Dancing for the Lord: The Academy (8 page)

Instead, she was faced with two of the guys that she thought were in her English class.  Josh and…what was the other guy’s name?  Logan, she thought.

“See?  There’s nobody in here,” Logan told his friend cheerfully.  “Which means I can walk you through that dance again in peace.”

“There’s going to be a room full of kids here in twenty minutes,” Josh argued.  “Which is not, I might add, enough time for me to learn the choreography.  Face it, Logan, I’m going to have to go Mlle Kirby and admit that I don’t know it yet.”

“Which is just going to get you booked extra practice time and a black mark.  Give it a shot my way.  Wouldn’t you rather have the practice time without the black mark?” Logan cajoled.

“If it were that easy?  Sure.  But it’s not.  I’ve tried this piece over and over, and I’m just not
getting
it.”  Josh sighed.  “Besides, I love ya, Logan, but you’re never going to be a girl.” 

“No, but there’s one right over there in the corner.”  Logan gestured grandly.

Danni jumped, surprised.  She had been trying her best to ignore them, burying her head in her science book again and pushing ahead with her usual zeal.  Couldn’t they see that she was busy? 

“Danni, right?”  Logan was right in front of her then, and there was no way to politely ignore him anymore.  She looked up at him and nodded. 

“Well, Danni, I’m Logan, and this is Josh.”  He gestured to his friend with the same grand, sweeping motion he had used to indicate her earlier.  “And we would be terribly, terribly indebted to you if we could borrow just a few short minutes of your time.”

“Shouldn’t you all be in class?” she demanded. 

“Ah, that we should.”  Logan winked.  “But Mlle Kirby was called away to the phone, and we were dismissed early today.  Thanks to that, we have no choice but to practice on our own—and Josh, here, is having the worst time with part of this sequence.”

“And you think I can help you with that?”  She was frankly skeptical. 

“I think you’re better equipped for it than I am.  Look.”  Quickly, Logan outlined the steps he wanted her to do—nothing so complicated, really, but difficult enough that Josh was having trouble absorbing them.  Actually, it was similar to what she had danced in
The Nutcracker
a couple of years ago—part of the duet between Clara and her prince. 

“And you can’t practice this with your partner because?”

Josh sighed; and now he was the one who was being overly dramatic as he dropped to one knee, pleading.  “You don’t understand, Danni,” he told her pathetically.  “If I admit to Allie that I’m having this kind of trouble, she’ll never let me live it down.  She’s vindictive, you see.  Before the day was over, everyone in the Academy would know.  So I beg of you, please, please, won’t you help me?”

Danni sighed.  They’d already used up five minutes whining at her.  Fifteen minutes—what could it hurt?  “All right,” she said grudgingly.  “But I’m still not sure what help I’ll be.” 

Fifteen minutes.  It was no time at all to learn a complicated dance; but with Logan calling the steps, Danni discovered that, as always, her feet took over and her mind completely let go of all the worries of the mundane world.  She just danced, and gave herself over to it. 

If she had stopped to critique, she would have realized immediately that Josh wasn’t half the partner Michael was—and there was a great deal lost due to the fact that they had never danced with one another before, not to mention the simple reality that there was no music.  Still, Logan kept fairly good time with the simple use of a heavy
foot on the floor; and before she knew it, they were simply dancing—no, practically flying. 

He lowered her to the ground, and she gasped, breathless with the exhilaration of it.  Dancing with a partner…there was nothing like it.  She had forgotten how much she hated to be alone out there, never touching anyone else, never going through that simple exchange of cues that told her when she was supposed to shift her weight a certain way. 

“Bravo.”  Applause from the door startled her, and she spun, staring, as Mlle Kirby moved toward them.  “
Much
better, Josh.  I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it to
The Nutcracker,
the way things were going.”

Josh blushed a brilliant shade of red. 

“Now, you’re still going to need some practice,” Mlle Kirby cautioned him.  “And I do want you and Allie to take to the practice rooms for a few hours—though you do realize that you’re going to have to accept a new partner for the performance, don’t you?”

Josh frowned. 

She sighed.  “She didn’t tell you,” she guessed.

The frown deepened.  “Tell me what?” he demanded. 

“Josh…Allie’s been selected as Clara,” Mlle Kirby said quietly.

He muttered something under his breath that wasn’t entirely polite.  Danni stepped away from him, disapproving. 

“Well, at least you have warning now.”  Mlle Kirby ignored his muttering—prudent, Danni thought, since it apparently went on a lot around here.  “Now, boys, I
have a class in this room shortly, so if you don’t mind….”  She gestured them to do the door.

Danni turned, intending to gather her things and change from her pointe shoes to her slippers, but a gesture from Mlle Kirby stopped her. 

“I want you in the pairs class that meets just before this,” she said flatly.

Danni stared at her.  “But—but juniors never get to do pairs class.  I mean, not junior girls.”

“There are exceptions,” Mlle Kirby insisted.  “Katarina, for example.”  Her knowing smile said that she already knew Danni was acquainted with the other girl.  “And I am making another.”

“But—but—“ 

“No, dear, no buts.”  Mlle Kirby smiled.  “I have never seen anyone pick up a routine with a partner that quickly.  If you could have seen yourself…you’re born for a pas de deux, Danni.”

Danni smiled in return, feeling a familiar warmth glide over her.  “That’s what I’ve always believed,” she admitted shyly.  “That—that the greatest dance of all is the pas de deux with God…and that He has someone out there that He intends for me to dance with.”  Whether or not it was Michael, she had never been entirely sure.  She had been content to imagine it that way when it had been just the two of them, dancing their hearts out before God back home; but more and more, particularly as she had come out to the Academy alone, she had wondered if that was the case after all.  Surely, she’d thought, if God intended for them to dance together, He would have found a way for Michael to come along. 

Actually, all Danni knew these days was that she didn’t know
anything
anymore—but she still believed that God had made her to dance.  In the end, that was what mattered the most.

“Well.”  Mlle Kirby smiled at her.  “And there’s no sense arguing with God, now is there, dear?  Now, you go ahead and get your things together for the next class—you’ll want to take those off.”  Her gaze took in Danni’s pointe shoes, though her smile did turn fond.  “The last thing we need is a room full of eleven-year-olds begging us for pointe shoes, hm?”

Laughing, Danni agreed.  Her head was spinning as she went through the familiar motions—so much so that when she went to pull on her ballet slippers, she pulled on her familiar black ones, rather than the pink pair she had managed to unearth. 

Mlle Kirby didn’t comment.  She just smiled at her young pupil and allowed her to lead the class through warm-ups, pleased to note that, in spite of the fact that Danni was distracted, she never missed so much as a step. 

By the time the class was over, Danni still felt as though she was floating on a dream. 
Partners, Lord.  Partners!  I’ll get to dance a pas de deux again—and not with another girl, as part of a group, but with a guy.  I’ve missed it so much!

She’d only been here for a week—not enough time to really
miss
it, especially as much time as she had been spending dancing.  Still, the void at her side that should have been filled by Michael had bothered her near-constantly; and Danni had begun to feel as though she would never manage to even work around it.  She had called him every night this week, just to hear his voice; and while she knew that it was a placebo for finding a place to belong in this new world, it was wonderful nonetheless.

She practically danced up the stairs to her room that afternoon, bounding into her seat at her desk with more energy than she had felt all week. 
Partners!
  It was the only word she could think of.  Oh, she was sure that things here wouldn’t be so very different from the way they had been back home.  There would
never
be enough guys to go around, no matter what they did.  She’d be lucky if she got to work with one once every other week—and that was assuming that all of the guys in the class weren’t already seriously attached to their partners.  Most of the time, she’d probably be dancing with another girl.

But…partners.  It was a dream come true.

“Michael, you’re not going to believe it!”  She blurted out the news, her joy evident in her voice.

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“Michael?” Danni hesitated, suddenly wondering if she had done something wrong.  But Michael would be happy for her…wouldn’t he?

“Yeah.  Hey, that’s great news, Danni.”  But his voice didn’t sound like it was great news.  It sounded as though someone had run over his puppy—and Danni actually knew what that sounded like, since she had been there when Michael’s dog was run over a couple of years ago. 

“Michael—what’s wrong?”  He hadn’t called her Dragonfly.  That was the first thing that registered.  Michael almost always called her Dragonfly, especially when he first heard from her.  He didn’t let a lot of people hear it; but over the phone, when they were alone?  Something was up.  Probably something serious. 

He laughed huskily.  “Can’t fool you, can I?” he demanded.  “Even over the phone, you can hear it in my voice.” 

“It’s that partner thing,” she pointed out tartly. 

“Partners.  Right.”  The laugh turned a little bit bitter, now.  “You going to be able to read your new partner that well?”

“What—Michael, no!”  Danni hastened to reassure him.  “You’re still—you know I wouldn’t—I’m still waiting for you!”

“I can’t fault you for it,” he pointed out gently.  “Not when I’m dancing with a new girl every class.  Just…miss me a little, okay?”

“Every second!” she swore fervently.  “I danced with another guy today, and—Michael, he’s nothing like you.” 

He seemed at least momentarily placated by that.  “It’s good to hear it,” he admitted.  “Shouldn’t be—I ought to want you to be happy out there—but…man, Danni, I miss you.”

“I miss you, too.”  She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat.  “But things are starting to get a little bit better.  You’re happy for me about that, right?”

“Of course I am!”  He sounded disgusted that she would think otherwise—not with her, but with himself, for portraying it that way in the first place.  “Hearing you miserable eats at me. You know that.” 

“We’ll be back together soon,” she offered quietly. 

“Yeah, of course we will!”  He sighed.  “I’ve had kind of a rough day, Dragonfly,” he admitted tiredly. 

“Want to talk about it?”

There was a long silence.  Danni knew Michael well enough to know that he was wrestling with whether or not he intended to tell her anything, especially on top of the fact that he had just rained on her parade already.  Finally, though, he sighed again and admitted, “Do you remember Drew Effler?”

“Yeah….”  The young man in question was a year older than they were—a senior—and had, for as long as Danni could remember, had it in for her partner.  He wasn’t usually obvious about it; but every once in awhile, he would set out to get a dig in on Michael in the most painful way possible.  Danni had thought they had cured him of it—constant prayer and supplication being the most powerful weapons she had ever commanded—but from the sound of Michael’s voice, Drew was back in fine form. 

“He, um….”  Danni could practically see Michael closing his eyes, wondering whether or not he was actually going to go through with this.  “He tripped me during a basketball game in gym class.” 

Danni winced.  Michael was an amazing, athletic dancer; but as far as throwing a ball through a hoop, he wasn’t the most coordinated in the world.  He looked great—until he actually tried to shoot a basket.  He wouldn’t have been happy about playing anyway; and then having Drew humiliate him on top of it….

“I twisted my knee on the way down.”  Michael’s voice was low, even a little bit angry.  “Stupid—I know how to fall. 
You
taught me that.  I just…he caught me by surprise, and I didn’t react until it was too late.”

“Oh, Michael….”  Suddenly, Danni felt further away from home than she had since she’d left.  Michael, hurt…she wanted to be there.  She wanted to sit beside him on the sofa and tease him about being so clumsy, playing catch with the ice pack in
between times when it was actually on his knee and making jokes about how one of them needed to take out stock in a frozen pea company—peas, because those made the best ice packs.  She wanted to hold his hand, and to see for herself the color of his face, to know that he was
really
all right and not just feeding her a line.  “How bad is it?”