Here is chapter 2! I hope you all enjoyed chapter one and will like this one just as much! :) Thank you!
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but some of the plot and any OCs. Enjoy!
By the time the class was finished, Claire was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Once more she found her limbs stiff, and she knew they should be sore, but they weren't, due to her ability.
Claire sat herself down on the side of the room and untied her pointe shoes, placing them in their case and slipping on her own black flats. She picked up her bag and was about to walk out the door when Tara stopped her.
"Hey, Claire. Wait!"
"Yeah?" Claire asked as she turned around.
"Well, umm, we are having this party this afternoon. Well, it's not really a party, more of a get together. We're just bringing food and drinks down to the beach...would you be interested in maybe joining us? It'll just be Christian, Sammy, Abigail and Kat, who you haven't met yet. And me, of course, but I will be late."
Claire gave her a smile. "What time?"
"Ahhh, I think they're meeting out the front at five?"
"I'll try and make it. If I'm not there at five tell them they can leave without me."
"Awesome! Do you have a room yet?"
Claire shook her head. "My flight was cancelled last night, so I got in late this morning and only just got here in time to meet with Miss Rain before class. My bags are in the office."
"Do you want me to come with you to get them and then we'll find out what room you're in?" Tara suggested.
Claire shrugged. "Sure."
"Okay," Tara said, nodding her head. "Well, let's go."
Claire walked down the path to the beach, following Sammy and Christian. She had the picnic blanket over her shoulder and her shades on her head. She had changed into denim shorts and a purple tank top, and had her hair pulled into a messy bun on top of her head.
"Just rest this over here and I'll spread it out," Sammy told her, and she put it down where he had indicated.
Soon enough, all the food was set up on a small table Sammy had brought and Claire lay down on her own towel near the picnic mat, and pulled her shades over her eyes to avoid the glare of the setting sun.
"Helloooo strangers!" a loud female voice called, and Claire heard thumping as feet jumped down of the path and onto the sand.
Sammy looked up from where he was devouring a packet of chips. "Hey! How are you?"
"Good, good. And how are you, Samuel?" she asked in reply, emphasizing each syllable of his name.
"I'm good."
"Well, I brought some proper camping gear so we can set up a thingy over us to keep out the sun and all that. And lanterns for when it gets dark!"
"Really? Awesome."
"I know right? Now come and help me set it all up."
Christian spotted her from where he sat in the water and stood, walking over to where she was.
"Hey Christian! Good to see you. Now, you boys come and help me set this up. If I do it myself we all know something will go horribly wrong and the police will have to be called."
Claire remained where she was, not knowing whether to help or not, but Sammy spotted her. "Oh, Claire! Come on over here and meet Kat!"
Claire lifted her shades and put them up on top of her head as she she got up and walked over to them.
"Kat, I would like you to meet Claire. She's transferred from a Dance Academy in America and is in Second Year with u s. She's bunking with Grace, who is also new, but just isn't here at the moment."
Kat smiled at her. "Hi."
"Hey," Claire replied awkwardly.
They all turned around and began to set up again.
Kat broke the silence. "You should see my new uniform. I am seriously considering shaving my head in protest."
"Don't," Christian told her. "It suits you long."
Kat stopped and turned around, staring at him for a little bit before turning around and continuing what she was doing.
Christian, however, was still paused. He stared at Abigail, who was sitting on the sand in her bathing suit, talking to a little girl and helping her build a sand castle.
"Okay, is it just me, or does anybody else think this is gonna be a-"
"Strange year?" Kat suggested, looking around. "Yyyeahh."
About half an hour later, Tara showed up. She smiled at seeing her friends, but Claire could tell she was worried about something. The first thing she did was get in the water with Christian, and she seemed to be talking to him about something that was troubling her. Claire hoped he was doing a good job of looking after her.
Suddenly, he ducked under the water and tipped her over. Claire laughed at the sight.
It seemed Tara was in good hands.
She turned her attention to the conversation happening near her.
"There are three HUNDRED girls. In my YEAR," Kat told Sammy. She did not sound happy. "I need to do something to make an impression."
Sammy rolled his eyes and leaned back. "You'll stand out Kat." There was a pause before he spoke again. "What happened with you and Miles?"
"Umm, you just get to know someone WAY too well when you're stuck in a van."
"And?" Sammy prompted.
"AND...it was incredible. We did little mini day trips to Byron, and we swam with dolphins in Hastings."
Sammy smiled, and was about to say something when Abigail beat him to it.
"That would be so spiritually transcendent," she said, nodding as she licked her ice cream.
Sammy and Kat turned to look at her for a moment before turning to face the water once more.
"Yeah," Kat continued. "But, we weren't, you know, like that," she said, motioning to where Tara and Christian wrested in the water, squealing and laughing.
Sammy looked out to them. "Who is?" he asked rhetorically. "Well, come on." He took his shirt off. "This is meant to be a reunion!"
Kat grinned at him and removed her hat before standing and peeling of her shorts so she was left in her swimsuit. She raced after Sammy, who was running to the water.
Abigail stood and began to walk toward the water, but she turned to see Claire lying on her towel. "Come on!"
"What?" Claire asked her.
"Come on!" Abigail repeated, holding out her hand for Claire to take. Claire frowned, but took it and walked after a skipping Abigail.
Once the reached the water's edge, Abigail jumped right in and began to splash her fellow classmates, but Claire remained at the edge, not really knowing what to do.
Tara spotted her. "Claire, come on!" she called, walking over to grab Claire's hand and pull her in after her.
It didn't take long for Claire to get soaked, and she grinned.
She was going to like these people.
Claire got home back from class the next afternoon and changed when she got back to the boarding house, putting on a pair of jeans and a plain blue t shirt. Grace still hadn't shown up, so she did have their room all to herself, but she decided to mingle.
She left the room and went into the main lounge area near the kitchen, and sat on one of the couches and began to read a magazine. She didn't feel like watching anything on TV, and there wasn't really anyone around that she could see, so she sat there and pretended to read, waiting for someone to walk in.
Ten minutes later, the front door burst in and a very upset looking Tara entered.
"Tara, what's wrong?" Claire asked with worry in her voice.
Tara stopped and looked at her, and Claire could tell she had been crying.
"Nothing's wrong," Tara denied, and she moved to walk up the stairs but Claire jumped up and followed her.
"Tara, a blind man could tell you've been crying. What happened?" Claire grabbed her wrist and looked her in the eye. "I know you don't know me very well, but I want to look after you. Just tell me what happened."
Tara sighed and began to walk back down the stairs. She went into the lounge room and dropped her bag on the floor before plopping down onto the couch. Claire sat next to her and crossed her legs, looking at Tara and waiting for her to begin talking.
"Well, it's Ethan. You see, I was dating him last year, but then I kind of fell for Christian, and it's like he's hated me ever since. He finally forgave me, and he offered to have me spend the summer break with him, spending time together. I would spend Christmas with his family and everything. The thing was, I had already asked Christian if he wanted to go, and he had refused. So, I told Ethan that I would love to. But then, right before my performance, Christian told me that he did want to come and spend Christmas with my family. I couldn't tell him no, so I left Ethan and went with Christian to my own place.
"That made Ethan hate me more. Once more he felt like I had left him for a better offer, and it was true! I was thoughtless, and cruel, and now I'm paying for it!"
Claire put a hand on the girl's knee. "Isn't Ethan the one who was taking you through your solo for the launch?"
"Yeah, he was. But then I was in rehearsal with him, and he was pushing me further than I should have had to go, making me do spins that he knows scare me. He made me do them over and over again, and I was scared and angry at him. He said he was only coaching me as he should have been, but he was punishing me. I'm sure of it! So I walked out of rehearsal and went to meet you guys at the beach. This was yesterday, obviously. Then I went to the stage at the opera house, where they were holding the full rehearsal this morning, and I wanted to start fresh with Ethan. So, I walked up to him and introduced myself all over again, asking if we'd met before. Then, his father, Sebastian, calls me over and tells me that I have been replaced for my solo. Replaced by Grace." Angry tears filled her eyes.
Claire sighed, leaning over and putting an arm around her. "Well, there isn't really anything you can do about people like that. You can try and make your peace with them, but sometimes they just refuse to let go. You can't make Ethan forgive you, but don't think about it too much. You did your best and followed your heart in the past, and if he truly loved you, he would want you to be happy, no matter what it means to him. I think you haven't done anything that you should apologize for, but since you do want to make up with him, just act naturally around him. He'll forgive you eventually, I promise."
"Really?" Tara asked, looking at her.
"Really. Well, eventually he will. Guys are pretty slow at these sorts of things, and life generally," Claire told her with a grin.
Tara laughed. "Yeah, I know. I just hope he gets over it soon. And, I mean, what really sucks is that he is actually letting our disagreements get to his work. He chose Grace to replace me, not because I wasn't the right choice, but because he was angry at me. It's just not right to jeopardize me like that, no matter how he feels!"
Claire looked at her sadly. "Unfortunately, someone in his position does have a certain amount of power over you, especially in this situation. But just because he has a little power, that doesn't mean he's right. I'm sure you're perfect for this solo, and he's gonna see it eventually. Promise. Just prove him wrong with everything you do, and don't let him see that he's upset you. Keep smiling, no matter what happens. If you keep acting happy, it'll happen eventually."
Tara smiled at her. "Thanks. That really helps to know. I guess I miss having Kat around, and I wish I had someone to rely on and talk to like I used to talk to her. But now it seems I've got you. And by the way, you've got me too. We're in this together, right?"
"Right," Claire agreed, hi-fiving her and she grinned, in and out. "So, what are you dancing for the show?"
"I think I'm in the group that's on third."
"So am I!" Claire exclaimed, beaming. "We can go and see if the studio's free if you want, and if it is I can run over the choreography with you if you like."
"Sure, that would be really helpful. It'll be nice to have a teacher that isn't out to get me."
Claire smiled encouragingly. "Let's go then."
When they got back from the studio, Tara went straight for a shower and Claire decided to have one later on, and changed into jeans and a nice silk green blouse. She slid on a black cardigan and sipped her feet into her ankle boots before giving her hair a quick brush and heading out.
She had someone to see.
Ethan sighed as he sat down on the bench outside the Academy. The year had just started, and he was already fighting with Tara.
She was nice and sweet, and everything perfect, like she had been when they dated, but there was something different about her this year. She was more determined, more grown up. And she argued like there was no tomorrow. Also, she seemed to be really against him, which had been a problem in rehearsal.
So, being the mature, responsible adult he was, Ethan had decided that in order to achieve what they wanted to with the launch the following night, he would have to put Grace on instead of Tara.
Well, that's what he thought.
He heard the thudding of shoes behind him, and before he knew what was happening, someone was seated beside him. He glanced over and saw that it was the new girl from Second Year.
"Can I help you?" he asked warily, but he smirked flirtatiously as he turned to the blonde.
Claire smiled in return. "First of all, just because I am blonde, it doesn't mean I will fall for your charms, Karamakov. Now, I am here to discuss a certain Tara Webster with you."
"What about her?" Ethan asked in confusion.
"Well, it has come to my attention that you aren't exactly treating her very nicely, and so, I would like to have a chat with you about that."
"Why on earth..." he trailed off, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Look, I know you probably want to fit in, and looking after Tara might seem like a good way to get accepted into the gang and all, but I can tell you now, she is just a drama queen looking for attention."
"I don't care what she is, Ethan. I understand that now that you have exchanged the roles you can't change them back, but in future, I suggest you think before you act, or you will find yourself with me as an enemy, and that is not something you want, am I clear?" Without even waiting for his reply, Claire stood and walked away, feeling surprisingly good about herself so far.
The night of the launch had come, and they were waiting on the side stage with Christian. People in the audience were whispering politely and it was all about to begin.
"Tara," Grace called, walking over to them. Claire glared at her. "How many spins is it again?" she asked, and Tara turned away, ignoring her. Grace sighed. "You did mind, didn't you? You should've said!"
Tara turned to her, glaring. "No, I loved it when you stole my solo. When was the last time you even danced, Grace?"
Grace bit her lip thoughtfully. "Ahhh, a year. Ish."
"Right. Well, you should probably know that Ethan's sending you out there so that you will embarrass yourself and he can prove a point to me."
Grace nodded slowly, pursing her lips. "Ouch. Got it." And with that, she walked away, Claire glaring holes into her back the entire way.
Tara and Christian turned back to the stage, and he was about to say something.
"Don't. Please," Tara half pleaded him.
"I didn't say anything," Christian replied, raising his hands in submission.
Twenty minutes later, it was their turn to go on. Claire, Tara, Abigail and all the other girls stood in their places and waited for the music to begin, at which point they sprung to life.
Claire concentrated on keeping her body in rhythm, but found it unnecessary. The skills that had been 'installed' into her brain kicked in, and all she had to do was remember the choreography.
It was soon over, and the froze, bowing gracefully before leaving the stage where they all caught their breath.
Next was Grace's solo, the one that should have been Tara's. Claire watched Tara, concerned.
The music began, and Grace began to dance.
It was nothing like Tara, or anyone, had predicted. Every movement was perfect and graceful, and the audience watched in awe as she performed the steps that Tara had been taught.
"So, when she danced in London, it was...?" Tara trailed off questioningly.
"The Royal Ballet school," Abigail hissed.
"I'm glad she's not staying," Tara said, turning to Abigail. "Does that make me a bad person?"
"Nice is overrated," came the ground out reply.
Grace spun on her left foot before landing on her right and placing her hands at her side, freezing as the music stopped and the audience burst with applause.
Tara watched, obviously hurt by the performance.
"Come on," Claire said, interrupting her thoughts. "Let's go get changed."
Tara ran off once she was changed, and Claire decided to leave and head home. There wasn't really all that much to do, and if there was any after party going she didn't feel like being a part of it.
Her first week there was up, and she was already feeling homesick.
"Claire, come on, wake up!"
Claire groaned and opened her eyes to see Tara's face swimming above her.
"What?" she groaned sleepily.
"There's a performance on, and we're going to see it. We have to leave in an hour. If you want to come, get up!"
There was a bang and the door shut. Claire rolled over to see Grace's bed completely empty, and she rolled her eyes.
Eventually, Claire managed to get out of bed and head down stairs for breakfast. There wasn't much in the fridge as the guys had already raided it, but they had left some orange juice so she poured herself a glass.
"Claire? You're only having breakfast? Come on, we have to hurry!" Tara called as she ran past.
Sammy walked in the room, shaking his head and calling after Tara. "T, we don't have to leave for an hour. Calm down!"
Claire frowned. "She told me we had to leave in an hour twenty minutes ago."
Sammy winced. "She does get a little overexcited, but this time, it's understandable."
"How so?"
"Because," Christian said as he walked into the room to get his sneakers from beside the fridge. "We're going to see The Firebird, which has Saskia Duncan in it."
"Who?" Claire asked before realizing her mistake.
The two boys stopped and stared at her, eyebrows raised.
"You don't know who Saskia Duncan is?" Sammy asked incredulously.
"No, I don't," Claire replied. "Do inform me, I am most fascinated." She plopped onto one of the chairs and leaned back, sipping her juice.
"Saskia Duncan was and is the youngest principle dancer in the history of The Company. She's pretty much a legend, and Tara really looks up to her," Sammy explained, and Claire nodded thoughtfully.
Any thoughts about skipping the performance to practise left her head when she realized how much this would mean to Tara. If it was important to Tara, she had to be there too. It was her job, after all.
By the time they reached the theatre they were still far too early, but they took their seats and waited for it to begin.
But it was well worth the wait.
The principle dancer, who Claire guessed was Saskia Duncan, was dresses in a maroon outfit and she danced around the stage like she was completely weightless. Claire could practically hear Tara's awe from where she sat in the row in front of her.
Sammy's phone beeped, and Abigail scowled, kicking him hard.
Sammy turned back to her. "Sorry, it's work," he whispered, before switching his phone onto silent and turning back to watch the performance.
Claire watched with a smile as Tara leaned over to Christian. "Can you believe that's gonna be us one day?" she asked him before turning back to the show.
I hope so, Tara. I really do.
When class finished that afternoon, Sammy was leaning over to pack his things and talking to Tara. He glanced at the clock.
"Hmmm...I have minus 9 minutes to get to my shift. Seems doable?" he said with a smirk before shouldering his bag and preparing to leave.
"Samuel!" Miss Rain called. She approached him, clip board in hand and usual disapproving frown gracing her features. "I do hope those outside work commitments aren't continuing now that term has resumed?"
"Of course not," Sammy replied. "Who has time in the Academy schedule?" he asked rhetorically before backing out of the room.
"My point exactly," she called after him, before turning to see her next victim. "Mr Reed!" she called to Christian. "I've been thinking. We don't spend enough time together."
Christian stopped drinking from his bottle and looked at her, nodding. "So have I," he replied cheekily. "Your office?" he finally asked, defeated. He knew he was in trouble.
Miss Rain merely turned on her heel and walked away, expecting him to follow.
Claire turned her attention back to Tara, who was approaching Grace, who was talking into her phone.
"Just picture a universe of shiny, happy people! The boredom is palpable!" Grace turned and saw Tara. She pulled the phone from her ear and looked at her. "Yes?"
"Look, I know we got off on the wrong foot, but, I guess I thought I could maybe take you over to the cafe, maybe show you some of the least disgusting menu options?"
"I'm really sorry," Grace replied simply before turning to leave, holding her phone to her ear once more as she exited the room.
Claire snorted and turned to Tara. "Again, you tried your best to patch things up. She has to meet halfway too, and if she can't be bothered, then it's her loss."
"Thanks," Tara said, smiling as they exited the room.
Claire walked through the halls and saw the group gathered around a poster board of some kind.
"She topped everything!" Abigail moaned.
"Who?" Tara asked.
"Grace," Abigail hissed in reply, and Tara simply shrugged. "You can't pretend that doesn't bother you!"
"Yeah, she's really good," Tara said in reply, before scanning her eyes down the lists. Claire watched her pause in shock, placing her hand on the bottom of one of the lists before she ran off with a determined look on her face.
The crowds around the lists began to disperse, but Abigail remained, checking them to make sure they were real. Claire walked up to the lists and had a look. Sure enough, Grace had topped every class. Then came either Abigail or Tara, and the one that wasn't second on one of the lists was third. Then, fourth on almost every list, was Claire.
She nearly laughed out loud. She could hardly believe it!
Claire then looked down the rest of the list, seeing Sammy's name in 6th, and when she saw the bottom, she saw a name. Christian Reed. She checked the other lists, and sure enough, his name was the last on those too.
"It's unfair of them to let someone transfer in and disrupt the whole dynamic!" Abigail exclaimed, and Claire looked at her. "Oh, I don't mean you Claire. At least you know where your place is. Your good, but not too good. But Grace! How could she top every class?"
Claire shrugged. "Maybe you're just having a rough week getting back into things. I'm sure next week you'll be back on top where you belong."
"How do you know I belong on top?" Abigail asked suspiciously. "You weren't even here last year."
"I guess you look like the kind of person who should be on top," Claire commented, giving her a smile. Tara might have been the main possibility, but Abigail could be the one in her grandmother's dream also.
"She probably doesn't want to be disturbed," a whiny voice came from around the corner, and two girls Claire hadn't seen much of appeared. They were in First Year, if she was correct.
"Abigail, we just want you to know that you were robbed," the brunette said, her voice full of conviction, before she began to march off.
"Wait!" Abigail called after them, and she marched around the corner after them.
Claire grinned. It looked like Abigail already had some people to worship her. She didn't feel like adding to their ranks.
At the end of the lesson, Claire walked back up to her room, and was surprised when Grace followed her.
She turned to look at the other blonde. "You've decided to finally spend some time with your room mate?" she asked cheekily.
Grace shrugged. "I guess I don't like staying in one place for too long. I much prefer being out and about. But I suddenly got an urge to get chummy with the person I would be staying with for the next year," she finished sarcastically as she dumped her bag down and dove onto her bed.
Claire shook her head. "Suit yourself," she replied, picking up a spare change of clothes and walking into the bathroom.
She pulled her her hair our of it's bun, pulling the pins out and being glad she couldn't feel the pain of them yanking at her hair. Once it was out, she began to brush it.
There was a knock on the bedroom door.
"It's open!" Grace called.
Claire heard the door creak open.
"Hi! Grace, isn't it? Cool room," a voice said, and Claire shook her head. It was the girls that were worshiping Abigail, and they were undoubtedly up to no good.
There was no reply from Grace, so the girls continued.
"We're writing an article for the monthly newsletter," one began.
"We thought a profile on why you chose to come to this school would be an excellent addition," the other finished.
Claire heard Grace chuckle. "You're friends of Abigail, aren't you?"
"Totally," both girls replied together.
"Take a seat," Grace told them, and Claire shook her head as she turned the water on, not really wanting to become a part of their little games.
When she finished showering, Claire changed into a pair of sweats and a tank top. It had been kind of rainy outside, so she pulled on her hoodie as well.
She opened the bathroom door to see Grace sitting on her bed with the two girls listening carefully to every word she said.
"Well, I was just so lonely there, and, well, I wasn't the favorite. Ballet's all about who the favorite is, right? So, anyway..."
Claire zoned out and ignored it as she pulled on her sneakers and left the room.
She needed a run.
About twenty minutes into her run, Claire came across a group of young people dancing on the street. As she walked closer, she noticed Sammy and Christian among them.
Sammy saw her. "Hey Claire! Wanna join us?"
"I'm alright," Claire declined. "Just going for a walk."
"Come on! It'll be fun!" he insisted.
"I'm not a hip hop kind of person," Claire replied, lying through her teeth.
Sammy was about to reply when he was pushed in the middle. "Your turn!" Christian called to him, laughing.
Sammy stepped up, did some impressive moves and jumped out, at which point Christian took his place. He spun and performed some sort of break dancing, and Claire applauded him from where she was on the side.
When he finished, he walked to the side once more, and one of the guys there asked him to show him again. Soon enough, the other guy had begun to do it, but the music suddenly stopped.
They all turned to see Miss Raine standing there, arms crossed. She did not look happy, but then again, when did she?
"I see you listened carefully to our talk this morning?" she directed at Christian, who merely shrugged.
"Well, you said more cardio, so isn't it alright?"
Miss Raine was not impressed. "Clear the walkway. It's a health and safety issue."
"How?" he challenged as she turned away, and she whirled to face him again.
"Just clear it Christian!" she hissed.
"Well, can we at least use the studio after hours?" Sammy asked her, and Claire winced when she saw the glare in Miss Raine's eye.
"The studio is to be used for classical training only," the old woman snipped.
"Yeah, but if we have spare time why can't we use it on an increasingly relevant art form?" Sammy argued.
Miss Raine smiled at him. "I am relieved to hear you say you have spare time, Mr Lieberman. You've been notably absent lately." She turned back to Christian. "Clear it!" she turned to walk away again when she spotted Claire. She marched over to where she stood. "Miss Butler, I do hope you are not encouraging this form of behaviour."
"No ma'am," Claire replied, bringing on a Southern twang in her voice.
Miss Raine glared at her. "Then tell me, what on earth are you doing here?"
Claire shrugged. "I was just about to tell 'em to stop too, but you beat me to it. Thankee ma'am."
Miss Rained narrowed her eyes at her. "I will see you in class tomorrow, and you better be ready for it. This sort of behavior does NOT fit someone of your standing, am I clear? I am sure your grandmother would not be pleased."
"I'm sure she would approve of my efforts so far," Claire told her with a small smile. "But thank you so very much for your concern."
The old hag sucked air through her teeth and marched away, leaving the kids to give a few grins to Claire.
"I guess we're taking that as a 'no'," Sammy said.
Christian turned to everyone. "So, we meet after hours. The studio, tomorrow, ten o'clock. If you're there, I'm game."
"Yeah, spread the word the people," Sammy added. "Let the revolution begin!"
"Yeah!" people called out. "Whoo!" They clapped and grinned at each other before starting to pack up.
Claire started to walk away but Sammy and Christian caught her before she had the chance to disappear.
"You coming tomorrow night?" Sammy asked her, and she shook her head.
"You guys can rebel all you like. I'm here to keep my head down, do my work and then go home."
"Come on," Christian insisted. "It'll be fun. And judging by the way you just stood up to Miss Raine, you don't really mind getting in trouble."
Claire looked at them and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll check my schedule. But I reserve the right to not show up, or to leave halfway, understood?"
"Awesome!" Sammy said, grinning at her. She nodded once and ran off, continuing her run.
That night, Claire was sitting in the lounge with Sammy, Christian and Kat, talking about whatever. Well, they were talking, and Claire was mainly observing.
Tara skipped in and saw Kat.
"Oh! You're here! I like it when you're here!" Kat smiled in reply but Tara had already turned to Christian and was handing him a piece of paper. "This, is for you." He took it and examined it while Tara turned back to Kat. "So, how's the friend tally going?"
"Well, you could've warned me about the socks," Kat replied.
Tara frowned in confusion. "Socks?"
"Okay, so, at a normal school, if you wear them a centimeter too short, then you're trashy, but if you wear them too high...?"
"Excommunication?" Sammy guessed, and Kat nodded.
"I'm sorry, what is this?" Christian asked Tara.
"It's a pie chart!" she reply. "It tracks all of your out of class activities for maximum time management. I have one too. They're color coordinated!"
Christian looked up at her. "You pie charted my life for me."
Tara took a deep breath, preparing to talk at a mile a minute once more. "Well, if we don't both get into The Company then Saskia says we have no chance of staying together!"
Claire tried to hide her wince.
Tara stopped and noticed the expression on Christian's face. "I'm...freaking you out...aren't I?"
"No!" he replied, shaking his head. "It's all part of your charm, right?"
Tara laughed, blushing, and Claire bit her tongue to keep her laugh inside.
Oh Tara.
The next day in class, Claire was running a little late. By the time she got in, Miss Raine was already running people through things on the barre.
"Miss Butler! I was under the impression that you planned to come here prepared for class!"
"I am," Claire replied, putting her bag down and slipping her shoes on, tying them up and around her ankles. "I have all my things with me, and I feel ready to perform any tasks necessary."
Miss Raine glared at her. "You are late."
Claire frowned. "Really? She picked up her phone and opened it, checking the time. "Oh. Sorry," she apologized, shrugging as she finished doing her shoes and stood, turning and walking up to a spare space on one of the bars.
"I will see you after class," Miss Raine said, glaring.
"Cool," she replied easily before jumping up and moving to the barre.
Miss Raine glared at her dangerously. "I'm sure you can catch onto what they are doing. I expect you to make up for the lost time, clear?"
"Crystal!"
"Now, what do you have to say for yourself?" Miss Raine demanded.
"I already apologized," Claire said obviously. "What more do you want?"
"I want you to show some decency and respect."
Claire screwed her face up. "See, that's the problem."
"What?"
"Well, I guess there's this...thing I kind of get from my mother. See, I only respect people that I feel respect me also, and I'm sorry but yelling and frowning doesn't exactly show respect."
"And what would you have me do differently? I teach you how I see fit, and as the student it is your responsibility to perform and behave your best. You are at the Australian National Academy of Dance, and you will be expected to maintain a certain level of behaviour and punctuality. I don't know how they teach you in your country, but here in Australia, you shut your mouth and learn. No back chat, clear?"
Claire looked at her for a moment. "I have authority issues, so please, don't pick a fight with me because I do bite back, and hard too. I am sorry for being late, I will try not to let it happen again. I was called by a family member at the last minute and a good family friend was hospitalized overnight, a man who has been like an uncle to me for as long as I can remember," she lied. Honestly, she couldn't afford to get into trouble. Not that her attitude was helping, but she was NOT happy with this teacher. "I was a little shaken up, so it took longer than usual to get things done. I'm sorry if it inconvenienced you in any way, but I do feel like the effort I put in class made up for it."
"Miss Butler, I do understand why you would have been upset by that phone call this morning, but I do have a problem with your attitude. If a phone call shakes you up to the point where your behaviour is affected, then I do believe we need to work on your resilience."
Claire resisted the urge to snort. She had no idea... "I'll do my best in future. Now, can I please go? I need to call my mother and see what's going on."
"You may, but let this be a reminder for you. Try your best to be on time, and if you are late, for goodness sake, be respectful and explain why." Claire nodded and turned to walk out, but Miss Raine had one last thing to say. "I hope your friend is all right. Do let me know if you need anything." Claire looked back and nodded before opening the door and leaving.
She had a new found respect for Miss Raine. Maybe she wasn't as bad as Claire had thought.
Claire moved, feeling decidedly uncomfortable as she was squished in the room against to many bodies.
They all jumped as Kat's phone rang.
She smiled at them sheepishly. "It's Sammy." They all grinned. "Hello?" she said, putting it on speaker.
"Okay, the cloud has passed."
"What?"
"The cloud. The rain cloud."
"What?"
"It's code, Kat."
"Okay." Kat hung up, and turned to them. "I think we can go now."
She pushed through the bodies to the front and opened the door, walking out. Everyone followed after her, with Claire leaving last.
"What? Where did you guys come from?" Sammy asked, looking at them.
"In there," Kat replied, pointing behind her. "And there are more of us outside too," she told him, grinning.
"I am so glad you're all here," he said to them. "Come on, let's go in." He motioned towards the room. "Let's get started!"
They all walked in and started warming up, and Kat motioned for Claire to join Sammy and her where they were standing.
Sammy pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.
"Hey Christian, it's me. No, the opposite. We need bouncers," he joked, and Kat grabbed the phone.
"Even the little First Year ballet bots have shown! Hop hop is sweeping the nation!"
Sammy took the phone back. "But they need a teacher. Someone who actually knows what they're doing. Mate, you were the instigator, so you should be here to see it." He rolled his eyes and switched off the phone, turning to Kat and Claire. "He hung up."
"Hey, we can still do this without him. I did NOT come here for nothing," Claire told them.
"Hey, are you actually going to teach us something?" someone asked, and they turned to see the guy that had been copying Christian the day before standing there with his arms crossed.
"Oh," Sammy said. "Do you, umm, wanna learn a routine...or...specific moves?" They laughed, looking at him.
Claire rolled her eyes at them. "Come on people! All you had to do was show up! This guy has organized the whole thing, the least you can do is show him some respect."
A few of them turned to leave, and she glared at them.
"Oh no you don't! Put that bag down and form a circle, now!" she called at them, and they frowned, slowly putting their stuff down. "Move it!" They began to form a circle, but it was a little lopsided. "Come on! Did you never learn what a circle is? That is NOT a circle!" The managed to even it up a little. "Better," she told them, turning to Sammy. "Just put the music on and let them try moves like they did yesterday. See how that goes?"
"Sure," Sammy said, shrugging. They started, and it went sort of well, but a lot of them couldn't get the moves they wanted to do.
"Hey, you," Claire called out as she watched a First Year girl attempt a one handed hand stand. "You have to work on your balance, that's what's going wrong. Your technique is fine, good even, but the balance is off."
"And what would you know?" the girl turned around, glaring at Claire.
"A lot more than you realize. You want it to look like this." Claire took off her hoodie and kicked off her shoes. She rolled her shoulders around and cracked her neck, closing her eyes and remembering her cheerleading days. The room stopped and looked at her, and she focused on the beat of the music.
Step right, left, turn, jump up, land, up, roll forward, land on right hand, legs up. She held in a grunt as her right hand twisted a little and her fingertips began to tingle, but she bit her lip and ignored the fact that her wrist bone was slowly snapping. She let herself down gracefully, rolling and jumping up again.
She turned to the girl. "Try it like that."
The guy from the day before looked at her and decided to try it himself, but seemed to trip over his own feet and he fell flat on his back. Claire was about to step in and help him out when the door opened and they all turned to see if they'd been caught.
But, sure enough, it was Christian.
"You have to find you're centre of gravity," he instructed as he took off his jacket and threw it to the side. "Make it your own." He stepped to the middle of the circle and began to break dance, spinning and jumping before standing again.
"See, hip hop is not only about tricks," he began. "It's about story telling as well." He walked over to the speakers and connected his iPod. "We're gonna start like this." The music began, and the formed lines. Claire stood at the back, as usual.
He began performing, and Claire grinned. It was really similar to something she had done a while back, and she picked it up quickly. Soon enough, the whole room was doing it.
When the music stopped, everyone clapped. Claire shook her head and walked over to the side, where her things were. It was likely that the others would continue to dance for the rest of the night, but she didn't feel like it.
"Hey, Claire! Wait!" Sammy called as she was about to walk out, and she stopped, turning to look at him.
"Yep?" She turned to him.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Well, I'm not really needed here. Besides, unless you have forgotten, Samuel, we have class tomorrow. I'm gonna hit the hay. Don't stay up too late, okay?"
He rolled his eyes. "Yes Mum."
She chuckled at him. "That's my boy!" she exclaimed. She ruffled his hair and gave Christian a wave before walking out and heading back up to her dorm, a huge grin on her face.
For the first time in a long time, she was having fun.
So...there is the next chapter! Hope you all liked it! :) Please leave a review and let me know what you think!