Priorities

A/N: Yeah, I'm back. It's a really short chapter, and I apologise. I've been having a really hard time with life in the past few months. I'll try to get back into a regular writing groove. I don't like this chapter...Please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the few original characters in this story. I own so little that I'm sitting on a cat condo with my lap top on a TV tray. Seriously. And I've given up my mind, it's up for sale.

Sebille

I stared as I caught the gaze of my mother. I suddenly felt very faint, but I was determined not to look away. She did not speak or move any closer to me, but just stared. I started moving towards her, pushing my way through the girls of the ballet. I did not notice if anyone was following me. My focus was entirely on the woman in front of me. Finally I was within a foot of her, and I stopped.

"Sebille," she said, still not taking her eyes away from mine. I swallowed and raised my chin defiantly.

"Mother. How have you been doing?" I said the last bit with a bitter tinge. I was still feeling faint, but I could feel my cheeks flushing in anger. In the moment of silence between my mother and me, I noticed that most of the girls around us had stopped talking as well. My mother finally tore her gaze from mine, and looked me up and down.

"I've been doing extremely well. So, you made it in. How many people did you have to sleep with before they accepted you?" I now flushed with embarrassment, and I heard several gasps and titters from the girls who were listening. Suddenly, Madame Giry was at my side, along with Meg, Christine, and Faye.

"Madame Harvey, I assure you, your daughter did not have to bribe to get in. Whether you'd like to believe it, Sebille is a girl with extreme talent, despite living under your guide for as long as she did. Now, if you wouldn't mind, we are here for fittings, not for you to demean any of the girls in my ballet." My mother looked at me, and a she looked as though she were about to send us off, but she just nodded to Madame Giry and went to the back of the shop where she kept her tools for fitting. Faye and Meg had both put their arms around me, and I felt Christine's hand on my shoulder. I felt tears sting at my eyes, but they did not fall. I noticed several of the other girls sending me pitying glances, and a few of them came up to me to say a few words of condolence before heading to a line that had formed in the back of the room by the fitting room. I held up my composer for a few moments before turning and burying my head in, surprisingly, Christine's embrace and released the tears that had threatened to fall all morning. The three girls comforted me as I wept openly.

Christine

I watched the confrontation between my young friend and her mother with bated breath. I couldn't believe what I was hearing from Sebille's mother's mouth. How could she be so cruel to her own daughter? I hardly noticed when Meg grabbed my hand, but I did notice, in surprise, when I felt Faye's hand on my shoulder. I glared at the girls who started giggling when Sebille's mother asked her about how she managed to get into the corps de ballet.

It did not surprise me when Madame Giry stepped forward to defend the poor, trembling girl, and Meg, Faye, and I followed her to comfort Sebille. What did surprise me was the fact that Madame Harvey still agreed to do the fittings. When she had turned around and gone to the back of the shop, the three of us stood by Sebille as she stood there, trembling. A few girls stopped to talk with her, but not many. She just stood there, and then turned into my embrace. I would have figured she would go to Faye, whom she had known forever, but I held her sobbing form anyway.

I wasn't sure how long she cried, but Faye and Meg stood with us as I held Sebille. Finally, she straightened up, her face red and her eyes swollen, but no more tears fell. She took a deep breath and smiled bravely. She got into line and dragged Faye with her and started to talk animatedly as though the entire thing had not just happened. I sighed and turned back to Meg.

"Poor girl. We should do something for her when we get back to the opera." Meg nodded. We got into line, listening to Sebille and Faye talk.