"Madame Giry!" Mother called out to a stern looking woman who appeared to be running a group of girls a bit older than me through a ballet routine. I hid behind Mother as the woman whirled on the spot to see who dared interrupt her lesson. I froze in place as her eyes narrowed at seeing my mother, however, when they turned to me I saw them widen in surprise. "Madame Giry, this is my daughter I was telling you about, Alice Butaine."
"Alice, is it?" the woman asked as she eyed me up and down. I nodded numbly as the girls behind her took advatage of the distraction and stopped dancing. There were some whispers amongst them, as well as a few tittering giggles and pointing fingers.
"She appears to have the build of a dancer," Madame Giry commented after a few minutes of observing me, bringing my attention back to her. "However, that does not mean she is one."
"Alice, dance for Madame Giry. Show her your latest piece," Mother ordered, pushing me forward when my eyes widened in protest, although to the others it would have appeared that she was guiding me in my shyness.
I took a deep breath and positioned myself in the first stance. As I exhaled, music began in my head and everything melted away into darkness. I bound, twirled, and leapt to music that no one could hear but myself. When I had finished my performance I was panting slightly, not from exhertion but because I was not in proper attire for dancing.
The room came back into view when I heard a collection of applause. I blinked slowly, as if coming out of a trance to see many of the girls grinning at me in awe and Madame Giry with a slight smile gracing her thin lips.
"Alice," Mother said, "Go wander for a while so that I may speak with Madame Giry." I nodded and left the room. The girls were sent out along with me and followed me on my walk. Many of them spoke to me; telling me their name, commenting on my dancing, and asking me all sorts of questions. The ones who didn't speak I knew were the ones I had to be wary of by the looks in their eyes. I'd seen it before in my group lessons, when jealousy turned into hatred and sabotage.
After some time of questions being thrown at me, the group slowly got quieter when they realized I hadn't responded to any of their queries. The ones who'd been following in the back sneered at me, commenting how I must have thought I was better than them because I wouldn't talk.
"Can you speak at all?" A blonde girl on my right, who had earlier introduced herself as Meg, finally asked. I shook my head no before hanging it in shame and continuing to wander through the hallways. My head was still bowed when I ran into another person.
A.N. So now you have the intro and the first chapter. I'm still looking for a beta reader and am very desperate because my computer doesn't have spell check. If you are at all interested please, please, please message me.
Thank you and have a pleasant day.