by Charis Marsh
“How very ethnocentric of you,” Nat retorted. “The academy? The only one? Anyway, my lovely parents are moving to Vancouver for a year starting in September, and they would really be over the moon if I went to your charming school.”
“But you don’t want to,” Tristan finished for him.
“Not remotely,” Nat said apologetically. “Lux might join you, though. I think she has some idea that it might have good training. An opinion that she got from watching you dance,” he added, nodding at Alexandra.
Alexandra blushed. “Um, thanks.”
“Can everyone please line up?” a lady by the sign-in desk called out.
“Oh, crap!” Taylor exclaimed. She had been so busy watching the skit playing out in front of her that she hadn’t even put her number on yet. She hastily attached it to her bodysuit, and then they went into the huge studio, leaving Nat behind. As she walked in, a sudden thought occurred to her: Why is Nat here if he’s not auditioning?
Taylor was exhausted by the time she got out of the studio, but Charlize pounced immediately. “How did it go?”
“Good, I think,” Taylor said, shrugging. “I messed up an exercise, but my jumps were really good.”
“Okay. You and Keiko go get changed and meet us in the front. Your audition went longer than it was supposed to. We’re going to be late to meet your father.”
“Oh crap. Okay.” Taylor ran to the bathroom to get changed, Keiko hurrying after her.
“What is the rush?” Keiko asked. “He is your dad, he will wait.”
“Yeah,” Taylor said. “But what if he doesn’t? I really want to see him, Keiko. Come on.” Taylor pulled out her bun, leaving her long blond hair in a ponytail curling down her back. There wasn’t enough time to take her hair all the way down without it looking gross. They walked down to the end of the lobby, passing the others who were still talking. “Bye, guys.” Taylor froze, and then ran back. “Hey,” she said, addressing Nat, “how come you came here if you aren’t auditioning?”
Nat grinned. “Lux,” he explained.
“I didn’t see her in the audition, either.”
“You must have missed her. It was a big audition.”
Taylor frowned. She was confused; she’d been looking for Lux, and she was almost positive that she had not seen her. Still, Nat was right, it had been a big audition and she could have missed her. “Oh. Well, see ya.”
“See ya around, child.”
Taylor ran to catch up with Keiko, still a little confused. “Come on,” Keiko said. “Your mother is going crazy; she wants to know why you won’t hurry up.” Keiko pointed across the street where Charlize was standing, waving at them to come over. They hurried across the street and got into the car.
“Now, let’s see if I can find this place,” Charlize said, handing Taylor a sheet of paper with the address on it. “Can you get the GPS to work, Taylor?”
“Sure.”
It had started to rain, hard, and the wind was whipping around. It was not typical May weather. “You’d think we were in Vancouver, it’s raining so much,” Taylor said, peering out the window. She wouldn’t have admitted it to Keiko, who would have laughed at her, but the weather scared her. It reminded her of old horror films she had watched in grade seven. Horror films had been popular when she was twelve; the best way to show you were the coolest was to let nothing scare you. Taylor had always been fine while she was watching the movie, but afterwards she’d get nightmares.
“April showers bring May flowers,” Charlize said brightly. “I think Mother Nature must have reversed it! April was sunny, now May is stormy.”
“Oh geez, Mom,” Taylor said, disgusted as Charlize started laughing hysterically at her own joke. A branch fell down with a crash beside the road, and Charlize screamed, nearly veering onto the side of the road. “Mom!”
To Taylor’s surprise, instead of continuing on, her mother pulled to the side of the road. “Mom, it was only a branch.”
Charlize turned off the car and rested her forehead on the steering wheel for a moment.
“Mom?”
Charlize took a deep breath. “I’m all right. It just scared me, that’s all.”
“Oh.”
Charlize pulled back onto the road, and they started on their way again, following the directions of the GPS lady. “How come Daddy is here?” Taylor asked, for the sake of something to say.
“You should ask him that,” Charlize said briefly. “There, is that it, girls?”
“I think so,” Keiko answered. “Yes.”
They got out of the car. Taylor pulled her hood up over her hair — the rain and wind were so strong that they were going to ruin her hair in the thirty-second walk to the restaurant. They walked in, and Charlize shoved Taylor in front of her. “Can you see your father?” she asked.
Taylor looked around. “There he is. We’re just going to join my dad, he’s over there,” she told the hostess who was hurrying up to them. They walked down to him, and Taylor saw that he was not alone. “Oh, hi …”
“Oh hi to you, too, princess.” Steven laughed. “Hi, Charlize. Alison, you’re getting bigger every time I see you. And who’s this?”
“Keiko. You met her before, remember?”
“Oh, of course I did! Sorry, I forgot.”
They all sat down, Taylor finding herself across from her father and beside her mother. Alison had slipped beside her dad. “So, um —” Taylor asked pointedly. There was a woman next to her father, and Taylor knew who she was, but she wanted an introduction.
“Oh! This is Vivienne, everyone. Vivienne, my ex-wife, Charlize, and our two beautiful daughters, and of course, Keiko.”
“Isn’t this cozy,” Charlize muttered, so quietly that only Taylor could hear. Taylor giggled. She stared at Vivienne, slightly confused. She wasn’t sure why, but she had assumed that Vivienne would look like her mother, but she didn’t, not at all. Vivienne was Korean, and short, and wearing dark clothing. Taylor thought that her mother looked a million times prettier.
“So what have you been up to, sweetheart?” Steven asked, staring at Taylor.
“Um, I’ve been dancing a lot. I might be playing Swanhilda in the June production of Coppelia. Swanhilda’s, like, the lead. And I got an agent, I’m doing some acting stuff. I auditioned for Superbly Unnatural last week, but for a dancing role, not an acting role.”
“Good, good … sounds like you’re doing well. How’s your boy, the one I met the last time I saw you?”
“Julian? Daddy, he’s not my boy. And I think he might be gay.”
“Oh. Good, good … you can do better, anyway. Wasn’t he a hippie?” He looked down at his menu. “Everyone decided what they want to order yet?”
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Charlize asked pointedly.
“What?” Steven asked impatiently. “Look, if you want more time to order, Charlize, just let me know, don’t play games.”
Charlize’s eyes flashed, and Taylor tensed. It was never a good sign when Charlize got mad. “You have two daughters, Steven.”
Steven looked to his left. “Ah. How are you, Alison?”
“Good.”
“See? She’s good. Now, can we please order? I’m starving.”
Taylor was unusually quiet as they drove home. It was late, but the wind was calmer. Alison and Keiko had both fallen asleep, and Taylor had tried, but she couldn’t. “Mom?”
“Yes, baby?”
“Does Daddy not like Alison?”
“Of course he loves Ali!” Charlize said quickly, looking back to make sure that Alison was asleep.
“Does he like me better, though?”
Charlize was quiet, thinking. “You are just easier for him, Taylor,” she said. “He finds it easier to relate to you.”
“Well, it’s not fair! Alison didn’t do anything.”
“Taylor, I don’t feel like talking about this right now. Go to sleep.”
“Mom?”
“What, Taylor?”
> “Daddy asked me if I wanted to go and live with him and Vivienne next fall.” Taylor could hear her mother stop breathing. “I told him no. I didn’t want to stop going to the academy. He wanted me to focus on acting and stuff in L.A.”
Charlize started breathing again. “You said no because you wanted to keep going to the academy.”
“Yeah.”
“Go to sleep, Taylor.” Taylor bent her head down and closed her eyes, wondering if she had made the right decision. The real reason she had said no to Steven had been that she could not picture living with him. He had never really been home when she was younger, and she couldn’t remember ever having a full conversation with him. And Vivienne — she didn’t like Vivienne. Vivienne didn’t give off any vibes of what she was like, and Taylor liked people that let you know who they were right away. Like Julian. Taylor buried her face in her sweatshirt, turning her face to the window so Charlize couldn’t see her face. She’d managed to forget that she liked Julian, but her dad bringing him up had made her remember that she liked him all over again. That was why she had told Zack that she wasn’t sure that she wanted to go out with him. Maybe she would tell Julian that Zack had asked her out, and see how he reacted.
Chapter Nine
Alexandra Dunstan
My feet have reached a new level of grossness. I have a blister on top of a blister on top of a blister.
Alexandra crawled out from under the large prop wagon that was full of fake flowers, triumphantly dangling her canvas shoe in front of her. “Hah!” she said aloud. She kept losing her canvas shoes, and she knew someone was taking and hiding them. She had her suspicions that it was Jessica; it seemed exactly the sort of weird and neurotic thing she would do. She put the shoe on and stood up, wiggling her foot around until it was in perfectly.
“How’d you lose your shoe under there?” Julian asked, laughing.
Alexandra looked out, shading her eyes against the stage lights as she tried to see into the audience. “Julian?” She walked to the edge of the stage, where she could see him. “Hey. It depends on what you mean by losing.”
“Er, how else would you explain a situation where you are climbing hilariously out from under a wagon looking extremely pleased with yourself?”
Alexandra jumped off of the stage and walked over to him. “Three words. Some. Bitch. Stole.”
“Oh.”
“Yes.” Alexandra sat down next to him. “What is new in the wonderful world of Julian?”
“Nothing much. Who’s stealing your shoes?”
“I’m guessing Jessica, but I’m basing that on absolutely nothing but the fact that I hate her.”
“Hate is a strong word. It is virtually impossible to hate something without also loving it.”
“Not true. Okay, I strongly dislike her. Don’t distract me, I had something to ask you —” Alexandra thought for a moment. “Oh. I remember — what is it that you thought I was going to ask you about? That time that you were at my house?”
Julian frowned. “Nothing.”
Alexandra stopped, staring at him. “Now I know it isn’t nothing. Come on, tell me.”
“No.”
“How come?”
“Because. We aren’t exactly friends, and I don’t trust you to not tell everyone you find.”
“I can keep a secret!”
“What about when Anna was quitting?”
“Okay, that was different, that was Anna.”
“What about when you told me that Tristan liked me?”
“I thought you already knew that.”
“My point is, no. I don’t need to tell you, and I’m not going to.”
“Uh, okay.” Alexandra looked away, confused, annoyed, and hurt in almost equal measures. She didn’t know why it was that she cared what Julian thought about her, but apparently she did. And the more she thought about it, the more pissed off she got. “I’m going to go check if we are likely to start this rehearsal any time in the next century.”
She walked up the stage steps and through the wings to the backstage area. Mr. Yu was still looking at some sheets of paper and arguing with Mr. Demidovski. They were clearly going to be a while. Alexandra kept going, not sure in which direction she was walking, until she hit the change rooms. She turned around and walked back to the stage, not wanting to deal with the noise of the change rooms, and looped back to the audience, taking the door entry into the audience this time instead of cutting across the stage. Julian was still sitting in the front, but she ignored him, lying on the rich red carpet of the audience floor. It was probably filthy, but it was comforting. She looked upwards, at the ceiling so high above her. I wonder how much of my life I will spend in theatres when I am dancing with a company. I hope I get a job with a company that travels a lot, and is in Europe. That would be so sweet. Or somewhere like San Francisco, or maybe New York.
“You asleep down there?”
Julian was looking down at her, leaning over the back of one of the seats. “I’m not talking to you, Jules.” She closed her eyes again, firmly.
She could hear Julian laugh above her. “Why, because I called you out for being a blabbermouth?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being a blabbermouth.”
“Tell me something. If you won’t tell me what I want to know, tell me a different secret. Then I’ll keep that one, and you will see that I can.”
Alexandra kept her eyes shut as she waited for him to pick.
“So many secrets, I don’t know which one,” Julian joked.
“An interesting one.”
“Hm. Well, how about I just tell you a story, and you have to not tell anyone, okay?”
“All right.”
“Okay. So my parents, they were at this music festival, right? And they’d broken up, but they were still friends. This would’ve been about August, there’s sun shining down everywhere. At least, that’s what my dad’s friend told me. He was there, too.”
“Sun. Got it.”
“Yes. Anyway, they were all listening to the music, having a great time, and then suddenly my mom, she leans over to my dad and she’s like, ‘Will, I’m pregnant. We’re going to have a kid.’”
“Did he freak out?”
“No. He stared at her, and he’s a bit confused, because of the sun, and what she said, and stuff, so he’s looking at her to see if she’s joking. But she’s not. So he says the first thing that pops into his head, which is, ‘what are we going to name it?’”
“That is not what I would have asked.”
“Shush. So, my mom, she doesn’t know. She hadn’t even thought about it. So, my dad goes ‘Well, if it’s a boy, let’s name him Julian.’ My mom, she says, ‘What? Like John Lennon’s kid?’ And Will, he says, ‘Yes.’ And my mom, she’s like, ‘Well, what if it’s a girl?’ and Will, he’s like, ‘We could name her Julian, too.’”
Alexandra giggled. “Good thing you are a boy, huh?”
“Yup.” Julian smiled down at her.
“How will you know if I told anyone or not?”
“I have my ways.” There was a commotion behind them. They both turned around, staring at the stage as everyone flooded it. “Better get up there.”
“Si.” Alexandra stood up, and they walked over to the stage. Mr. Demidovski and Mr. Moretti were already up there, and the dancers arranged themselves behind them, sitting on the stage. Mr. Yu stood off to one side, watching the goings-on with an expression of wariness.
“As you all know,” Mr. Demidovski begun, resting his hand over his heart, “we have had much, much trouble deciding who is to play the role of Swanhilda.”
The dancers nodded their agreement. Seated beside Julian, Alexandra felt her stomach lurch. She sat up straighter. Please, please, please …
“We have decided —”
“Hello everyone!” Theresa beamed at them, walking into the audience with a swirl of scarves. “Oops! Am I interrupting something?
”
Mr. Moretti nodded, annoyed.
“Sorry.” Theresa sat down in the audience, quite ruining the setup, as now Mr. Demidovski was delivering a speech to his students in the front and Theresa was watching in the back. Mr. Demidovski had not been trained in the art of performing in a circus ring, and he lost his flow for a second.
“There has been much difficulty,” Mr. Demidovski said. Alexandra groaned inwardly. He’d been about to get to it, but now there was no stopping the long speech. “Aiko has left. To Europe. We, of course, are very happy for her.” Mr. Demidovski’s dour expression contradicted the positive sentiments that he was expressing. “Anna — we very much loved Anna, but she has left.” Mr. Demidovski bowed his head, as if in prayer or remembrance.
“By the way, how’s that going with your brother and her?” Julian whispered.
“Shush,” Alexandra hissed, paying attention to Mr. Demidovski.
“Grace …” Mr. Demidovski looked thoughtful. “Yes. And then of course, Alexandra and Taylor.”
Come on, please just say it … but not if I didn’t get it.
“So, first cast we have Alexandra. Second cast, Grace. Understudy, Taylor.” Alexandra let her breath out. Thank you, thank you … wait, Taylor? They’re actually giving it to Taylor?
Suddenly somebody stood up and ran backstage. Alexandra stared after her. “Was that Kaitlyn?”
“Yeah.” Julian stood up. “Want me to go check on her?” he asked Mr. Demidovski.
“Sit down,” Mr. Moretti said impatiently.
Julian sat. “Damn it,” he whispered to Alexandra. “I need to move, sitting here is driving me crazy.”
“You’ll survive,” Alexandra said dryly.
“And of course, Liam has left,” Mr. Demidovski continued.
“Leon,” Mr. Moretti corrected.
“Ley-an. Yes. He has gone, and will not dance the part of Frantz.”
Julian sat up straighter. “Want to talk about my brother’s love life now?” Alexandra whispered. Julian pinched her, keeping his eyes focused on Mr. Demidovski. “Ow!”
