A/N: Wheeeeeeee!!!!! Happy holidays everyone; here is my gift to you!

THIMBLES! And on with the fic…

Saran VD

Five, Six, Seven, Eight

Chapter 11

"Mai, can you please try?" Mimi begged.

Mai shook her head. "No! I don't want to! I want to go home!"

"But Mai, dancing is FUN!" squealed Tina, still doing plies.

"No it's not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!" Tina shrieked, and Frankie stopped his plies as he stared at the little girl.

"GIRLS!" barked Mimi, stopped them before they started hurting each other. "Please!"

"I was doing them, teachew!" Tina objected.

Mimi would have laughed if the situation had been different. "Stop fighting or no grand battements for you."

"But I wanna do the gwand botmas today! You promised!"

"I said if you're good."

"But I am good! I was dancin'!"

"Well, you were also yelling. You aren't supposed to yell in a dance studio."

"Oh," she whispered very quietly. "I'm sowwy."

"Thank you. Can we continue?"

"Yes!" chorused Tina and Frankie.

Mai shook her head.

"Turn to the other side, so we can do more plies."

Two of the students obeyed. Bet you can guess which.

"Mai, if you don't want to dance, then you can watch."

After class, Mimi changed and went to talk to Keiko. "Keiko?"

"You were mean to my little girl?" the woman hissed.

"No… I mean… she wasn't cooperating," Mimi sputtered.

"You made her sit out."

"I asked her to if she wasn't going to dance."

"She says she danced."

Mai's face was red from crying as she peeked out from behind her mom.

"She didn't. I asked her to, and she refused. Keiko," she said, trying to be kind, "I honestly don't know if Mai is ready for a dance class yet."

"She is ready. Her mother is a dancer. She must be a dancer."

"Yes, but not yet."

"Yes, yet."

"Fine, if that's your attitude. But let her know that if she doesn't dance next week, I'm having her sit out again."

"She says she danced."

"Tell her."

"Yes, mademoiselle." With that, she and Mai left.

Aine was in the studio as soon as Keiko and Mai were out. "You know her?"

"We've met." Mimi said nothing more.

"Those girls yesterday…" Aine started, and Mimi held her breath. "How did you know them?"

"Why do you ask?"

"They just don't seem very… good. Normal. That sort of thing."

Mimi's hand went to the track marks on her arm, which her sweater thankfully covered. "So?"

"So, why were you hanging out with them? You don't seem like the kind of person to do drugs and steal and… strip," she said the last word softly to hide it from the ears of the parents nearby.

"Oh, you have no idea."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why am I friends with them? Because, Aine, I'm one of them! I started working at the Catscratch the week I was able to work without parental permission! I had to earn a living somehow. You don't have to worry about rent, and where you're next meal is coming from, or… anything! None of you get it! Did you ever wonder where I got AIDS from in the first place?"

Aine was silent. "Sorry, Mimi. I really… I had no idea. I'm sorry."

"Good."

There was silence. The phone at the front desk rang, and Aine picked it up. "Hello?" She paused, then handed Mimi the phone.

"Hello?" asked Mimi angrily.

"It's Jasmine." Jasmine's voice cracked, and Mimi knew something was wrong.

"Mimi… I don't know how to say this."

"Just go!"

"Carlita's dead."