Meet Annie

Hi! Thank you for joining me. Annie is a fictional character created by me, Anna Lax Gatti. Below is a little draft of some of my upcoming novels. Annie is the main character and the stories are about her life and what she has been through. Yes, Annie is based on me, but, no one can truly replace Anna. Annie is very much like me, but not all me.

Thank you for joining and here is a little something from my upcoming novels:

Dance Studio

Chapter One:  A Happy Place

Let us go back to when I was 15 back in 2011. Annie Catherine Laster, a young, innocent girl, they might think. My hair always blonde, but, not always long. In my later years, I learned that short hair is not for me. Leotard and tights in hand, I would change in the dance studio bathroom. My feet would turn cold after hitting the bathroom floor. My naked body would be there staring at the four corners. I had my Victoria’s Secret bra on and usually Fruit of the Loom undies and I put the dreaded tights on. If you’ve never put on ballet tights...try it. Or hell, even normal tights. Thank me later. 

After the tights were finally on, oh and by the way, all you dance moms out there and dancers or potential dancers, choose body tights! Again, thank me later. Anyways, before I got distracted (again). I put my leotard on and then my shoes. And I was ready to go. Today’s class was ballet en pointe. Ballet was one that I hated, but fell in love with. Seems kinda similar to someone I would meet in my twenties. This person was among my midst, but we had never met. Funny how small the world really is.

I thought I was fat back then. I was fit. Healthy. In shape. And beautiful. One thing that has remained constant are three things: my hair has remained some sort of blonde, I always wear my Aunt Josephine’s aquamarine ring she left for me, and my eyes. My eyes are this blue that changes. I can manipulate them with my eyeshadow choice. They were almost a darker blue raspberry color, but also blue sapphire. The color of the ocean. But could have a greyish tint. They were and are truly mystical. Just like my ring that I always wear. Oh, and I almost always have earrings in. Can’t forget the earrings.

My Aunt Josephine passed away when I was thirteen. I loved her. Always will. She was the rebel, you could say, of the family. And I loved that. I aspire to be that. A successful rebel like my Aunt Jo. One afternoon, she was grazing the halls of the mall here in Meredith. She “stumbled” across the Neil Lane section at Kay’s and saw this square aquamarine beauty. There it was: a double halo set in 14K white gold. With a big ole aquamarine in the center. She instantly fell in love. The architecture of the ring reminded her of the fleur de lis, which she adored. Josephine had lived in New Orleans for a while and was quite familiar with Mardi Gras and with the culture. She loved it. She found a way to purchase it. What a boss bitch.

We went to eat Mexican a few towns from Meredith (where her and my aunt Kelly lived) and she showed it to me. She said, “Annie, this will be yours when I go to heaven, my dear. Never lose your true essence or sparkle.” I looked at her and told her that I wouldn’t. She passed away from lung cancer. She loved to smoke; which is fine. Like one of my great friends says, “Everyone has their vices.” The ring is one of my most prized possessions. I wear it everyday. Its home is my right ring finger. 

We all head into the class. Miss Tab, real name Tabitha, was in before to greet us. “Hello, ladies! Did everyone have a good summer break from the last time I saw you? Like what, two weeks ago?” We all said yes. She gave us our first combination. My hand and ring would go up and down. Motion to motion. My head would follow. As Disney piano music played, we danced. And danced. And danced. My mind often times did not wonder during ballet class. I was focused. Focused on getting every move right. At the end of the day, we all wanted to please Miss Tab.

I had a dream, a nightmare one time. This dream, this experience, this reality led to daydreaming about the monster behind me. Ever since Morgan, Jaqueline (Jaq) and I skyped (Skype was it back then, y’all) that one night, things were different. Why? Let’s find out. One, cold, and dreamy night, LOL actually I’m kidding. It was Tennessee summer weather. That in itself is a nightmare, right? Visit Tennessee, you’ll know. One, hot and sweaty night, Jaq, Morgan and I skyped just like we always did. It was normally just Morgan and I, but Jaq joined us that night. Morgan had been getting me into scary movies. We would watch them and eat flaming hot cheetos together; it was amazing. I started watching The Vampire Diaries because of Morgan; I now LOVE that show and the books. I literally could watch it over and over again.

As my arm was making a ballet motion, was something behind me making that same motion? When I wrote, was it reading every word? Listening to every conversation? Learning me when they could. What color are its hands? Are they bone like? Are they dusty like you’d see in a typical scary movie?”

I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading. More is to come!

Xoxo -

A