The recital was in two weeks.
My Swan Queen was gone.
...
The next day, Nina didn't show up to rehearsal, which I figured she wouldn't.
Neither did Lily.
I gave everyone some meager instructions, letting them practice the things they had memorized long ago, and told them to keep at it until I returned.
They nervously obeyed me, and not even David argued. They had seen the soul-crushing effect I had on people. All they had to do was look at Beth, who was now dead, at Nina, who had given up on her dreams, and Lily, who was decending into jealous madness.
I went to Nina's apartment that early afternoon.
Her mother answered the door.
"What do you want?" She asked suspiciously.
"I'm here to see Nina," I said lightly. "My name is Thomas L-"
She slapped my hand down when I extended it, and I forgot my last name. I flapped my lips for a second, not knowing what to say.
"Now I won't have you coming in here disturbing my child while she's unwell," She said huffingly. "Nina's quit that pageant of yours and it's for the best. I've always been telling her that place wasn't good for her. You standing here is a prime example of that." She looked me up and down with one eye, her face gnarled up in a scowl.
"Please, if you'll just let me-"
"No!" She cried. "You're not going to come in here and stir up anymore trouble. We've had enough of you and your kind. Leave us alone!"
With that, she slammed the door in my face.
I stood there listening to the locks click and slide in place. I heard the woman walk away from the door, so I turned and did the same.
...
As I drove back to the studio, my thoughts raged within me.
Nina was gone. It was Lily's fault, but also my own.
I told Lily I would kick her out of Swan Lake if she told her, but with Nina gone, Lily was the only alternate as the Swan Queen.
If Nina truely wasn't coming back, I had to use Lily. There was no possible way I could train another dancer to be the Swan Queen in two weeks.
But Lily... What if she double-crossed me? What if, during the performance, she grabbed a microphone, got everyone's attention, and told them I slept with her?
Surely her parents, watching with proud glowing eyes, would scream with anguish, climb the stage, and try to kill me?
Mobs would come after me. Sleeping with children! How repulsive!
Lily was, indeed, young enough to be my daughter. As was nearly everyone in the Swan Lake.
I would never be allowed to teach again.
It's not like I wanted to sleep with Lily...
Well, maybe a part of me did, but I was lonely and depressed. I was under a lot of stress.
Beth is dead and Nina's quit. All that's left is Lily.
I have no choice.
Suddenly the life of a dance instructor doesn't seem so bright.
I pulled into the studio parking-lot and parked the car. I sat staring at the little green digital clock attached to the radio, watching the minutes blip silently away.
...
"Hey," Lily cooed, gliding over to me. "Are you all right?"
I let the door shut behind me as I walked into the studio. I wrinkled my forehead at her behavior as she came over and place a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Fine, why?" I asked, confused.
"I heard about what happened to Beth. So sad..." She sighed wistfully as if speaking of a flower in a garden. "Are you sure you're okay?"
I blinked at her. "How did you find out?"
"Beth was my friend too," She said , her eyes wide and tearful.
She came closer to me and pressed her breasts against my chest, tucking her head in the crook of my neck. I stood there feeling quite awkward until I realized, as her thin, slithery arms wound around my back, that she was hugging me.
With her head so close to my face, I could pratically taste her perfume. She smelled delicious. Her body was warm and tightly pressed against mine. My hands slowly found her back and gently squeezed her for a few seconds.
Then I just had to let go.
She crushed me suddenly, letting out a happy sigh, before releasing me. She beamed up at me.
I stared at her, my body tingling. My fingers twitched, wanting to hold her again. As strange as she was, my body desired her.
I swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva and cleared my throat.
"So are you sure you're okay?" Lily asked insistantly, puppy-dogging me with her eyes.
"Yes," I said unconvincingly, my voice having lost its strength.
She smiled sadly at me and took my hand.
My reflexes almost jerked away from her, but then her thumb grazed softly over the back of my hand, and I felt like purring.
"Please," I forced out, pulling my hand from hers. "Let's just get ready for practice."
I started walking away, but then my thoughts threw up out of my mouth.
"You're going to be the new Swan Queen," I said.
My body froze with a shudder.
Lily is going to be the Swan Queen, I repeated in my mind, where that thought should have stayed.
Her little feet padded across the floor as she skipped after me.
"Really? You mean Nina's not coming back?" She asked excitedly.
I hesitated, not knowing what to say, then I walked away without answering.
As much as I wanted her to come back, it didn't seem likely that she ever would.