27. Misha
Iwas tasked with talking to Leif, since we were already friends and had a ton of classes together.
And I legitimately liked him and wanted us to do this.
When he asked me to dance the lead in his ballet, I happily accepted and I was famous for turning roles down unless it benefitted Immortal Nightmare.
Blackvale wanted me to dance the Sugar Plum Cavalier, and I said no.
It was a bigger, more technically demanding part than the Rat King, but I’d rather have fun.
And I knew before parts were even announced that Rue was going to be the Sugar Plum Fairy.
I liked Rue as a person and I liked partnering with her, but Cullen had a certain magic with her on stage that I didn’t.
They asked me instead of him because of my fame instead of his ability.
Maude was banging away at the piano while we stood at the barre and kicked our legs in grand battement. She was older than dirt and mean as fuck. Orion adored her, and I brought her favorite tea before class every day.
I heard a violin in the quad and briefly turned my head out the window.
I smiled. Harlowe was playing in the quad under the angel statue.
Students filming themselves making art all over campus was common.
You had to be able to get your name out there.
You never knew who was going to see it and give you a job.
I wanted to turn and look, but it was generally considered rude to not angle your body inward and outward when kicking to the front and back so you didn’t kick someone in the arse or face when you were packed at the barre like we were.
I needed to pay attention to class and not Harlowe. Madame would whack me with her cane if she thought I was zoning out. She didn’t care in the slightest I was famous. I adored that woman even if I hated this place.
Leif was in front of me at the barre and Cullen was behind me.
I was much closer to Leif than I was with Cullen because we had more classes together.
Cullen was interested in choreography, but it wasn’t his passion.
Cullen was going to perform when this was over and then he wanted to teach. Leif breathed choreography.
I heard Leif draw in a breath when he realized she was out there.
When Maude stopped playing, I snuck a better peek out the window.
Oh, she was stunning, and she had to be freezing cold.
She was standing out there in black leggings and a raggedy black skirt with a corset over a long-sleeved black top.
She had her signature black boots on. There was a slight wind blowing her hair back.
“Think she knows the urban legend around that statue?” Leif whispered.
I chuckled. Probably not. Everyone on campus called it the hot angel and had conspiracy theories, but that was a statue of Lucifer and it gave Azriel an excuse to tell his favorite art history story involving Lucifer statues.
Saint Paul’s Cathedral hired Joseph Geefs to do a sculpture of Lucifer and then they decided the sculpture of Lucifer was too sexy and would make people have impure thoughts. So, they hired his brother, Guillaume, to do a new statue, and he did an even hotter Lucifer.
He showed me the two statues and the one at Blackvale was the hottest Lucifer statue because it looked the most like him. I had to correct myself every time I thought that because the angel fucked me over and Orion and Azriel hated him.
I was dripping with sweat by the end of class. Madame was brutal today. She was obsessed with jumps and leaps lately, which was usually my forte, but even I had my limits. I grabbed my bag because I had yoga next. I was going to walk over with Leif, Cullen, and Rue since we all had it together.
Cullen and I both tried to ask Leif something at the same time. Cullen nodded to me, but I told him to go ahead. I wasn’t rude, and I had a feeling I was going to have to convince Leif to work with Orion and Azriel. They weren’t bad at all, but people here could get annoying.
“Hey, so your dream violin player is starting to be a good friend of mine. Rue and I mentioned your ballet, and she’s interested.
Harlowe actually seemed pretty excited about it.
Topher told her to start filming videos to capitalize on the subway video and she’s asked a few dancers to join in on a few.
I can introduce you and you should join too. ”
Damn. She asked dancers to be in her videos and she didn’t ask me? Then again, I’d only spoken to her once. I hadn’t followed up after I asked to hang out and she invited me for grilled cheese.
I was in a weird space last night. I’d been planning on going to her dorm room after rehearsal, but Belinda texted me more of her AI photos.
I wasn’t naked this time. It was just us performing Romeo and Juliet.
She was one of those who thought it was a romance story. I hadn’t told Azriel and Orion yet.
“I actually wanted to talk to you about your ballet and Harlowe too.”
Cullen narrowed his eyes at me. He was fiercely protective of his friends.
“Orion saw the video too. He wants to work with her. I brought up your ballet and that you do too. He thinks it would be cool to work with her to score your ballet and Azriel doesn’t want to be left out. He said he’d do the sets.”
“No offense, but your boyfriends don’t exactly play well with others. None of us like Belinda, but all she did was hit on you.”
Is that what they all thought? We got hit on all the time.
If we reciprocated, no one cared if we acted on it as long as there were no feelings and everyone was honest. I didn’t particularly give a shit if the rest of the school thought Azriel was just feral and possessive, but I considered Cullen and Leif friends.
“Belinda didn’t just ask me out. No one would have cared if that was it.
I keep blocking her and she keeps creating new accounts to message me the fucked up AI photos she’s making of us.
Some of them are just us in ballets she wants to do and we’re naked in others.
Azriel would have forgotten about her if she stopped sending the photos, but she also signed up to nude model for his figure painting class.
“Azriel and Orion play well with people when they don’t give them a reason not to.
They want to do this. They think Harlowe is talented, and I showed them the video of Cullen dancing your interpretation of Wrath when the dance department and the music department got together to do the Seven Deadly Sins.
They are actually honored to make your vision come to life if you want them. ”
I wasn’t lying or buttering them up. Before we got here, there was a collaboration performance of the Seven Deadly Sins.
I watched it the first night here because Orion was in a practice studio and Azriel was in the art studio planning to be a menace.
It was the entire reason I introduced myself to Leif and Cullen.
Rue as well for that matter. Rue represented Lust. The choreography was a little too obvious, but the way Rue danced it made me not hate it.
I wanted my boyfriends to like my friends. I knew they would once they met them, but they respected talent. Leif and Cullen both had it and I already knew Cullen had a large part in Leif’s new ballet.
Leif was frowning.
“I think using a piano, a violin, and maybe a cello for the score would have the ambiance I want and I think their styles would work well together. But I don’t know her and I barely know Orion.
He might want to work with her, but I don’t know if she wants to work with him.
I’ve had this ballet in my head for years and have been saving it for my thesis performance.
I really don’t want my baby ruined because of drama with my composers.
Dancer drama is bad enough every time a cast list gets posted. ”
He wasn’t wrong. Things got ugly after The Nutcracker cast got posted, even though it was exactly how I would have done it if this was my show. I’d only met Harlowe once. She was nice, but I didn’t know how well she played with others when it came to creating.
I couldn’t speak for her, so I didn’t.
“Immortal Nightmare has a long history of working with difficult people. I don’t think she is, but if it turns out I’m wrong, Orion knows how to manage things so nothing blows up and the work still gets done.”
“She’s not,” Cullen said. “She’s low key and knows how to laugh at herself.
She also didn’t ask us to dance in her videos for nothing or try to control what we do.
She said she’d send us the music and whoever felt moved could join her.
We can also film and edit it to show off our dancing for our own content.
“But Leif is right. She said she’d like to meet Leif and talk about scoring the ballet, but she didn’t say she’d actually do it and she didn’t mention needing help at all.”
“So, we set up a meeting and talk it out. We’re all adults. Misha is never in the dining hall and Harlowe rarely is too. I’d say we could do a picnic in the quad, but I hate the cold.”
“My dorm room is huge because they kept the three of us together. I have exceptions for things to cook with because the dining hall sets me off. I don’t have anything like a stove or oven, but I can cook us dinner. I know she likes grilled cheese.”
Leif moaned.
“Carbs and cheese are my weakness.”
“Girl, they are everyone’s weakness unless you’re lactose intolerant,” Cullen said.
“You should come,” I said. “You’ll be dancing a huge part and I want you to see my boyfriends aren’t that scary.”
“I’ll think about it. I get why Azriel is attacking Belinda now, but I don’t want to say something stupid. You’re kind of famous.”
“You say stupid shit in front of me all the time.”
“Yeah, but you know you aren’t my type and think it’s hilarious. Orion is my type and I don’t think Azriel is going to find it funny.”
They’d both find it funny because Cullen was never serious and if someone wasn’t interested, he backed right off. I fired off a group text because we had a plan to get everyone in the room and discuss this ballet.
I didn’t know if Harlowe even wanted to work with us. Orders or not, we’d never force her. We should at least give her the option.