Dance Like The River || Open
By the end of Raya’s night at the Magnolia Club, she was slightly sticky from sweat and spilled drinks and felt as if the makeup on her skin had been permanently absorbed into her pores. In the back room, she scrubbed her makeup off and got changed, ignoring the not so quiet jabs from the other dancers. The only reason she didn’t call them strippers flat out was because doing that meant that Raya would have to admit that a stripper was what she was, all she would ever be. She swallowed roughly at the thought and grabbed her bag before turning on her heel and walking out the door. With a glance to the watch strapped on her wrist, she realized that she only had a half an hour at the most before curfew, but there was something Raya wanted to do before going home, curfew be damned.
She glanced over her shoulder at the sound of a group of men behind her let out obnoxiously loud laughter while stumbling out the front door of the club. A scoff escaped from her lips at their drunkenness before she turned around and continued on her way. It wasn’t long before there wasn’t anyone else on the streets around her and Raya got to her destination. Just to be sure, her eyes flickered around the area before ducking into one of the abandoned buildings that was closer to the Upper Side than Raya should actually be. She had found the building a couple of weeks back and had went there every time the need to clear her head was present.
The strap of her bag slipped off her shoulder, and Raya lowered the bag to the ground, taking in the dusty space. It wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small either. It was big enough for her, and that was all that mattered. She bent down next to the bag and unzipped it, the sound echoing through the empty room. Inside, there was a radio that she pulled out and set on the ground. After making sure that the sound was down low, Raya turned it on and pressed play, the soft sound of classical music drifting around her as she kicked off her shoes and tied her hair up. Her eyes drifted close, Raya taking in the pace of the violin and piano before beginning to truly dance. She didn’t know how long she went on, body moving like water as she kicked and spun and twirled around the room, but her eyes remained closed for most of it.
So when she paused as the music slowed and pressed her hands to her stomach before pushing them over her chest and neck then raising them over her head to do a back bend, Raya’s eyes widen almost comically at the sight of someone standing in the door way. Before she could help herself, she collapsed and rolled over quickly, becoming covered in dust. “What are you doing here?” She asked as if they were in the wrong and not her for being so close to the Upper side. Raya glanced over to her bag where her wand was and noted that it was too close to the person to reach it before they did if they were going to harm her.
