The wheels of my bike made a cracking sound as they rolled over the cracked pavement of the construction ground. There were large chunks of concrete falling off the deteriorating building and sparks flying everywhere.

I was used to it though. I worked underneath the building welding the pipes. I was amazed I even got the job being only 18 years old and the only female worker on the entire site. Well my boss was a woman but I only ever saw her name on my paychecks, nothing else.

I parked my bike in the parking lot with the other cars then went to grab my mask and torch. Today I was welding some broken water pipe or some crap like that. It’s not like I cared much about this job, this was just my day job. One that I planned to leave once I had enough money saved up to go to the West Hollywood Ballet Conservatory.

After the musky heat and sparks I make my way to ‘The Planet’ where I work as a dancer. Now that job I do care about. I love the owner, Marina, the waitress (who’s also my best friend) Dana, the cook (her girlfriend) Lara, and all my fellow dancers.

Marina calls it a place of dreams, all of us are here temporarily while we chase a bigger dream. I call it the place I can truly disappear. When I get on that stage to dance, I don’t think about the fact that there are men and women sitting out there leering at me, or that I’m wearing close to nothing, I think about my dance and my art.

I close my eyes in my opening position and listen to the introduction of the song. I let the music sink in until I feel it in my bones then I move. There’s no choreography. There’s no thinking. It’s the place where Bette Porter disappears and a dancer is born.

My body twirls around on its own accord, the spotlight follows me on the stage. The music is intensifying the singer is at the highest pitch. I drop my body onto a chair, arch my back and stretch my legs.

There’s a lever beside me that a pull and a gallon of water soaks my entire body. My little leotard clings to my body as I stand and throw my hair back in a seductive manner.