Ria Cade is a beautiful dancer. She is a brunette with startling green eyes and a graceful look about her. She has a dancer's body, long and thin as a willow wand. She exceeds at ballet, but she also loves other styles, such as jazz and contemporary. She lives in a small town in South Carolina. Life is going pretty well for her overall.

*Ria's POV*

I walk through the front door of my dance studio "Leaps and Bounds" and I sigh happily. This place has always been a second home to me. The front lobby is extra cozy in preparation for the coming holiday season. Snowflake garlands adorn the cream colored walls, and small Santa statues are placed near the dark brown faux leather couches.

I wave hi to the ever cheery receptionist, Ms. Janice, then walk to towards the back. As I walk, I breathe in the smell of rosin and bob my head to the beat of "Thumbs" by Sabrina Carpenter, which the jazz class was rehearsing to in the first studio. Each studio has as much square footage as two school classrooms, with a small carpeted section by the door, and the rest is a raised section covered in springboard. A huge mirror takes up the entire front wall, and each studio is painted a different color.

I notice my best friend Mia, next to the small floral couch in the back. Her dark curls are pulled back into a severe bun.

"Hey Mia," I say as I approach my bubbly best friend.

"Bonjour!" Mia responds.

"How's you're stretching been going? Have you been able to do a split yet?" I ask.

"Not yet, but check this out!" Mia exclaims as she extends her leg behind her and slowly moving it upwards while bending her knee. Soon enough, she has managed to achieve a scorpion, her face showing no signs of strain.

"Woah! If you can pull off a scorpion, you can't be that far from a split!"

"I'm getting closer, but I'm still not there yet."

Our ballet teacher, Ms. Emily then pokes her head out of the studio three doorway. "Time for class, girls!" She says to our group of twelve dancers.

"We'll talk more after class," I quickly say to Mia.

"Sure thing!" Mia whispers.

Our group, clad in black leotards and pink tights, speed walks into studio three and each of us takes a spot at the barre.

"Alright girls," Our instructor, Ms. Emily begins. "Standard plié combination with full port de bras. And I'd better not see any sloppy turnout!"

As the classical music plays, I enter my "dance zone", where I concentrate only on my dancing and improvement. I go through the combination. Demi plié and stretch. Demi plié and stretch. Breathe. Cambré forward. Repeat in second, fourth and fifth. Balance in relevé. Repeat on the other side.

Ms. Emily walks around the room shouting out counts and making minor corrections to dancers. We go through class as usual. Forty five minutes of barre work, thirty five minutes of floor work, fifteen minutes going across the floor, then another fifteen minutes of strength exercises (such as balancing in relevé for as long as possible, or death pliés, a personal favorite of mine).

At the end of class, we all move to curtsy and clap, as usual, but Ms. Emily pauses.

"I have an announcement," She begins. "Many of you applied to Juilliard..."

"Seven of us exactly, Ms. Emily," A dark haired latina girl in our class, Teresa, interrupts.

"Ahem. Thank you Teresa," Ms. Emily resumes, glaring at her a bit. "As I was saying, seven of you applied to Juilliard, and three of you were accepted. Those three lucky girls are... Diane, Lilac, and Mia. Congratulations to all of you. I expect great things from you in the future. Class is dismissed."

*A/N - What are your thoughts? How was it? I know it's short but I really felt like I needed to post something. So here it is! Ta-da! I love you my lovely readers!