Boys or Ballet?

Chapter One

Point and flex. Point and flex.

"Come on ladies, let's stretch those legs!"

Isabelle went through the stretches Madame Marie lead her class through. It was time for pointe class and Madame always had them stretch very well before they danced. Wearing toe shoes was a wonderful thing, however they could also be dangerous.

Isabelle Delacour, Lara McDonnell, and Kelly Rogers were all best friends. The three girls had come together because they all had one true love, Ballet.

The girls attended The Royal Ballet School in England even though they came from very different places. Isabelle from France, Lara from Ireland and Kelly from America. The girls were fifteen years old, in their last year attending Lower School.

The Lower School girls all housed in a beautiful building named White Lodge which housed the girls eleven to sixteen. Girls sixteen through eighteen attended Upper School.

White Lodge was located in the rural surroundings of Richmond Park, west of London while Upper school was located in the beautiful Covent Garden in Central London which connected to The Royal Opera House.

The girls had survived hard try outs to be accepted into the school famous for producing such great names in ballet such as Dame Margot Fonteyn, Dame Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell and Darcey Bussell. It was their dream to become such great dancers, and few girls and boys could only hope that they too would cross the bridge to Prima.

"Come on Isabelle we are starting." Lara whispered to her friend.

Isabelle quickly finished tying the stain ribbons on her toe shoes and joined the other girls at the barre.

She rested her hand lightly along the wooden beam as Madame Marie lead the girls through some basic dance steps.

"And one, two demi-plie. Nice job Isabelle. Turn out a little more Kelly. Very lovely girls."

Isabelle smiled as she carefully worked her body through the motions.

"Very nice, now lift slowly into an arabesque. Hold that leg strong now Lara."

Isabelle watched from the corner of her eye as Lara adjusted her leg. Isabelle admired her friends long, graceful lines.

Madame Marie walked along the other girls correcting the little mistakes most people might not notice, but in Madame's class, perfection was a must.

After work out at the barre was complete, the girls moved to center. Madame led the girls through Bouree. These were quick running like steps that were sometimes performed on demi-pointe but more often they were done on pointe.

By the time class was over, some of her fine blond hair had fallen out of her bun and her cheeks were red from working so hard.

She and her friends were quite sweaty but unlike other girls their own age, they did not mind because they knew how hard they worked and that was more important.

Isabelle and her friends quickly went into the locker room to shower and dress before they went to the canteen for lunch. After they went through the line they looked around.

Nick Carter, Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson waved them over to their table.

"Hi guys, how is it going?" Nick asked.

"First day of class is always amazing." Lara said trying her wet red hair into a pony tail.

The guys nodded.

"I did have a nice break but it is always so nice to come back. This is like our home, we are a family." Brian said.

Isabelle smiled as her friends chatted happily together. She glanced over and was shocked to see that Brian kept glancing in her direction. That was strange. They had all been friends for such a long time. She also couldn't help but notice how good looking he had gotten over break.

She looked at her friends and realized that Lara was happily chatting with Nick while Kelly was doing the same with Kevin.

Oh well, I guess things do change after all. Isabelle thought. But who has time to be interested in boys when we have to focus on ballet?

"Do you like your baked chicken?"

Isabelle looked up.

"What?"

"I asked you if you liked your baked chicken?" Brian said smiling at her.

"Oh yes, it is excellent." Isabelle said with a smile taking a bit of the seasoned chicken.

Because ballerina's were a certain body type, they all watched what they ate. Baked skinless chicken was a favorite among many of the dancers.

Yet, they weren't expected to suffer without treats of normal teenages. The students were allowed to keep a tuck box where they kept stuff such as their favorite candies, chocolates, chips and other yummy foods. Each Saturday they were allowed one treat from their box.

"After lunch who is up for a game of soccer?" Kelly asked.

Kevin smirked.

"In our language, the American means Football."

Kelly blushed. She sometimes forgot how different American phrases were than English.

They all agreed and ran outside to play getting some of their friends to join in on the fun.

A/N ok fellow fanfic readers. I am trying to come back into the fanfic world with this story I just started. I have done a lot of research for it and I hope you like it. Please please please leave me some feedback so I can know what you all think.

Boys or Ballet?

Chapter Two

Howie Dorough and AJ McLean joined Nick, Brian and Kevin.

"So, what are we going to play?" Howie asked.

"Football." Nick answered.

"Boys against girls!" Lara called out.

Isabelle had gotten two other girls, Molly Larinson and Kirsten Walker to play with them.

For quite a while, they kicked the ball back and forth cheering each other on when their friend did something right and yelling words of encouragement when mistakes were made.

The bell rang an hour later calling them into the building.

They all gathered their stuff and headed off to character class. This class was a very old type of class but the teachers did not want the younger generation to forget  it so they taught character classes.

Other types of classes that the Lower School students studied were Contemporary, Gymnastics, Irish, Morris and Scottish dancing. In their older years the students studied Repertoire, Solos, Pas de deux and Upper Body for male students.

"Would you like to be my partner?" Brian asked Isabelle.

"Sure that would be great." She agreed.

Character class was one of the classes the joined the boys and girls for the lesson.

Madame Alexandra was a beautiful slender woman with a perfect ballerina's body. Isabelle and the others all loved to watch her. She was the type that would dance and be able to take your breath away.

"One...two...now lift, higher." Madame's voice called out in time to the music.

Isabelle danced with Brian holding herself tight as he lifted her into the air. He was very strong and they could do this together well.

The worked harder and harder. From the corner of her eye, Isabelle noticed that Kelly was practically floating as she danced with Kevin. Her face showed pure bliss.

Over on her left side, Lara and Nick were a picture of beauty. Because of how goofy Nick was, some of the girls tended to make fun of him.

He was always getting into a jam mixing up words or being slightly clumsy, however, no would would be able to tell when they watched him dance.

After the class ended, the girls gathered together in their dorm.

"Today has been such a long day and we still have Math in half an hour!" Kelly complained.

Isabelle grinned.

"Oui, but Math is so fun. Mr. Greenfield makes it so much better relating everything to ballet."

Lara grinned.

"I love how all of our teachers relate our studies to ballet. It just makes learning so much more fun."

Giggling, the three girls got ready.

"We are going to be late if we don't hurry." Isabelle said as they made their way down the west wing.

"I'm sure Mr. Greenfield will love having half of his class late." Brian said as he Nick and Kevin joined them.

They chatted together as they hurried off towards the class.

"Glad you decided to join us." Mr Greenfield said with a smile as they scurried in.

AJ and Howie waved them over and they sat down to begin their math lesson.

In Christ alone will I glory
Though I could pride myself in battles won
For I’ve been blessed beyond measure
And by His strength alone I’ll overcome
Oh, I could stop and count successes
Like diamonds in my hands
But those trophies could not equal
To the grace by which I stand

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone

Isabelle felt her breath catch. The words were beautiful even if she weren't big on religion herself.

She had no idea that Brian was.

She watched as he glanced up and met her eyes. She smiled at him and he returned the smile still singing.

In Christ alone will I glory
For only by His grace I am redeemed
For only His tender mercy
Could reach beyond my weakness to my need
And now I seek no greater honor in just to know Him more
And to count my gains but losses to the glory of my Lord

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope

As Brian continued to sing, Isabelle realized that these words were very close to his heart. She could tell by the way his beautiful voice sang the words and the expressions he wore as he sang that this was something he really loved.

She was stunned by how beautiful his voice was. It was hypnotizing. She felt her heart fill with love for him and his beautiful song.

In Christ alone
I place my trust
And find my glory in the power of the cross
In every victory
Let it be said of me
My source of strength
My source of hope
Is Christ alone
Is Christ alone

As Brian slowly finished, he returned his gaze to her. He was shocked to see the tears in her eyes. He didn't want to make her upset.

"That was beautiful Brian." Isabelle whispered softly.

He blushed.

"Just something I love to do."

"You could be famous with that voice!" She exclaimed.

He laughed.

"I hope when my ballet career is over that I will have the chance to do a record."

"I'll buy it." She said shyly.

He shifted nervous.

Isabelle smiled at him again and they sat in a happy silence. She wondered, could she be falling for her friend Brian Littrell?