Chapter Three

Dani

Unsure of what to do or say, I stood before the imposing woman. She had a way of looking at me that instilled insecurity and fear. For a full two minutes, she regarded me with her hands clasped behind her back and her chin raised, reminding me of a drill sergeant inspecting her troops. And I definitely felt lacking in all kinds of ways.

Not fidgeting proved to be difficult. I kept my hands folded in front of me, but by the end of the first minute, I was flicking the button on my wool jacket back and forth. It made a soft clicking sound, but I couldn’t seem to stop. I tried not to meet her steely gaze, either. Instead, I stared at a spot just over her rigid right shoulder where the gymnastic rings hung unhindered from the ceiling.

“I’m sorry I was late, Dean Vasilev, but my dad—”

She put a hand up to stop my next words. “Nonsense. I’m fully aware you arrived fifteen minutes before orientation. So, you could have gotten here on time if you hadn’t spent those five minutes sitting in your car, carrying on about being here.”

I gaped at her. “Excuse me?”

She put up her hand again. “You have an impressive resume, Miss Gale.”

I brightened a little at that.

She continued. “Five years of gymnastics, balance beam specialty, five years of ice-skating, placing first in three out of four competitions, and five years of dance, ballet, and contemporary.”

I looked at her then. Maybe this wouldn’t be a completely humiliating experience. “Thank you.”

“But you must realize that every student in this school has a similar resume, some with even more experience. The only reason you are here is because of the glowing recommendation from one of our trustees.”

Or not.

“To succeed here, you must be that much more. There is no room for complacency, for laziness, and especially not for tardiness.”

I opened my mouth to excuse myself again, but the fierce look she bestowed upon me had the words sticking in my throat. If I hadn’t been too afraid to make noise, I would’ve swallowed them, then coughed.

“Yes, you should swallow them, because I am the last person you should try to give them to. Do you understand?”
I nodded. Wow, what a dictator.

“I am no dictator, Miss Gale.”

“Um, I didn’t say—”

“I am firm but fair. Do your absolute best, and you will be rewarded.”

“Okay?” What was going on here? Did I say those words out loud? I was pretty darn sure I didn’t. Definitely not to someone like Dean Vasilev.

“Okay, what?”

“Okay, ma’am?”

“Better.” She gave me a curt nod. “I expect my students to give one hundred and fifty percent at all times.” She looked at me expectantly.

“Yes, ma’am.”

“In this school we have a three strikes, you’re out rule.” She lifted one long, bony finger. “You have one.”

“But that’s not fair.” I couldn’t stop the outburst.

“Do you want to make it two?”

I clamped my lips together, although I desperately wanted to call Dean Vasilev a few choice names.

“We also don’t use that kind of language in this school.”

I gaped at her. How could she possibly know what I’d been thinking? Talk about being able to read people. This woman had that ability in spades. Because the alternative, the fact that she could read my thoughts, just wasn’t in the realm of possibility.

“Now that I’ve made myself clear.” She handed me a large manila envelope. “Here is your class schedule, a map of the school and grounds, and the rules pertaining to your dorm and to the school. I suggest you take extra time to learn them.”

I took the envelope from her and looked it over. On the front was my name scrawled in loopy handwriting. Danielle Gale, First Year, Dorm C.

“You are dismissed. Go to your room and get settled in. Dinner is at five, and don’t be late. I’d use that time to study the rules.”

My hand shaking, I carried the envelope out of the gym and back into the hallway, which was still buzzing with activity. I leaned against the wall to get my balance. Dean Vasilev was a force to be certain—just being in her presence had knocked me off kilter. Not to mention the Jedi mind trick she pulled. She couldn’t really be reading my thoughts; that was impossible. She’d probably been relying on years of studied practice dealing with unruly teens. I mean, she had to have known that I wasn’t happy with what she was telling me. Right?

Taking a deep, calming breath, I pushed off the wall to face the rest of the day. Now I had to find the dorm rooms, change clothes, learn a bunch of rules, then make my way to the cafeteria all within a few hours. Awesome.

I opened the envelope and slid out the map. After a quick perusal, I noticed that the dorms were located behind the school. I searched for the nearest exit. Once outside, I stumbled on a footpath that curled around the school. It didn’t take long to find the other buildings. You couldn’t miss them.

There were four imposing stone structures, built in the medieval times, I was certain. Each building was labeled with a letter. A, B, C, D. I was in C. As I followed the path, I had the sense of being watched. Looking up, I saw a face in the second-floor window. The same perfect pale face I noticed during orientation, the one snickering at my distress. And lucky me, I was sharing a dorm with that pleasantness. God help me if she turned out to be my roommate.

No, there was no way, although I knew firsthand how cruel fate could be.

Putting the focus back on my feet, I made it the rest of the way to building C. I opened the main door and stepped into a fairly large entryway. There were two rooms leading from the foyer. One looked like a common area, a place where everyone could gather and read, watch the big screen TV mounted on the wall, or study by the looks of several tables scattered around. Presently, there were three girls doing backbends and vaulting off the furniture. The other room appeared to be a kitchenette. I spied a couple of tables, chairs, and a counter that had two microwaves. The stairs to the second floor were directly in front of me, and I mounted them cautiously. They creaked all the way to the top.

Mumbling a hopeful prayer under my breath, I sought out room 204. When I found it, I grabbed the doorknob, turned it, and went in. The relief was instant when I spotted a petite girl with short black curls and dark skin, and not the icy blonde, sitting on one of the beds.

When I entered, she looked up and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hey.” I moved to the other bed, noticing my stuff had already arrived.

“I’m Anna Hunter.”

“Dani Gale.” I took off my jacket and tossed it onto the bed.

“Wasn’t that show off the chain?”

“It sure was.”

“Let me guess.” She eyed me from head to toe. “Hoops?”

“Excuse me?” I was a bit flustered by the change in subject.

“Your discipline. Your forte. What kind of circus art you’re leaning toward. Mine’s contortion.” With that, she leaned forward, put her hands on the floor, then proceeded to bend herself in half backward, walking first one leg then the other over her head, until she was standing in front of me.

I clapped. “Wow. That’s really cool.”

“I bet I could fold myself into your suitcase.”

I laughed. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“So,” she prompted, “what’s your poison?”

“High wire.” I hope.

“Nice.” She nodded her approval.

Sitting on my new bed, I took all the forms from the envelope and laid them out. I looked at the one called class schedule. “I can’t believe we have to start classes tomorrow. I thought we’d have at least the rest of the week to get adjusted to the school.”

“I know, right?” Anna agreed as she did a perfect pirouette on the toes of her right foot. “At least give us some time to check out the talent, you know?”

I frowned. “The talent?”

“Boys, silly. There aren’t too many of them, so you got to get in there and strike fast before the other girls.” She did another twirl. “Besides, I would think at least half are gay. No judgment. So the odds are even lower, you know?”

The topic of boys made me think about the tall boy with the unruly ginger hair and bulging biceps. He possessed an Olympic swimmer’s physique. I imagined he could lift me effortlessly and hold me up with only one hand. I hoped I’d get the opportunity to test that theory. Although there was probably a claim already staked on him. He was a catch in any circle.

“Oh. My. God,” Anna breathed, eyes wide. “You already spotted someone, didn’t you?”

My face burned. “No.”

“Liar.” She laughed.

I laughed, too. “Okay, maybe I have.”

“Who is he? Give me all the deets.” She settled on my bed, legs crossed, like we’d been friends for years. I liked that. I felt comfortable with Anna. The school year would definitely suck less with someone like her to rely on.

I’d been really nervous about the sharing a room thing. Throughout my entire dance, gymnastic, and ice-skating career so far I hadn’t really made any close friends. I’d always been the outsider looking in on these cool cliques of girls who had sleepovers on the weekends, and celebrated each other’s birthdays with cute cards and homemade cupcakes. I could never figure out why I didn’t fit in, why no matter what studio I went to or what athletic squad I joined I was immediately cast as the odd girl out. My mom always said it was because I was special and destined for great things. She claimed all the geniuses and talented people in the world were outcasts. I wasn’t so sure about that.

Anna’s immediate warmth and interest in me were a welcome surprise, and some of the stress and anxiety I carried around inside me dissipated.

As I described in detail my encounter with the ginger hottie, tripping over him and his disappearing and reappearing trick and my humiliation twice with the dean, Anna made all the appropriate gestures and noises for a best friend in training. Once that was settled, we made our way back to the school to scope out the facilities. I’d replaced my big wool jacket with a black hoodie before we left the dorm room. I wouldn’t need to wear workout gear until tomorrow when we all started our core athletic lessons.

I was feeling tons better about coming to this school. Despite my terrible first impression with the dean, I’d already made a friend and met a boy. Things were looking up. That was, until we passed the Ice Maiden and company on the path.

“Hello, girls,” she said sweetly, like honey dripping from a beehive.

Anna smiled and said, “Hi.”

I kept my mouth firmly shut. My mom always told me if I didn’t have anything nice to say, then to keep my lips tight.

“I like your necklace,” she said to Anna.

Anna preened shyly, fingering the silver medallion she wore. “Thanks.”

“I’m Maggie.” She gestured to the two girls beside her. “This is Shelby and Nia.”

The other girls smiled as well, but neither of them looked very friendly. They reminded me of feral Chihuahuas, cute until you got too close, then the fangs and the foam came out.

“I’m Anna, and this is Dani.”

Maggie looked me over, obviously sizing me up. “Must have been so embarrassing to show up late for orientation. And to trip over someone.” She shook her head in pity.

I shrugged. “Oh I don’t know. It wasn’t too bad.”

She kept talking as if I hadn’t responded. “To be singled out like that. Especially for an infraction so frowned upon by the dean.” She shook her head. “Just mortifying.”

“Well, at least she met a boy,” Anna offered happily.

Maggie’s green eyes flashed with interest. “Oh really? Do tell.”

“It’s nothing.” I didn’t want to share anything about him with this girl. The hostile vibes coming from her were nearly suffocating. I just wanted to walk away.

Before I could stop her, Anna did the honors of filling them in. I had a feeling I was going to have to watch what I shared with her. She definitely liked to talk and was obviously not very choosy about whom she talked to.

“I guess he’s some ginger hottie with a great ass.”

“Anna,” I gasped, “I never said he had a great ass.”

She waved away my protestations. “You didn’t have to. I just filled in the blanks.”

Wide-eyed, both Shelby and Nia glanced at Maggie, who looked like she was going to have a hissy fit.

Her pert nose scrunched up, and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you talking about Cai Coppersmith?”

I really didn’t like the way she was observing me. As if she was plotting one thousand ways to kill Dani Gale. Number one being eye-dagger me to death.

“I’m not sure,” I said with a noncommittal shrug.

“Well, just so you know, Cai is already spoken for,” she smirked. “Besides, he likes his girls…”

Bitchy? Narcissistic? With a stick up their butt?

“Well-bred,” she finished, with a tiny lift of her obviously collagen-injected lips. I swear I saw smoke coming out of her nostrils. Maybe there was a Dani-eating dragon inside that plastic exterior.

Ever the optimist, Anna smiled. “Are you guys excited about the opportunity to perform in the gala?” She nearly bounced up and down with enthusiasm. “It would be so amazing to win. It’s just too bad we all can’t participate.”

Maggie pursed her lips. “Yeah, it’s too bad.” She looked me up and down again. “But then that wouldn’t be much of a competition, would it? There can only be room for one high-wire act, for example.”

Anna smiled. “That’s what Dani is going for.”

“Interesting.” Maggie smiled at Anna and Dani. “Well, good luck.”

With that condescending parting remark, Maggie and her girl crew strutted down the rest of the path to the school doors.

“What a cow,” I said when they had disappeared into the school.

“You have no idea who that was, do you?” Anna asked, all flustered.

“Um, should I?”

“Maggie West.”

“Uh-huh, and?”

Anna gaped at me. “Maggie West, the daughter of Natalia West, only one of the greatest dancers of all time. Ring a bell?”
It did indeed ring an enormous crystal bell. Natalia West was huge in the dancing world. She performed for years with the New York City Ballet. More recently, she’d been a choreographer for the show So You Think You Can Dance. I was definitely a fan.

Too bad she had such a horrid daughter.

“If her mom’s so famous and important,” I remarked, “what the heck is Maggie doing at this school? She should be following in her mother’s footsteps in New York. I mean, I couldn’t even find anything on this place. It’s as if it doesn’t exist.”

Anna shook her head. “Well, obviously, it does exist, or how did we all get here?” She gave me another little headshake, then continued down the path to the school.

I stood there and watched her, wondering what I was missing. There was definitely more to OZ than I’d first thought. Or the likes of Maggie West wouldn’t be here.