Page 27 of Healing Eleanor

Everything feels heavy. My skin. My thoughts. The silence.

I turn onto my side, curling my knees to my chest, like I can somehow fold myself small enough to disappear.

Everything I’ve worked for—every long hour, every blister, every calorie skipped, every ache and pain I ignore—all lead here. To this. Unwanted and discarded.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

By now, I should be preparing for the start of the season. I should be attending conditioning classes, slipping into familiar studios, gearing up to fight for a role in the next showcase.

Instead, I’m fighting for my own reputation. Alone.

Panic is a quiet, fickle thing. It isn’t loud or dramatic. Just a slow, creeping weight pressing into my chest, like gravity has doubled and decided I’m the one it wants to crush.

My phone lights up on the nightstand, interrupting my thoughts.

I glance over at my alarm clock, 1:04 a.m.

The only person who ever contacts me at this hour is my mother, and I’m in no emotional shape to deal with her tonight.

We haven’t talked since last week—after she decided it was the perfect time to remind me, yet again, that I still haven’t secured a ‘reputable’ company. She’s even less impressed when I told her I didn’t get into Hudson Edge. Apparently, in her mind, even a charity company would’ve been better than nothing.

Still… What if it is an emergency?

The thought pulls a reluctant breath from my lungs as I reach for my phone. The screen is blinding, and I squint until my eyes adjust.

It isn’t a text.

It isn’t my mother.

It’s an email.

Subject: Private Audition Invitation: Eleanor Montgomery.

I sit up so fast that I knock half my pillows to the floor.

My heart thunders in my chest, and my hands tremble as I hastily open the email.

It’s from Kasper Pedersen. The Artistic Director of Hollingford Ballet Company.

Dear Ms. Montgomery,

I’ve had the opportunity to review your submission and would like to invite you to a private audition at Hollingford Ballet Company.

We are currently considering dancers for an immediate opening for a principal position. Should your audition go well, you may be eligible for a contract starting this fall season.

Please reply at your earliest convenience. I’d be happy to schedule you as soon as this week.

Warmly,

Kasper Pedersen

Artistic Director, Hollingford Ballet Company

My jaw hits the floor. I read it again—and then a third time— just to be sure I’m not hallucinating from exhaustion, hunger, or blind hope.

A private audition. This week. An actual chance. A lifeline, thrown straight through my dark ceiling.

My ribs are too fragile to hold the way my heart slams against them. I clutch the phone to my chest, a soft, breathless laugh escaping before I can stop it.