A/N:Hey guys/girls/dudes... do guys even read Twilight FanFiction? I only have one guy friend who read Twilight and I called him gay afterwards. Not that I think that guys, who read Twilight are gay, I just think all of my guy friends are gay... don't ask me why, I'm just weird like that.
Anyway, I want to thank all of you for your support and love and just general awesomeness :) And the reason for this sudden wave of gratefulness (it has always been there but now stronger than ever) will be discussed at the bottom... I don't want to keep you from reading
Hopefully, I didn't take too long with the updating this time
"What are you guys doing here?"
I was not the one who asked that. I turned to look at Leah, who looked surprised and angry at the same time. It was quite an interesting expression.
Jacob and Seth both turned to look at her, their grins faltering. Leah only seemed to realize then that they had not been greeting her. She looked around with furrowed brows, trying to figure out whom they had been talking to.
I decided to make the task easier for her. Distancing myself from Edward, I spoke up, "Please tell me that you came to bail me out?"
Madam Cope chose that moment to clear her throat. "How is it that every interruption in this class can always be traced back to you, Ms. Swan?" she complained.
I merely shrugged in answer. "Want to kick me out?" I asked almost hopefully.
"You would like that, wouldn't you?" Madam Cope glared at me. I barely restrained myself from nodding.
With a huff, she turned her attention to Jacob and Seth. "Whoever the two of you are, please leave my classroom," she instructed.
Sure enough, the two of them did as she asked- although quite reluctantly. Leah and I looked at each other, both of us more than a bit confused. At the same time, Madam Cope was holding a speech.
I barely paid attention to the last bit.
"... so I will speak to the other teachers and we'll arrange for all the courses to come together. Maybe that will help you a bit. I'll also have a little chat with Madam Esme and I do hope that we get this problem solved, otherwise you might not get to go to Chicago."
Immediately, the class started protesting. Amongst all the complaints, it was one voice that stood out.
"Why do we get punished just because one of us is clearly not capable of dancing?"
It shouldn't have surprised me that I was hit with a lethal glare coming from Tanya, but it did. After all, it was not my fault that she wasn't getting the steps.
Apparently, my fellow classmate agreed with her, because various people murmured in agreement.
"Ms. Denali-" Madam Cope started, but she was cut off by Rose.
"Don't go around blaming other people for your stupidity, Tanya," she hissed. "If you were to get your steps right then there wouldn't be a need for punishment."
"Are you saying that this is all my fault?" Tanya shrieked.
"No, I'm saying that you should pay more attention to yourself instead of others."
Another girl, whose name I didn't know, joined the discussion. "I'm sorry, but why should I – or any of us for that matter- waste our energy if we all know that somewhere in the background, Isabella will mess up again?"
"Hey, it's not just me. Edward messes up as well," I defended myself. Or at least it was an attempt to defend myself.
"Until you became his dancing partner, there were never this many interruptions in this class," someone else piped up.
And just like that, the scene suddenly morphed into a heated class discussion. While some thought that I was entirely to blame for everything that went wrong in this class, others were under the impression that Edward was part of the reason as well and then there were a couple of people who claimed that everyone was at fault.
I was not getting myself involved in this and apparently Edward thought the same.
Madam Cope was not getting involved either and for a couple of minutes we just watched them all discussing this in a more or less heated fashion. At least, they weren't going crazy and ripping each other's hair out.
Eventually, Madam Cope seemed to have enough of watching and waved me and Edward over. Or at least, I think that was what she did. I didn't see it, but Edward just pulled me along and we ended up standing in the hallway with Madam Cope.
She was staring us down with a pretty fierce expression on her face. Not even Tyra Banks could pull that one off.
"I am officially declaring that I have had enough," she hissed. "The two of you are causing more trouble than anyone else I have ever had to teach."
"Madam Cope-" Edward started, but she just made a hand gesture to shut him up. I really envied her for being able to do that.
"As of now, I'm pulling you out of the Pas de Deux class and the two of you will meet me in the headmistress' office at lunch."
She didn't wait for a response of any kind and just strutted away, muttering something to herself.
I stood there, mildly stunned and unsure of what to do next. Edward seemed to be in much worse shape. He just stood there, completely frozen with a deep frown on his face.
Slowly, as if someone hit the 'slow-motion' button, he turned around to face me. He was not glaring at me. No glare, no frown, no nothing. His face was completely blank when he looked at me and that scared me more than anything else could have done.
"Thanks, Isabella," he said to me and without another word, he left as well.
I took a few steps back, leaned against the wall and slid down to the ground. I could still hear the others arguing inside the studio. Groaning, I leaned my forehead on my knees and tried to get rid of the guilt that was slowly spreading within me.
"Well, seems like you're quite the troublemaker here."
I turned my head to the side, only to find Seth and Jacob sitting there on the ground.
"How long have you been here?" I asked them.
"The whole time," Jacob said with a shrug. "I think you really broke that kid's heart by getting him kicked out of the course."
I groaned once more. "No need to tell me that. I already feel bad as it is."
Seth crawled over to sit next to me and put a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, it'll all work out," he assured me. I was going to smile gratefully at him and his trying to cheer me up, when he just had to continue talking. "The only thing, I don't get is how you manage to suck so badly that you get kicked out. Aren't you supposed to be some kind of world class ballerina? You definitely seemed like one when we-"
"Seth, shut up," Jacob instructed. He was now sitting on my other side and patted my head lightly. "You're not helping one bit."
"Thanks, Jake," I sighed in response.
I let myself be comforted by the two of them for a little while until the reality finally sunk in. I jumped up and twirled around to stare at them, incredulously.
"What the hell are you two doing here?" I squeaked.
Jacob just raised an eyebrow at me while Seth looked utterly confused by my behaviour.
"You're only asking now?" Jacob retorted, smirking slightly.
I made a gesture that had no real definition and continued to wait for an answer.
"We just wanted to convince Leah to skip some classes and hang with us."
"But instead, we found you," Seth completed.
At this point, I finally started to wonder what exactly the connection between them and Leah was. I would have asked, but the shrill ring of the bell sounded before I had a chance to do so. Followed by that, was the sound of students coming out of their classrooms and heading to their next class.
Fortunately, Leah was the first one that I spotted.
She looked back and forth between me and the boys and looked like she tried to figure out what was going on.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't have an explanation for you either," I told her and nodded my head at the boys. They were the ones that had to do the explaining.
"Come on, Leah. We told you about Bella before. She is one of our closest friends," Seth reminded her.
Leah only shrugged at that.
"Like I was listening to everything you ever said," she replied and turned to me. "So you know my cousins. Small world, huh?"
"Your cousins?" I tried to make sense of this information.
"Yes, I think I mentioned them before. Didn't I tell you that they live in Phoenix?"
I grinned. "Like I was listening to everything you ever said."
Leah giggled. "Good one."
"Oh my gosh, Bella. I am so sorry," I heard Alice screech before I actually saw her.
She suddenly just jumped me and engaged me in a tight hug, while I was exchanging a confused look with Leah.
Rose made an appearance as well.
"Alice, you can't apologize on the behalf of others. They'll do it themselves sooner or later."
"Hey, where is Eddie?" Emmett asked me, looking around in the crowd. "He should be thanking us for defending his honour."
"Wouldn't I have to thank you then as well?" I asked.
"Nah, you're a girl so it had to be done."
"In that case, Edward doesn't need to thank you either," Rose said.
That earned her laughter from Emmett, Jasper and Leah. Meanwhile, Alice was inspecting me closely. The mention of Edward had just brought back that stupid feeling of guilt that I had successfully been ignoring for a few moments.
"What happened?" she demanded.
Of course, the little pixie would notice. I frowned when her question pulled the attention of the group back to me. I tried to play it cool and shrugged. "We got kicked out of Pas de Deux classes," I told them with a pseudo-nonchalant attitude.
I wasn't even sure what exactly I was feeling guilty about. I shouldn't be feeling guilty. Edward was just as much to blame as I was. If not even more. If only my conscious would see it the same way, but it seemed to be dead set on making me feel bad for not putting more effort into dancing. It didn't really matter in my other classes, because even when I did things only half-heartedly there was always someone who was worse.
"What?" Alice asked, her voice reaching an entirely new octave. There wasn't much missing and she would be the first human dog-whistle.
"You're joking, right?" Emmett and Rose asked at the same time.
I shook my head slowly. "Madam Cope said that she's taking us out of the class and that we were to meet her in the head office at lunch." Just the thought of having to be in there again made me pull a grimace. Surely, nothing good is gonna come out of that.
"It's gonna be so much fun," I added in fake enthusiasm.
There was a short silence, before Jasper moved out of our little circle.
"Come on, Em. We better find Edward and cheer him up a little," he called back over his shoulder.
Emmett immediately complied and the two boys vanished between the other students fairly quickly.
Alice sighed loudly. "I guess we better get going as well. Class is about to start," she mumbled and led the way.
Rose followed her, while I was a little undecided about whether or not I should follow them. Somehow, I felt like they were all feeling a bit resentful towards me. Jake and Seth just looked like they didn't get what exactly the problem was, while Leah seemed to be deep in thought.
"Swan, move it or you'll get kicked out of that class as well," I heard Rose yell.
I quickly moved to catch up with them, waving at the boys and Leah.
"Since when do you call me by my surname?" I asked Rose when I caught up with her.
"Since you managed to get yourself and your partner banned from class," she replied curtly.
So I hadn't been imagining things. They really did blame me for getting Edward kicked out. I couldn't decide if I should just frown and say nothing or bitching at her for being a pretty poor excuse of a friend. Rose didn't give me the time to do either, since she just pulled me into the dancing studio, practically dragging me to where Alice stood.
I freed myself from her grip and glared at her.
"You know that hurt," I hissed.
"Aw, I'm so sorry. Do you want me to kiss the pain away?" she cooed with a vicious edge to her voice.
Immediately, I went into defence mode and crossed my arms in front of me.
I opened my mouth to snap something back at her, but Alice butted in.
"Rose, you don't have to be so mean," she scolded.
Rose only scoffed. "I don't have to be nice to her either."
"Just what exactly is your problem?" I asked Rose, not sure what was up with her sudden mood change. Then again, she kind of had this attitude for the past few days. I was just never on the receiving end.
"My problem?" Rose all but shrieked. "I don't have a problem. It's your problem that fucking pisses me off."
Raising my brows, I retorted, "So you're pissed because Madam Cope took me out of class?"
"No, I'm just upset because your shoes don't match your purse," she said sarcastically.
"Rose, you shouldn't be mad at Bella..." Alice didn't even get to finish.
"Of course I should be mad at her. She got herself and her partner in this situation and I'm not willing to just sit here and coddle her, telling her what a big fat meanie Madam Cope is."
"No one expects you to do that," Alice commented in a small voice.
"It's not just my fault, you know? And why the hell did you even defend me in class when, in reality, you think I'm the one to blame," I questioned.
That didn't make sense, whatsoever.
Rose sighed and lowered her shoulders, making her look less aggressive. "It's not that I'm blaming you. I just know that you can do so much better. I see you every day in technique class and you get through the motions easily, although I know that you're not even trying. So I'm not pissed that you messed up- we all mess up- I'm just not okay with you being a complete slacker and then expecting us to stand up for you—"
"I don't expect you to stand up for me. I can do that myself."
"Fine, next time you can do that. I don't care. My point is that you have everything going for you. You have good feet, a perfect body and a whole bunch of experience. All you have to do is be more passionate about it. Now, I know that Edward is a control freak and makes things hard for you, but I'm fairly certain that you should be able to put him in his place. Instead, you just let him stomp all over you and now he gets to act all heart broken and shit for being thrown out. If anything, it should have been the other way around." Rose ended her rant just when Madam Justins moved into the room and called us to order.
I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about Rose's words. It was weird to have someone, who supports me and yet at the same time doesn't let me get away with everything. Her expectations of me were quite unsettling, but my internal reaction to it was not completely foreign.
"You know, Rose is right," Alice whispered to me, when we stood at the barre. "It's not like we don't want to support or defend you. I'd do that without a second thought and I'm pretty sure that Rose would too, but for us it's not acceptable to see you selling yourself short. I thought that you loved to dance and all that is expected of you here is to dance, so..." she trailed off, mainly because Madam Justins was starting to throw out orders.
Both Rose and Alice had given me a lot to think about and while my mind was racing, trying to come up with a way to evade what I had been evading the entire time. I made it through my morning classes without noticing much.
Alice and Rose didn't talk to me again and neither one of them accompanied me to the head office when it was time for lunch. Secretly, I was grateful for that because I was currently pre-occupied with over-thinking my way of life.
On my way to the office, I almost crashed into Madam Esme, who just happened to cross my way.
"Oh, right on time," she chirped, smiling down at me.
Honestly, I had no idea why that woman was even smiling at me. If I were her and had to deal with my stubborn ass, I would have stopped smiling long ago.
Madam Esme, however, didn't seem to have such thoughts and began chatting happily about her day. I wasn't really listening to her, but she didn't seem to mind- or care. It kind of reminded me of Alice. I was pretty sure though, that she would stop acting all friendly and buddy-like with me when she heard what I had done this time.
Getting thrown out of dancing classes is probably the worst imaginable crime in Twinkle Town.
Just the thought made me roll my eyes. Not even when I had been a completely dedicated ballerina did I get this hung up over this kind of stuff. Then again, I was never enrolled in a prestigious ballet academy.
We reached the door to her office about at the same time as Madam Cope and Edward did. Different then Madam Esme, they both scowled at me- not that it surprised me.
It was comforting though, to see Madam Cope scowling at Edward as well.
Madam Esme unlocked the door and somehow continued her happy chatter about costumes and make-up, but shifted her focus unto Madam Cope.
I started to wonder if she accidently took whatever it was that made Alice so hyper.
We all sat down in the chairs in front of the desk and as soon as Madam Esme was behind her desk, she started blabbering about trivial things and gave us a more serious look.
"Why is it that I always have you in my office?" Madam Esme asked me, sighing slightly.
She didn't sound exasperated though, more like she was amused.
I gave her a half shrug. "Must be my rebellious phase."
Edward scoffed at that and muttered something under his breath. I didn't even bother to hear what he said. Madam Esme shifted her attention towards Madam Cope, not without raising her eyebrows at me.
"You know, after you came to me to tell me about the struggles your class is experiencing, I went and talked to the other teachers. It seems like the entire Junior class is having difficulties with finding their motivation. Not that the Seniors are any better when it comes to motivation, but they already know what to do. Anyway, I think I might have come up with a solution." Madam Esme's eyes were twinkling when she said that, giving her a slightly child-like look.
"I take it that you're thinking about picking up the idea that was discussed last year?" Madam Cope didn't sound the least bit surprised- more like she was already thinking about new arrangement, which she probably was.
An eager nod was her response. "I think it's about time that we changed things up a bit, seeing as we live in modern times now."
Madam Cope just nodded thoughtfully.
Meanwhile, I had no idea what they were talking about.
"So, how is this going to work? I can certainly not teach them entirely."
"I already had a talk with the other two head masters and they did have some good recommendations for us, so that won't be a problem."
"Have you thought of any specific topic?"
"I did as much research as I could for now and while I don't actually have a concept, I'm definitely certain that we should highlight our best students."
I just looked back and forth between the two women, waiting for them to drop a hint so I could figure out what the hell they were talking about.
"I'm sure that we can arrange that. Does this change mean that I have to let the two of them participate?"
Both teachers were now looking at me and Edward.
I involuntarily shrunk back when their gazes hit me.
"If it's not too much trouble for you, yes," Madam Esme said, almost apologetically.
"As a matter of fact, it is-"
"I have thought of a solution for that problem as well," Madam Esme cut her off, before Madam Cope could start her rant about how awful Edward and I were behaving in her class.
Actually, she could consider herself lucky that she had only Edward and I to deal with. There were many people that I could think of that would make her life much more frustrating that we did.
"They are going to have extra-classes with me from now on. Give me some time and if they still continue their childish behaviour in your class, we'll remove them both from Pas de Deux."
"What?" I protested right away. "You can't make me spend even more time with him than I already do. One hour a day is more than enough."
I got disapproving looks from both Madams.
Frowning, I leaned back into my chair.
"Bella, you should really stop kicking your second chance around like that. You might not get a third," Madam Esme lectured.
Second chance at what? At Ballet? It's not like I ever wanted one, Charlie was just being a bully by sending me here. I'd understand his radical choices if I was a drug-dealing kid who was whoring her way through life but since none of that was happening, he really could have just kept his mouth shut like he always did.
I had really been better off when my well-being had been the least of his concerns.
"We already have full schedules, so when should those extra lessons take place?" Edward asked.
"We're going to use your free time."
"But Mom-"
"I don't want to hear it."
"Is it really enough to just let them have extra lessons?" Madam Cope piped in, eying us sceptically.
"A personality transplant would help," I mumbled.
"A little attitude adjustment as well," Edward snapped back.
"My attitude is fine; it's you who's acting like a diva. Maybe you should get yourself some fucking Snickers."
"I'm the diva? You're the one who thinks too highly of herself and refuses to dance properly, yet I'm the diva?"
"Enough, you two," Madam Esme interrupted. "I'm changing the conditions a bit. You will not only have extra classes, you will also have to sit together at each meal and must be able to tell me one thing about the other every time I ask you. And don't think that I won't know when you don't sit together, I will keep an eye on you and I will inform Alice about this."
The fuck?
Was she even allowed to do that? What kind of fucked up teaching method was that supposed to be? It's not like I would hang out with Edward a couple of times and then suddenly fall in love with him.
"Mom-"
"I'll see the two of you tomorrow after your last class in Studio 6," Madam Esme informed us with a bright smile. "Now go and get some lunch. I'll text Alice right away what her new mission is."
She made a hand motion for us to leave and being too stunned, I just complied and got up. In the corner of my eye, I saw Madam Cope grinning smugly.
Leaving the office, I tried to ignore the awkward feeling creeping up on me. It was caused by Edward trailing slowly behind me, but not bothering to pick up his pace and actually walk beside me. The entire way to the cafeteria and then the table, which the others occupied, he was walking behind me in silence. It was quite unnerving.
As soon as I got my tray, I wanted to run away and scream at the top of my lungs, but Alice caught sight of us and waved us over. I inwardly groaned at that. Secretly, I had been hoping that Madam Esme was just messing with us.
"Well," Alice stretched the word unnecessarily, "How did it go?"
I scowled and plopped down in the chair beside Leah, who didn't look all too thrilled.
"Don't act like you don't know," Edward said, sitting next to his cousin, wearing an expression that was similar to mine.
"Is it always going to be this crowded at the table from now on?" Leah groaned.
"What, don't you like our company?" Emmett asked her, batting his eyelashes.
"What's there to like?"
Emmett gasped dramatically and put a hand on his heart. "We are a very lovable bunch. Jasper and his constant absentmindedness, Alice and her hyperactivity, Edward and his egocentric antics, Bella and her street swag, and let's not forget Rose and her obvious dislike of anything nutritional- like food, for example."
Now he'd done it.
I wasn't quite sure if I should be thankful that he took the focus off of me or if I should be scared because Rose's head snapped up and her face was pulling into an ugly grimace.
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" she snapped at Emmett.
Emmett, realizing his mistake, looked at her with wide eyes and didn't respond.
"Maybe you should just stop speaking entirely, because no one finds you as funny as you think you are. Right?"
She looked at all of us, searching for signs of agreement. Instead she was met with three avoiding pairs of eyes. Jasper and Edward just watched the whole scene with something close to confusion.
"It wasn't a joke, Rose..." Alice started slowly only to trail off again.
Rose's expression changed to one of disbelief as she looked at all of us again.
"What is going on?"
"Well," I kind of stuttered, not sure how to say that in a sensible manner. "It's just that..."
"You don't eat," Emmett and Leah blurted out at the same time, saving me the effort.
"You've been avoiding food like a plague these past few weeks," Emmett supplied.
"And it's really starting to get weird," Leah added.
You could see Rose getting defensive when she responded, "Maybe that's because I have been feeling a bit off lately."
"Is that really all?" Alice pressed, although she sounded careful.
Rose whipped her head around to look at her. "Of course, that's all. What else is there supposed to be?"
Leah snorted humourlessly.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the pressure to be thin and beautiful and not to forget light enough for your partner to be able to lift you? You're not the first one with an eating disorder around here and you will definitely not be the last, but you should get help before you get too sick to dance. Your body is not going to cope much longer."
"I don't have an eating disorder," Rose screeched at the top of her lungs.
It seemed like everyone in the room heard her and every one froze. It was kind of eerie.
"No one is accusing you of having one. We're just...worried," I threw in, hoping to calm her down.
"You should all just worry about yourselves. I'm fine."
She got up and left, practically running out of the cafeteria. We all stared after her until she was gone.
"That could have gone a lot smoother if you ask me," Leah mumbled. Then she turned to me. "Want to hang out today? Jacob and Seth will probably not stop bugging me until I take you with me."
Leave it to Leah to be completely unaffected by all of this.
"Excuse me, don't you think we have more important issues to handle right now?" Alice asked.
"Oh right. So how did the talk with her majesty go?"
I didn't bother to respond. I knew that Alice was going to interrupt me, anyway. Sure enough, she didn't disappoint.
"We just more or less embarrassed Rose in front of the whole school; do you not care about that?"
Alice was reaching dangerous octaves again, but thankfully she wasn't loud enough for everyone to hear. Glasses would have started bursting if she was.
"We didn't embarrass her. Do you really think that anyone around here cares whether or not Rosalie has an eating problem? Half of the girls wish that she gets sick and needs to go home so they have less competition and the other half is probably dealing with some weight issues themselves. As for the boys, they only start showing mild interest when her body doesn't look as hot as it does now anymore. Some might even think this is a good thing because she'll be easy to lift. Face it pixie, we're the only ones who care and we just did what had to be done before she goes and destroys her body. She might be angry for a little while, but she'll get over it. Now please let me occupy my mind with more important matters."
Again with the stunned silence.
I wasn't really sure if it was a good thing to have this group of socially isolated and completely pure-minded people associate with Leah. Who knows what her boldness just triggered in Rose.
Feeling strangely compassionate, I got up and went to find Rose. Time to face the harsh reality of Ballet World. I was pretty sure that solving her problem would be a lot easier than solving mine.
A/N:So that is the latest chapter. I hoped you liked it, I tried to be fast and efficient.
Now, more important things to discuss: This story has been nominated for the Energize W.I.P. Award's
That's all thanks to you guys and I'm so grateful and even more excited (more like the other way around)! So if you feel like voting for this story, you can do so- I linked the page on my profile.
That was actually the only bit of important information I had to share. As always, special thanks goes to my beta justareaderfan, who was so kind and helped me complete this chapter.
Oh wait, there is something I need to say: I'm kind of having troubles naming this chapter, so I just decided to leave it up to you. If you happen to be typing a review anyway, just squeeze your idea in there and I'll chose the one I like. You can come up with a name for the next chapter too and I wll try to create a chapter that suits the title.
I know, interactive stories are a taboo on ff but I'm merely asking for ideas. So I'm not really asking you to create the next chapter for me, just a hint of what I could include.
Okay, that's all!
Now go on do some reviewing or voting, or maybe both- I won't mind ;)