Gracie walked the familiar path to the dressing room. She tossed her bag that was loosely hung on her shoulder onto the shelf. She looked around the room and memories from her childhood filled her mind. She practically grew up in the walls of this studio. Since the time she was two, she trained nonstop in ballet. Ballet was her everything. It was a source to relieve her stress, the place she met her best friends, and a home away from home.

Now, at the age of 18, this was the last ballet class she would take in this studio. Gracie was accepted into Juilliard, and she would be moving there in the morning. She replaced her warm-ups with her skirt, slipped off her sandals and sat on the bench. She took her time taping her toes and tying her pointe shoe ribbons. She wanted it to be perfect. This was the last time she could show her ballet teachers all that she had learned from them.

Lilly, Gracie’s best friend, walked through the door. She quickly threw her bag down and ran to where Gracie was sitting. “I really can’t believe this is our last class together.” Lilly whispered as she embraced Gracie. “I know, but remember what we promised? We have to skype each other all the time! Maybe every day.” Gracie replied. They both knew as they went their separate ways they would drift apart. Neither of them could deny that California and New York might be too far to remain as close as they were.

The dressing room flooded with girls when the class before them let out. It was time for Gracie’s last class here. She walked into the studio and caught a glimpse of herself in one of the mirrors. Her dark hair was pulled back into a neat bun, her mascara made her eyelashes look miles long, and her pointe shoes were well worn. She took her favorite spot at the barre next to Lilly. The teacher walked in and she began the music. Gracie felt herself come alive. She easily moved in time with music as she did her pliés.

When it was time to go to center, Gracie could already feel her blisters on her feet reopen, her legs ached, and she was sweating. She was used to this feeling, all ballerinas are. A ballerina’s job is to make it look easy and painless, but all dancers know the truth is the exact opposite. She found herself in the front of the room doing her turns. Her head whipped around and around as she turned. Gracie was blessed with being a natural at ballet. Everything she did looked effortless.
When it was time to move onto jumps, everyone moved to the side of the room so they could go across the floor. Leah, a tall blonde with piercing blue eyes, moved to stand next to Gracie. Although these girls had danced together from the beginning, they were never friends. “So I heard you got into Juilliard. Now what I can’t figure out is why they let someone like you in,” Leah said with a glare. “Jealousy is a sickness, Leah. Feel better soon,” Gracie said with a sarcastic smile as she took her place to go across the floor.
The music ended and Gracie took one last look at all the girls in ballet class. They felt more like family and she knew that this would probably be the last time they would all be together. All of the girls got together and took a quick picture. After class, she thanked the teacher and walked back into the dressing room to change and grab her bag. Lilly and Gracie planned to go out to dinner together one last time. Gracie walked out of the studio. As she passed the head shots hung on the wall and the flyers on announcement board, she took a mental note to remember this place because this was where she got her start. She knew that one day she would be a lead soloist at a big company and she didn’t want to forget her roots.
Gracie got into the car and tossed her cell phone into the passenger seat. She pulled out of the parking lot and started heading towards the restaurant to meet Lilly. As she sang along to the radio, she saw her phone light up. She saw the light ahead was green so she turned her head and reached over to grab her phone. She looked back up and saw the headlights coming towards her. Horns were blaring, but then everything was black and absolutely quiet.
Gracie’s eyes squinted open. Bright florescent lights hung above her. She heard people’s voices frantically yelling instructions at each other. Then the pain hit her. She opened her mouth desperately trying to scream, but no words seemed to come out. Then everything was black again.
When she awoke, Gracie moved her eyes slowly over the room. None of this looked familiar to her. She saw Lilly sitting in the corner. Lilly noticed that Gracie was awake and rushed to her side. Her hair was messily pulled up and her eyes were puffy and smeared with mascara. Gracie asked, “What’s going on? Where am I? Why have you been crying?” Lilly began to cry again as she replied,” You are in the hospital. There was an accident. You drifted into the other lane and a car collided with you head on. The doctors say that...” Lilly’s voice faded into nothing but sobs. “The doctors say what!?” Gracie yelled.
A few nurses came in when they heard Gracie talking. “Oh good, you’re awake,” the nurse said. A doctor carrying a clipboard and folder walked into the room. “Gracie, we have some things to talk about.” “Yes we do! I missed my flight to New York! I should be on campus by now!” Gracie shouted. “Gracie, I am very sorry. The accident caused severe injuries. Your right leg suffered trauma that is irreversible. I’m so sorry to inform you that you will never dance again. You will be lucky if you can regain the strength to walk at a normal pace,” the doctor said. Gracie’s world fell silent. She saw the doctor’s mouth moving but she could not comprehend what he was saying. Tears filled her eyes and spilled over when she began to understand. Soon her body was convulsing was deep sobs.
Gracie sat on her bed with photo albums spread out. It had been six months since the accident and she still could not do simple tasks like walking up a flight of stairs. She examined each picture carefully. She looked at pictures from her very first Nutcracker when she was three. In the picture, she smiled wildly as she held some flowers. She vaguely remembered her mom yelling at her to stop dancing around and pose for a picture. Gracie smiled to herself when she came across a picture of her and Lilly in their first partnering class. They were thirteen and had braces. She flipped to the very last page where she saw the picture that was taken the day of her accident. That was the last day that Gracie danced. A few tears escaped her eyes as she remembered the final pointe.