Run, Girl (If You Can)

Violet came home in a white tee shirt and sweats covered in stage makeup, proving her last show for the night had ended. She always left the costumes at the studio to avoid liability if something happened to it.

When she rode the elevator up to her family's apartment she could hear screaming coming from the penthouse. What on earth?!

Rushing up the stairs, she saw Nathan spinning their mother around as he lifted her in the air. She was the one who was shrieking as her husband simply laughed at the scene.

"Uh…what's going on?"

"Mom got nominated for a Nobel Prize!" he said excitedly as he continued swinging Keeley around. "Isn't that awesome?!"

Violet was stunned. Not just anybody could get nominated for such a prestigious award. No wonder her mother was screaming. Two decades of working herself half to death had finally paid off.

"That's great, Mom. Congratulations!"

"Thanks," Keeley said a bit feebly, dizzy from all the spinning. "And Nate, the next time you want to congratulate me, make me dinner. Don't spin me around. I'm not as young as I once was."

Nathan smiled sheepishly and put her down. "Sorry Mom. I can do that but it is a bit late…why don't I make dessert instead? I'm sure you've already eaten."

"I can never turn down a professionally made dessert."

"I still like your brownies the best," Aaron whispered into his wife's ear but Violet heard it anyway.

Those two were so mushy. If her mother actually won the prize, her father would literally never shut up about it for the rest of his life. He had gone on for months to anyone who would listen when she finally got FDA approval, being the first to do so for gene therapy.

Keeley had been interviewed by a whole bunch of science journals after that. She had been more than a little overwhelmed by all the attention.

It was funny how much she hated the spotlight considering her career. If you don't want people to notice you, don't be amazing at things. But Violet wasn't one to talk. She didn't mind the spotlight one bit as long as she didn't have to speak.

She got up and performed in front of hundreds of people every night when a show was running but she could never do what her parents did. Interviews. Even Kaleb didn't have a problem with them, which was good considering he was making a name for himself as a rookie in the major league.

Oliver and Nathan had chosen more low-key careers but Nathan had still been on a children's cooking competition show when he was fourteen. He got second place out of a tournament consisting of a dozen teen chefs, which was pretty impressive.

The show had been taped in New York so she went with her mother to cheer him on from backstage. Nathan was surprisingly good under pressure considering he had always been such a meek child.

He headed into the kitchen to start making apple rose puffs—thinly sliced apples manipulated into the shape of a rose imbedded into a puffy pastry—and Violet found herself sighing as she watched her parents.

Her dad was smiling at her mom with his heart in his eyes and she looked as happy as he did as they held hands and swung them back and forth, gazing at each other's faces. She felt like such a third wheel, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence throughout her life.

Normally it didn't get to her. She was happy to know that she came from such a loving union. A lot of people weren't so lucky. Her parents loved her as much as they loved each other.

But every once in a while, watching them made her feel very, very single. Like right now.

Tonight's show had been rough because every single one of her fellow ballerinas received flowers from their boyfriends but her. It was the show's closing night but nobody Violet knew came since all of her friends and family in the area had already gone to one of the performances.

It wasn't like anybody wanted to watch the same ballet every night for a few weeks. Violet couldn't blame them. And when they did come, they always came with flowers. She simply felt the difference tonight of not being romanced.

Dating in college had been fairly easy, though none of her boyfriends lasted long because they weren't what she was looking for. Things were different now that her schedule didn't match up to the average 9-5 existence.

Meeting people was nearly impossible. The only people she regularly interacted with outside of her parents, Nathan, and Noah were her fellow dancers.

Male dancers didn't make good boyfriends; she had learned that back in college. Besides, most of the males in her company were gay. Or already dating another of the ballerinas.

It was kind of hard seeing them as romantic partners considering the completely platonic nature of their touches. They were always lifting the ballerinas around their waists, legs, or backs and because it was a part of work there wasn't a spark. Even after the dancing was over and they were back in the real world.

Noah had asked her about it once. How could she stand being touched by strange men all the time? Violet told him the truth; she didn't even think of them as men. They were merely a part of the dance.

Her phone buzzed. Somehow he always managed to text her when she was thinking about him.

'How did your last show go? I'm sorry I couldn't be there'

He was currently upstate chaperoning a bunch of kids who were participating in a three-day-long  karate competition. Since he had been working diligently at the dojo long before he graduated from high school, he had now worked his way up to being the owner's second in command.

The good news was that this came with a sizeable salary increase. The bad news was that it meant he now had to deal with things like this, plus administrative issues. All he wanted to do was teach karate but there was more to running a dojo than that.

Violet shook her head at his silly message though. Why would he be sorry? He had already seen her show twice.

Noah had gotten into the habit years ago of coming to opening night and closing night of her shows. He claimed it was because he wanted to see what changed from beginning to end but she had his number.

He felt sorry for her because all of the other girls with boyfriends got flowers on opening and closing night. Even if Violet never disclosed her wish for romance to him—she figured it would be insensitive since he had always been single and uninterested in dating—he somehow knew.

Noah had always been very sensitive to whatever she was thinking. It was part of why they were still best friends after more than two decades.

Kaleb, the social butterfly, had never held onto the same friends for more than five years or so at a time. His friendships were fun but superficial. She had figured that out after years of watching him rotate friends.

Violet didn't work that way. She had attached to one person a long time ago and though other friends came and went Noah was always there. It was the same for him. They were always each other's number one support.