And with those two words, the memories I've been desperate to keep locked away come rushing back.
"I have to sing." She flopped down on my bed, hands covering her face.
"Duh." I pulled out a Twizzler from the pack and then tossed the rest to Leslie. "Have some sugar. It'll make things better."
She uncovered her face and glanced over at the candy. "No, thanks." Her hands covered her face again. "What am I going to do? I can't sing."
"Maybe not yet, but you can learn."
"No, I can't. Singing isn't something you learn. It's a talent you're either born with or not."
I loved this debate, mostly because I loved proving people wrong. "So you're saying I could never learn a dance step because I'm not inherently talented at dancing?"
"Of course not. You can learn a certain level of proficiency. You may not be ready for the Bolshoi, but you could look decent."
I held my hand out to her, and hesitantly, she took it. I pulled her to her feet.
"Stick with me, kid, and I'll have you belting outLes Misbefore the end of camp. You'll want to use it every time you audition."
She's still using that piece.
It was perfect for her, that alto range.
Shit. Alto range.
"Henderson, we may have an issue. What is she?" I have to ask to cover my tracks, even though I know what he's going to say.
"Alto, I think."
I begin flipping through the score until I find her song. With my finger tracing the notes, I find what I feared. "The top note she has to hit is an E?5. If Leslie's an alto, that typically only goes to D5. It's only a half-step higher, but still. Do you know if she can hit that note? Especially while she's in midair? Do you really think she can do this? If she can't, we need to know now."
"So you need to get her in the music room."
"As soon as possible."
I glance down at my watch. "We're going to have to startKatesoon. I'm not going to have time to teach her this. She's going to have to be a natural."
She is not a natural, not unless she's been in vocal lessons for the past ten years. It took me eight weeks to get her proficient ten years ago. We don't have eight weeks.
It's probably too early to declare that this is hopeless, but that fear is there, and it's real. Especially knowing Leslie's track record when the going gets tough.
She gets gone.
"You wanna see how they're doing in there?" Maybe she'll be an epic failure on the silks, and I won't have to worry about her being here for the next five weeks.
Seeing her every day for the next five weeks.
It took me less than that to fall in love with her the first time. Hell, it only took five minutes. Okay, maybe ten. How could I not fall in love? Beautiful brown skin, sexy curls, taut muscles, a plump ass, and boobs to match? I mean, I was also a horny teenager, so none of that was a stretch. In reality, it was her drive. Her determination. How her eyes would light up when she'd talk about becoming the first brown principal ballerina.
I knew that hunger. I felt it too. I still do. I look at my score and book, now spanning several notebooks, and understand her desire. When you want something so bad you can taste it. That it consumes you day and night, until there's very little left of you, and only that want in its place.
I can't even tally up the number of social events and time with friends I've given up to work on my show. But every time I work on it, I don't regret it. All artists have to sacrifice for their craft. If they didn't, everyone would do it.
"Why don't you check? I need to grab a quick bite before we start the next round." I'm only vaguely aware that I'm even hungry, but I don't want to spend any more time with Leslie than I have to.
A few minutes later, Henderson returns. I'm still sitting at my piano. Normally when I'm doing this, I'm running through some kind of composition or another. Today is different. The only thing I'm running through is memories.
I looked down, her sepia legs entwined with mine. This late in the summer, my tan skin was only a shade or two lighter than hers. I threaded my fingers through hers, mixing our flesh once more. "I can't believe we have to leave in a little while."
