Eloise

She was a petite, young thing. Full of life and agility. The word "spry" comes to mind when you see her. Spry or spring, like a metal coil and the verb. Right now she was leaping around on the stage, which gave a lot of credit to my description of her being springlike.

"Eloise, do it over again!"

I frowned at this. She didn't need to repeat that leaping thing. She wasn't a deer, for god's sake. A young actress maybe, but not a ballerina. She couldn't be one; she was a little too old for that now.

"Eloise, I have some food."

There was her brother, being the gentleman that he always is. And being a gentleman, he stood to the side of the stage with a plastic bag in his hand.

"God, I'm starving."

Eloise didn't have a pretty voice. She wasn't society's definition of beautiful. She sounded like a tomboy.

"Hey! You're not supposed to be here yet!"

Director, would you please shut up?

"I'm hungry, okay? A girl's gotta eat, you know."

Oh, Eloise. You're young and feisty.

I sat back in my seat and tried to be as inconspicuous as possible. I felt confident about blending in the background, and I thought that none of them would notice me. But, of course, I had forgotten to note the fact that there were only four of us in the theater right now. I was supposed to be observing and taking notes, and keep to myself as much as possible, but Eloise, you-

"Leave her alone, will ya?"

My voice sounded foreign and out of place. It bounced off the walls, and came back sounding hollow.

"You're not supposed to-"

"I'm taking a break. Let's go."

The director's irritation was aimed at me, while Eloise jumped nimbly from the wooden stage, marched towards her brother and grabbed his arm. They were headed straight for the door. I just happened to be sitting at the end of the row, by the way. Just a coincidence. A big coincidence when Eloise and her brother came in my direction.

"Hey, my arm!"

An interjection from her brother. She ignored this, and kept on marching, her face scrunched up. If she was a dragon you could see the smoke steaming out of her ears.

I stared at her, of course. That small body in a little black dress. She had no shoes on, and her shoulders were bare. She also happened to be looking right at me.

Hi, Eloise.

I could only smile awkwardly as she went past me, with her brother in tow. And all the time that our eyes were locked, (I counted the seconds; it was ten. Sweet, blistering, and slow.) I couldn't summon the courage to say hi or even nod. I doubted she could even see my lopsided smile. The theater was dark, save for the stage.

She frowned and narrowed her eyes at me. I could still feel her seething anger as she walked past and slammed the doors open.

Silence. A pause or two.

"You weren't supposed to say anything."

Director's voice at the front. Calm and patient; a relative contrast to his attitude with Eloise. He was standing and leaning against the stage, staring directly at me. I could feel his disapproval this far away in the auditorium.

Eloise's scent was lingering in the air. She smelled like flowers mixed with spring rain. Or that particular smell after it stops raining.

I looked back at the director and shrugged like I didn't care. Which I didn't.

An obsession always gets the better of you.