“Katie?” asks the receptionist. Kaitlin looks over at her.
“Kaitlin,” she corrects.
“Sorry. Kaitlin.” The receptionist smiles at her. “My name is Caroline. Come with me and we can get you ready for your first lesson!” Kaitlin reluctantly follows Caroline to a changing room. She steps inside and pulls on the leotard, tights, and ballet flats she was given. To her displeasure, the edges of her pull-ups peek out of the leotard and are visible through the tights. But no matter what she does, she can’t fully hide her training pants. She reluctantly steps out of the changing room.
“Kaitlin, right?” asks a voice. Kaitlin looks over. A new woman has approached. “I’m Anna’s daughter, Louisa. It’s nice to meet you!”
“Nithe to meet you, too,” Kaitlin mumbles. Louisa spots the training pants peeking out of Kaitlin’s leotard.
“Oh, are you embarrassed by your pull-ups? Don’t worry, sweetie, there are plenty of girls who need to wear protection, even in your age group!”
“Okay.”
“Come on!” Louisa drags Kaitlin over to the main area of the ballet studio. A few benches are set up along the wall, on which many parents are sitting. Kaitlin is led to the dancefloor, where a group of girls her current age are already waiting. “Girls, we have a new student today! This is Kaitlin.”
“Hi, Kaitlin,” the other girls chirp. Kaitlin smiles weakly.
“Be nice to her, since it’s her first day,” Louisa says. Kaitlin’s new classmates all nod. “All right, let’s start off with some stretches!”
Kaitlin follows along with the stretches and various poses that Louisa coaches them into. To her surprise, she enjoys it. Eventually, Louisa has everyone take a break for ten minutes. Kaitlin looks at the clock. Two hours have already passed. She goes up to Louisa.
“Ith thith an all-day clath?” she asks. Louisa nods.
“For kiddos too young to be in school, or who are being homeschooled, we offer full-day lessons. My mom signed you up for one of those. But don’t worry, we take plenty of breaks. And if I were you, I’d go potty real quick. You don’t want to have an accident, do you?”
Kaitlin’s eyes widen. She does need to go. She rushes over to the bathrooms. There’s a line. She waits in line, crossing her legs tightly, praying she won’t wet her training pants. Finally, a stall is available. Kaitlin ducks inside and pulls her training pants down just in time. She lets out a sigh of relief.
After she’s done in the bathroom, Kaitlin returns to the dancefloor. Class starts again. When they break for lunch, she is invited to the food court with her classmates. Still in their ballet outfits, they leave the studio and grab lunch. Kaitlin thoroughly enjoys her time with her new classmates. She definitely made the right decision. Daycare wouldn’t have been half as fun.
They return to the studio and the lesson resumes. After a few more hours, Louisa claps her hands and announces that class is over. Kaitlin stays on the dancefloor while her classmates disperse, uncertain of what to do now. Caroline walks over to her.
“Kaitlin, come on over, your ride is here,” Caroline says. Kaitlin lets Caroline lead her over to the front of the studio, where she sees…