Chapter 2
Later Ken showed up and escorted Sora to the dormitory in order to show her where she'll be staying. Once the two had left Jennifer also made her way over to the dormitory and visit the dorm supervisor: Sarah Dupont. She stood outside the supervisor's room and knocked upon the door "Sarah? You there? It's me Jennifer." not hearing an answer from inside she opened the door to find it unlocked "Huh…That's strange…" once fully opening it Jennifer immediately ducked as Sarah flew right over her doing a karate kick. The Harrington turned around to find her friend on the ground and made her way over "Practicing your karate moves again Sarah?" "Why hello there Jennifer! And yes I am I must say your reflexes are still good, for a moment there I thought I was going to hit you but I'm glad I didn't." "Come on let's move this conversation inside your room besides you can continue your practicing in there." "All right!" the two women then made their way inside the room and once the door was closed, Jennifer plopped down on the couch while Sarah continued on with your practice. "So what brings you to my room at this hour? You're usually gone by then." said Sarah "I really didn't feel like going back to my apartment, anyway I wanted to visit you and just talk." "Just hold on for a second Jennifer, I'm gonna try to do my kick again." "Again? You can't be serious Sarah." "Hush now, I'm trying to concentrate."
Just as Sarah was about to do a kick to the punching bag she so happens to have in her room, Jennifer heard a knock on the door followed by a voice "Excuse me…Dorm supervisor? Can I come in? Could you please um…" she looked towards the door to see it slowly open, followed by Sarah flying pass her doing another kick obviously missing the punching bag and zooming out the door, missing the person outside. Jennifer winced as she heard Sarah land with a loud grunt before quickly getting up and heading outside "Sarah are you all right?" she groaned a bit as she sat up and looked straight at the person who was bending backwards by her door "What's this?" Jennifer followed her friend's gaze to find the person who is bending backwards happened to be Sora "Oh Sora!" "M-Miss Jennifer! Umm…I'm sorry for what I did just now…" Sarah quickly crawled over to Sora and got up close to her face "Teach me that move you just did." "Uh…What this?" "Yes! I want you to teach me this trick right now!" Sarah ultimately had Sora go into her room while she was still bending backwards, Jennifer playfully rolled her eyes and sigh before following the two back into the room, closing the door behind.
Not long after that Sora sat on the couch with Sarah and Jennifer and explained to them what brought her to the room. "Oh! I didn't know you were a new student." said Sarah "Yes my name is Sora Naegino." "Well…Sorry for what I did out in the hall but you should never open the door in the middle of my karate practice!" "Sorry dorm supervisor I-" "By the way I'm Sarah." Sora looked at her a bit in shock "What? Sarah; diva of Kaleido Stage?" "That's right!" the Japanese girl's reaction happened to make Jennifer smile a bit before continuing to sip her tea that Sarah made for her. Just as the diva of Kaleido Stage bit into her biscuit, she looked at Sora and said "Hey you're Japanese aren't you?" "Uh…Umm…Yes?" "I'm into karate at the moment, can you be my sparing partner? Everyone in Japan has a black belt right? Oh! And teach me that trick you did too!" as Sarah continued to chat with Sora, Jennifer quietly chuckled under her breath finding the scene a bit funny before returning to her tea.
10 minutes later both Sora and Jennifer left out of Sarah's room just as the Japanese girl closed the door, she tiredly sighed a bit "I never knew Miss Sarah was so well…Unique…" "Well that's Sarah for you." "Umm…If you don't mind me asking Miss Jennifer…But what were you doing at Miss Sarah's?" "Please call me Jennifer, Sora and the reason why I was at Sarah's is that I was visiting her and just simply chat." "Oh…I'm so sorry that I interrupt." "Nonsense you didn't interrupt anything." "Are you sure?" "Sure I'm sure! By the way…Why did you come by Sarah's in the first place? Was there something you needed to ask?" "Oh! Well umm…It's nothing…Besides I'm pretty sure I can handle it myself." "You sure?" "Yeah! But thanks for asking!" "All right then…Well then I'm heading back to my apartment, see you later Sora." "Oh! Good bye Jennifer take care!" Harrington turned the other way and began walking off with the Japanese girl watching her in admiration.
Little did the girls knew two performers that go by the names of Charlotte and Julie happened to be watching them. "That's her right? The one that got in good with the boss and cheated her way in?" questioned Charlotte "She was late to the audition and still passed it…That makes me so mad!" admitted Julie soon two more girls showed up and their names happen to go by Mia Guillem and Anna Heart. "So she got in good with the boss and joined the troupe?" questioned Anna "I heard she even sweet talked her way onto the stage already and just right now we saw her talking to Miss Harrington, I think she's trying to get on her good side." told Charlotte "That's unforgivable!" Mia crossed her arms over her chest and huffed a bit in anger "I had to try 3 times before getting accepted to the Kaleido Stage!" Anna chuckled a bit at this and turned to Mia "Ha, ha so the third time is a charm huh?" "No!" "Uh…I mean…" "You mean?" "U-Uh…Better late than never?" "Yeah…Thanks…" this cause Anna to hit the wall in frustration "Darn it! I screwed up again!" Mia giggled a bit and patted Anna in the back "Ha, ha let's just forget it."
The next morning at Kaleido Stage, Sora happened to be already inside the building and was currently moping the stage. Though while she cleaned both Karlos and Jennifer showed up, feeling a bit surprised to find the Japanese girl here. "It's rather early for that kind of work." told Karlos, Sora stopped her moping and looked at the boss "Oh…Hello…" "Now Sora, newcomers don't usually clean the place when they first start." said Jennifer "Well…It's just that I woke up early and…Oh! I wanted to thank you boss for allowing me to join the Kaleido Stage I really appreciate this opportunity." Sora then realized that Karlos happened to be crouched down and looking at her legs closely, having the girl to ask "Umm…Is there something wrong?" "Hmm…You're a little on the short side but I think it'll work out." Karlos then took his leave from the stage and now it was just Sora and Jennifer. Unfortunately though some performers had happened to see and heard their conversation before approaching the two. Sora was the first to notice and greeted them "Oh good morning!" "My…Aren't we up bright and early this morning?" said Anna "Yeah if you like cleaning that much then you can do all of ours while you're at it." said Mia "Some of us need to get to our lessons early." told Charlotte "Oh yeah I'm really talented but since I'm not really close to Karlos the only way I can appear onstage is by actually working hard." added Julie, not liking what she heard at all Jennifer turned around and glared at the group "And did you all happen to forget who was standing right here?" they all looked at her in shock finally realizing just who is standing right next to Sora. "M-Miss Harrington! W-We…" started Charlotte only to be rudely cut off by Jennifer "Enough! I don't want to hear your pathetic excuse! I'm utterly disappointed and disgusted by all of your attitudes, this is not how a performer acts towards others! Which is why I've decided since all of you are eager to head to your lessons early I'll be the one teaching class today. Now move it to the practice room! Because once I arrive in that room you all had better warm up cause I'm going to start class right away, now go!" all the performers quickly left the stage not wanting to face more of Jennifer's wrath. Once they were all gone, Jennifer sighed and turned to Sora "I'm so sorry you had to be treated like that Sora." "No…It's fine…" "Hey…Once you finish up here try and make your way to the practice room most likely I'll still be giving lessons but I don't want you to miss out." "I'll be there as soon as I can Jennifer." "Good enough answer, see you then girlie!" Jennifer smiled a bit at the Japanese girl before making her leave from the stage and to the practice room.
1 hour passed and all the performers were gathered in the practice room for today's lesson. Just recently Jennifer gave the group of performers that picked on Sora their punishment, she stood before the group and stared at them hard. Most of them bowed their heads, fearing her hard stare and not wanting to be punished more. "I hope you all learned your lesson today and you better not let me catch you with those attitudes of yours again." Jennifer sternly said, the performers immediately nodded "Yes Harrington." "Good now join up with everyone else I'm going to start today's lesson." as they did what they were told Jennifer took a good look at the group of performers not seeing Sora amongst at all. "She still must be cleaning the stage…Hopefully she comes here soon or she'll be far behind…" thought Jennifer, who soon stood in front of the performers and clapped her hands to get their attention "All right that's enough chit chat! Everyone please listen carefully in these ballet lessons I want you to master how to move your body beautifully which is essential in performing for performing the grand ceremony. A beautiful body movement is-" "Excuse me! I'm so sorry I'm late!" everyone turned their attention to the door to find Sora standing there panting. Jennifer felt a bit relieved and glad Sora made it but kept up her calm composure and coolly said "You do know that I've just began teaching today's lesson?" "Yes and I'm sorry but I'll try harder in the future not to be late for class." "Very well then…Now is everyone in a row? All right one row at a time and on my command all of you will turn."
All the performers got ready and once Jennifer gave the command, one by one every row of performers turned. Though as it came to the row that Sora is in, the Japanese girl twirled so fast she ended up landing on the floor hard. This cause all the performers to laugh at her mistakes "That's enough laughing!" barked Jennifer, causing everyone to immediately become quiet. She then went over to Sora's fallen form and stood over her "If you don't mind me asking Sora…But do you have any ballet experience at all?" "N-No…" "Oh dear…That will not do at all…You see in order to present a beautiful pose on the stage, a knowledge of ballet is essential…" while Jennifer began lecturing to Sora and the performers, Anna and Mia were staring at the Japanese girl intently. "How did someone like her ever get in?" questioned Mia "It's so unfair! She gets to make them laugh!" said Anna having Mia sigh at this "You're unbelievable!" soon Sora got up from the floor and made her way over to where Anna and Mia are. As she leaned her back against the wall Mia turned to her "I can't believe you were onstage when you couldn't do something as easy as that turn!" soon Charlotte and Julie showed up to pick on the Japanese girl a bit more. "Poor Sora can't make a simple turn but she'll still get to go onstage." said Charlotte "It must be nice huh?" said Julie, Sora was silent for a bit and soon answered the girls "That's right…I can't make the simplest turn…But one day I'll be able to do great turns…Someday I'll be able to do the amazing routines just like Layla." this cause Mia to gasp at this "Just like Layla? The Golden Phoenix?" "Ha! You're kidding! You think the Golden Phoenix is that easy?" exclaimed Charlotte
Soon a little commotion was starting and it quickly caught Jennifer's attention "Oh for goodness sakes! Really? Even after I warned them?" but before she could do anything from out of nowhere someone said "Go ahead then…Why don't you show us your golden phoenix?" everyone turned towards the door to find Layla and Yuri standing there, Jennifer sighed a bit and muttered "And here we go…" "The golden phoenix must be a piece of cake for you since Karlos and even Jennifer has great confidence in your abilities." Sora just remained quiet only to have Layla question her "What's wrong? Can't you do it? I'll let you know, I won't acknowledge your presence here. You don't belong on the stage." after a moment of silence Sora finally broke it and looked at Layla with determination in her eyes "All right then I'll do it! I'll show you that I can do the golden phoenix." this surprised everyone that was in the room, though it greatly pleased Jennifer in a way. "Well now…Be ready to show it to me in a week from today…However if you can't do it after claiming so boldly that you could, you will leave here immediately." told Layla "Then so will I." added Jennifer, everyone looked at her in complete shock but Layla was the one more in shock "You can't be serious Jennifer!" "Oh but I am." "Fine I'll do it!" agreed Sora, Layla gave the Japanese girl a glare then glanced at Jennifer before leaving the room with Yuri following after.
Later out in the halls by the vending machines, Sora confronted Ken and told him what had happened in the practice room. "The golden phoenix?" exclaimed Ken "I'd like to borrow a video of Miss Layla if you have it." said Sora "That is totally reckless! The golden phoenix is a trick that only Miss Layla and even Miss Jennifer are capable of doing!" "I know…" "And it's a maneuver that's done on the swings…Sora have you ever worked on the swings before?" "No…But I've got no choice I have to do it! I want everyone to accept me! And with that I have no choice but to do the golden phoenix!" "Sora…" "Show her the video Ken." the two looked off to the side and found Jennifer standing there, arms crossed over her chest. "M-Miss Jennifer!" stuttered the stage manager "Didn't you hear me? Find the video and show it to Sora so she can start practicing right away." "Yes Miss Jennifer!" as Ken ran off to fulfill the order Sora nervously looked at Jennifer, feeling a bit hesitant to talk to her "U-Umm…Miss Jennifer…" "I told you just call me Jennifer didn't I?" "Yes well…I thought you would be mad at me for…" "For what happened earlier? Oh Sora I'm not mad at you." "But are you really serious about your decision?" "The one where I'll immediately leave the stage if you can't perform the maneuver in one week? Well…Yeah I'm serious and besides I wanted to see what happens if I raise the stakes a bit." "Don't you have any doubts that I'll fail performing this maneuver?" "No not really…I have high hopes for you." "But why?" Jennifer ruffled the Japanese girl's hair "I'll tell you later but for now I want you to start practicing right away." "Don't worry I won't stop until I've finally got the maneuver down!" "Now that's what I like to hear! Well then I'm taking my leave, good luck Sora." she lightly pinched the Japanese girl's cheek and walked down Kaleido Stage's hallway.
The next morning at the dormitory Sora had just returned from the stage after practicing all night. Just as she pass through the front doors Mia and Anna had just come out from another room, spotting the Japanese performer. "Were you practicing all this time?" asked Mia "Yes…Because if I don't work hard at it I'll-" answered Sora only to have Anna interrupt "It's just not something you can do just by working hard at it." "Why don't you give up and apologize to Layla?" questioned Mia "No I'm not giving up. I gave up once on joining Kaleido Stage because I miss the audition but…Somehow I managed to get in. So I wanna stay here I don't want to give up on anything again!" told Sora, little did the girls knew Jennifer had listened to their conversation from around the corner and Sora's answer happened to make her smirk "Good answer girlie, that's what I like to hear."
Later that day Sora continued on with her golden phoenix practice on the swings. Once she had finally grabbed onto the other swing, from down below Ken instructed her "Ok Sora! Next you have to do it while you're spinning!" just before she could go on, the Japanese girl heard someone calling out to her "Sora!" she looked down to find Mia, Anna and Jennifer standing there with Ken. "Hey we brought you something!" said Anna, Mia held up a lunchbox "We know you haven't eaten anything!" thus Sora made her way down to where the others are and ate the food that was in the lunchbox given to her. "How do you like it?" asked Mia "It's really good!" said Sora "You really need the proteins eat it all ok?" Anna handed her a drink "And I recommend you drink this?" Sora looked at the label and frowned a bit "Hot…Pepper juice drink?" "It'll give you energy!" "Anna…Mia…Thank you!" "Sorry Sora…I should have never mentioned something like the golden phoenix to you." said Mia "Don't worry about that, now I have the chance to prove myself around here." "At first I thought you were accepted here because you got in good with the boss but I guess that really wasn't the case." told Anna "Sorry for being hard on you…" apologized Mia, Sora waved her hands "It's ok, no big deal." Jennifer then noticed something about the Japanese girl "Oh? Sora the band aid on your hand is coming loose…" she gently grab Sora's hand "Here I'll fix it." while Jennifer fixed Sora's band aid, Anna gave the Japanese performer a thumbs up and a wink "Good luck! We're rooting for you!" "Thanks…Umm…Jennifer are-" "Like I said yesterday Sora I have high hopes for you, so of course I'll be rooting you on now get back to practicing you still have a long way to go and time is ticking." "Right!"
2 days passed and Sora was progressing fast in her practice, right now it was night time and she was still practicing on stage. Anna, Mia, Jennifer and Ken were there to, but they happened to doze off while sitting in the audience. Sora continued on with practicing the maneuver but once she did the spin and launched herself towards the other swing, she missed by a inch and began to fall. Until from out of nowhere someone grabbed her hands just in time. Sora looked up and blushed to find Yuri on the swing, holding her hands tightly "Yuri…" "Where on Earth are you looking when you jump?" "Huh?" "There is no Juliet who is not always looking for her Romeo. That's why you cannot be Juliet." Yuri then toss Sora back to the other swing and made his way off the stage. Though before he left Yuri spotted Jennifer asleep in the audience. He made his way over to the woman and smiled a bit as he saw her sleeping face "Of course you would be here Jennifer…A bit typical of you…" both Mia and Anna woke up just in time to see Yuri pick up Jennifer's sleeping form. "Y-Yuri? What brings you to the stage?" asked Mia "I was just having a little chat with Sora…Now if you'll excuse me I'll be taking Jennifer home now so she can properly rest." the girls said nothing more but just watch the handsome male performer carry Jenifer away.
Soon the day had finally arrived where Sora had to perform the golden phoenix in front of everyone. While everyone began taking their seats Anna, Mia and Ken who were already seated noticed that Jennifer was nowhere in sight. "Hey…Have any of you seen Jennifer?" asked Anna "No not at all…" answered Ken "I thought for sure she would be here to see how Sora's golden phoenix turned out." told Mia, once everyone had taken their seats the lights went out and only the trapeze set was lit. Sora who was level above the audience looked down at the people "Thank you everyone for coming!" she then grabbed her swing and gripped it tightly with her hands "I've got to do it…I must believe!" thus she began swinging back and forth, once she had the right momentum Sora began spinning fast and launched herself in the air, pulling off a beautiful pose. This happened to surprise everyone in the audience, though for Mia and Anna they were happy and relieved. Sora then began heading towards the other swing but to her dismay missed it which shocked her. Suddenly a hand shot out and tightly grabbed onto her hand, Sora looked up to find Jennifer smiling down at her "Well now…I must say you gave quite a performance right there." "Jennifer!" seeing Sora's surprise expression made Jennifer happily laugh before having them make their way down from the set.
Once setting foot off the trapeze Layla and Yuri approached the girls. "You're really something…You didn't get the last part right…But what you did can definitely be called the golden phoenix…You deserve credit for at least pulling that much off." said Layla who then began walking away "Yuri lets go…And Jennifer you're coming along, we need to have a talk." Jennifer dramatically sighed "Somehow I know you were going to say that." she then grinned and turned to Sora, patting her head "Good job Sora I knew you could do it, very proud of you girlie!" "Thanks Jennifer." "Well I'll be seeing you later, take care!" the Harrington then ran off to catch up with her best friend and Yuri. She soon caught up with them walking down the hall and once she did it was silent between the three for a bit. Having enough of the silence Jennifer broke it "So are you relieved that I won't be leaving the stage since Sora performed the golden phoenix Layla?" "Yes…Though I'm very surprised that girl actually managed to do it…You didn't help her while she was practicing-" "Nope not at all I simply just watched her." "I see…Please don't mention about you leaving the stage for good ever again all right? I don't think I could stand not having you by my side Jennifer." "Fine…It's a promise." Yuri turned to the Harrington "Were you really serious about leaving the stage if Sora failed to perform the golden phoenix Jennifer?" "Of course I was, you should know that I take my decisions very seriously." "I'll take that in mind." "Seeing how it's getting close to lunchtime why don't the three of us go out together and find something to eat I'm starving!" "That's sounds like a good idea." said Layla, Jennifer grinned and jog towards the entrance of the building "Well come on, times a wasting!" both Layla and Yuri chuckled a bit before following after Jennifer towards the front.
