by Tonya Plank
Nevertheless, they came in second place, likely for difficulty and effort. We came in first! The team went wild when our names were called, obviously. Jett and I hugged each student in turn. Jett went to hug me, and at first I thought twice about it, but then gave in. It was cause for celebration, and we’d done a good job together. I hated to admit, but it felt good to be in his warm embrace again. Jett and I took a bow with the team, Jett hobbling to the dance floor. We’d done Alessia proud. This was hopefully one solid step in saving the studio and its reputation.
On my way of the ballroom, I felt a firm hand pull my dress from behind. What the hell? I turned to see Natalia’s angry face.
“You cheated,” she spit. Her lips were twisted into a nasty grimace and she looked like she was about to spew venom. I couldn’t believe this had upset her so. It was just a team competition, primarily for the students. She was acting like this was a pro comp of the highest order. She acted like this was Blackpool—which she now probably had in the bag—though I didn’t know if she knew we’d withdrawn.
“Um, no we didn’t?” I said, confused as to what she was talking about.
“I told you before. You were supposed to have a pro lead dance.”
“That’s not part of the rules. That’s just a convention that teams often follow, but not a solid rule.”
“We’ll see about that. We’re contesting it.”
And then I saw Luna’s beady little eyes several feet behind her. She glared. Of course it would be this way. Luna had made up rules in the past, then argued that Josie and Kendra broke them. Same old, same old.
I felt anger bubbling up, and I felt my hand begin to shake.
“Hey, what’s up?” Jett said, walking up behind me and putting his hand gently on my shoulder. “I thought you were right behind me.”
“We’ll see,” I said, through clenched teeth.
“And you also cheated by not allowing us to see you. You got to see us. We didn’t get to see you. That wasn’t playing fair.”
“What are you talking about? You did see us rehearse. You might have walked in during it, but you had the opportunity to see.”
“Not the team. You and him.” She pointed her long, bony finger at Jett.
What? “But we didn’t dance with the team. He’s injured. Of course we didn’t do a rehearsal for a dance we didn’t perform. If there’s no rule we have to perform, there’s certainly no rule we had to rehearse a performance we weren’t doing!” I was beginning to question this woman’s connection to reality. She made no sense.
“I wasn’t saying that was a rule violation. You misunderstand.” She was literally spitting in my face as she talked. “I am suggesting you didn’t want us to see you because you know how bad you are. Especially with him, like…” She motioned to Jett’s foot, a look of complete disgust on her face. Her eyes were so large they were nearly popping out of her head, and her contorted jaw and downward-turned mouth made her look almost comical.
I just shook my head, not even knowing what to say. It seemed impossible to have a logical conversation with her.
“Nice seeing you again, as always Natalia,” Jett said, his tone seething with sarcasm. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have lives.”
“We’ll see what you’re made of at Blackpool—or not!” Natalia called out as we left. So, she didn’t yet know I’d withdrawn us. Her words also made me want to turn around and reinstate us.
“Forget her, she’s just a sore loser.” Jett held my trembling hand. He didn’t address the Blackpool issue, making me wonder if he’d heard her. He hadn’t heard the entire conversation.
I opened my mouth to tell him about Natalia’s threat to contest our winning with the judges, but the whole team was now within earshot and I didn’t want to do anything to burst our well-deserved bubble. It may be creating undue worries anyway. Hopefully that was all it was—a threat.
I took a deep breath, but simply nodded, and gave him my best smile. “I will. Thank you.” He squeezed my hand and gave me a nice kiss on the cheek. It felt nice, I had to admit.
Chapter 31
Jett
I wanted to punch my hand straight through the glass of Alessia’s office window when she told Belle and me our team had been disqualified because there were no pros on it.
“What the major fuck?” I yelled, unable to control my mouth. “I couldn’t dance because of an injury that nearly killed me. What we were supposed to do?” Arabelle had been looking down, but when I said the second sentence, she looked right at me, her big blue eyes dead serious.
“And I thought this wasn’t even a real rule? It shouldn’t be. If the students are good enough on their own, why can’t they dance on their own? Isn’t that the better outcome anyway, for the students to train to succeed on their own and have their moment in the spotlight as pro dancers?”
I spotted a slight smile cross Arabelle’s face. “Yes,” she whispered. “It is the better outcome.”
Both women looked at each other, with knowing eyes.
“So then, what happened?” I repeated.
Alessia sighed. “There was no rule. It’s just a custom. But Luna being Luna and realizing she has an ally in Natalia, convinced Nat to go before the judges and argue that it’s a custom important enough to be considered a rule.”
“What’s so all important about it?”
Arabelle snorted. “It’s an all-important rule because Luna wants it to be. Because Luna’s money wants to it be.”
“You know about last year, right? When she got Kendra and Josie disqualified for another non-rule?” Alessia added.
“So they really let her buy the competition?” I was actually pretty shocked. Yeah, people kind of bought their way into big shows in Vegas. But only at the lower levels where it didn’t matter that much. You wouldn’t be able to buy yourself into a star role, or it could seriously hurt the entire production. Winning the whole competition was kind of the equivalent of a starring role. At least, I’d think it was.
“The comp organizers don’t like to see it that way, but basically, she’s able to find loopholes. Like any good lawyer, I guess—which her husband is.”
I got up and paced around the room. I usually worked out my anger by punching something inanimate, but there didn’t seem to be anything in here. I had to control myself anyway. I just clenched my fists and kicked at the air. “So what do we do now? The students were on such a high.”
“I’ll tell them,” Arabelle said. “Kendra, unfortunately, probably won’t be that surprised.”
“Yeah, but we really needed this win for the studio.” I looked at Alessia’s heavily furrowed brow. It was clear she was worried about the studio’s future now. “Are we completely disqualified, like not even second place? As if we never even competed?”
Alessia nodded. “Yep, as if we’d never competed.”
“She’s got to be stopped.”
Both women just took deep breaths, swallowing their disappointment. But I wasn’t the type to do that, and I didn’t think Arabelle was either. She was a fierce competitor, a winner. I knew that and she did too.
“Does Blackpool have the same problem with crooked judges?” I asked.
Arabelle’s eyes widened and she shifted in her seat. She slowly looked up at Alessia, then me.
“There’s far too many competitors there, from all over the world. Luna couldn’t even compete there; they don’t have student comps,” Alessia answered.
“So, it’s a fair competition,” I said.
Arabelle took a breath, her gaze now concentrated on something out the window. “More fair than here, certainly.”
I looked at Alessia, who began to grin, knowing what I was up to. She looked at Arabelle. We both waited for Arabelle to look at me. I knew she would eventually.
When her eyes finally connected with mine, I said, “Well, then that’s where we’re going to beat the shit out of them.”
Belle’s eyes closed but the edges of her lips began to curl up.
Chapter 32
Arabelle
We could so beat the shit out of them. And I was ready to. Nothing would make me more satisfied. Nothing.
Jett had come around to seeing things my way. I could tell by the way he argued to Alessia that the professionals shouldn’t have to dance, since the comp was meant to showcase the students and let them have their moment in the spotlight. Jett was advocating that someone other than him should have center stage. I was proud of him. I really was. It’s not easy letting someone else have the attention, especially for someone like him.
And after the performance, he’d also agreed with me I was right about simplifying the lift and making it more about the romance than the thrill. I knew it from the way he squeezed my hand afterward, the way he looked at me, the way his entire face lit up. He’d seen it in the way the team members all looked together—particularly Kendra and Josie—and he’d seen that the judges rewarded that over Duke and Natalia’s team creating lifts that only the pros could do properly. I knew the judges would reward us. Now he did too.
Okay, I could compete with Jett alone at Blackpool in showdance. I could do it for Alessia, and for the sake of art triumphing over drumroll stunts. I should do it. I could and I should, so I would.
The doctor had taken the cast off and told Jett to go easy. He had promised he would, not dancing full out until very close to the competition. I trusted him.
I called the Blackpool organizer and explained our situation: that Jett had an injury but that it had healed and that we would like to be reinstated. The organizer said she was delighted to hear it, and would place us back on the roster immediately.
I apologized again for all the confusion and changes she’d likely have to make to the program, judging, etc.
She laughed. “Arabelle, I don’t care. You make this competition, dear. Blackpool would never be the same without you. You are this competition.”
Wow.
So, fine, for now, we were back on as a partnership. But a dance partnership only. I kept hearing Jett’s admission to Alessia that he nearly died when he got injured. I almost died. What were we supposed to do? He’d insisted to me in the hospital that it was a run-of-the-mill accident. Of course I knew better, and now I knew he did too. He’d lied to me. I couldn’t accept that in a relationship.
Yes, I would dance with Jett for Blackpool. But this relationship had to remain platonic. This was only about winning for Alessia. After he healed, he’d return to Beauty in Motion, even knowing it could kill him. I wouldn’t be lied to again, and I wouldn’t be devastated by death again.
* * *
The team was inconsolable when we told them about being disqualified, as I knew they would be.
“I want to punch that bitch right upside the head,” Kendra said, punching her hand instead.
“I know. Believe me, I know how you feel,” I said.
“This is the second time. She has too much power. Way too much. Something needs to be done, Ms. A!”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry; we’re going to beat the hell out of them at the next competition. By the time Orange County rolls around, my foot will be well-healed, so you’ll have pro partners. I mean…I don’t know, who exactly…” Jett’s voice petered out. I hadn’t told him yet I would return to being his dance partner. I was going to do that today. “But anyway, we won’t have any stupid non-rule violations, and the championship will go to the true winners,” Jett said firmly.
Josie looked down. “You don’t understand. If we win again, they’ll come up with another rule we broke.”
“She’s a B like no other,” Judy added.
“Ow,” Kendra said, still punching her hand.
“Hey, honey, stop that. We don’t need our star dancer getting hurt now,” Paulina called out from the barre. She hadn’t joined the team but she liked to watch rehearsals. Kendra finally broke a smile. “You ladies do know, a curse from that one eventually ends up a blessing.”
Kendra and I both frowned at Paulina.
“Who won Blackpool last year? Latin division, I mean?” Paulina asked.
“Rory and Sasha,” Kendra said.
Paulina nodded. “And that was after Luna and her cohort Cheryl tried all that sabotaging, following poor Rory all around, intimidating her and saying nasty things.”
“Really?” Kendra said.
“Oh sugar, you don’t know. They wanted their woman—Xenia—to win, of course. Sasha’s ex.”
“She came all the way in fourth!” Kendra chuckled.
“Yep, and their enemy won—the person I think we can all agree was the most deserving,” Paulina chirped.
“Yeah, but nobody from our studio is competing in Blackpool this year,” Josie said. “So they’ll win there too.”
“Hmm, got a point there, girl,” Paulina said.
I felt Jett’s eyes on me. I looked at the floor, feeling my face get redder and redder by the second.
“Wait, what’s that blush about, A?” Kendra shouted.
Leave it to Kendra to figure everything out. I closed my eyes and shook my head. But I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes! Someone from our studio is competing at Blackpool! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Wooo hooooo!”
Nothing like announcing your plans to the entire building via Kendra.
* * *
“When is your next follow up with the doctor?” I asked Jett, choosing not to respond right now to what I knew he was trying to ask me, judging by the loopy smile taking over his entire face.
“Actually I have a check-up tomorrow morning. Why?”
“I want to come with you.”
He chuckled. “Okay, sure. Can I ask why?”
“I want to know how long it’s going to take to finally heal.” I eyed his foot.
“What, you don’t trust me to convey accurate info from the doc?” But the loopy smile remained. He knew his weakness, that he had a tendency to overstate things, namely his injury-healing progress. And he knew that I was onto him. And he was letting me be. He was letting me in.
Chapter 33
Jett
Obviously Arabelle didn’t trust me when it came to assessing my own health. At first I felt a twinge of resentment, but I realized almost immediately thereafter that I had no grounds to be pissed. I’d injured myself a lot. I was always so gung-ho to recover quickly and get on with my dancing, I had to admit, I hadn’t always taken the best care of myself.
I was starting to see myself through her eyes. My mind took me to the day I was in the hospital seeing the look on her face when she saw me. I remembered her beautiful tribute to Willem at last year’s Blackpool, watched that horrible tremor return in her Latin dance, then saw it again in my hospital room after my injury. Of course after what happened to her first true love, she was devastated by my injury. More than I was. I suddenly I saw myself as she did. I was seriously careless. I had to be more responsible. For her sake, as much as for mine.
* * *
“It’s looking pretty good,” the doctor said. “It has healed nicely. I still want you to keep everything light. No heavy lifting, no tricks, no crazy footwork. You can work on it, but keep it light.”
“And how long before I can dance full out?” I hadn’t wanted to ask that question at all because then I’d have a timeline from a professional, but I knew Arabelle was going to ask if I didn’t.
“Hmm, give it a couple more weeks. Of course, I’m inclined to say never return to the crazy tricks and stunts you all do. They’re just not good for a body. But I’m a doctor. I know you all aren’t going to listen to me.”
I looked at Arabelle. Her face was turned toward the window but I detected a slight smile. She was included in that “you all” and she knew it.
But when we got in the car, her mood darkened.
“Hey, you okay?” I asked.
She took a breath. “Yes. I just realized that now that you’re healed—or almost healed—you’re going to be returning to Beauty in
Motion. I’m just…I’m just getting worried about how much time we’ve lost preparing for Blackpool, and how little time we have left...” Her voice trailed off.
I hadn’t even thought about my job. That surprised me. I guess I hadn’t missed it all that much.
“And what I’m really scared of…” she continued. “What if you get hurt again? Then we won’t be able to compete. And I…” Her words faded again. I was about to speak when she caught her breath and began again. “I know it’s your life. I told myself that, and it is, and you’re completely entitled to return to your regular job whenever you like. But right now I have a stake in your life too since we’re partners. Dance partners of course. And…maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” She looked away.
“Okay. Look, I’ll speak to Veronique about it. The doctor said I shouldn’t dance full out for another two weeks, at least. That’ll bide me some time. And by then, I think there will only be one or two more weeks of the tour here. I’d only agreed to go to L.A.” I was thinking out loud. “Audiences are now used to my fill-ins, both here and in Vegas…I’ll—I’ll ask her to let me stay out until we’re done with Blackpool.”
“But what if she won’t let you?”
I shrugged. I honestly hadn’t thought about it. “I’ll make her let me.” And I knew I could. She wouldn’t let me go.
For the first time in this conversation—for the first time I think Beauty in Motion had ever been a topic in our conversation—the corners of Arabelle’s beautiful lips curled up into a very slight smile. “You’d do that,” she said more than asked, as if she knew I would.
Chapter 34
Arabelle
For the next few weeks, Jett and I practiced our team solo and mapped out our Blackpool routine. He remained true to his word to the doctor about keeping things light. We marked the routine only, not dancing full out. And I trusted that he’d talk to Veronique and make her agree to release him from his contract until after Blackpool.
