Dance was my life; it had been since I was four. For 14 years, I did nothing but dance, but for the last four, I taught the young dancers of Pittsburgh. When Abby came to me on my 18th birthday and asked me if I wanted to teach dance the beginner’s class, I couldn’t say no. It had always been my dream to teach and choreograph and that’s what I have been doing for the last four years. Abby wasn’t the easiest person to work for, and the moms weren’t always nice to me, but I loved every minute of it.

“Alex,” Abby’s voice rang out from the door of the studio.

I looked back at her with a small frown, scared of what she wanted to talk to me about, “Yes, Ms. Abby?”

“Alex, you’ve worked with me for four years, you can me Abby,” She said with a smile. “I was wondering how the dance for the showcase was coming?”

I smiled, “The girls loved the idea. They are excited to dance for you, so they are working their butts off.”

“I’m glad,” Abby said with a laugh. “How are the moms? Are they treating you any better?”

I sighed, it was common knowledge that the moms targeted me the most out of the teachers. I guess it was the fact that I was young and they didn’t really trust me, “They are as they always are. Wondering why I give this one a special part and not their daughter. They second-guess my judgment all the time. I have been dancing for 18 years, I know what I’m doing.”

“You have to be tough with them,” She said giving her show them whose boss look. “You’re the teacher for a reason just because they think their daughter is the best dancer out there doesn’t mean they are. Just tell them how it is and don’t take their crap.”

I nodded, “I will.”

“You are a great dancer and teacher and have many titles under your belt, don’t let them get to you,” Abby said with a smile before leaving the studio.

I knew she had a point; I shouldn’t let the mothers get to me but I hate when they criticized my every move. I sighed and put some music on before I started to dance. There were days that I would come into the studio and ask for a space just to dance. It was what relaxed me and relaxing is just what the doctor ordered. Besides the dance moms that I had to deal with, I was also finishing up my degree in theater at University of Pittsburgh and Vero was trying to get me to come to a game. I hadn’t been to a Pens game in over a year and it was hard to find time too. I finished my dance with a sigh before turning the music off and shutting down the studio. I loved dancing but sometimes, I couldn’t find my answers at the studio, I had to find them in the real world, plus I had laundry and cleaning to do before my roommate, Jill, got home. I grabbed my bag and headed out the door and said goodbye to Melissa on my way out the front of the studio. By the time I got back to our apartment, I just wanted to crash, seeing how I had been going since six that morning and it was now nine but I still had laundry, homework, and needed to cook something for dinner. I sighed again and grabbed my laundry and headed down the five flights of stairs to the laundry room. The fact that our apartment didn’t have it’s own laundry facilities but had communal ones in the basement was the thing I hated most about where Jill and I lived. When I got into the laundry room, I noticed that I wasn’t alone tonight; normally I waited into late at night when no one else would be there because I liked doing my laundry in peace. I bit back a giggle when I noticed he was struggling with the machines before I sat my basket down on the table in the middle of the room.

“Do you need help?” I asked with a small smile forming on my lips.

The man turned around, and my breath caught in my throat. Standing in front of me with a very frustrated look on his face was James Neal, the new winger for the Penguins, the same guy that Vero said she wanted to introduce me too. I couldn’t wait to tell her that he lived in my apartment building. James looked me over, I guess trying to read my reaction to him, to see if I knew he who he was before finally opening his mouth to speak, “That would be nice. I had my own washer and dryer at my old place.”

“Oh, I’m Alex by the way,” I said walking over to him with a smile on my lips. “I take it you’re the person who moved into 502.”

He nodded, “Yes, I’m James.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you James,” I said before turning to the washer. “It helps if push and turn the dial at the same time, they are a pain in the butt like that. I’ve been trying to get the building manger to get new machines for years.”

James watched my every move like he was taking notes in his mind on how to do this for the next time, “How long have you been here?”

“Four years,” I said looking at him. “I moved out of my dad’s house when I got my job.”

He smiled, “What do you do?”

“I’m a dance teacher at Abby Lee’s Dance Company. I teach beginners,” I answered as I started my laundry. “I live with my best friend, Jill.”

James chuckled, “So you have to deal with those crazy dance moms?”

“A few,” I said with a laugh. “There are a few that don’t trust me even though I’ve been dancing for 18 years and teaching for four.”

He looked confused for a second then sighed, “I would trust you. If you have been dancing for that long, then they should trust your judgment on things.”

“That’s what Abby says,” I said with a laugh. “Well, I should head back up to my apartment and start some dinner before Jill gets home from work. It was nice meeting you, James.”

James smiled, “It was nice meeting you too, Alex. You should let me take you out to dinner, to say thank you for helping me with the washer.”

“I don’t date guys that I just met, sorry,” I said a blush forming on my cheeks before I turned on my heel and walked out of the laundry room but right before the door I turned and faced him again. “You are going to have to try harder if you really want that date.”

I heard him mumbled something under his breath as I turned on my heel again and headed back up the five flights of stairs to my apartment. When I finally got there, I felt my phone vibrate. I sighed, pulled it out and saw it was a text from Jill saying she was going over to Tyler’s and that she would be back late. I sighed, picked up the phone in the apartment and ordered some Chinese. I wasn’t going to cook for just me, plus I didn’t want to cook. After I ordered and paid for dinner, I sat on the couch and worked on my homework for the night. It after all was just another boring average night in the life of Alexandria Montgomery.

Notes