Face to Face (On Pointe Book 3)

by Penelope Freed

  I’m pulled from my inner debate by a bump to my hip. “Huh? Oh. They won’t let me near their hoodies. Cole sometimes gives me an old one, but usually I’m on my own in the hoodie department.” Why am I babbling about hoodies? What the hell is wrong with me? This is the most interesting thing I have to say?

  JJ laughs at me and pulls out an extra-large hoodie, dark gray with the logo of the surf-shop we’re in splashed across the front. “Yes? No? How do you feel about logos?” Hands on my hips, I eye the hoodie.

  “No logos. And not that color. If they won’t let me have theirs, I’m getting the girliest color I can, but I’m telling everyone I stole it from them.” Inspired, I pull a mint green and lilac-colored hoodie off the clearance rack. It’s hideous but proves my point.

  “Oh my god, no you can’t wear that one!” JJ laughs, putting the gray one back and finding a blood red one instead. “Thoughts?”

  I’m about to turn it down when another one catches my eye. Laughing, I pull it off the rack and hold it up for her to see. It’ll be huge on me, the XXL tag sticking out the top guarantees it, but that makes it even more perfect. Giggling, JJ blocks me from the twin’s view as I take it to the register and pay. The cashier even cuts the tags off for me.

  “We’ll meet you outside!” I call to the boys as JJ and I scurry out the front door, barely containing our giggles. I don’t even care that it’s over ninety degrees outside, I pull my cardigan off and slip the sweatshirt on. It covers my shorts, which is going to drive Hunter crazy now that it looks like the hoodie is the only thing I’m wearing.

  “What the hell is that?” Jack’s grunt and Hunter’s growl at the sight of me has JJ bent over in a fit of laughter. Feet wide, hands on hips I wait until the gaggle of cheerleaders I spied a minute ago is in earshot before I open my mouth.

  “What? You said I could have your hoodie. You didn’t say anything about whether I could wear it in public.” I give them both an evil grin as the pack of girls slow down enough to eye the garish tie-dye colors and the words splashed across my chest. When they pause to give Jack and Hunter disgusted looks, I know I’ve won. The best part is, the snarky phrase is one I have uttered myself on more than one occasion.

  No need to repeat yourself, I ignored you just fine the first time.

  This sweatshirt is so ugly I’ll never wear it in public again, but it will be perfect for chilly nights after swimming, or at the beach. Even without this perfect moment of annoying my brothers, this sweatshirt is going to be worth the money.

  Grinning, I grab JJ’s arm and propel her away from the store, leaving Jack and Hunter sputtering. “I need a pretzel. You hungry?”

  Laughing with me, JJ hooks her elbow with mine. “Absolutely.”

  Chapter Five

  Hannah

  I’m stuck at the back of the crowd. Everyone is pushing forward to get a look at the papers taped to the wall next to the elevator. Squeals of happiness come from the front as a mix of happy and resigned faces move to make way for those trying to catch a glimpse of the class lists.

  “Ow,” Lisa groans, pulling her hand loose from mine. “You have way stronger hands than I thought.” Flexing her hand a few times and grimacing, we keep navigating our way to the front of the crowd.

  “Sorry, I didn’t think I was going to be this nervous to find out.” We push forward, the class lists looming over our heads. I gave up trying to guess where they’d place us, telling myself I’m going to be happy no matter what.

  Gloria explained to us over dinner that there are eight levels of classes. Levels one through four are reserved for the eleven to thirteen-year olds and are grouped by age more than ability. The dancers in level eight are usually in their last year of training before joining a company or an apprentice program. Sometimes, a dancer in their first few years as a professional will do a summer intensive if they don’t have any performances scheduled over the summer so they can stay in shape. After hearing more from Gloria and Uri, I don’t want to be placed in the highest level, just saying it to myself—Level Eight—sounds so ominous.

  The pressure of keeping up in class with dancers on that level… the idea of it sends my brain pinging from anxious thought to anxious thought. I fixate on the crushing weight of expectations I can never live up to, the constant need to compare myself to everyone else, knowing I’ll never measure up. The burden is crushing me already.

  Lisa and I finally get up to the front and look at the lists. “I’ll read through six, you read through seven,” I tell her. I run down the list of names, seeing Rebecca Carlson in the list, but I don’t recognize any other names. I’m past the H’s when Lisa squeezes my arm.

  “We’re both in seven!” she squeals, grabbing me in a hard hug. I’m so relieved we’re going to be in the same class, I almost collapse against her.

  “Seven? You’re sure?” I ask, scanning the page over her head. There they are Lisa Hamasaki and a few names lower Hannah O’Brian. It looks like Noah and Elena are going to be Sevens with us.

  We push our way to the edge of the crowd, waving to Gloria and Uri as they exit the elevator hand in hand. “So? Did you get what you wanted?” Uri asks as Gloria pushes her way into the crowd. Her thick brown hair swings against her back as she moves.

  “We’re both in level seven.” Lisa says. “I’m so glad we’ll be in the same group. I wasn’t sure, Hannah is pretty amazing. I thought she might end up in eight.”

  “Yeah, no. I didn’t want to be in eight,” I interrupt. “I want to be challenged, but I don’t think I’m ready for that kind of pressure. Seven is good.”

  Uri looks us over. “Being a Seven is more fun than being an Eight, but no one ever believes me when I say that.” Gloria gives a happy shout from where she’s worked her way to the front of the crowd. “What’d we get, sweet cheeks?” Uri calls over everyone’s head.

  “Crazy Eights, hot stuff!” Uri laughs as Gloria thrusts her pelvis in a celebratory dance before making her way back out to us. “So, you guys are Sevens, huh? That’s what we were last year,” Gloria says once she’s reached us. The crowd is dying down, dancers milling around the common area, tentatively starting up conversations with each other. Gloria and Uri spot Thomas, Noah, and Elena already lounging on one of the couches and start walking that way.

  I have no idea if they want us to hang out with them and sway on my feet, indecisive. I glance at Lisa, I’m not sure why they seem to have taken us under their wing, but it would be reassuring to have friends who have done this before. “Do you want…?” I start, gesturing vaguely towards the elevator back to our room.

  “You coming?” Noah calls from the couch, waving us over.

  Lisa looks to the elevator, then back at me. “Well, we wanted to make new friends, right?” With a shrug, she pulls me over to the couch to join our new gang. Noah and Thomas make room for us on their side of the couch. “You should text Trevor, I’ll text Katy and Hunter,” Lisa says, as we sit.

  “Ooo, who’s Trevor?” Gloria asks, rubbing her hands together in glee. “Your boyfriend back home?” Smiling to myself, I know Lisa did that on purpose so we both had an excuse to mention our boyfriends. It’s helpful to have a best friend who’s smarter than me.

  “Except, he’s not back home,” Lisa adds. “He lives here in Seattle. They went on a date back in January when he was visiting family in California.” Gloria and Uri share a calculating look at Lisa’s words.

  “He lives here? That’s very convenient for you,” Uri drags out. “Well…” He reaches across the coffee table between us to pinch my cheek. “We will have to help you find the time to see him. I am nothing if not romantic—”

  “Me too!” Gloria interrupts.

  Uri kisses the side of Gloria’s head at that. “Yes you are, sweets. Anyway.” He also rubs his hands together in glee. “Now we have a mission.”

  Overwhelmed by this unexpected chain of events, I manag
e to stammer out a thanks before nudging Lisa in the ribs. “Did you text Hunter yet?” Well, if she’s going to put me on the spot, I can put her on the spot. Besides, her story is way less embarrassing than mine. “Hunter is Lisa’s boyfriend. He also happens to be our best friend’s older brother.”

  “Oh!” Gloria claps her hands. “I want to hear this story, too! But first tell me more about this Trevor. I’m super nosy, you’ll have to accept that about me if we’re going to be friends,” Gloria adds with a grin. “Blame it on Thomas, he’s a closed book and I always have to pry everything out of him. It rolls over onto everyone else I meet, and I’m not sorry.” This has us all laughing and Uri squeezing her against his chest. Pangs of jealousy shoot through me. Will Trevor and I ever be that comfortable together? Technically, we’ve been dating for almost a month, but I haven’t even held his hand yet.

  “It’s not important. Did you text Katy, yet?” I deflect, squirming under everyone’s attention. I don’t want to relive the story of how lame I was when Trevor and I met. That I’d thought I was babysitting so my former best friend could go on her first date with the boy I’d had a crush on for years. I’d shown up in ratty leggings and an oversized sweatshirt, prepared for a night of kid wrangling and sewing pointe shoes. Turns out I was babysitting. I was babysitting a seventeen-year-old with warm brown eyes and a great sense of humor while I watched Olivia and Tyler cozy up to each other during a movie. I may be over it now, in fact I think they’re perfect together, but that doesn’t make remembering that night hurt any less.

  “So, obviously, Hannah doesn’t want to talk about Trevor.” Uri winks, taking pity on me. “It’s okay, we’ll get it out of her one of these days,” he stage whispers in Gloria’s ear, she’s sitting on his lap on the couch across from us. “So, where are you guys from?”

  “Camarillo, it’s just north of Los Angeles,” Lisa answers for us, looking up from her phone. Mine is buzzing in my pocket. I assume it’s Katy texting us. “What about you guys? Uri, you said you were from Tel Aviv, right?” He nods in response, busy playing with Gloria’s braid.

  “Gloria and I live in Miami,” Thomas offers. No wonder she has such a great tan. “Uri is on my shit list because Gloria insisted that we had to come back to Seattle for the summer since that’s where he would be. I wanted to go somewhere with sunshine.”

  Gloria sticks her tongue out at him in response. “No one said you had to go to the same place as me,” she points out.

  “Yeah, but then how could we activate our Wonder Twin powers?” Thomas shoots right back.

  “Don’t let them get started,” Noah interrupts. “They’ll go at it all night.” He eyes Thomas and Gloria as they fist-bump, grins on their faces. “Anyway, I’m from Nowheresville, Ohio. This is my third summer here. I almost went to CBC this year, but Thomas here convinced me I should come back to Seattle, since he was going to be here. I’m already regretting it,” he adds, tossing a pillow at Thomas over my head. We all laugh at this, Lisa and I ducking down to avoid getting hit.

  “I’m from Havana,” Elena pipes up. It’s the first time I’ve heard her speak. Her lilting Spanish accent is beautiful. It matches her delicate features. Her face reminds me a little of Katy, they have the same large eyes, although Katy’s are darker, Elena’s are more honey-colored. “It’s my first time as well. My first time in America too. It’s so cold here!” she adds, giving a dramatic shiver.

  “You and I should be in Miami, Elena,” Thomas nods. “It’s too cold here, I agree.”

  “Ugh, quit yer bitchin’” Gloria huffs. “You’ll get used to it, Elena. Besides, it’s not like we’re going to be outside all that much. Although…” Gloria eyes me. “If Hannah here knows a local…that could be used to our advantage.”

  I pull my phone out of my pocket so I can pretend not to be listening. I let the conversation move on without me as I catch up on the messages I’ve missed.

  Lisa: Hannah and I are in the same group. Level 7!

  Katy: Yay!!!!! That’s good you guys will be together

  Katy: Have you met anyone yet? Are all the girls catty? I have so many questions!

  Me: Eh. We met this girl Becky who seems like a real gossip queen, not sure if I want to be friends with her. She smells like drama. We met this other group at lunch who seem pretty nice.

  I look up from my phone to catch Noah telling Lisa about his studio in Ohio. It sounds interesting, but I’m distracted by the other texts that I see waiting for me.

  Trevor: Hey gorgeous. Are we on for a movie tonight? It’s your turn to pick.

  Trevor: Did you find out your placement yet? Any news on your weekend schedule?

  Trevor and I had chatted while Lisa was in the shower, before we came downstairs for dinner. I haven’t even had a chance to tell Lisa the exciting news he had for me, distracted by the rumbling in my stomach on our way to eat.

  “No way!”

  Looking up from my phone, Noah, Gloria, and Thomas all staring at Lisa and me. What did I miss?

  “Leslie Parker is your teacher?” Gloria says, loud enough for several heads to turn our way. “Oh my god, what is she like? No wonder you two are so good.”

  Lisa elbows me hard, so I tuck my phone away. “She’s an amazing teacher. I mean, sometimes I forget that she’s Leslie Parker. She’s just always been Ms. Parker, ever since I was six.” I shrug. It always weirds me out when people get starstruck over Ms. Parker. Most of the time, I forget that she was a huge star a few decades ago. She got hit by a motorcycle crossing the road in front of Lincoln Center when she was twenty-four and came home to Camarillo to recover. Her doctors weren’t even sure she would ever walk again, going back to her career as a principal dancer at The Classical Ballet Company was out of the question. When her old ballet teacher wanted to retire, Ms. Parker took over the studio and has been teaching ever since. Olivia and I have vague memories of Madame Dubois, but she was only around for a few years when we were little before Ms. Parker took over. Ms. Parker used a cane when I first met her, but she doesn’t need it anymore.

  “Is she super tough?” Noah asks.

  “She has high expectations of us, but she’s one of the nicest teachers I’ve ever had,” I tell him. I let Lisa take over the conversation while I put Trevor out of his misery.

  Me: First day was good. I’m so tired my yawns are yawning. Lisa and I got put into level 7. I’m super happy with that.

  Me: Finding out about the weekend now, will keep you updated.

  Shifting my legs on the couch, I discover they’ve turned heavy and stiff from sitting. No matter what position I try I can’t get comfortable, so I slide onto the floor and fold over into a butterfly stretch. “Aren’t you guys sore?” I ask. “I swear, my legs weigh a hundred pounds each.”

  Elena joins me on the floor. “Si, my legs feel terrible.”

  “Drink lots of water,” Gloria says. Plenty of other dancers are lounging on the floor and stretching. “Supposedly eating blueberries helps, but I’m pretty sure my mom told me that once because we had blueberries in the fridge that were about to go bad.” We all laugh at this, Uri stretching his legs out and dumping Gloria on the floor next to Elena. These seem like easy people to be friends with, maybe this won’t be so bad, especially if Elena and Noah are going to be in our class.

  “I noticed we didn’t have any classes scheduled for Saturday afternoon and Sunday,” I start, hoping to get the answer to Trevor’s question. “What are we supposed to do over the weekend?”

  “Ahhhhh, this is where your Trevor may come in very handy for us.” Gloria grins. “Technically, if you’re under eighteen, you’re supposed to stay in the dorms and relax.” I can’t help my disappointment at this news, I was hoping to get a chance to see Trevor. “If you’re over eighteen, you can sign out of the dorms and do whatever you want. They don’t like it, but they can’t stop you either. And…” She pauses for dramatic effect
. “If you have someone who’s an ‘adult’ with you, they can sign you out to go off campus with them. Aren’t you guys lucky that Uri, Thomas, and I all happened to turn eighteen a couple of months ago?”

  “Do you think your Trevor would be willing to play tour guide?” Uri interrupts. “Even better if he has a car,” he adds with a wink.

  “Actually, starting in two weeks he’s going to be staying on campus too. I just found out he’s doing a training camp here for the next three weeks as well.” My news is met with cheers and grins, even from Elena.

  “Lucky girl,” Thomas says, slapping me on the back. “What is he training for?”

  “He runs track and cross country. He qualified for state this year but missed placing. Next year is his senior year and he’s hoping he can qualify and podium at state so he can get a spot on a college team.”

  Gloria leans forward, almost falling off Uri’s lap, glancing from side to side, then grinning as she whispers, “So, I’m proposing that Hannah’s Trevor be our tour guide this weekend. We…” She waves a hand at herself and Uri. “…can sign you guys out, Trevor can show us around and Hannah gets to see her boyfriend. It’s perfect!”

  Lisa looks doubtful. “You’re sure we won’t get in trouble? I’m pretty sure I read that minors are supposed to stay on campus unless signed out by an adult…” Lisa barely managed to talk her parents into letting her come, getting in trouble is a sure fire way to make sure she’s never allowed to leave the house again.

  “We are legal adults.” Gloria shrugs, then nods at the phone in my hand. “Text your boy, see what he thinks.” I glance at Lisa to see what she thinks. The way she’s biting her bottom lip tells me she’s not sure if this is a great idea, but she isn’t objecting so I type out a message to Trevor.

  Me: Would you be willing to play tour guide for me and some friends? It looks like Sat we have class until lunchtime but then we’re free. Sun we have the whole day off.