Piper let out an annoyed breath as she said, “Blah, so depressing.”
Thankfully, the door opened and Claire came in, with her dance bag on her shoulder.
“I know, your sister will be an old hag that will buy lots of presents for you and yours, now leave me be,” she joked, standing up and waving at Claire. She waved back as Reese said, “I’ll call you later. Claire is here.”
“All right, let me know if things change between you and Phillip.”
Reese laughed.
“It won’t, bye.”
Turning to look at Claire, Reese greeted, “How are you?”
Claire shrugged as she pulled off her shirt and pants.
“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.