In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

demarcations, but careful to hide anything reflected or real from Ula's
angle of sight. Mismatched doll parts. Funny looking. She giggled and
wrapped herself back up tucking the end under her armpit.
"Ouch!" Ula said, "But that's what you were looking for wasn't
it?"
Penny spun around. Ula kept up her kicks: front, side, back,
side, front, side, with a silly smile on her face.
The towel, loose from the sudden turn, slipped to the floor.
Penny froze. Ula eyed her in the mirror. "Wow, well, aren't you the
little lobster! Tangerine Dream, Barbie Pink, Orange Peel" she sang
with each kick. "Pantone! Lovely triangle, by the way. The eyes—Beach
Glass, Tender Shoots."
Ula stopped her battements.
" You are stoned. They're huge, like the whole ocean rushed in
or something. Hey, did the son of a bitch fuck you under the water?"
"Ula, get real."
"It's OK, really." Ula leaned back against the barre, drinking in
Penny's nakedness.
"I never saw you in the nude before. You have a dancer's
body."
"Don't get weird, please." Penny picked up the towel and
wrapped herself back up, careful to work the tuck under her arm away
from the rawness. Jangled out of her pleasant fog, the burn was
overwriting her reflexes.
Ula went back to her exercises. Between relevés she said, "I'm
sorry about yesterday."
"Don't be, I had a great time."
"You did seem happy."
"Yeah, I guess."
Out of the blue, she broke down and the ocean did spill out.
Ula slid over to her and oblivious to the searing pain, hugged
her. "I'm sorry, baby girl, we love you, we want you to be happy."
"Fuck you!" Penny tried to wriggle out.
Ula tightened her arms around her.
"Oh, Penelope, lovely, lovely Penelope."
"Don't call me that. Just shut up. Let go of me."
"That's what he calls you, in his sleep. I know how it is."
"Don't do this to me, it's too late!"
"No, no, not really too late," Ula cooed and brought her to the
tatami and sat beside her.
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