Charlotte looked down at the stack of menus in front of her. Though it was officially the beginning of summer vacation for the Jersey City public schools, they had yet to see any influx in the business at the diner. She’d been hired by City Diner for that purpose - as an extra waitress when the diner really got busy. She didn’t have any serving experience but was lucky enough to still get the job. The experience she would get working there would definitely help her when she eventually moved to New York. If the sight of the Manhattan skyline staring at her through the diner window wasn’t enough motivation, the staff at the diner would be enough to encourage her to get out of that restaurant as soon as possible.
She had quickly become friends with Tina, an older server that had been working at the diner for over a decade. She wasn’t old but in her thirties, an ancient comparison to the young Charlotte. She could tell Charlotte was nervous during her training and did her best to make her comfortable, making the job easier for the both of them.
Tina was like a mother replacement while Charlotte was away from hers. Her mother was incredibly strict with her as well, a trait she obviously received from April. She was always especially hard on Charlotte, but that wasn’t surprising; she was the only daughter. She put a lot of pressure on her child, and sometimes, Charlotte would crack. It was nice to be away from her mother, but Charlotte still missed the relationship that a mother would bring.
Her boss, on the other hand, seemed to be a total jerk. Charlotte was intimidated by him during their interview and realized after she was hired that he was the scary man she thought he would be. He would sit in his office most of the day and assign the staff to the most tedious of tasks, like scrubbing in between the tiles on the kitchen floor and polishing the refrigerators.
Charlotte was used to working hard, but she had hoped for a bit of an easier summer job, so she didn’t have to strain herself. It wasn’t easygoing to work all day followed by excruciating practice. She had only gone to two nights of training so far, but the second was harder, and she was sure that the third one that night would be the hardest. Charlotte was willing to do whatever it would take to have the best audition, and there was one the following Monday.
“Wanna help me fold up some silverware?” Tina asked, carrying a tray of forks and knives and a stack of napkins towards the daydreaming Charlotte.
“Sure,” she replied. She only had about ten more minutes until she could clock out and head to dance practice. It was dinner time, so she expected to be busy, but there were still less than two tables busy at the diner.
“So, you likin’ it here so far?” Tina asked. “It ain’t the pretty New York City,” Tina sung N.Y.C. like a Broadway star, “but we still got some cool things to do here.”
“Yeah, no, it’s nice. I’m liking it. I’ve been mostly working, though,” Charlotte explained.
“That’s right, you are a dancer, aren’t you?” Tina asked. “Do you know what the production is yet?”
“Yeah, we actually just found out last night. It’s going to be Cinderella!” Charlotte announced excitedly.
“Oh my God! Are you serious? I used to love that as a kid! Charlotte, I am so jealous!” Tina exclaimed. She was hoping for something a little more mature, but Charlotte couldn’t help but be excited at the thought of being Cinderella. She knew she had what it takes as a dancer but worried that the judges would see her dark skin and choose someone else. She tried not to let those thoughts cloud her brain and instead just focused on wrapping silverware.
“So, you meet any cute guys yet? Jersey doesn’t have all that many but when you do find a looker, he’s usually really good lookin’, you know what I mean?” Tina asked.
“I think so,” Charlotte said with a smile, thinking instantly of Angelo.
“Oh, so you did meet someone!” Tina exclaimed. Just as she said that, a car pulled into the parking lot, and Angelo got out. Charlotte froze. She had seen Angelo on the street yesterday but avoided his gaze, not wanting to engage in conversation. She still felt magnetically pulled to him but remembered what her grandmother had said about them dating under her roof.
Angelo walked into the diner and moved like slow motion. Charlotte wanted to run up and jump into his arms but instead chose to look down and decided to pretend again she hadn’t seen him. “Oh my god, do you have any idea who that is?” Tina asked Charlotte. She was tired of people asking her that.
“Nope, no idea,” Charlotte responded. Clearly, she had known but didn’t want to give anyone any ideas about the two.
“You’re about to clock out; looks like I’ll take his order!” Tina said excitedly. Even if Angelo wasn’t a well-known billionaire, he was certainly still cute enough to have girls going crazy over him. Tina was always going on about cute boys, making herself seem man-crazy. It wasn’t any surprise that she was fawning over Angelo as well.
Charlotte only had two minutes left and just focused on finishing up the silverware before she could clock out. Any other job she would have just left, but she knew that her boss, Pablo, might be a stickler about the exact time she wanted to clock out. She had avoided eye contact with Angelo but could still feel him staring at her from across the diner. Tina came stomping back to where Charlotte was standing, furiously throwing her notepad on the counter next to Charlotte.
“It’s your lucky day, kid. He says he wants you to take his order,” Tina said with an attitude.
“But I’m about to clock out,” Charlotte said.
“Trust me, you don’t want to piss this guy off,” Tina explained. Charlotte grabbed her own notepad and walked over to Angelo.
“Welcome to City Diner. Can I take your order?” she asked, treating him like any other customer.
“Yeah, I’d love a cup of coffee. And an explanation for why you’re giving me the cold shoulder,” he said in his cute Jersey accent. Charlotte felt guilty about being a little chilly towards him but didn’t want to mess up her living situation again. She wasn’t the type of girl who could handle getting in trouble, so she was doing her best to convince herself that she wasn’t attracted to the gorgeous Italian man sitting in front of her.
“Decaf or regular?” she said, ignoring his request for an explanation.
“Yeah, regular’s fine. So, what’s up? I thought we had a good night. I know it wasn’t the most ideal of situations, but I’ll make it up to you. What do you say we go on a real date?” He asked. Tina had brought over a pot of coffee and started pouring him a cup, showing she had obviously been listening to their conversation.
Charlotte just stared at him. Tina had stepped back but wasn’t trying to be subtle in her eavesdropping anymore. She could sense the tension too.
“That’s a beautiful car you got out there,” Tina said to Angelo. “My dad used to have one like that.”
“Thanks, it’s a ’78. Ain’t she pretty?” he asked. “What you drivin’ now?” Charlotte walked away. It was five minutes past the end of her shift, and she knew if she didn’t leave then, she’d be late. She grabbed her purse and clocked out, not even changing out of her apron.
“Just some beat-up Chevy. Nothing like that. I could never afford it!” she joked.
“Tina, I have to leave. You can take his order,” Charlotte explained.
“Actually, I don’t want anything,” he said, leaving the counter and following Charlotte out the door. He threw a $20 bill on the counter, and Tina pocketed it, shocked at his massive tip for one cup of coffee he hadn’t even drank.
“Hey, peaches, where you goin’?” Angelo asked, running after her as she walked hurriedly away from the diner.
“Peaches?” Charlotte asked Angelo with an attitude.
“Yeah, you know, cause your skin is smooth like peaches,” Angelo said.
Charlotte rolled her eyes and kept walking, though she couldn’t help but feel a little smitten at the cute nickname he had given her.
“What did I do?” he asked. She was only ten minutes away from the gymnasium that practice was held, and she planned to not talk to him the entire way. She didn’t know how to tell him the truth and instead hoped to just ignore the whole situation. He made it clear he wasn’t going to let that happen, however.
“I tried to talk to you yesterday, but you ignored me. Didn’t you have a good time? Or what, did you just use me?” he teased, knowing very well that Charlotte wasn’t that kind of girl.
“I can’t see you!” she finally blurted out, feeling bad that he was walking next to her.
“Well, why not?” he said, sad like a little puppy.
“Because,” Charlotte said, not looking at him. She was still walking forward as fast as she could, and he was keeping up well. He wasn’t much taller than her, but she was clearly more graceful, as she had over a decade of dance experience with her. She took long strides, and he shuffled to stay at her pace.
“Oh, because. OK, I see, that’s a great answer,” he mocked. “What is it really? What, am I ugly?” Charlotte shook her head. “Oh, well it must be that I’m too good looking then,” he joked. Charlotte resisted the urge to smile.
“It’s because. Because you’re, you know. You,” she said, referring to his relations to the mob.
“Oh, I get it now,” he said, not speaking for the next block. “Look, whatever anyone told you, they got it all wrong. I’m not the kind of person you think I am.”
“So, you’re not in the mob?” she bluntly asked.
“What, are you a cop?” He laughed. “Look, I’m a good person. That’s all you need to know.”
They had arrived at the gymnasium. “I have to get to practice. I’m sorry.”
“Just one date! Let me prove it to you!” he told her. She shook her head and walked into the gym. He waited outside and decided to follow her in as well.
“What are you doing here? You have to go!” she told him. It was an open gym, but she didn’t want to bring her drama into the practice with her. She needed to focus on doing her best to get the lead role.
“I ain’t going anywhere until you agree to go on a date with me,” he told her.
“That’s not going to work on me. You think it’s romantic to beat someone into submission?” she asked. She wasn’t one for romantic gestures. She was more interested in honesty and getting to the point. She couldn’t help but feel a little confident knowing that he had chased her around the city begging for a date. She would let him beg for a little longer.
“I’ll do whatever it takes. baby,” Angelo said, following Charlotte across the gym. All around them were people stretching in leotards and elastic, getting warmed up for the brutal practice that awaited. There were at least fifty people in the gym, a few more women than boys, though she wasn’t sure how many parts were going to be cast in the ballet. Charlotte hadn’t made any friends yet.
Most of her friends back home were dancers, but everyone here seemed more serious about practice and less interested in socializing. Charlotte liked that on one hand, but on the other, she could have used a friend to help her through her new time there, besides just Tina, of course. She walked towards the front where the instructor was situated and took her work pants and polo off to reveal leggings and a sports bra, her normal dance attire.
“You have to go now; practice is starting soon. I need to focus,” she told Angelo.
“Practice? For what? I thought this was spin class,” he teased. Charlotte jokingly pushed him away, and he started to walk towards the bleachers that lined the gymnasium. He sat down, the only one to be sitting on the sidelines.
The instructor clapped her hands, getting everybody’s attention. “Hello everybody! For those of you new here, my name is Kelly, and I’m the lead choreographer for this year’s Jersey City ballet. If you haven’t heard already, this year we’re doing Cinderella. This is not an audition, and I’m likely not even asking you your name. This is just a practice for those of you who might have been taking it a little easy so far this summer or anyone who needs a reminder of how to dance.
Although, if either of those are true for you, there’s a good chance you’re wasting your time here anyway,” Kelly said as she walked around the gym. Everyone managed to line up in straight rows and columns, standing still and waiting for direction. Everyone except Angelo, that is. Kelly walked towards him as he sat on the bleacher and stared directly at Charlotte.
“Excuse me, who are you?” Kelly asked Angelo.
“Angelo Luciano. Nice to meet you,” he said, reaching a hand out towards Kelly.
“I’m sorry, let me rephrase that, actually. What are you doing here?” She asked.
“Isn’t this open gym?” He replied.
“Yes, that’s true. You can come and go whenever you please. I’m not forcing anyone to be here. If you are going to be here, however, you have to dance. This is a closed recital, and I do not allow any audience members until the final performance. So, you either have to dance or leave. You pick,” Kelly said, walking away from him and back towards the front.
He looked at Charlotte, and she could feel her face turning red.
“I don’t have anything to wear,” Angelo said nervously. He was wearing a leather jacket, button up shirt, and jeans. It certainly wasn’t the ideal outfit to be dancing in. He was in luck, however. Another boy tossed a pair of gym shorts at him. He looked down nervously, wondering if he should partake in the dance or just storm out. He gave Charlotte another look and walked through the gymnasium doors. She felt relieved that he was gone but a bit sad that she couldn’t stare at him anymore.
“All right, let’s get started. There will be a few men here, in and out, that I’ve invited, the director and writer who adapted this into a ballet we can actually produce on our budget. Don’t mind them, they’re just getting a sense of the talent we’ll have coming in at next Monday’s audition. I wanted to get started with just a few simple warm-ups. Follow my lead,” Kelly explained.
Just as she finished, the gymnasium doors opened again. It was Angelo, wearing the gym shorts someone had tossed, as well as a white undershirt. He managed to change into dance-ready wear in the hallway. Charlotte couldn’t help but smile.
He hopped in next to Charlotte. “Hey, she said I could be here if I danced, right?” he asked. They both looked at Kelly who gave them a glare but then an approving nod. She reached her hands above her head in a stretch, and they followed suit. She was keeping things easy, doing normal stretches that anyone could do at home without dance training. From the previous two practices Charlotte had already been to, however, she knew that things were about to get harder.
“All right, everybody, let’s start doing something harder. For this production, we won’t only be doing ballet. I’m going to show you some of the moves that we might be doing for some of the numbers. If you think this is something you can handle, then maybe you should consider auditioning. If not, you know where the door is,” Kelly explained.
She played some normal rhythmic music and started dancing. They were simple moves that Charlotte had learned years ago. They were a bit more complicated than something like the dance songs they play at weddings or school dances, but still, Charlotte was keeping up without any trouble. As the minutes went on, Kelly started to make things a bit more challenging.
He was actually keeping up at first. Charlotte wanted to ask Angelo if he had any dance experience, but she also didn’t want to lose focus of what Kelly was doing. Kelly had actually been looking at her a lot, and Charlotte wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing. It had been about ten minutes, and there were already a few people who had dropped out of the dance. She wasn’t doing anything too complicated. Charlotte wondered if there were people there that bad at dancing that they couldn’t even keep up with the unexperienced Angelo or if she and he were just dancing prodigies.
Things were starting to get a little harder. The music sped up, and Kelly switched things almost instantly. Still, there were dozens of people who managed to keep up. One girl even added her own moves and caught the attention of Kelly, who walked over and started dancing next to the tall girl. This certainly made Charlotte nervous, but she didn’t want to let that show. She was good at contemporary dancing but definitely better at ballet. She was excited for that part but wondered what Angelo might do once they all slipped on their ballet slippers.
“Damn girl, you got some moves!” Angelo told Charlotte. She blushed but ignored him. She couldn’t believe he was still next to her, dancing along just as good as some of the other people there.
The instructor stopped and waited for everyone to get quiet. “All right, everybody, that was decent. I’m surprised I still have so many of you keeping up. Take a second to catch your breath because things are about to get a little harder. We lost a few dancers, but that’s just how things go around here. If you don’t think you can do any more, no one’s stopping you from leaving.
For this next part, we’re going to do a little contest. I want to get those competitive juices flowing. I’m going to show you ten moves once, just once, and then I want you to repeat them back to me. If I see you mess up, you’re eliminated. You’re going to keep doing the moves over and over until there’s only one person not eliminated. If you’re the last one standing, you’re the winner,” Kelly explained.
“What’s the prize?” Angelo asked. Charlotte felt her face getting a bit red again.
“Oh sweetie, there’s no prize here. Getting to dance to my choreography and get the attention of myself and the director is all the prize you need,” she said, looking Angelo up and down. She either didn’t know who he was or didn’t have the slightest care. “Are you ready? Now, everybody watch. ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN!” she shouted, showing off the ten dance moves for the challenge.
Charlotte repeated them right away, thinking that they were slightly easy for the challenge. Then, Kelly turned on the music and cued the rest of the dancers to start. It was a bit faster paced than how Kelly had performed, and Charlotte got a bit nervous.
Charlotte was doing well and was surprised that Angelo was also keeping up a decent pace. Kelly immediately started eliminating people, telling them to sit down in their spot. Others left the gymnasium completely, and a few decided to sit out of the way on the sideline. There had easily been fifty or more people stretching and dancing in the gym when Charlotte and Angelo had first walked in. At this point, there were less than twenty people dancing. Angelo was still one of them. Charlotte was absolutely shocked that he was still able to keep up. Eventually, he missed a step, and Kelly shouted that he was eliminated.
He had to back out and sit against the sideline. Still, he watched her the entire time. She remained focused and didn’t let the other people around her distract her. She looked directly at Kelly throughout the entire choreography, doing her best to get her attention. She wanted to make sure that Kelly knew she was there to win and be serious. More and more people continued to get eliminated, Charlotte still never missing a beat.
The moves had started to come naturally to her, and she didn’t even think about them anymore. Some dancers were too tired to continue, and others only got more confused as they got eliminated. Kelly started to get a little pickier, eliminating people who didn’t lift their arms high enough or bend their legs straight enough.
It was just Charlotte and two other dancers. They had all moved towards the middle of the gymnasium, the three dancers still hitting every single move perfectly. The rest of the eliminated dancers had formed a circle around them as well as Kelly. Over and over again, they hit the beat. Charlotte started to wonder how much more she would be able to do before she had to drop out.
Finally, one of the three fell to the floor, and Kelly shouted that she was eliminated. Now, it was just Charlotte and one other. She turned towards the other dancer and decided to do something a bit risky. In between a few of the other moves, she quickly added a few of her own, making the dance all the more challenging. The other dancer saw this attempt to stand out and added her own movements. Kelly didn’t eliminate them and instead had a shocked look on her face that they were willing to do something so daring. They were still following the original choreography, but both had added their own moves, making it more of a freestyle competition.
Charlotte thought she might drop to the ground right there, but then she started to hear clapping. It wasn’t just audience clapping, but synchronized clapping to the music. Her legs burned so bad they were almost numb, but she couldn’t give up now. She had to keep going and push towards the end.
“Charlotte! Charlotte! Charlotte!” Angelo started shouting to the claps. Others caught on, and soon, the entire gymnasium was shouting her name. The other dancer missed a step and ended up falling.
It was just her, earning her the attention of the director and instructor. She was facing both of them now, still doing the choreography. Just because everyone else had stopped didn’t mean she had to. When it was clear she had won, she ended it with a quick move, posing perfectly in front of the director and choreographer. The rest of the dancers went wild and applauded for Charlotte.
“Well, it’s clear who our winner is,” Kelly said reluctantly. She was doing her best to show that she wasn’t very impressed, though it was clear what Charlotte had done was pretty impressive. She looked across the gym to see if she could see Angelo.
“All right, guys, let’s get your shoes on, I want to show you some moves,” she told the gymnasium. Charlotte made her way back to the original spot where she had laid her shoes and other clothes. She looked up and saw Angelo leaving the gym. She tied her shoes on and waited for instruction. Her legs were burning, and she was ready for practice to be over, but she knew that there was no way she could give up now after the stunt she had just pulled. She was still nervous about getting the role of Cinderella, but she had hoped she would at least be one of the other important roles.
Angelo was waiting for Charlotte outside the gym. She was covered in sweat and ready to peel her clothes off. Her body was incredibly sore from the competition, but the dance moves that followed after were just as challenging. She thought she was going to throw up at one point, but she kept it together long enough to make it out of the gym without puking.
“Girl, you are like, a star. You know that, right?” Angelo said, stunned by Charlotte’s talent.
“You did pretty amazing yourself! You think you’ll audition now?” she asked him.
“Nah, I was just there to get a bit closer to you,” he said sweetly. Charlotte started to walk, him by her side.
He walked her home, making her feel much safer than the past two nights. She didn’t take the longer way home this night, not needing the sight of Manhattan to encourage her further. Having Angelo next to her side throughout the dance made her feel powerful enough.
“So, where’d you learn to dance?” she asked. There’s no way that was his first time.
“I just followed you. You must be a pretty good teacher,” he teased.
“No way! I don’t believe that for a second!” She laughed.
“Will you go out with me now? Or do I have to dance more?” he said, giving her a desperate look with his puppy-dog eyes. “I wore some other guys’ gym shorts for you!” he teased.
“I never asked you to do that!” She laughed. She wanted to say yes right away, but she thought about her grandmother again. That wasn’t the only reason she was a little bit hesitant about agreeing to a date.
Charlotte was certainly afraid of getting a broken heart, more so than getting kicked out by her grandmother. She already had to deal with a mended heart after her last boyfriend dumped her over the prank. She was glad that he did; it helped her realize what she experienced wasn’t love at all. She was upset when it ended but glad that it happened, so she could really realize what she wanted from a partner or someone that agreed to be with her.
She wasn’t planning on being in Jersey City that long, and although it was pretty close to New York City, she didn’t want to get attached to anyone there. Even if she was willing to make the commute, she was so young and had so many opportunities left.
Still, looking into his eyes made all of those anxieties go away. She needed to be smart and careful. She was young, so she had time to make mistakes but didn’t want to if she could get away with it. Still, something about Angelo told her to forget about all of the negative possibilities and just take a chance on him. He had tried so hard to get her to go out with him up until this point, it was worth it to at least agree to just one date, right?
She decided that going out with him would be the best thing for her at the time. She was curious to learn more about Angelo. Still, she didn’t want to give in too easy.
“My grandma warned me about you. She says you’re no good and I should stay away from you,” Charlotte told him. She may as well be honest about how her grandma felt about him.
“Yeah, I kind of got the idea she might not like me. I’ve done some things in the past, but don’t judge me based on what other people say,” he told Charlotte.
“Easy for you to say,” she said, still skeptical about going out with him. They had already spent one night together, so she knew that part was pretty good. It was everything else that still scared her.
“Look, how are you going to know if I’m a good guy or not unless you go out with me yourself? I could show you a real good time,” he told her. They had managed to make it all the way back to April’s home. Charlotte had never felt a walk go so quickly -- too quickly,
She stood in front of the house with Angelo and looked into his big brown eyes. The porch light came on, and she pushed him behind a tree in the neighbor’s front yard. She looked at the porch and didn’t see her grandma but suspected the light might have come on because she was watching.
She leaned in towards Angelo and planted a huge kiss on his soft lips. She lingered there for a moment. “Tomorrow night. Pick me up here after dance,” she told him. She gave him another kiss and ran up the porch steps. She looked back and saw him peek out from behind the tree.
When she went inside, she saw her Grandmother sitting in the living room. She was afraid about what she might say. She only asked how dance was, however, and Charlotte was able to get away pretty easily.
She walked upstairs and started to strip down. Her clothes were stuck to her skin from the sweat, and it felt good to finally get them off. She realized only once she was topless that her window was open. She realized Angelo must have sneaked out the window after their encounter, and that’s how he had gone unnoticed. She walked towards the window and looked down. It was a steep jump, but if he was skilled enough, he could have used the ledges of the doors and windows as stepping stones.
She peeked across the alley and into the other yards. It wasn’t like a typical city, as the lots were a bit further from each other to allow for larger properties for the wealthy population on the other side of the street. She looked to one of the houses and saw a light on in one of the windows. She couldn’t see exactly who it was but realized quickly that someone was standing there. and was about the size of Angelo. It was far away, but she could still tell that he was looking back.