February 1988
Minerva sat down on the bed with a sigh. She had just gotten out of the shower after she and Jay had had some fun. Daniel was away at a friend's house for the night so they had decided to take full advantage of their night alone. Jay was laying on the bed with a small black leather bound notebook open and a pen in hand. Minerva used her wand to dry her hair and then combed through it before laying down on the bed on her stomach and drawing small circles on his chest with her finger. Jay smiled and looked down at her.
"What are you doing?" she asked softly. "What are you always writing in that thing?"
"My journal? Oh, I just write about my day, you, Daniel, anything that comes to mind really," he said with a smile.
"It didn't look like you were writing earlier," she said. "It looked like you were drawing."
"I was," he said.
"What were you drawing?"
"You," he said.
"Me?" she asked. "I hope I was wearing clothes in that."
"Oh it was just your face," he said with a laugh. "Don't worry."
"Well, can I see?"
"I suppose," Jay said. He flipped the page back and turned his journal around. Minerva saw the sketch that he had made of her looking off to the side. Her hair was done up in a bun and her expression looked like she was concentrating.
"Wow," Minerva said. "Did you draw that all from memory?"
"I've got a pretty good memory when it comes to visuals like this," he said with a smile. "Do you like it?"
"It's brilliant," she said, sitting up properly and taking the journal from him. "I had no idea that you were such a talented artist."
He smiled. "I just dabble."
"This isn't dabbling. This is really good," she said, flipping through the book and looking at his other drawings. She saw drawings of Daniel, Raj, the Collins Enterprises Building. There were more drawings of her. The day they first met, on a date, with Daniel.
He grabbed the journal back quickly. "Hey," he said. "Did I say you could look at those?"
Minerva laughed. "I like your drawings," she said, moving closer to him and hugging his chest. "I would love to see more of them."
"Not now," he said, putting his book down on the bedside table and wrapping both arms around her. "Right now the only masterpiece I want to look at is you."
She laughed and shook her head as he started kissing her neck. "Again?" she asked. "I just showered."
"How often is Daniel away at a friend's house?"
"Alright, again," Minerva said with a laugh, lifting his head up so she could kiss his lips. He smiled into the kiss and ran his fingers through her hair.
Thursday, January 29th 1998
Lucy yawned as she picked up the milk carton and poured it into her cereal. It was just her, Daniel and Minerva sitting at the table this morning. Raj and Nina had both left already. Nina had some early classes so had to leave a lot earlier than usual and Raj always left earlier than everyone else because he had to drive for an hour into London.
"Lucy, I wanted to give you this back," Minerva said, picking up Jay's journal and holding it out for her. "Thank you for letting me read it."
"You're welcome," Lucy said with a smile, taking the book back. She picked up her backpack and puts the notebook inside, not really wanting to run upstairs to her bedroom right now. "Today is the try-outs for the next recital. I hope I get a solo."
"Oh, are try-outs today?" Daniel asked. "Good luck, kid."
"Thank you," Lucy said.
"Yes, good luck," Minerva said with a smile. "I'm sure you'll do wonderfully. I can't wait to come to your recital."
"What are you trying out for?" Daniel asked.
"A solo and a duet with Wendy Linton," Lucy said. "We've been practicing a lot. I hope we get the duet and then hopefully I'll get a solo too and then I'll dance three times at the recital. One solo, one duet, and then one group."
"That's exciting," Minerva said with a smile. She looked over at the kitchen cloak. "Well, you two should probably head out if you don't want to be late for school."
Daniel nodded and he and Lucy got up. They said one last goodbye before heading out for school. Minerva left a little while later for Hogwarts.
Throughout the day, Lucy was very nervous about the try-outs. Anne kept assuring her that she would be okay but Lucy still couldn't relax. After school, Mrs. Linwood gave her a ride to the dance studio so she got there a lot earlier than usual. Lucy changed into her dance clothes, put her things away in her locker, and sat down on the ground beside the lockers. She had pulled out Jay's notebook and was reading his entry on the day of her first ballet recital. She looked at the sketch of herself at three years old doing a pirouette on the stage.
Three years old and already showing so much promise in Ballet. Minerva's laughing at me for getting so excited. She claims I'm only saying this because she's my daughter and I would love anything she did but I do think that Lucy is a great dancer. She looked so happy up on that stage. You could tell that she was really having fun up there. I can't wait to see her dance when she's a little older. I can't wait to see how much she improves.
Lucy smiled a little and felt the tears fill her eyes again. She wished her father was here. She felt less nervous now and wiped the tears away from her face. She closed the book and put it away as the doors to the studio opened and the other children started walking in. Lucy's teacher, Ms. Jade walked in and herded everyone into the studio.
The try-outs started and Lucy watched as names were called and people did their routines. She and Wendy were called soon enough and they did the dance that they had been practicing. They did it perfectly, no mistakes, and Ms. Jade was very impressed. The girls sat down on a bench and drank some water as the next duet started.
"You were really good," Lucy said.
"Thank you," Wendy said. "I was a little worried about the last Grande Jeté but it was okay. You did really good as well. I'm glad you were my partner."
"Thanks," Lucy said with a smile. She liked Wendy. She was one of the nicest kids in Lucy's class. Most of the others were a little rude and quite full of themselves.
Eventually it was time for the solos and Lucy took her turn. She danced her routine, spinning and jumping at the right times. She imagined her father sitting in the back watching her with a smile on his face and it motivated her to concentrate harder. She wanted to do the best she could, especially if her dad was watching.
"That was wonderful, Lucy. Thank you," Ms. Jade said when she was done. Wonderful was not a word that Ms. Jade used lightly. She had a couple of notes but mostly it was praise. Lucy was very happy with herself. She sat back down with Wendy to watch the rest of the try-outs.
"Alright, thank you everyone," Ms. Jade said at the end of the day. "I shall look over everything and make my decisions. I'll post the sheet outside before next class. Monday's class will proceed as normal. Have a nice evening."
Lucy followed the rest of the children out to the lockers. She changed into some regular clothes and put on her coat and backpack. She sat down on the bench to wait for Nina to come pick her up. Slowly everyone left until it was just Lucy waiting. She wondered where Nina was. She was never this late. She pulled out Jay's journal to read while she waited.
"What are you still doing here?"
Lucy turned around and saw Kate, Grace and Tiffany coming towards her. These were the girls at her school that were always rude to her. Lucy didn't know why they hated her so much and she hated that they went to the same ballet studio as her too.
"Waiting," Lucy said. "Same as you."
"Except my dad's coming to pick us up," Grace said with a horrible laugh. "Not really the same thing, is it?"
Lucy looked down at her book and sighed. The girls laughed at her and headed over to the lockers. Lucy wondered why it took them so long to come out of the studio. Class had been over for a while. She could hear them whispering behind her and did her best to ignore them.
"Did you see the way she landed on that last jump?"
"She's so bad. I don't understand why she's here!"
"I don't understand why Ms. Jade likes her so much."
"She can't dance at all!"
Lucy opened the journal to Lucy's second recital. Jay had gone to every single one until he was admitted to the hospital and he had written about them all. She read what he wrote and smiled to herself. She could dance. They could say whatever they liked but Lucy knew that she was a good dancer.
"What's even the point of giving her a solo? Nobody comes to watch her anyways."
"My mum's coming," Lucy said suddenly before she could stop herself. She felt all three girls stare at her back.
"You're such a liar," Kate said. "We all know that your mum's not here. She couldn't wait to get out of here once she saw your ugly face."
The other two girls laughed and Lucy turned around and looked at them. She closed her book and shook her head. "No, you're wrong," Lucy said. "She came back and she's excited to come watch me dance. She said she loves watching me dance. She thinks I'm a very good dancer."
"If that were true then how come she hasn't come to any for like years?" Tiffany asked. "We all know you're lying, Lucy. Just stop. It's sad."
"I'm not lying!" Lucy said, hugging her father's journal close to her chest. "She's back. She'll probably be home from work soon and I'll tell her all about the try-outs and how good I was and how bad you three were."
"That would be a lie," Kate said, glaring at her as she walked closer to the bench angrily. Lucy didn't move. She stood her ground.
"No, it's the truth. You're not a very good dancer, Kate," she said. She gave her a polite little smile. "That's why you haven't had a solo in so long."
"You're such an idiot," Kate said. She snatched the book out of Lucy's hand and looked at it. "What is this?"
"Don't touch that!" Lucy yelled, getting up to her feet quickly and trying to grab it back. Kate smiled evilly and held the book back out of her reach. "Give it back! That's not yours."
Kate pushed her back and opened the notebook so she could see what was written inside. "What's this?" she asked, smiling evilly. "Your diary?"
"No!" Lucy cried. "Give it back!"
"Tell me whose it was?" Kate said. "Did you steal it?"
"No! My dad gave it to me," Lucy said, tears filling her eyes. "Please give it back. It's his book and I have to take care of it."
Kate laughed. She looked back at her friends. "Look guys," she said. "Lucy's dad used to write in a diary. He even drew pictures!"
They laughed.
"So? What's your problem?" Lucy said angrily, moving closer and trying to grab the notebook back. "Give it back, Kate. It doesn't belong to you. Please give it back."
Kate looked back at her and pushed her back again. Lucy fell down onto her butt. The tears started to overflow down her cheeks now. It had hurt a lot.
"You're supposed to take care of it, huh?" Kate said. She grabbed one of the pages in her fist and in one quick motion ripped it in half. "Oops."
Tiffany and Grace didn't have time to laugh. Before anyone knew was going on, Lucy had gotten up and jumped on top of Kate. She punched the girl right in the nose. Kate screamed and dropped Jay's notebook. Lucy kept hitting her as she screamed and tried to get away. The other two girls just stood there in complete shock, watching with wide eyes. Kate tried to punch Lucy back but Lucy moved out of the way and bit down on her arm.
The dance studio doors burst open and Ms. Jade came running out to investigate what all the racket was. When she saw the two girls fighting on the ground she rushed over to stop them. "What is going on? Stop this! Stop this immediately," she yelled as she pulled Lucy from on top of Kate. "What is the meaning of this? This is not how young ladies behave!"
"She attacked me!" Kate exclaimed as she scrambled to her feet. Her nose was bleeding and tears fell down her cheeks.
"Miss Collins is this true?" Ms. Jade said, turning Lucy around to face her. Lucy also had tears in her eyes. The teacher kneeled down and took the girl's hands in hers. She nodded slightly. Ms. Jade was shocked, she had not expected such behaviour from her best student. "Miss Collins, I am very disappointed in you. I do not know what caused you to act this way but you will apologise this instance and then accompany me to the Headmaster's office to wait for your brother."
"No!" Lucy yelled, pulling away from Ms. Jade. Tears were blurring her vision and she rubbed her eyes so she could see again. She found what she was looking for and picked up the journal that Kate had dropped and the page that Kate had ripped out of it. She hugged it close to her chest and more tears fell down her face. "I'm not going to apologize to her!"
"What?" Ms. Jade asked, eyeing the book with a frown.
"I'm not going to apologize to her!" Lucy said again. "She - she insulted my mum and dad and she ripped my daddy's book! I'm not - not going to apologize to her!"
Ms. Jade looked at her for a second before looking over at Kate. "Is this true, Miss Erik?"
"I didn't -"
"She's lying!" Lucy exclaimed.
"You two, go wait for your parents outside," Ms. Jade said sternly to Kate's two friends as she stood back up properly. They scramble from the room quickly. Jade then turned back to Lucy and Kate. "You two follow me."
The two girls followed their teacher up the stairs to the Headmaster's office. When they got there Jade got Kate a napkin for her nose and told her sit and wait for her mother while Lucy talked to the Headmaster. The Headmaster asked her some questions which Lucy responded to right away. She told him everything that happened.
"Be that as it may, Miss Collins, we have a zero tolerance rule at this school. I don't care what Miss Erik may have said or done, we do not condone physical violence," the Headmaster said. Lucy didn't say anything. She was sat in a chair in front of the Headmaster's desk and stared at her shoes, still hugging Jay's books close to her chest. The Headmaster sighed and continued, "Miss Collins, I understand that you may be going through a very tough time right now so I'll tell you what. If you apologize to Miss Erik I will not expel you. I'm sure Ms. Jade would not be too happy about losing one of her best students."
"No," Lucy said, shaking her head violently, still not looking up from her shoes.
"Excuse me?"
"I don't want to apologize."
The Headmaster looked her up and down for a moment before he spoke again. "Alright," he said finally, "why don't you wait outside for your brother. You can think it over and then tell me what you decide when he comes to get you."
Lucy nodded and stood up. She walked out of the office and sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the office from Kate. She looked over at her with a glare and Kate looked away quickly. Lucy was so done with all of Kate's constant tormenting. She didn't care what happened to her anymore. She was not going to apologize to her. She wasn't going to let her get away with what she did. She had ruined the last thing that Lucy had left of her father and Lucy wanted her to suffer for it. She knew that her family would not be very happy about what she did but she didn't really care anymore. She hoped Nina came soon. She really needed her.
Kate's mother came a few minutes later. She took one look at her daughter and became furious. She stormed into the Headmaster's office and demanded to know what happened. Nina came a little later looking very worried. She saw Lucy and raced over to her. She fell down to her knees in front of her chair.
"Lucy, what's happened?" she asked, putting her hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"
Lucy nodded at first and then looked up at Nina and shook her head. Tears started to roll down her cheeks again as she told Nina what had happened. She showed Nina Jay's book and the ripped paper.
"She - she ruined it," Lucy cried. "I was supposed - supposed to keep it safe and - and she just ruined it!"
Nina looked back and glared at Kate. She took the ripped paper and flattened it out as much as she could. She stuck it in the book and promised that they'd try to fix it when they got home. She gave Lucy a hug and a kiss on the forehead before getting up and angrily storming into the Headmaster's office.
"How dare she lay a hand on my baby!" Mrs. Erik's shout came through the door, making Lucy hug her book even tighter.
"Your baby is the one that started it!" Nina exclaimed. "What a terrible thing to do! She should never have touched that book!"
"If she wanted to keep that thing safe she should have left it at home!"
"She obviously never expected someone to grab it from her and rip out pages!" Nina yelled. "Her father just passed away, how could someone be so insensitive!"
"Miss Chaudhry, I understand that but -" The Headmaster was trying his best to control the two women.
"But nothing! It should never have escalated to this point! That girl has been bullying Lucy for the past three years and you and your staff did nothing about it!" Nina exclaimed.
"And what proof do you have of this?" Mrs. Erik retorted.
"Proof! Just asked both those girls, they'll tell you!" Nina replied.
"Miss Chaudhry, we have a zero tolerance policy for -"
"I understand that. Zero tolerance for bullying right? Your zero tolerance policy seems to only work against us! How come for the past few years whenever Kate did anything to Lucy you suddenly forget about your zero tolerance policy? If you kick her out you have to kick out the other girl too or I will personally make sure that everyone in Rochester knows what kind of institution this is! How many students do you think you'll lose when people hear about this kind of discrimination?" Nina yelled.
There was silence for a moment. The shouting stopped. It seemed that the adults were finished yelling at each other and were talking normally with one another. Murmurs could be heard from the door but Lucy couldn't not discern specific words. Finally the door opened and Kate's mother came out. She angrily walked over to her daughter and ordered her to get up. They walked out of the office. On her way passed, the woman gave Lucy a glare. Lucy didn't do or say anything. Her expression stayed neutral. A little while after the Eriks left, Nina walked out of the office too. She walked over to Lucy and stuck her hand out for Lucy to take. Lucy got up and took Nina's hand. Without a word Nina led them back down to the dance studio to pick up Lucy's things and then out to the car. Lucy refused to let go of her father's journal. Nina helped her into the back and buckled her in before getting into the driver's seat.
They drove in silence for a while before finally Lucy spoke. "Nina," she whispered. "Are you mad at me?"
Nina looked back at her through the rearview mirror and shook her head. "No, love," she said quietly. "Lucy, you know that hitting people isn't good, right? I know what she did and said was horrible but what you did was also wrong."
"I know," Lucy whispered.
"And you know that what she said isn't true right?"
"Yeah..." Lucy said, looking out the window she could avoid looking up at Nina.
"It's not," Nina said. "Min loves you. She doesn't think that you're ugly and she didn't leave because of you. She came back because of you."
Lucy nodded.
"Don't worry about them anymore," Nina said. "We can find a new dance studio for you to go to. I'm sure we can find a way better one."
"No," Lucy said. "I don't want to dance anymore."
"Lucy..." Nina stopped at a redlight and looked back at Lucy. She said, "but I thought you really liked ballet."
"I just don't want to do it anymore."
Nina looked at her for a second before turning back as the lights went green. "Alright," she said with a sigh. "We can talk about it later. Now is probably not a good time to talk about it."
They drove the rest of the way in silence. When they made it home Lucy raced up the stairs to her bedroom. She finally put the journal down on the bed and pulled her bag off her shoulder. She pulled her ballet slippers out of the bag and looked at them for a second. Tears started falling down her cheeks again. She threw the ballet shoes away from her as forcefully as she could, knocking things over on her desk.
Lucy let the bag drop from her hands and picked the journal back up before crawling up into bed. She buried her face in the pillow and cried. She laid there for a while before there was a knock at the door. She didn't move, hoping that whoever it was would just go away. They didn't. The door opened and Daniel walked in.
"Hey, Nina told me what happened," he said as he walked over to the bed. She doesn't respond and he sat down on the bed beside her. He heard her sob and sighed. Placing a hand on her back, he said, "hey, it's okay. It's okay."
Lucy looked up finally, eyes red and puffy. Tear stains ran down her cheeks and her nose was very red. She moved close to Daniel and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his lap. Lucy hugged him with one hand, still clutching the book with the other.
"Daniel," she whispered. "I want Daddy."
Daniel sighed again and gave her a little squeeze. "I know, kid, I know," he said softly. "Nina told me what that girl did. I'm sorry."
"I shouldn't have brought it with me. I should have just put it in my room when Mum gave it back to me," she said with a sniff. "I shouldn't have been lazy and stuck it in my bag."
"It's not your fault, kid," he said. "She should never have touched it. It's not your fault that... that she was a total bitch."
Lucy looked up at him with wide eyes before giggling a little bit. "I don't think you're allowed to say that."
Daniel laughed. "Why not?" he asked. "She was being one, wasn't she?"
Lucy thought about it before nodding a little.
"Yeah, so don't let her get to you," Daniel said. "Nina told me that you said that you don't want to do ballet anymore."
Lucy nodded again.
"Lucy, you don't have to give up something you love because you think that you're not allowed to be happy anymore,"
"I just don't want to anymore," Lucy whispered. "I don't want to dance anymore."
"Hey you know, before you were born, when I was around your age, my mom died and after her death I stopped reading comic books because they were something that made me happy," he said with a sigh. "I thought that I wasn't allowed to be happy anymore because my mother was gone and how could I justify feeling happy when she wasn't around anymore but eventually I realized that in really low times like this you have to do the things that make you happy again. Eventually I started reading comic books again and let myself be happy again. If dance makes you happy, you should keep doing it. You're allowed to be happy, Lucy. No matter what happens you have to find ways to be happy."
Lucy wiped the tears from her cheeks with one hand and buried her head in Daniel's chest. "It doesn't make me happy anymore," she whispered.
"Okay, you know what? How 'bout we give it a year?" he said. "You can stop ballet and then next year if you want to go back then we'll find a new dance studio for you to go to. How's that sound?"
"Okay," Lucy mumbled though she doubted she'd change her mind. Daniel sighed and held her, rocking her gently.
Eventually they heard the front door open downstairs. Daniel looked down at his watch and said, "that's probably Min. Do you want to talk to her?"
Lucy nodded.
"Do you want me to tell her to come up?"
Lucy nodded again.
"Okay, kid," he said, putting her down onto the bed. "I'll let her know that you want to see her."
Lucy watched him walk out of her bedroom and sighed before laying back down and burying her face in the pillow again.
...
"She did what?!" Minerva exclaimed, not comprehending what Nina was telling her right now. She couldn't imagine Lucy ever doing anything like that.
"She got into a fight," Nina said sadly. "With a girl named Kate. Complete bitch actually. She's been bullying Lucy since... forever I guess. She said and did some terrible things."
Minerva flopped down on a chair at the kitchen table and sighed. "Fighting is not okay, no matter what she may of done."
"I know and Lucy knows too," Nina said. "And I think that if it had been any other time she wouldn't have done it. Lucy's been having a hard time, you know. And she was getting better too, this has just made it worse again."
"She was getting better, that's why I don't understand why she would do that."
"She said something about Uncle Jay and tried to wreck his journal," Nina said. "She also said that you couldn't get out of here fast enough after you saw her ugly face."
Minerva pinched the bridge of her nose. "I hope she doesn't believe that."
"I told her it wasn't true," she replied. "She got kicked out of the school though. So did the other girl though so that's good at least." Nina paused for a second and then smiled. "I think she broke the bitch's nose. It must have been quite the punch."
Minerva gave Nina a look. "I hope you didn't encourage her behaviour."
"Of course not," Nina said with a laugh. "But she's not here right now so I can tell you what I really think and that is that what she did, though probably a little morally ambiguous, was pretty awesome."
"I don't think ambiguous is the right word," she replied. Nina laughed. Minerva shook her head though she smiled. "Where is she now?"
"Upstairs. Daniel is talking to her. She hasn't left her room since we got back," Nina said, smile fading away. "She really did love ballet. It was the only thing that seemed to make her forget about everything else. I don't know what she's going to do now."
Just then Daniel walked into the kitchen. Nina and Minerva turned and looked at him expectantly. "She's okay," he said. "She was crying before but she's okay now. She said she still doesn't want to do ballet anymore though. Said it doesn't make her happy anymore."
Nina sighed. "She's just saying that so you'll stop telling her to keep doing it."
"I know," Daniel replied. "I told her that she could take this year off and if she wanted to she could go back next year."
"That's a good idea," Minerva said with a nod.
"She wants to talk to you," he said, looking at Minerva.
Minerva nodded and got up. "I'll go now," she said as she walked out of the room. When she was out of the kitchen she smiled a little. She was so happy that Lucy wanted to talk to her about what happened. Minerva walked up the stairs and over to Lucy's bedroom. She knocked on the door and heard a little voice on the other side letting her in. She opened the door and saw Lucy laying in bed with her head face down in the pillow.
"Hello, Lucy," Minerva said.
"Are you going to tell me to keep doing ballet too?" she asked.
"No, Daniel told me that you don't want to do it anymore," Minerva said, walking into the room and closing the door behind her. She walked to the bed and sat down. "That's okay."
Lucy doesn't say anything. Minerva sighed and ran her fingers through Lucy's hair. Lucy turned and looked up at her mother for a second before tears filled her eyes. She sat up a bit and hugged Minerva. Minerva wrapped her arms around her daughter and rubbed small circles on her back. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here, sweetheart, it's going to be okay."
"Why do they hate me? What did I do?" Lucy asked through her tears. "I try to be nice to them but they're still so mean to me!"
"I don't know. Lucy," Minerva whispered. "Some people are just like that. Maybe there's something going on at home or maybe they're just very angry people. Either way what they're doing is wrong and you shouldn't believe the horrible things they say."
"I just want people to like me. Am I that horrible that people can't like me?"
"No, no, you're not!" Minerva said. She wished that she could do something or say something better to make Lucy understand. She hated seeing her like this. "I know it's hard, darling, but you know someday you'll move on to bigger and better things and they're going to regret ever being mean to you."
There was silence for a while. Lucy moved and showed her mother the journal. "She - she grabbed it from my hands and ripped it," she whispered. "I asked you to keep it safe but then I didn't do that!"
Minerva sighed and took the book from her. She opened it up and looked at the ripped and scrunched up paper. She used her hand to flatten it out as much as she could. "It's okay," she said. "I can -"
"I - I just wanted something to do while I waited for Nina," Lucy said, hiding her face in her hands. "It was in my bag so I was reading it while I waited."
"It's not your fault, Lucy," Minerva said, putting a hand on Lucy's back. "I can -"
"I should have just left it in my box!"
"Lucy, it's okay," Minerva said. "I can fix it. It's okay."
Lucy looked up suddenly. She looked at her mother with wide eyes. "You - you can?"
"Yes," Minerva said with a small smile, pulling out her wand. "Watch." She pointed the wand at the book and said, "Reparo."
Slowly the paper began to knit itself together. The paper was still wrinkled but it was no longer ripped. Lucy looked at it with wide eyes for a second before hugging Minerva tightly. "Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Thank you for fixing it!"
Minerva smiled and wrapped an arm around her. "You are very welcome," she said. "The page is not all flat yet but hopefully if we close it and put some weight on top it will fix that."
She closed the book and Lucy looked up. She took the book from Minerva and slid off the bed. She walked over to her bookshelf and pulled out her box of important things. She placed the book inside before walking back to the bed and leaning against Minerva's legs.
"I know you were excited to see me dance," Lucy whispered. "I'm sorry."
"That's alright, my darling," Minerva said with a smile, cupping Lucy's cheeks with her hands and wiping the tears away with her thumbs. "I do hope that you'll change your mind soon though and go back to it."
Lucy didn't say anything. She leaned forwards and rested her forehead on Minerva's chest. Minerva sighed and put a hand on the back of her head.
"Alright," she whispered. "Your Uncle Raj will be here soon and Daniel's making dinner. Why don't you get washed up and come down?"
Lucy nodded a little. She stayed there for a minute before finally pulling away from Minerva and walking towards the bedroom door. Minerva watched her for a second before looking around the room. She noticed papers and a vase laying on the ground in front of Lucy's desk. Lucy's pointe shoes were laying on the ground beside them. She must have thrown them when she got home. Minerva stood up and cleaned everything up before picking up the shoes and walking back towards Lucy's bookshelf. She pulled out Lucy's box of important things, opened it up, and set the shoes inside.
Minerva walked out of the bedroom and headed down the stairs. She walked back into the kitchen where Daniel was cooking dinner and Nina was sitting at the table with her textbook open in front of her.
Nina looked up when she entered. "How is she?"
"I think she'll be okay," Minerva said, walking over and sitting down at the table as well. "She should be down soon."
"That's good," Daniel said. He noticed that Nina still didn't look all that convinced and gave her half a smile. "She'll be okay, babe. She just needs to forget about it for a while."
Nina sighed. "Yeah, she will," she mumbled. She looked at her book for a second before looking up again. "I'm going to be away for a few weeks in February and March."
"Where are you going?" Minerva asked.
"Clinicals start then so I need to stay on campus," Nina said.
"What are clinicals?"
"It's when nursing students work at a hospital and just get experience in that environment," Nina explained. "So I'll be working basically nine-to-five hours and it'll just be easier for me to stay in my flat on campus during that time. I'll be back on the weekend but I'll be staying there on the weekdays."
"Oh, that sounds interesting," Minerva said.
"Yeah, it'll be nice to do some practical work," she said. She motioned to her textbook. "Theory can get boring."
Minerva smiled. "Are you paid for this work?"
"Yep," Nina replied. "I mean, it's not much but it's something."
Minerva laughed a little. Nina looked over at Daniel. "Are you coming to stay with me for couple nights?"
Minerva looked over at him as well. Daniel looked up and nodded. "Yeah, I've got three exams back to back next month so I was thinking," he looked at Minerva, "if you were okay watching Lucy for a couple days, I could stay on campus. That way I'd be able to study late in the library and not have to worry about picking her up or dropping her off."
"Of course," Minerva said. "You focus on your school, Daniel. I can worry about Lucy."
He smiled. "Thanks," he said. "Uncle Raj will be here too, of course."
"Wonderful," Minerva said.
"You and Uncle Raj are still having problems?" Nina asked.
"I don't think either of us are each other's favourite person right now," she mumbled. She sighed. "It's a shame really. We got along very well before all of this happened. Jay, Raj, Amelia, and I used to go out together at least once a month when Lucy and Daniel were younger. It was nice to just drink, talk, and forget about everything for a little while."
"Forgetting about your kids, how fun," Daniel said.
Minerva laughed. "We didn't forget about you," she said. "We tried but we never could."
"I'm glad I make a lasting impression," Daniel said with a smile.
"That sounds really nice," Nina said. "I hope eventually you guys will go back to that."
"Back to Uncle Raj pretending to hit on you and then insult you just to annoy Dad," Daniel said with a laugh.
Minerva shook her head. "I can't believe he did that in front of you," she said. "And besides, it wasn't to annoy your father. It was to annoy Amelia."
"Right, of course," Daniel said.
"Why would that be?" Nina asked.
"Uncle Raj likes Amelia, even though he'll never say it," Daniel said with a smile.
"And Amelia likes him, even though she'll never say it," Minerva said.
Nina smiled. "I knew there was something weird between them!" she said. "They're pretty weird together. I thought it was just because of the whole not seeing each other in so long thing but it's so much better!"
Minerva laughed and shook her head. She was about to say something when Lucy walked into the kitchen too. She walked over to the table and looked at the book in front of Nina. "I was reading your textbook yesterday," she said as she sat down on a chair on her knees, "and I found a mistake on page one hundred and two."
"Really?" Nina asked with a smile turning to the page in question. Lucy nodded. She leaned over so she could see too and pointed to the mistake. Nina laughed. "They spelt antiseptic wrong."
Daniel laughed. "They make you pay so much for the book you'd think they could at least spell things right."
Minerva smiled.
Nina sighed and closed her book. "This is the third edition too," she said. "They had three chances to get it right."
Lucy smiled. She reached over and pushed the book in front of her so she could look at it properly. "My science teacher says that it's stupid how they make you buy the newest edition of the textbook," she said. "He says that they change one little thing and then sell it as a new version. "
"It's true," Daniel said. "It is really stupid. And they're so expensive too. Like at least we can afford them, what about for the people who can't?"
"Yeah," Nina mumbled. "It is stupid but I have to buy them -" Very dramatically she leaned back into Lucy and put her hand to her forehead. "Or I'll fail!"
Lucy laughed as she pushed Nina off of her. Minerva smiled. "I'm not sure that was dramatic enough."
Nina smirked. "Oh you don't think I have a future in acting?"
"Probably not," Daniel told his girlfriend with a laugh.
"Ah, that was dream! You're crushing my dream!"
Just then the front door opened and Lucy got up quickly. She raced towards it to find her uncle standing there taking off his coat. Raj smiled at Lucy. "Hey, Princess," he said. "How did your try-outs go?"
Lucy stopped smiling and she sighed. She walked over to him and hugged his legs. "Not good."
"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't that bad," he said, reaching down and picked her up.
Lucy shook her head. She told him what happened and he frowned. "She did what?"
"Tried to rip Daddy's book."
"And they kicked you out?" Raj asked.
Lucy nodded. "And her too."
"Well, at least they kicked her out too. She pushed you and ripped your book. She deserved to be kicked out too," he said. "I don't think you should hit people anymore though. Doesn't look great, you know. When someone is mean to you make sure you get your revenge in a way where you can't get caught."
Lucy laughed.
"Don't tell your mother I said that," he said with a smile.
"Okay," Lucy said with a laugh.
He put her down and took off his shoes before following her into the kitchen. He said hello to everyone and set his briefcase down on the island counter. Daniel finished dinner and they all sat down to eat. Daniel pulled a stool over so Lucy could have a seat as well. During dinner, Lucy told Raj that she was no longer doing ballet and he agreed that waiting a year to decide was probably a good idea. He asked the rest of them about their days and Daniel asked about his. After dinner, Lucy sat down at the table with Nina and Minerva to do some homework. Raj was in the office going over some Collins Enterprises things with Daniel. Minerva took this opportunity to get some marking done as well.
"What are you learning about in school, sweetheart?" Minerva asked.
"In science we're learning about the solar system," Lucy said. "Did you know that the Apollo astronauts' footprints on the moon will probably stay there for at least 100 million years?"
"I did not," Minerva said with a smile.
"So do you think we'll colonize Mars, Lucy?" Nina asked.
"Yes!" she said excitedly. "It's the closest Earth-like planet and if we can figure out how to terraform the planet then we could live there!"
"I don't know if I want to live on Mars," Nina said.
"I don't want to live there either," Lucy replied, "but I'd like to visit."
"No. I don't want to visit either," Nina said with a laugh. "I think I want to stay on Earth."
"What if it was like that movie where everyone has to get on the spaceships and leave Earth or you'll die?" Lucy asked.
"Nope, I'm going to die on Earth," Nina replied.
"I have to agree with Nina on that one," Minerva said with a laugh. "I would also prefer to stay on Earth."
"You guys are crazy," Lucy said. "You would rather die on Earth than live in space?"
They nodded.
"I'll bet Daniel and Uncle Raj would want to come to space with me. We could probably find some friendly aliens," she said. "Don't you want to explore space with us, Nina?"
Nina shook her head. "Sorry, Lucy," she said, "but space is not for me. I'm more of an Earth girl, I must say."
"But I want you to come!"
"Augh, fine," Nina said with a smile. "If you want me to come then I'll come."
Lucy looked over at her mother. "You're going to come too, right?"
"Sure, I'll come," Minerva said with a smile.
"Great!"
"Though I don't think we will have to do that anytime soon," Minerva mumbled.
Lucy shrugged. "Who knows?" she said. "We went to the moon in 1969 so we have the technology."
"The space race has kind of slowed down now though," Nina said with a smile.
Lucy shrugged again. "I'm just glad that you guys would come if we have to leave Earth," she said. "I don't want to leave you."
Nina and Minerva laughed. They talked more about space for a while before turning back to their own works so they could get things done too.