Chapter 1: Fight
"One and two and…releve up, bourre back, open to fourth…"
Andi concentrated on the teacher's words, doing her best to follow them and ignore her aching feet. At home with Ororo and Emma, she could stop when she got tired; here, at Julliard, she couldn't stop. She had to keep going.
"Class ends in ten minutes," Rose said quietly from behind Andi. "Hang in there."
Candace, over on Rose's left, sneered elegantly. "Tired? Little rich girl not used to having to keep up with someone with more talent?"
Andi rolled her eyes and ignored Candace, but Rose spoke up. "Why do you have to be so mean? Come on, Candace, cut her some slack!"
The teacher clapped her hands sharply. "Miss Dawson, Miss Munroe, Miss Roth, no talking! Miss Munroe, your foot is sickling! Straighten it out or you'll break it!"
Andi hastily corrected her offending foot and faced front, chastened. She might have been good, but here at Julliard she had to work to stay good. Candace was as good a dancer as her personality was bad. Rose was even better. Andi found herself working harder to stay in the good category.
The teacher clapped her hands. "…and four and five and rest. Good job, girls. Miss Roth, you need to work a little on your hip alignment; get one of those hip alignment belts. Miss Munroe, your foot is still sickling out; work on your turnout. Mr. Jameson, you need to work on your control in a pirouette.
"Now, as I'm sure you all know, the annual Julliard student show will be starting production in a few weeks. Most of the roles are already filled by our third- and fourth-year students, but it is our tradition to spotlight some of our best and most talented first- and second-years; therefore, some of the fourth-year instructors will be observing tomorrow's class, as well as the fourth-year dancers for the lead roles. Ladies, I want you all to be on your best behavior; no chewing gum, hair pulled neatly back, and most of all, no talking, and that does mean you, Miss Roth, Miss Andrews!" she said sharply to Candace and her friend Jenny, who had started talking excitedly to each other. The two girls quieted immediately, Candace looking sour, and the teacher continued. "Dress in uniform tomorrow, girls; Miss Dawson, black leotard, not gray!" Candace giggled, and Rose flushed. She was sensitive about the worn, faded condition of her only leotard. She went quiet, and Andi flushed pink for her friend's sake as the teacher dismissed the class. They did the customary grande reverence and then headed over to their bags to change back into their regular uniform for their next class.
"Can you believe it?" Rose whispered to Andi. "They're tapping some of us greenies for the school production! I know you can get in, Andi, I know you could!"
Andi shook her head. "You will, almost certainly," she said, pausing outside a changing stall and thinking. "You're their scholarship student, after all. And my guess is Candace will be one, too. She's good, even though her personality sucks."
"What about you?" Rose disappeared into the stall beside Andi to change out of her leotard and tights. Andi snorted and made a face in the privacy of the stall. "You're good too."
"Not as good as you, Rose," Andi said truthfully, tugging off her pink tights and pulling on her blue knee-high uniform socks. "And besides, I'm too tall. I'm just glad I've stopped growing, or they'd kick me out for sure."
"That's not true," Rose said stoutly. "You're every bit as good as I am. And you've got much better lines."
"But I still have problems with basic things like sickle feet and uncertain balance," Andi pointed out, buttoning her white blouse and pulling on her blue sweater. She gave the uniform skirt a last tug and stepped out of the stall, carrying her folded ballet clothes. She went over to her bag and stuck her clothes in it, checked her watch, and figured she had enough time to wait for Rose.
Rose emerged from the next stall a short time later and headed for her bag, still talking. "They almost gave you the scholarship, not me. So they think you're good too. I don't think they're really looking at your height." She unzipped her dance bag and reached in to shove her tights and leotard in.
Her hand came out smeared with a thick black substance. "Oh, gross!" she cried, staring at her hand. Andi grabbed the bag, ran over to an empty sink, and dumped its contents out into the basin. Rose's scrunchie, elastic, extra tights, and pointe shoes were all covered with the sticky black stuff. "Oh, God, what is this?" Rose wailed, staring at her bag.
Andi reached in, careful not to touch anything, and pulled out an open bottle of pointe shoe glue. She looked at it, then sniffed. "It's glue," she said tersely. "And someone mixed ink into it. It's not yours, Rose, is it?"
Rose shook her head. "I use InstantJet, not DucoCement," she said. "Oh, Andi, I just bought those shoes a week ago! Now they're ruined, and tomorrow's the class observation!" Her eyes filled with tears.
Andi hugged her. "We both wear the same size pointe shoe," she said comfortingly. 'I've got a brand new pair at home I haven't worn yet. You can wear them tomorrow. And I bought you new leotards for your birthday; you can have them tonight, so you can wear one tomorrow. All you have to get is tights."
"But I used the rest of this month's money to get my shoes," Rose said. "I'll have to wear my old ones, the faded ones, because I can't get another pair."
Andi sighed. "The old pair you have are faded almost white, Rose, and the uniform specifies pink. They'll make you skip class if you're not in uniform."
"But I can't get another pair!" Rose wailed. "And I can't borrow yours, 'cause your legs are longer than mine. Oh, Andi, what do I do?"
"Here, Rose," said a voice at Andi's elbow. Both girls turned, to see Frances MacDonald, another girl from their class, holding out a pair of tights. "Here's a pair of mine. You can borrow them just for tomorrow."
Rose gasped in relief as she took the tights. "Oh, thank you, Frances, thank you so much, you have no idea, oh, god, who would do something like this?"
Andi's eyes narrowed as she saw Frances shrug hesitantly. "Fran, did you see anyone go near Rose's bag?"
Fran took a quick look around the bathroom, checking to see if anyone was around, then leaned in close to the two girls. "I saw Candace earlier tying up her shoe while sitting on the floor by your bag. I didn't actually see anything, but I'm pretty sure it was her. But don't tell her that I told you, please?"
"I didn't hear a word," Andi said grimly. "Here, Rose, put this in the trash, along with everything in it. It's ruined. Stuff your things in my bag; it'll all fit, and we live in the same apartment anyway. I'll lock it in my car; it'll be safe there."
The bell rang, and Rose looked up. "Oh, Andi, you're late for History--"
"It's okay," Andi said. "This is more important. Run along; I'll put the bag in my car." Rose ran off to her next class, and Andi slipped out the side door to lock her bag in her car's trunk, where no one could get at it. She slipped into History just as the late bell rang, accepted Mr. Kingsley's scolding without comment, and headed for her seat. Candace was sitting in her desk two rows behind Andi; and Andi was sure the girl was smirking, though she was careful not to look in Andi's direction. Andi was so furious she could barely see straight; it was a good thing History was one of her easy subjects and didn't require much concentration because Andi's mind wasn't on the War of 1812. As soon as the bell rang for lunch she shot out of her seat. Candace dawdled, smiling flirtatiously at the two boys accompanying her, and tried to ignore Andi as she sailed out of the classroom and headed for the cafeteria for lunch.
Andi grabbed Candace's skirt, which, considering how short Candace was wearing it, wasn't hard. Definitely a uniform violation; but Andi didn't care right now. "That was a horrible thing you did, Candace," Andi said to the blond girl angrily. "How could you do that to Rose?"
Candace opened her eyes innocently wide and said, "Why, Andi, I don't know what you mean! I didn't do anything to poor little Rose!"
"Liar," Andi said angrily, grabbing Candace's arm. "You put glue in Rose's bag. Admit it."
Candace yanked her arm out of Andi's grasp, angry. "And so what if I did? You can't prove it. Get off me. Rose shouldn't even be here anyway. She can't even afford decent clothes."
Andi was so angry she didn't think. Her hand shot out, slapping Candace on the cheek and spinning the other girl into a nearby locker. Candace's friends backed away as other students gathered in the hall, several of them chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!"
Candace struck back, punching Andi's shoulder and knocking her back into the locker across the hallway. Andi, furious now, dove for Candace intending to grab some of that blond hair and shake some sense into her, but was halted by a stern, authoritarian voice saying, "Stop!"
The crowd around the two girls parted, to admit a tall, well-dressed, distinguished man. Andi immediately stepped back and lowered her eyes; it was the principal, Jason Matthews. He regarded the two girls, sternly, then said, "What is going on here? This is a school for young ballerinas, not street thugs. Fighting is not allowed in here."
Candace spoke first. "She started it!" She pointed accusingly at Andi.
The man sighed. "Apparently you believe this is a school for kindergartners. That was a childish statement. I did not ask who started it; I asked what is happening. Answer my questions." As Candace opened her mouth to speak, he held up a hand. "You," he said, leveling a finger at Andi. "You will go first."
Andi lifted her head and spoke, her eyes avoiding Candace. "She put an open bottle of glue mixed with ink in my friend Rose's dance bag. I confronted her about it; she lied and said she didn't do it. I lost my temper; I hit her."
"You hit her." It was a statement, but Andi nodded anyway.
"You." The finger swiveled around to point at Candace. "Did you do it?" Candace shook her head, but apparently the principal had a lie detector in his head. "You are lying. Miss--" he turned to Andi, unsure of her name.
"Munroe," Andi said steadily.
"Miss Munroe," Matthews said. "Do you know where the bag currently is?" Andi nodded. 'Get it for me."
The glue had hardened after a whole hour of being in the trashcan; the principal tried, but couldn't get anything out of the bag. He finally ripped the flimsy plastic open at one seam and examined the contents. "One pair of brand-new pointe shoes, one faded leotard, one pair of tights. A scrunchie, I believe you girls call the things, and some hairpins and elastics." He looked up. "You, Miss," he said to Candace, "will remit to the owner of this bag a sum of money equal to the value of everything that is in it plus the bag itself; I shall speak to your parents to be sure you have done so." He closed the bag and dropped it in a nearby trashcan in disgust. "You, Miss Munroe," he said, "will have detention in my office tomorrow from three until four; we do not allow fighting in this school. Is that understood?" Andi nodded mutely.
He turned to walk away, but as the crowd of students parted to let him pass, he turned back. 'What is your name?" he barked at Candace.
"Candace Roth," Candace answered.
He nodded once, sharply, then pushed through the crowd. "I assume you all have classes to get to?" he snapped at them. They all scattered, leaving Andi and Candace alone in the hall. Andi shouldered her backpack, and headed off toward the cafeteria without a glance at Candace.
Rose was wide-eyed as Andi slipped into a seat beside her at their usual table with her tray. "Did you really punch Candace?" she whispered.
Andi nodded and bit into her sandwich. "She deserved it," she said between bites. "She ruined your stuff. Principal Matthews said she has to pay you back."
Rose smiled. "Wow! Cool, I can get all my own stuff again. But Andi, he gave you detention too."
Andi shrugged. "Rose, it's not a problem, believe me," she said.
Rose said, "Isn't your Mom going to be mad? I know mine would."
Andi thought about it. "She will, I think," she said. "But Mom's fair. She might not be happy that I got in a fight, but she'll understand why."
"But detention!"
Andi put her sandwich down. "Rose, there are worse things than detention. Trust me." Her eyes looked haunted as she remembered her parents. Rose looked at her expression, and wisely chose not to say anything. Both girls returned to their meal.
