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Holy fucking fuck.
I did it.
Chapter 22
I took my time getting back to Oak Park, choosing a more scenic route that took me along the coast the whole way.
It was after four by the time I pulled up in the student lot on campus, but when I grabbed my bag and headed across the quad toward Prentice Hall, four figures on the lawn caught my eye immediately.
The Princes. They had waited for me.
They saw me coming and strode toward me, like a wave of power washing up to greet me.
I stopped, and they stopped, and for a moment, we just looked at each other.
Finn was the first to break the silence, curiosity and impatience practically radiating from him. “Well?”
I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth, but it didn’t stop the beaming smile that overtook my face. I nodded, not quite sure I could speak, and before I knew what was happening, he’d wrapped his thick arms around me in a bear hug, sweeping me off my feet.
“I knew it, Legs! I fucking knew it!”
A surprised yelp burst from my lips, but it turned into a laugh as he whirled me around like I weighed nothing.
When he finally set me down, I almost stumbled from dizziness, but he wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, turning us to face the other three as he addressed them over my shoulder. “Seriously, you guys. Her piece was fucking phenomenal. Not that I know what ballet should look like, but if it doesn’t look like that, it’s shit as far as I’m concerned.”
Elijah smiled, pride and a hint of jealousy flashing in his eyes. “Will you show us sometime, Tal? I’ll play for you if you’ll dance.”
A little thrill of pleasure ran up my spine at the idea, especially because I knew what it meant for him to offer. “Yeah. I will someday.”
He tugged me from Finn’s grasp, looking for all the world like he wanted to kiss me. But instead he just squeezed my hand, his palm warm against mine.
When Cole stepped forward, his eyes weren’t blank and emotionless like he so often kept them. Something fierce and hot blazed in their blue depths, and when he ran a knuckle along my jaw, I shivered.
Mason stood just behind him, and when I glanced past Cole and caught his gaze, he nodded.
“Well done, little dancer.”
Finn gave me one more hug before we parted ways. I went back to the Wastelands to shower and change into something comfy, and as my hair air dried, I texted Leah. She, Maggie, and Dan all met me downstairs, and in celebration of my victory, we watched every cheesy dance movie we could think of.
I tried not to obsess about it over the weekend, but I kept checking my phone anyway, waiting for the call that would determine my fate. The audition form had said they wouldn’t be sending out offers for a couple weeks, so it was way too early to be on pins and needles like this—but I couldn’t help it.
Wild joy and nervousness flooded me every time I replayed my audition in my head, but I couldn’t think of a single thing I would’ve changed. Whatever happened, I had laid it all out on the line, done the very best I could, and I was proud of myself for that.
With only one more week before finals, there was plenty to keep me occupied, at least. On Monday evening, there was a “Parent Appreciation Night”, which was basically a giant fundraising effort in disguise, where the school tried to milk the richest parents for every penny they could.
I would’ve skipped it since I had no parents who could come appreciate anything, but Mr. Baldree, my history teacher, had used it as a bargaining chip when I’d begged for an excused absence from his class for my audition. In exchange for the day off he’d given me, I’d been volunteered to help with the event.
It took place in the large gymnasium, and it was obviously a much bigger deal than the awards ceremony that’d been held in the same space. The entire room had been transformed by a team of decorators until it looked more like a ballroom than anything else.
I was grateful for the decorations, because just stepping through the doors into the large space made my heart beat almost painfully hard in my chest as memories flooded me. But I shoved them away and made my way through the crowd to find the table Mr. Baldree manned. It held pamphlets with information about the school and its various programs and achievements, and it was completely deserted—all the parents were too busy mingling and schmoozing with each other.
Mr. Baldree gave me a quick rundown of instructions before he left me behind to go join the parents and students milling around the room.
I settled in for a long and boring night, silently making bets with myself about whether anybody would come up to my table all evening, when something near the door caught my eye.
All the students were dressed in their Oak Park uniforms, and most kids were meeting their parents outside before coming in. The newest group to enter the gym was made of just two people though. Mason and his father.
I had never seen Mr. Van Buren before, but I noticed the resemblance between them immediately. They looked uncannily similar, from the color of their rich, brown hair to their bright green eyes to the way they carried themselves. Mason’s dad stood so straight and tall he might as well have been carved out of marble, and his expression was cold, calculating, and domineering. Those same qualities seemed to rise to the surface even more strongly in Mason as he stood next to his father, and for a second, a flash of the old fear and hatred I’d felt for Mason hit me, like I’d been shocked with a defibrillator.
