Scales Chapter One {Milo}

So this is the first chapter of a book I'm writing called "Scales". Hope you enjoy!

Her feet glide across the glossy wooden floor that was just cleaned. Her face remains emotionless as her arms twirl and her legs gracefully lift and fall, telling the story without a word having to leave her lips. On the floor, she's thoughtless, her only concern and worry is where her feet land. Everything goes away. High school. Modeling. Parents. Her shattering world. Vanished into thin air. Everything. 

But she stops mid-step. She's spotted him.

Him, standing at the front door of the studio, the only other person there. He looks astonished  as if her whole routine were too much for him to comprehend. Suddenly, after effortless dancing, she feels exhausted and completely self conscious as she makes her way toward him. 

His black afro-type hair bounces as he nods in amazement. "That was-"

"Nothing." 

"Amazing."

She blushes- she can't help herself. She's never felt so flattered, even though it was only one word. After countless remarks about her beauty from parents, friends, even people she doesn't know, they are nothing compared to the feeling this one word makes her body fill with. 

He looks hesitant and awkward. "Um, I'm Milo." He says, seeming to resist holding out his hand to shake. "I go to W. V. Morris High." 

"Oh. Me too."

He nods again, doesn't say anything, just leans in the white doorway wistfully, as if waiting for something. 

"Oh yeah, I'm Maxine." 

Milo smiles and pushes off of the doorframe. "Do people call you Max?"

"No." She says, her cheeks radiating her smile. "Just Maxine." 

He's about to say something, when somebody a little younger than them- maybe twelve- bursts out of the changing room and runs across the studio floor, carrying a blue gym bag across her shoulder, her shoes untied messily, her hair still in a bun. "Milo!"

"Oh, hey, Ruby." He says, waving to her. "You ready to go?" 

She nods and smiles, gives Maxine the once over, then runs out the door. Milo waves to her and follows his sister out the studio door. She can hear through the glass.

"Milo, was that your girlfriend?" Ruby asks excitedly and Milo rolls his eyes. By the look on his face, you can tell he hopes the glass covered over that. It didn't and Maxine laughs.

A car pulls up behind Milo's. It's a rusty old sedan- Maxine's brother's. She runs out the door after swooping down to grab her gym back and rushes into the car.

"Hey." Jasper says, puffing smoke out of his mouth as he breaths, not looking at Maxine as she plops down in the passenger seat just like any other Tuesday.

"Hi." She says.

"You want one?" Jasper offers a cigarette and Maxine declines. "You're missing out, Kiddo."

She rolls her eyes as he pulls out of the dance studio parking lot.

"Guess what."

"What?"

He looks at her unenthusiastically. "Mom set up another casting for you."

"D****t!" She punches the seat in frustration. "She seriously has to give up on that dream of hers."

"Tell me about it." Jasper mumbles. "She just keeps bragging, 'Oh my Maxine is going to be on the covers of magazines!' and 'Wait till my little star is on TV!'"

She chuckles. "You do a good Mom imitation."

He takes another puff of smoke and punches her in the arm playfully. "You know she didn't even listen to me when I said I got a job." He said, turning the steering wheel.

"You got a job?" She asks. "Seriously? What job?"

He nods sadly and says, "I'm working as a waiter at Arby's." He says, rolling his eyes. "How long is that gonna last? Five minutes?"

"No kidding." She mumbles. "I'm surprised Mom wasn't interested." 

He chuckles and says, "Yeah, she's always happy when it's another way to make money."

Maxine punches her brother hard. "Shut up." 

"You know it's true. You're nothing but a piggy bank to her." 

It never dawned on her before, that Maxine's mother only liked her for the money she was getting her.

"No." she says, shaking the thoughts from her head. "That's not true."  

He shrugged and puffed more smoke, pulling into their garage. "You go face her. I'm going to work."

"You're kicking me out of your car?"

"Yep. Have fun." He says, nudging her out and speeding away. 

"Thanks for the help." She mumbles sarcastically as she enters the mudroom. "Mom, I'm ho-ome." 

Her mother comes running. A plump woman, she grasps her daughter in her arms. "Honey! I have great news for you!"

"Casting?"

Her happy face disappears in a flash. "How did you know?"

"Jasper." She murmurs as her mother heads over to the oven to start dinner. "You know, he got a job?"

"Oh did he?" Mrs. Tantillo asks. She's less than interested, you can tell by her tone of voice. 

"At Arby's." Maxine went on. 

"Oh did  he?" She sounds very unpleased. 

Maxine doesn't seem to catch on to her mother's displeasure. "Yeah. He's  a waiter." 

"Well this simply won't do!" 

"Mom." Maxine says, standing up. "Be happy he at least has a job."

"Right." She says, calming herself back to the stove and pouring some vegetables into a pot. "There's not many oprotunities without college." 

"That's what I'm saying."  

Silence for another couple minutes. "Maxine, go do the laundry, would you?" 

She hops off of her stool and makes her way downstairs. But she doesn't do the laundry, she just stands there until she is called for dinner- thinking. 

 

Author's Note

More on the way...

Reviews

[Aimee]

This is really good, so far.
[:

I absolutely love the beginning.

Can't wait to read more.