

"Carolyn," Her dad spoke, not even taking a five second glance her way. He just had that fatherly instinct programmed into his senses. "Where are you going?"

Carolyn looked back at her father and then over to Andy with Aria in his arms. "An audition..." She admitted, hanging her head.

"You're leaving me to take care of this baby all by myself?" Andy gaped.

Carolyn slumped her shoulders, letting her bag fall to the floor. "You both know that I need to start up again and try to find work."

"I'm making enough money to support all of us." Andy objected.

Carolyn was taken aback by Andy's comment. She figured of all people, he would understand how much her dancing meant to her. "This isn't all about you, Andy." She snapped back. "I want to work. I want to dance. It's what I was born to do."

Andy handed Aria off to Carolyn's father and stepped closer to Carolyn. "Really? It's all about me?" He kept walking forward, causing her to involuntarily step back. "Because, I don't know if you noticed, but we have a four week old baby now. It's not all about you either, Carolyn."

Aria started to whimper in her grandfather's arms as Andy's shouting got louder. Carolyn sympathized with her daughter. Andy's shouting made her want to cry as well. She had never seen him so angry before.

"Go to your audition, Carolyn." Her father interrupted. "We'll talk through this later."

Carolyn whipped around and stormed out of the apartment. She couldn't believe Andy. He should have understood her passion for her career. He had the same passion for his music. All she wanted to do was take advantage of her father's presence for the mean time so she could go out and snag a contract with a ballet company. She knew it would be a lot of work and long hours, but she thought maybe she could compromise with the company director. Maybe.


****


"Stop, stop." The director held up his hand and stopped the music.

Carolyn slumped down and rested her hands on her knees, looking up into the bright stage lights. Her face glistened with sweat and her body and feet ached from the amounts of stress she was enforcing.

She watched the two artistic directors whisper to one another before the head director looked back at Carolyn's anxious face.

"Well, darling, I'm going to be completely honest with you." He began. "Your body, it's just... It's not in ballerina shape. Your stomach appears very bloated. It's a wonder how you get up on pointe with that core. Your technique is sloppy and you really need to work on placing your arms."

"I can do better." She confirmed. "Just let me--"

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, we just don't have time for this. Improve your skill and lose the belly fat and come back and talk to us."

Carolyn shook her head as she turned and walked off the stage. That was a complete waste of her time and now she felt like complete shit. She tried to blink back the tears but let them fall onto the dusty floor anyway. It was no use. The had already torn her pride, dignity, and confidence to shreds. There was nothing left. She had gone from being the best dancer at Julliard with a bright future, to a poor, pathetic dancer with nothing left but a pair of worn down pointe shoes.

Notes

So yeah. That happened.

Shout outs:

-This Is Our Sweet Blasphemy
-Kvengeance
-fallenangel