Chapter 7 Operation Diary On Ice #2
The alarm on my watch immediately went off, and sirens blared inside my brain. I’d gotten so carried away, I’d almost forgotten that I had a ballet class that afternoon. I truly hoped that Madame Stacy wouldn’t be on my case if I ended up being a little bit late.
I quickly made my way back to my dorm to grab my recital bag with all my change of clothes in it and made my way to the main building’s left wing.
I met Remi along the way, and we decided to walk to class together, but walking anywhere with Remi was like walking down Los Angeles Blvd with the President of the United States.
Everybody stopped to say hi to her because she was friends with everyone.
She was just the kind of girl that people were drawn to, the one that everybody loved.
She was a girl’s girl to her core, and it might just be my favorite thing about her.
We tossed our bags in the corner, changed into our leotards, and immediately started stretching. My joints were a bit sore, which made things far more tedious than they needed to be.
“When was the last time you stretched, Miss Yeo?” Madame Stacy questioned, narrowing her eyes at me with pursed lips, not a wrinkle in sight despite her being in her fifties. “Scratch that when was the last time you practiced?”
“Last weekend Madame.” I swallowed hard and lifted my leg onto the barre to stretch more.
“It does not appear so,” she chided with a bitter tone to her voice.
“Need I remind you the auditions for the Nutcracker are in three weeks. If any of you decide to keep going at this rate, you’ll be lucky if you’re on cleanup duty after.
This is Julliard, not a back alley studio in Wisconsin.
People sell their souls to get their children in here.
Acknowledge your privilege and put your best foot forward.
I shouldn’t have to remind you of this!”
“Understood, Madame,” I responded. Even though she was addressing the entire class, I knew it was me she was targeting.
She was always stricter with me than anyone else.
I didn’t have it in me to ask why. I just did what I had to do to get where I needed to be.
And where I needed to be was up on that stage performing at the showcase.
I wanted to work hard and become a prima ballerina and do what I loved for the rest of my life.
Practice that day was toilsome, as it usually was, more so since it was the first one of the season.
Afterwards Remi and I met with Sydney by the window outside class to eat a very late lunch of garlic rolls and spaghetti bolognese we ordered from the restaurant down the street where we usually got our food between classes.
I nearly reached for the last roll but I hesitated, wondering if anyone else might want it.
Sydney’s gaze met mine and she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
“Remember when I was telling you about all the security that’s being set up around campus?” Remi spoke through a mouthful of pasta, accidentally spilling marinara on her leotard. “Shit—”
“Oh yeah, they’ve been putting security cameras everywhere and security at damn near every doorway, which is extra even for Julliard and that’s saying something.” Sydney snorted a laugh. “But why’d you bring it up?”
“Well it turns out the school somehow got Wynter fucking Kwon to transfer here and mentor the freshman skaters,” Remi revealed, but this was not news to me, not at all, but I had to pretend like it was. “Why are you guys not losing your shit?”
“Oh! Pfft.” Sydney realized, “That’s because we’ve known Wyn since he had braces and collected rocks for fun!”
“You what!” Remi gasped, damn near choking on her food. “Why was this never mentioned before, it’s like hiding that you’re cousins with the queen of England?”
“It just…never came up, I guess. Oh and Yesoh has a PTSD reaction every time his name is brought up in casual conversation.” Sydney giggled and I smacked her shoulder. “Ow! What? It’s true, everyone knows this.”
“I do not!” I argued. “I do not care about him.”
Remi’s eyebrows raised. “Oh, he did a number on you back in the day, huh?”
“See what you started, Sydney?” I grumbled, “He’s not my business.”
“Yeah…Anymore,” Sydney added and Remi chuckled. “Listen, it’s obvious that you’re still curious about him.”
“Yeah there’s nothing wrong with that, he’s like…insanely pretty,” Remi marvelled with a glimmer in her eye, “He has the kind of face you spend a lifetime getting over, Time magazine dubbed him the face of a generation in their latest issue.”
“What’s this in your bag?” Sydney reached for the diary that was sticking out, and my heart dropped.
“Hey, give that back—”
Sydney gasped. “Oh my god, is this what I think it is?”
“What is it, let me see!” Remi leaned over, trying to see. “Is this a diary?”
“It’s not just any diary friend, it’s Wynter’s, where did you even get this, are you hanging out again?” Sydney wondered.
“No we’re not! And it was in a box in Cahya’s things. I have to give it back!” I informed them, but they didn’t appear in favour.
“Give it back, are you crazy? This guy did you dirty all those years ago and now you wanna play nice? No way!” Remi protested.
“Yeah I mean…you could have so much fun with this Soh.” Sydney smirked menacingly, examining it. “This is from summer thirteen, right?”
I groaned. “And fourteen…and fifteen…and every summer until the very last one.”
“Exactly! And you’re always saying how he left on an ellipsis and that you wish you could’ve had answers ,right?” Sydney sat up, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
“Well yes, but…”
Remi motioned at the diary. “Well, this is your chance to get all your answers. You could know everything about him you’ve wanted to all this time.”
“Oh, you’re seeing my vision, I love that.” Sydney smiled, high-fiving her.
“But it seems…immoral, I don’t know.” I shrugged.
“Did he give a fuck about morals when he left without saying a word and didn’t write to you at all?” Sydney snarled, recalling how gutted I was when everything went down.
“Well no, but…I don’t know he knows I have it and it’ll be awkward,” I refuted.
“Riddle me this, do you still want him?” Remi asked. “Like are you still into him, even just a little?”
“There’s no getting over the face of generations is there?” I replied sarcastically, but I knew that they knew that there was an undeniable truth tucked behind my words.
“This is your tool to get him. Think of it as a cheat sheet into the folds of his mind. You can get to know his most intimate thoughts that he doesn’t share with anybody else.
All you have to do is find a way to get him to let you keep it for a while and make it seem like you’re not reading it,” Remi said, and I bit my bottom lip in contemplation.
“This is going to require a degree none of us are equipped with—we all chose not to become women in STEM, remember?” I chuckled, and their eyes lit up at my willingness.
“My sister did neurobiology, does that count?” Remi questioned. “Listen, we can channel all her energy with us today because we’re about to have some fun with this. It’s time to get your guy, Yesoh.”
“Is that so?” I humored them, but I could tell they were serious.
“Operation Diary On Ice is a go!” Remi dubbed it, placing her hand in the middle of the circle, Sydney placed her hand over hers, and at that they both looked up at me, waiting on my call.
“I’m going to regret this.” I rolled my eyes, sealing the bet.
I don’t think I ever did.