She admired every perfect line. Every bead of sweat.
Ollie thought back to the day Julz had stumbled into her ballet class. Mila, their ballet teacher, had given her a stern and precise little smile and had immediately targeted her as the prime example of what not to do. In turn, Julz had worked twice as hard. Ollie couldn’t take her eyes off her. She admired every perfect line. Every bead of sweat.
JEWELS BY SHARAI ZAMORA 34THPARALLEL MAGAZINE ISSUE 100
Ollie stared at Julz’s long delicate fingers on the steering wheel. They had a ballerina quality to them. “Tell me something,” Julz said.
“Like what?” Ollie couldn’t remember how long it’d been since she’d last said anything.
“Like anything. Tell me something interesting.”
“Did you like the care package I sent you?”
“I did. I don’t think I’ve seen a Kinder Surprise since I was a kid.”
“I know! I asked my mom if she could bring one back for me.”
Julz’s Jeep hit a pothole and the glove compartment fell open. Bills, letters, and photos flooded the floor. Ollie began gathering them up and Julz screeched the Jeep to a stop on the side of the road. “I got it, I got it,” she said.
Ollie picked up a polaroid photo of Julz’s old flame, Ruby, smiling brightly. It was two months since Ruby and Julz had split. Julz shoved the photo back in the glove compartment.
Ollie thought back to the day Julz had stumbled into her ballet class. Mila, their ballet teacher, had given her a stern and precise little smile and had immediately targeted her as the prime example of what not to do. In turn, Julz had worked twice as hard.
Ollie couldn’t take her eyes off her. She admired every perfect line. Every bead of sweat. This is when she first noticed how her hands floated through the air, fluttering from one position to the next.
They stood out from the class as the only stout girls in a room full of slender figures. Ollie looked at her fingers now: short, chubby. She had chipped black nail polish that she’d put on maybe two weeks before this.
Julz tapped on the steering wheel, cleared her throat. It was then that Ollie realized how long she’d been staring at her hands.