I ran it forty times

Aanya came at half past nine. She sat on the floor by the mirror. I did not ask her to. She just did. She had her thermos. The slow tick was set at sixty. I ran the four-count thing forty times. My legs hurt. The loud ache in my hip was quiet today. She wrote that down. Quiet is good. It means the loud thing in me is gone.

Priya texted in the morning. The showing is real. She booked Kabir Shah. I know that name. Real lights for my dance.

Here is the part I will not say out loud. I am so scared. The fragments are here but what if they stop? What if I show up that day and there is nothing in me? Sab thik karke bhi, andar se kuch toot sa jata hai.

Aanya sat without asking. That is the part I keep thinking about. Nobody asks me to sit anymore. People ask me to dance. She just sat.

I think I might be good at this. I am scared to write that down. Okay. I wrote it.