Aris Part 2

“Alright. But I’ll miss you,” Iris announced.
I touched her nose with the tip of my finger.
“I’ll miss you too. But until then, keep practicing and don’t get discouraged, okay?”
She nodded, and we left the room together. However, when we reached the reception, I stopped as I saw the person knocking on the glass door.
It wasn’t the driver, but Dimitris.
“Dimi!” Iris cheered, running to open the door.
As soon as she did, she hugged her brother.
I continued walking, trying to act naturally... which was a bit difficult after our beach kiss.
“Hi...” I said, stopping a few steps away from Dimitris, who was still hugging his sister.
“Hi. I... I came to pick up Iris.”
I shook my head, wondering why he was stating the obvious.
“I’m driving...” he continued. “If you’d like a ride to the student residence...”
“Oh... No, thanks. I need to stay a bit later today... again.”
“Oh... Of course...”
“Yeah...”
Iris pulled away from her brother, looking at me and then back at him.
“Why are you two acting strange?” she asked.
“There’s no one strange here,” Dimitris replied. “Let’s go home, you’ve already had your teacher for too long today.”
Laughing, Iris came over to me and hugged me.
“Thanks, Aris. See you next week.”
“Aris?” Dimitris asked, confused. “What happened to your manners? She’s your teacher; you shouldn’t call her that informally.”
Iris let go of me and looked back at her brother.
“Well, she’s not just my teacher. Now we’re also friends.”
Dimitris crossed his arms in front of his body, mimicking the pose Iris had made to announce the big news.
“Really? I didn’t know that.”
“You’re very misinformed, Dimi. Now let’s go, because I’m starving. See you next week, Aris!”

She held her brother's hand, already ready to leave. Dimitris and I exchanged a silent look for a few more seconds before he turned and, with Iris, got into the car and drove away.
I sighed, feeling discouraged, closing the door and returning to the room where I practiced.
What was I expecting? That Dimitris would mention our kiss? In front of his little sister? Or even without her. The most likely scenario was that he would continue acting as if absolutely nothing had happened.
But I didn’t have the time or luxury to dwell on it. It was the penultimate day I had to practice, and I needed to give it my all.
I did a series of stretches and warmed up by dancing freely to another song. Then, I put my performance music on repeat.
I did well until the middle of the choreography, up to the part where I performed a sequence of three Entrelacés. It’s a basic dance step where you kick your extended leg energetically, switching it with the other in mid-air, keeping both legs straight and feet off the ground. When done well, it gives the clear impression that the dancer is floating in the air.
The problem was the finish, where I couldn’t hold the pose and lost my balance, falling to the floor.
I stopped the music and restarted it.
Again, I ended up falling at the same step.
And again.
And once more.
Damn it! A thousand times damn it!
Why did I have the unfortunate idea of including that step in my choreography? I was completely out of practice with it.
I could remove it, but I knew that also posed a risk. Modesty aside, I thought my choreography was quite beautiful. However, it was mostly composed of simple steps. Having one that was a bit more sophisticated would earn me more points and, consequently, better chances of being selected.
On the fifth time I repeated the choreography and fell again, I punched the floor in a fit of rage. I wasn’t one to lose control easily, but I felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.
“Did you know it’s dangerous to leave the door open?”
Hearing that voice coming from the reception, I lifted my face, almost not believing when I saw Dimitris enter the room. He stopped at the door, his face showing concern.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Before I could respond, he came over to me, kneeling beside me. He placed one hand on my face, as if checking my temperature or something similar. Then he took my wrist, checking the data displayed on my smartwatch.

"Your heart rate is at 105. You were exercising, so that’s normal, right? Or is it considered risky for you? Are you hungry? Damn it, I didn’t bring anything for you to eat this time. I’ll go out quickly to buy something, and..."
He started to get up, but I grabbed his arm, my fingers touching the birds tattooed on his skin. The tears I had been trying to hold back suddenly began to stream down my face.
"Don’t go, please..." I begged, making my vulnerability and my need for his presence clear. "Just stay here with me, please."
And I didn’t give him a chance to respond. I practically threw myself into his arms, hugging him.
A few seconds later, I felt his arms, hesitant at first, wrapping around me in return.