Practice Makes Perfect (Completed)

Chapter 30

Six months after the state meet, Anastasia was still wearing a hard plaster cast and she hadn't been on a dance floor since the disaster at the state meet. All the same, she couldn't be happier.

As it turned out, Luke had not been romantically entangled with her mortal enemy, nor had he even been mad at her for devoting so much time to ballet. When he had given her time alone, he had only been trying to let her focus.

He had never given up on the idea of a traditional date, and at least once a month he dragged her along to some date as cliche as could be.

She loved every second of it.

Tonight was one of those nights. Sure, she was still on crutches, and sure it wasn't technically a date, but it was definitely cliche enough to count.

Luke was going to take her to prom.

When he showed up at Anastasia's front door in a suit and tie, Allison was the one to open the door. Over the last few months, their connection to Luke had drawn the two girls closer together, and it had been Allison's idea to stand in as Anastasia's mother on this historic night.

"Oh, hello Luke." Allison greeted in her most formal voice. "Anastasia is just upstairs, let me go fetch her."

Anastasia listened as Allison stomped up the stairs and swung open the door.

"Your date is here Anastasia. He seems like a very sweet boy." 

Anastasia turned around to speak with Allison, but as soon as she saw her friend, she couldn't help but giggle. "What are you wearing?"

"MY motherlyest clothes," Allison defended. "I'm just trying to get into character."

"Does the wig really help with that? You look like a housewife from the fifties."

"That is no way to speak to your mother!"

Anastasia rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh. "Right. Whatever 'mom'."

Trying to keep things as cliche as possible on behalf of Luke, she made her grand entrance via a dramatic walk down the stairs. It was marred only slightly by her reliance on the crutches.

When she reached the bottom, he took her hand and bowed deeply to place a kiss on the back of it. He glanced up at her with a smile and used his free hand to tip his ever present hat.

"Good evening. Could I interest you in a corsage?"

With his now free hand he pulled out a beautiful corsage, and smiled as he attached it to her wrist. Allison had eventually followed Anastasia downstairs now had her camera at the ready, and was snapping pictures of the couple.

"Oh, Anastasia, I'm just so excited for you! Come pose for a picture!"

Anastasia knew it was absurd, knew it was over the top ridiculous, but it was fun to pretend for a moment to have a real, loving family, no matter how cliche. As Allison took pictures, Anastasia was thrilled to pose in countless corny pictures, and she couldn't wait to spend the night ahead in the most cliche way possible. As long as she was with Luke, she was happy.

"Okay, that's enough," Allison smiled and nodded toward the door. "Your limousine awaits."

Hand in hand, Anastasia and Luke headed out. To accommodate both holding hands and using crutches, they moved almost painfully slow, but Allison could tell, even from a distance, just how excited and in love they truly were.

As the limousine rolled away, she too made her exit. It was Friday night, and as always, Allison had plans.

The boy she shared those plans with was already on the roof when she got home, and waved down at her as she unlocked her front door. She waved back before heading inside to take the safest path to the roof.

He was at her window when she got to her room, ready to give her a hand up to the roof. 

"Hey Noah." She greeted, popping open the window.

"Hop on. I have a surprise for you."

As a gymnast, Allison usually perfered to have complete control of her own fate, but Noah was much stronger than her, and the trip up to the roof was objectively easier for someone like him, even when she was clinging to his back. Besides, she trusted him.

Once he had safely deposited her on the roof, they scaled the steep incline to the chimney, where a single box awaited them.

Allison glanced down at Luke. "It's not my birthday."

"And it's not your present either...not yet."

Allison raised her eyebrows at his drama. "Yet?"

"Inside that box is an award for the best gymnast in the country. I'm not sure I can give it to you without a demonstration."

Allison giggled and stepped up onto the rooftop beam they had set up."Alright."

"Not that one." Luke nodded to the beam between their houses. "That one."

Allison smiled. "If you say so."

The beam between their house was actually a couple inches thicker than a typical balance beam, and Allison had been practicing on the beam for long enough that it wouldn't be a problem. She even had dismounting onto the roof down to a science.

Without thinking, she went through her typical routine on the beam. She could have modified it to be safer so high up, but any adjustment to her muscle memory was more likely to cause a slip up than the complex moves she had mastered. When she finished, Luke was already applauding.

"Looks like that box does belong to you after all! And so does this!" He hung a string of paper clips with a paper gold medal attached to the end. Allison couldn't help but smile.

"What's all this about?" she asked, following him to the chimney. When they sat down, they sat on the same side, which pushed them close enough together that their bodies touched.

"I knew you were really disappointed that you couldn't compete on the gymnastics national team this year because of the whole ballet extravaganza, so I wanted to get you something." He handed her the box. "You deserve a different kind of gold medal."

Allison opened the box slowly, handling the contents carefully. Inside was a golden necklace. The pendent had a picture of ballet shoes etched into it, and it was beautiful.

"Thank you Noah...I love it."

"There's more." he smiled. "Look inside."

With his prompting, Allison realized that the pendant was indeed a locket, and she carefully opened the small clasp on the side. When she saw the medals, she nearly cried.

On one side of the locket was a picture of Tabitha, grinning widely in her tutu. On the other, a picture from the competition where they had danced together, Allison in the middle of a handstand while Tabitha posed like a ballerina. It was perfect.

"I know you missed out on a lot of the awards you normally get this year, but you did a pretty amazing thing; you saved that little girl's life."

Allison was so overflowing with joy that she didn't know how to express it. She smiled as widely as she could, and in a moment of impulsiveness, pulled Noah in and kissed him.

For a moment he stiffened, but then he returned the kiss with passion. When Allison finally pulled away, they were both gasping for breath. 

"That was..." Noah trailed off, waiting for Allison to finish.

"Overdue, I think. And maybe repeatable?"

"I think that can be arranged."

This time, when Allison fell into his arms, it was for a kiss rather than a hug, but they still melted together as perfectly as always.

THE END