The air in the studio was very tense. All around, company members in Halloween costumes were setting up games and food for the kids’ Halloween party that would soon begin. Among all of the chaos and commotion, Tracy was aligning juice boxes on a table. Her gray Batman shirt and purple nerd glasses seemed to match the costume of another company member that day…
Calvin was a lost puppy, grazing around every room in the building searching for the love of his life. When he found her, he couldn’t help but admire the way her brown hair fell perfectly into place, or how her thin eyes sparkled brighter than a star. “Hey babe!” Tracy said as soon as she’d finished opening the last tray of Papa John’s pizza at her food station. “I was about to go look for you.”
The couple seemed inseparable; they spent every moment they could together. She would laugh at everything he’d say and he would just stare at her, thinking how lucky he was to find such a beautiful and caring girl.
It was time. The doors opened and kids dressed up as witches, angels, and Superman came running into the room. They ran around and played games until their tiny bellies grumbled. While Tracy handed brownies and juice to the loud and hungry children, Calvin had to go work as a monster in the Haunted House. Tracy was just about dead; if she heard another “I want more cookies!” again, she would lose it. As she kneeled down to tie her purple Converse, she noticed a tan, muscular arm reach out for a slice of pizza at her food station. She looked up at the mystery man’s face. He was so handsome; his chiseled jaw and big, brown eyes had her in a trance. He then looked at her, and they stared at each other for what seemed like ages.
“Hi...” he finally said with a shy grin on his face. She greeted him back.
“I’m Gerald. You dance here right? I remember seeing you a couple of times, you have amazing talent.”
“Thank you!” she was too love-struck to say anything else. She didn’t have to, because right at that moment, Calvin walked through the door. The Haunted House had closed for lunch and he was on his break. He saw his girlfriend talking with a tall, dark man.
His eyes narrowed and he felt some sort of jealousy for this stranger, although he probably had no reason to. “Babe!” he screamed from across the room. When Tracy realized that it was Calvin calling her, she rushed to him without another word. “I’m sorry,” she said to Gerald, “I have to go, my boyfriend is calling me.”
Boyfriend. The word rushed through Gerald’s mind the entire day. She has a boyfriend, he thought to himself. Although she did have a boyfriend, Tracy couldn’t stop thinking about Gerald. She searched for him endlessly that entire day, but never found him. When the Halloween party ended and the older members of the ballet school finished cleaning up, they were free to go home. Both Tracy and Gerald left the studio disappointed, and a little heartbroken, that day.
Now that they were acquainted with each other, Tracy and Gerald saw each other at the ballet studio more often. They would talk often between classes and rehearsals, and grew to be great friends. When December came around and rehearsals for the Nutcracker began, a new company member was introduced. Her name was Miu, and she was from Japan. Miu came off as a sweet girl to everyone, however deep inside her there was an evil side. She was paired up to dance the lead role of Sugarplum Fairy with Calvin. Tracy was not jealous about this, as she knew that it was simply work. She trusted Calvin to keep their relationship sturdy, and she believed that Miu would not try to interfere with the love the couple had for each other. However, as the show dates got closer, so did Miu and Calvin’s relationship.
Tracy talked about this daily with her best friend, Tina. “I feel like he’s cheating on me,” Tracy would explain, “he is always laughing and talking with her. And I feel like he’s lying to me when he says he’s going out with his friends.”
“You think he’s secretly going out to be with Miu?” Tina asked.
“I wouldn’t be surprised about it.”
Tina had a bad feeling about Calvin and Miu, so she kept a close eye on them. After all, Tracy was her best friend, and she didn’t want her to end up hurt. She would frequently see Miu and Calvin giggling during breaks and rehearsals, and they would practice their pas de deux way more frequently than necessary. As Nutcracker season ended after nine exhausting performances, the company was given a two week holiday vacation. Nevertheless, Tina would continue to go to the ballet studio to brush up on her technique on her own, and to train with her private teacher, Eliza. One day, as she was stepping out of her mother’s car, preparing herself for her private rehearsal that day, she noticed someone through the window leading to the main ballet studio. The shades were down, so all she could see was the short, yet muscular silhouette of a man. She walked into the ballet school, greeted the receptionist, and quickly scurried to see who was in the studio. As she peeked through the door, her face turned red with anger. It was Calvin and Miu.
This was not the only time the two were caught together. On other occasions during vacation, Tina would often see Calvin leaving from Miu’s apartment. This was the last straw. As soon as winter vacation was over, Tina had to tell Tracy about her cheating boyfriend. When Tracy found out about how unfaithful her one true love really was, she didn’t know how to react. Her face got red and her eyes started to tear up. “I can’t believe it…” were the only words she could get out of her mouth.
The next day, Tracy had to find Gerald and vent her sorrows to him. She found him in the warm up lounge, and they talked alone for about an hour as they waited for their class to start. “He’s an idiot to cheat on a girl as amazing and beautiful as you,” he reassured her. All she could do was smile sheepishly. This was the kind of guy she knew she deserved.
After class that same day, Tracy went to talk to Calvin. Although she confronted him about his relationship with Miu, he denied the fact that he was ever with her. She was too weak to break up with Calvin or to threaten him to stop seeing Miu again, so Calvin continued to cheat for weeks. Tracy soon became depressed. She wouldn’t talk to anyone anymore; not Tina and not Gerald. She was slightly in denial that Calvin was cheating, because deep down, she believed Calvin when he denied his relationship with Miu.
On New Years Day, Tracy and Calvin agreed to get together. He went to her apartment. He was already very familiar with Tracy’s family; her mother adored Calvin as if he was her son, and her brother looked up to him as an older sibling. Even though Tracy’s dad was slightly harder to crack, the family knew that he was very fond of Calvin. They all spent a wonderful day together, laughing, eating, and reminiscing on past memories. Tracy was convinced that Calvin only had eyes for her. When the day was about to end, Calvin grabbed Tracy gently by the arm. “Can I talk to you outside?” he asked. She happily agreed, so they walked downstairs to the building lobby and sat on the sofa.
She looked into his eyes; they were like two beautiful disco balls. He seemed uneasy, and Tracy wondered why. “Listen…” he began to say. Tracy was now a little worried. “I think we should break up.” The words shot at her as if they came from a bow and arrow. Tracy’s smile had faded entirely. She was speechless; she didn’t talk for several minutes. Finally she opened her mouth, but words still wouldn’t come out. All she could do was cry. She punched Calvin in the arm and scratched his neck. He tried to pull her off of him but her grief had made her powerful. Tracy yelled at him to leave, and hesitantly he did. Tracy sat on the sofa sobbing for almost an hour, until her parents came to get her. Even though Tracy didn’t explain what was wrong, they got the idea.
The next week wasn’t easy. Everyone in the dance company could see that Tracy was hurting terribly. She couldn’t eat, she couldn’t sleep, and she could barely focus during class. However, there was one person that could cheer her up, and it was Gerald. Every day after class, they would sit in the studio corner next to the piano and talk about how Tracy would be feeling that day, as they watched the other company dancers rehearse. Gerald was a great listener, and you could tell by the way he looked at her when she spoke that he was very much in love. He hid his feelings well, because he didn’t want Tracy to know. It wasn’t the right time, and he didn’t want Tracy to have more love troubles to deal with. After a couple of months however, Tracy started to fall for him too. They would go out on most weekends with their friends, but during most of the day, they would walk and talk all alone. Tracy felt so happy. She hadn’t felt this way since she fell in love with Calvin. Summer vacation came around, and because of their long intensive schedule for their summer dance program, they could spend every hour of every day together.
One night, Tracy and Gerald had a long conversation over the phone. Although there were several signs that both of them had feelings for each other, neither of them ever confessed these feelings. That all changed on this one night. The lovers told each other how much they truly loved each other, but along came some tense news. Gerald admitted to Tracy that by the end of July, he would be leaving to Peru for two years. Tracy was heartbroken again; she cried to him on the phone. Gerald comforted her for hours; he knew it would be hard to keep their relationship once he was gone, but he was willing to make it work. He also explained to Tracy how they still had one month left until he had to leave. They intended on making it count.
This month of July was the best month of both of the lovers’ lives. Every day after ballet, they would go out to dinner and be together until her parents would call her telling her she needed to come home. While at the ballet studio, they would also try their hardest to be together and dance together. However, this was harder because relationships between company members were not allowed at the studio. Nevertheless, other dancers started to notice their relationship; they let it be, because they hadn’t seen Tracy this joyful in a long time. Tina helped the couple greatly, making sure that they could be together and that they didn’t have any barriers between each other. Gerald loved Tina as much as Tracy did; because he was fond of her best friend, Tracy was even surer that Gerald was “the one”. Night time was the best for these two, because they would talk on the phone for hours on end. Gerald was the one person that could make Tracy feel important and bring her self-confidence up. He broke down all the walls that she would put up to stop herself from getting hurt. Tracy felt safe when she was in Gerald’s arms, and Gerald felt complete having her there.
Although the month felt like heaven to Tracy and Gerald, his final day in Miami was finally here. It was a performance day, but neither one of them could focus on their dancing. All they could think about was having to leave each other soon. The performance ended and all of the dancers were happy that it went well. All except, of course, our deeply in love couple. They found each other on stage while everyone else was hugging and celebrating. They walked outside to Tracy’s dressing room balcony and sat on the bench. At this point, they couldn’t even look at each other. Gerald grabbed Tracy’s hand as a tear fell from her cheek. “Don’t be sad,” he told her. “I’ll only be gone for two years. And when I come back we can continue from where we left off. You need to try to be happy and go out and have fun, for me.”
“It’ll be so hard once you’re gone…”
“I know, baby, but we’ll still talk every day, I’ll make sure of it. And I’ll be back sooner than you think. I love you.”
The words burned this time, because she knew that this would be the last time she’d hear it in a while. “I love you too,” she replied. They walked to his car. One last kiss and then he’ll catch his flight. They hugged for several minutes and her parents finally called her telling her that they had to go home. They didn’t know about her relationship with Gerald. It was too risky to explain to them. After all she was only 17, while he was in his 20’s. The couple exchanged “I love you’s” one more time and then he got into his car and drove away, taking a piece of Tracy’s heart with him.
Although this seemed like a sad ending to the story, it got happier when Gerald landed in Peru. The first thing he did when he got off the plane was message Tracy. They would talk nonstop every single day, and their feelings never faded. Months passed at a time, later a whole year went by, and then two years passed. Gerald would be on a plane back to Miami in a few minutes. The plane ride seemed to last a millennium, because all Gerald could think about was seeing his love again. The plane landed in Miami International Airport, and Tracy was already waiting at the gate door for Gerald to appear. She looked around and around trying to find him, when suddenly she feels a pair of big, muscular arms grab her from behind and spin her off the ground. Tracy laughed, as she knew exactly who was behind her. “Hey beautiful,” Gerald whispers in Tracy’s ear. “I missed you.”