Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took SOOOOOOO long to get up… I hope I haven't lost you! And thanks for responding to my previous question…… I HAVE REVIEWERS!cackles
Ok, I'm normal now! Or, as normal as I get! I'm hitting a rough patch coming up… I know the beginning and the end of the story, it's working out the middle details! Just as a warning, don't expect a story as long as Mandy the O's (kisses ground she walks on) An Eternity of This. My characters tend to be straight forward, and in my creative thought processes, they're getting pushy!
In this chapter there is a reference to The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. Find it and win a prize! grins
I'm not crazy; I swear… ok, maybe little nuts, but not much!
Kudos to my new Beta, Random-Battlecry, of Whose Lair is it Anyway? and The True Saga of WeakWilled Christinefame. (Yes, THAT Random) She cought all my little omma errors and the like….. Merci beaucoup!
Please R&R!
"Mademoiselle D'Aubigne, what in the world is going on in here!" Mme Giry's eyes were opened wide, brows blending into her hairline.
"Just practicing, Madame." Sorelli lied, crossing her fingers behind her back and wiping the tears from her eyes. No matter how many times she did it, Sorelli always felt guilty for lying to the woman who cared for her. Mme Giry may be a hard woman, but she deserved the truth.
"I see, Mademoiselle. Is it customary, where you are from, to beat on mirrors as you practice?"
"No madam. I just stubbed my toe on the wall. It was very painful and…" Sorelli trailed off into oblivion, leaving the rest of the excuse for Madame Giry to fill in.
"Ah, I see… Well, I would like to remind you that breakfast is being served. You have forty five minutes until practice begins."
Sorelli gave a small dip and began to rush out of the room, until she was stopped by Mme Giry's cane handle. "I would like to remind you, Mademoiselle, that your nostrils flare when you lie."
Bowl in hand, Sorelli searched the crowded dining room for a seat. Spying her friend, Ragoczy D'Arno, and a few of the other ballerinas at a table in the corner, Sorelli made her way through the masses of set builders, seamstresses and musicians to reach her companions.
Ragoczy was a tall young man of Sorelli's age, 19, with auburn hair and green eyes. He was a set builder studying to become a dancer and a member of the Opera's chorus. As he always put it, he was 'biding his time until the time came to reveal his talents'. Everyone took this to mean 'I'm still building up the balls to try out.'
"Where were you this morning?" Ragoczy asked, a crooked smile gracing his mouth. "I came to the kitchens, and they said you finished your work early."
"I did, nosy!" Sorelli said with mock horror. "Are you implying I have no right to free time?"
"I am in no way implying that!" he replied with a laugh. "I know first hand how hard it is, trying to practice for the Opera Populaire and hold down a job." Ragoczy's father still didn't believe that his son wanted to devote his life to singing and dancing, and forced him to work late nights in the family tailor shop to prepare him for the 'Real World'.
"I know you do, Ragoczy. Mme Giry has been especially hard on us this week…" Sorelli glanced around the cafeteria, making sure little Meg and her tattletale friends weren't listening. "Anyway, I went to one of the old classrooms to practice, right?" Heads around the table nodded, several of them holding an 'o' of surprise and excitement at the admission of breaking the rules. "Well… I was… dancing, practicing for the new opera next month…" Sorelli's priest had never exactly said that lying by omission was a sin! "And I felt someone watching me! I was in the middle of a leap, so I couldn't see really who it was, or risk landing wrong and breaking my ankle…." She heard several whispers of 'bullshit' at this lie, "and when I got a good look, someone was closing one of the mirrors! It was like a ghost! When I ran over there, I swear, the mirror was stuck in place, just like it never moved!"
One of the younger ballet rats giggled. "Sorelli, you are too superstitious! Ghosts!" At that one word, the whole table erupted in laughter.
Sorelli could feel her face begin to turn red. The story was true… she had only left a bit out! To cover her shame, she stood up and laughed with them. "We have only five minutes to get to class. I'm going to get a head start. Ciao!" She abruptly turned away from the confused look on the ballet rat's faces and headed to the all too distant door.
As she cleared the doorway, Sorelli was greeted by the cool silence on anticipation. Tools, props and costumes were strewn in the dark world of the Opera Populaire, waiting to be used in the day's toils. She heard footsteps approach her behind, causing her to spin, not wanting to repeat the day's earlier encounter. There was Ragoczy, hands up as if to grab her by the shoulders. "Ragoczy! After that story I told you, you have the nerve to try and scare me? I thought you liked me better than that!"
"Awww, Sorelli, you know I love you more than that!" Ragoczy let his hands complete their predisposed motion, but hugging Sorelli close rather than scaring her. "That story was a bit crazy. Believable, but crazy."
"So you do believe me!" Sorelli shouted in triumph. "After all that laughing and you believe me! What a way to show it!"
Ragoczy pretended to be hurt, bowing his head until his face was hidden by a curtain of his long hair. "I just told you I love you and you're more concerned about being right! Typical woman!"
Just to show how she felt about him, Sorelli leaned up towards Ragoczy as if to kiss him. At the last possible second, she turned her head and blew a raspberry on his tanned cheek. "Ragoczy, you're the best friend a girl could have."
He laughed. "I know. You'd better go or you'll be late."
"You know, if you would just try out, you could say we'll be late…" As he rolled his eyes, she gave him a little kiss on the cheek where she had just placed her witty raspberry. "See you at lunch!"
Ragoczy watched Sorelli run off to join the other members of the ballet troupe.
"I suppose I will."