Chapter 16
Sixteen
Turnout: essential for correct and injury-free execution of all ballet steps; the rotation of the legs from the hips, allowing the feet to face away from the dancer’s front. Requires strength and flexibility in the hips.
Rudy
“I’m not ready.” Victoria arrived at the theater’s back entrance early Friday morning with a rattled expression, eyes wide, cheeks flushed, hair escaping her usually-perfect bun.
“You’re not late.” I ushered Victoria and her mother into the building. “You’ve got plenty of time before the school performance.”
Victoria, along with the other student performers and a few volunteers like Kitty, would miss their morning classes so we could put on the show for the elementary students who would arrive by bus mid-morning.
Several members of the media would also be in attendance, including the TV reporter who wanted to update her story in time for more ticket sales for us.
Instead of being giddy for the excuse to skip school, though, Victoria carried an air of weariness along with her dance bag and ever-present sticker-covered water bottle.
“I’ve got way more than the ballet going on. You have no idea.” Victoria could reach Alexander-levels of dismay rather easily with shades of Kitty’s vocal acrobatics as well. No one did frazzled quite like a teen girl. “Although today is only like one of the biggest days of my whole life.”
“You were born for this moment.” Her mother was of similar build, thin with fine bones and delicate features. Like Victoria, her hair was pulled up, and they wore nearly identical puffy coats.
“I know.” Victoria groaned, skirting dangerously close to the sort of rudeness that would have earned me a rebuke from my mother at her age.
She yanked off her gloves before gentling her tone.
“I know. I’m trying to find my focus.” She glanced over her shoulder at the door I’d shut behind them.
“Leave it all at the door, like Tavio says.”
“Do you want your headphones?” Victoria’s mother was always quick with the offer to help, whether for Victoria or any of the multiple ballet school committees she served on. “There’s still time for me to walk back to the car.”
“Yes, please.” Victoria’s expression softened as her mother darted back out into the cold. Turning back toward me, she flopped her hands helplessly. “I don’t know what to do.”
Victoria could mean anything from the performance to something school or friend-related, but my guess was that her mom’s hovering was also a factor in her distress.
“Your mom loves you. I’ve been around enough dance parents to know how intense it gets before a performance, but she loves you, and she’s going to be proud of you no matter what.” I pitched my voice as soothing as possible, but Victoria continued to radiate unhappiness.
“It’s not about my mom. Or not only that.” Victoria closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled on a whisper, “It’s Kitty.”
“It’s me?” Kitty popped her head out of one of the dressing rooms. She wore a measuring tape as a necklace and a pincushion bracelet along with green velvet pants and a shirt so neon pink it might be visible from space.
Victoria’s eyes went pained rather than relieved at the sight of her friend, but Kitty seemed too preoccupied to notice.
“Are you ready to see the final costume?”
“Yes.” Victoria took another breath to steady herself, then followed Kitty into the dressing room.
Last night at the dress rehearsal, Kitty had cast a critical eye on the costume and taken it for yet more tweaks to the embellishments.
She’d arrived earlier with the costume, bleary eyed with a large coffee in tow, so I too was eager to see the final product.
Kitty unveiled the costume with a flourish worthy of its sugary splendor.
Each quilted layer of the wide tulle tutu was perfectly smooth, but the real star was the gabardine bodice.
As with most ballet costumes, the waist area was smooth to allow for ease of partnering.
The upper bodice, though, shone brightly with rhinestones and metallic cord in elaborate swirly patterns, all of which would glitter even more under the spotlights.
“Oh my God, it’s beautiful.” Victoria reached a hand out to trail a finger along the neckline. “I can’t believe it’s the same costume I saw in November. I was so nervous last night that I didn’t notice all your changes.”
“You did amazing,” I added.
Kitty preened from the praise. “I deconstructed it, cleaned each piece by hand, reattached the missing embellishments and beads and added more. I wanted it perfect for you.”
“It is.” Victoria’s voice was dreamy as she continued to trace the embellishments with a gentle finger.
“Anything for my best friend.” Kitty’s tone was earnest, but Victoria abruptly dropped her hand and frowned.
“Why are you going to the winter formal with Marcus?”
“I’m not.” Kitty made an indignant noise. The measuring tape around her neck wobbled.
“I heard you say you were thinking about it.” Victoria stared her friend down.
“And I am.” Kitty added her own pointed look. “Thinking, that is.”
Victoria took a big breath, similar to the ones I’d seen her take prior to walking out onto a stage. She exhaled, all her air coming out in a single rush. “Don’t.”
“Don’t think?” Voice going soft, Kitty tilted her head.
“Don’t go with him.” Victoria firmed her tone, a well of inner strength reflected in her dark eyes. “Go with me.”
“With you?” Kitty’s cheeks went candy-apple red, and her eyes were hungry yet wary, like an offered treat might be too good to be true. “As friends? Or—”
“Here’s your headphones.” Victoria’s mother chose the exact worst moment to stride into the dressing room, making the small space that much more cramped.
“Please.” Victoria continued to have eyes only for Kitty.
“Yes,” Kitty whispered, barely audible, but the word was enough to get a nervous smile and nod from Victoria as her mother approached the costume.
“Look at this costume!” Victoria’s mother marveled, oblivious to the thick emotion swirling in the room. “Kitty, you’re a magician. We never had anything so fancy when I danced in high school.”
“Victoria deserves the best.” Kitty addressed her comment toward Victoria, but Victoria’s mother was the one to nod.
“She does.” Victoria’s mother gave a proud smile, eyes taking on a far-off cast. “That’s why her program next year is so crucial.”
“You both deserve the best.” I lightly tapped Kitty on the shoulder, conveying silent support. A quick glance at my watch told me we all needed to get moving. “I’ll leave you to get changed. And, Victoria? You are ready. I promise. For everything.”
“Thank you.” Victoria’s eyes looked suspiciously damp.
For her sake, I hoped she managed to find her focus for the performance, but for both their sakes, I hoped they managed a few more words before the show.
My own throat was a little tight as their unfolding drama was more compelling than any ballet.
As soon as I stepped out of the dressing room, I was caught up in pre-show chaos. Missing props. Wardrobe malfunctions. Hyped little ballerinas who weren’t listening to anyone. Nervous soloists. I kept looking for Alexander, but my attention kept getting pulled to other crises.
However, even as I worked putting out various fires, Victoria and Kitty’s earlier interaction lingered in my brain.
Victoria’s courage in that moment had been every bit as impressive as her dancing talent.
The girls had been friends for years before taking this brave leap into new territory.
I’d said I was happy being Alexander’s friend, but was I really?
Why couldn’t we be friends as well as something more?
Sure, I couldn’t hope for forever, but would it be so terrible to make a bid for more kissing?
Friends who kissed? I wanted that more than I wanted anything, possibly up to and including the success of the show, but I had no clue how to make a move that wouldn’t come across as pressure and ruin everything.
Mind whirling, I barely had a chance to peek out at the excited school children filing into the theater seats. My mother had taken on the task of greeting the students, teachers, and the media members, leaving me to the backstage prep as we counted down to the opening.
“Places everyone.” Tavio swept through as the ballet teachers corralled their charges in preparation for the curtain rising on the party scene.
Anticipation thrummed through me as the overture sounded, and I wanted nothing more than to watch the ballet unfold from the wings.
However, backstage chaos continued to reign with a flurry of questions and last-minute urgent requests.
“We need a Band-Aid!”
“Are there any tissues?”
“Anyone have a spare bobby pin?”
“Who needed a hairbrush?”
I was on the move through much of Act One, missing most of the Party Scene, and only catching snippets of the battle as each group of student performers seemed to bring a fresh set of needs.
In a bid for more ballet school participation, Irina and Tavio had choreographed numerous innovative ways to involve child dancers.
More parts for the kids meant more money from their parents and more tickets from their friends and relatives as well.
The tiny dancers playing snowflakes in the Land of the Snow crowded each other, impatient for their turn as the stage crew deftly unveiled the set pieces for the scene.
I caught sight of Victoria awaiting her Act Two entrance, but I barely had enough time to offer an encouraging smile before being summoned to find a missing headpiece.
“Whoa.” Alexander’s low warning sounded, saving me a millisecond before I crashed into him.
He appeared like some sort of celestial vision, mesmerizing in his Cavalier costume, every blond hair in place, stage makeup accenting his already iconic looks, tunic and tights showing his perfect physique.
He placed a warm hand on my shoulder. “Breathe.”
“Shouldn’t I be telling you that?” I managed a grin.
“I’m ready.” The set of his jaw dared anyone to disagree.
“You are.” I held his gaze, and energy sizzled between us, bright as a piece of glitter in the spotlight and equally elusive.
Unlike me and my ever-present blushes, Alexander seldom showed even a hint of color, but his cheeks took on a faint dusky tone.
Surely he felt this pull too? But there was no time to ask, as yet another teacher waved in my direction, and I had to leave him and the moment behind.
I made it back to the wings as Victoria harnessed her nerves into a worthy performance as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and her pas de deux with Alexander captivated the audience.
Alexander’s solo variation was the real show-stopper in my opinion, and after watching a month of rehearsals, I practically knew his every breath.
I held mine as he jumped impossibly high, but my worry was quickly replaced with awe as he landed light as snow upon the stage.
I couldn’t wait to tell him how brilliant he’d looked, but my attention was swept away by my mother trying to locate a stool for Tavio for the director’s talk to the school kids immediately after the final curtain.
After everyone took their bows, Tavio and Irina answered questions from the audience about the production, and the kids had so many inquiries that Alexander and Victoria were able to join the discussion toward the end.
Finally, the students lined up to return to the buses waiting out front. My mother was busy in discussion with the principal, leaving me to make sure the teachers had all their students along with the copies of the program we were sending back with them.
“I can’t thank you enough for arranging this.” Mr. Davis, the third-grade teacher who had been my main point of contact at the school, stepped away from his line of kids and parent chaperones.
“It was our pleasure.” I smiled at him, a wave of relief coursing through me that it had been a good experience for him and his students. “I know my mother is hoping to do more with the local schools in the future too.”
“Make sure she sends you again.” Mr. Davis’s blue eyes twinkled. They weren’t quite as blue or as sharp as Alexander’s, but they were nice eyes nonetheless.
“I think my future here is dependent on funding, but thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Maybe I’m just hoping to see you again.” He winked, and the theater lobby seemed suddenly smaller and warmer.
“Oh.” I made a startled noise that wasn’t exactly encouragement, but Mr. Davis plowed ahead.
“I suppose I could ensure that possibility by asking if you’d be free for a coffee sometime?”
“I…uh…” I’d spent my college years woefully bad at reading others’ interest in me, but Mr. Davis, who wasn’t that many years older than me, was rather clearly asking me out.
Three months ago, my answer would have been immediate.
But now? I glanced around the lobby, hoping for inspiration as a blonde girl with wispy hair and a missing front tooth came rushing up.
“Mr. Davis, Shiloh won’t stop looking at me.”
“Oops. I need to get going.” Mr. Davis turned toward his group of students before glancing back over his shoulder. “Think about it?”
“What are we thinking about?” My mother had even worse timing than Victoria’s mother, which was really saying something. And to make matters worse, she was followed by Alexander, who still had a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“Loading up.” Mr. Davis offered one last smile before heading back to his class as they streamed out the lobby doors. “Thanks again for having us.”
“I’d say the school visits were a success.” Alexander’s tone was cryptic, leaving me even more confused than ever.