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“Dude, we got the keys.Time to go,” Fisher interrupts, tapping my shoulder and peering into the room.“Hey, I didn’t know we had ballet camps too.Maybe we should try it out, learn some ballet.”
“Will you be here again tomorrow?”I ask my ballerina while ignoring Fisher’s nonsense.He’ll have us doing pliés by early next week.
“I’m here every day except for Sundays,” she replies, and I feel a hint of excitement in her words.
A smile tugs at the corner of my lips.“Alright, see you tomorrow then.”
The next morning,I make my way to the studio where I found the ballerina.My palms sweat as I clutch a box of cupcakes, the sweet aroma of vanilla wafting through the air.
“Dude, tell me you’re going to give me one,” Fish begs.
I’m about to tell him fuck off when I spot the icy figure of Mrs.Carlton.My steps falter, and my heart sinks as she catches sight of my box and, with a disdainful twist of her lips, sneers.“Why do you have junk food?This shouldn’t be allowed in the academy.Take the garbage away from my daughter.”
I blink, stunned into silence, acutely aware that anything I say might get me in trouble.Fisher, however, strides up behind me, “Maybe if you ate one, you’d be less frigid.”
“Who are you?”she demands, her voice shrill with outrage.
“What’s happening here?”A nearby teacher, alerted by the commotion, approaches.
“This boy insulted me.He needs to be suspended,” Mrs.Carlton says, scrunching her nose.
“Who are you two, and what are you doing here?”the teacher inquires, his gaze sweeping over us.
“We’re helping out with the camp,” I quickly explain, my mind racing.“My friend wasn’t offensive.”
“We’ll need to discuss this with the principal,” the teacher announces, frowning.
“They should be suspended.I refuse to have my daughter around such ...Well, them,” Mrs.Carlton’s voice echoes down the corridor.
Fisher gives me a look that says, we have to run now, dude.I nod because he’s right.
My gaze returns to the ballerina, who mouths,sorry.
I wink at her before Fish and I duck our heads and bolt.There are plenty of places in the academy where we can hide while we figure out how to get out of this problem.
ChapterTwenty-Three
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”—Helen Keller
When my father divorced Miranda,our bond grew stronger, and we became inseparable.I was Daddy’s cherished little girl, and he shifted his focus entirely toward me, putting a halt to his travels and dedicating himself to giving me the attention I craved.
However, this change in dynamic only lasted a couple of years.It shifted around the time I turned thirteen when his boss and some of Dad’s associates began frequenting our home.I despised their presence but couldn’t voice my disapproval to Dad.
He would always insist, “You must be kind to them.They’re like family and treating them as such is important.”
Our bond dissolved slowly.It wasn’t just one thing.In fact, the reasons behind this were complex, too complex to discuss or even voice them at the time.When I visited Mom, I didn’t speak much.They forbade me from disclosing anything that was happening around me.
This was just a catalyst brought by his boss and his world.A world no one had been privy to until then.Gradually, I began to learn the nature of my father’s line of work.His boss wasn’t just some suit from Wall Street as we used to believe.Nope.He reminded me of Al Capone.With him, we were expected to comply and be obedient.It wasn’t a mere choice but an order.
The first time I dared to defy his boss, I learned the harsh price I would pay for disobedience.He killed Starlight.From that moment on, a raging anger simmered within me, though I concealed it diligently from my father and the men who visited us often.I transformed into the person they desired me to be out of fear.After all, I knew what would happen if I disobeyed them.
I was often tempted to vent my anger by lashing against Evelyn, but she wasn’t around when I visited Mother.There was always some overnight camp or out-of-the-city recital that took her away from me.I hated that more than I hated my own life.
On the plus side, I did get gifts for when I played the part.Shopping sprees, a brand-new car when I turned sixteen, and ...like an unexpected lifeline, my father extended a generous offer to finance my college education anywhere in the country.
That was my hope, a way to find my freedom.I could choose anywhere in the country.Though my teachers assured me I couldn’t just get in wherever I wanted.My grades weren’t exactly Harvard material.If they had known the things that were happening at home, they would’ve been more supportive and understanding.At least, I wanted to believe so.
There was no way I could tell them about it, but I did my best to find a place that would accept me.When I told Dad that I would love to go to one of the best schools on the East Coast, but I doubted they would accept me, he made it happen.
