Chapter 4

“I know it was you.”

Madeleine was spitting fire.

She had been up all night, chewing on her hair and waiting to confront Ophelia in the morning. She had sprinted to dance class early so she could talk to Ophelia before the whole class came. At her old school, Madeleine loved getting to class early anyway, just to get her mind in the right place for practice. But today she was on a mission.

Ophelia walked in at 5:42. Evidently, Madeleine wasn’t the only ballet dancer who liked to arrive before start time. Madeleine stood up, one pointe shoe half tied and the other half on.

Ophelia jumped when she heard Madeleine. Then she put her hands on her hips and said, in a snotty voice. “What?”

Madeleine didn’t think she’d ever heard so much venom injected in a word. She swallowed. This was important. This was her family’s necklace.

“I know you stole it. And I want it back. Now.”

For a moment, Madeleine thought she saw real confusion in Ophelia’s face. It turned to disgust.

“Why would I ever steal anything of yours, freak?”

Ophelia threw down her bag in another corner, then took out her pointe shoes and warmers and started dressing like she didn’t have a care in the world. She bent over one leg in a long stretch. Madeleine knew she’d been dismissed. The fire in her belly grew.

She stomped over to Ophelia. “That necklace has been in my family for years! You saw it yesterday, and you’re mad that I’m a better dancer than you. So you stole my necklace when I left my room. And I want it back. Now!”

Ophelia sat up slowly. “A better dancer than me?”

Madeleine could see the veins in Ophelia’s neck. “Just because you can jump high doesn’t make you a better dancer. You better watch yourself around here. You’re not in some podunk town anymore, scholarship girl. There are real dancers here.”

Madeleine became vaguely aware of other dancers trickling in, felt their stares. Scholarship—she had thought that was a secret. She lifted up her chin.

“Yeah, well, there are real jerks here too, evidently. And real thieves.”

Ophelia’s friends drifted over to her corner. Out of the corner of Madeleine’s eye, Madame Puant came in, followed by Patrick, the pianist. Madeleine glanced back at her bag. She needed to get ready.

“All I know,” she said, “is I’d better get that necklace back. And you better do it soon.”

Ophelia narrowed her eyes. “I’m. So. Scared.”

Madeleine glared at Ophelia one last time, and some of the girls around her giggled. She didn’t care. She’d never been so mad in all her life. When Madame started them on barre exercises, Madeleine threw herself into the warm-ups, trying to use the fire for her dancing. After classes ended, she would find a way to get Ophelia back.

“Madeleine, there’s an empty seat by the wall. There you go.”

Madeleine made her way to the back of the class, feeling all eyes on her. She had already been introduced to everyone, of course. They’d all been at ballet practice too. But even so, Madeleine still felt the shame of the first-day student.

Mr. Barnes, the English teacher, gave her a kind smile. He was the same man who had stared at her at practice the other day. He still looked untidy and a little like he never slept, but Madeleine was just grateful that someone was showing her some kindness. He winked a fatherly wink and then suddenly put his hand up to his nose. “Just a minute, everybody. You’ll have to excuse me.”

He left the class to murmurs and quizzical looks. Oh great, thought Madeleine. The first person to be nice to me sprints out of the room.

The girl in front of Madeleine turned around and said, “Mr. Barnes is new. He leaves class, like, three times an hour. It’s weird. But he’s still super cool. I think he’s my favorite.”

Madeleine was so startled that someone her age was talking to her that all she said was, “Oh.”

The girl smiled. “I’m Kayley.”

Madeleine recognized Kayley as one of the girls that hung around Ophelia. Was this a trick?

As if Kayley had read Madeleine’s face, she said, “Yeah, I’m friends with Ophelia. But she’s not that bad, really. She was just jealous of you. Don’t let her get to you. You’re a really good dancer, and she’s used to being the best. It’s good for her to have to work harder.” She grinned at Madeleine.

Madeleine couldn’t help but smile back. She always liked to hear she was a good dancer, but more importantly, this person didn’t hate her! She snuck a peek at Ophelia and saw she was looking over at them. That made her smile too.

She turned back to Kayley, who had taken out a pack of Twizzlers and started gnawing on one.

“I think Ophelia stole my necklace,” Madeleine blurted out. She swallowed, embarrassed she’d said that to one of Ophelia’s friends.

Kayley’s face scrunched and she just shook her head. “No, that doesn’t sound like her. If she doesn’t like you, she goes cold, not hot. She’d just freeze you out and pretend you didn’t exist.”

It did seem like Ophelia was cold, Madeleine thought. And for whatever reason, she felt she could trust Kayley.

Before Madeleine could reply, Mr. Barnes walked in again. Even from the back of the class, Madeleine could see a red smudge under his nose. He looked terrible, possibly worse than before.

With a hoarse voice but a big smile he said, “OK, my favorite class! Catcher in the Rye. Who read it? Any phonies in here? If you’re faking, I’ll spot it.”

Madeleine smiled at him. She’d read the book so she caught onto the joke. And Mr. Barnes actually sounded like he would teach a fun class. Maybe class here wouldn’t be so bad after all.

After class—a fun one, like Madeleine thought—he called her name as everyone else left.

He looked at her with soft, compassionate eyes. “Madeleine, how has your first day been?”

Without warning, a lump formed in her throat. “It’s been OK,” she said. She put her hand up to her collar, but the lack of a necklace almost made her lose it completely.

Mr. Barnes shifted his briefcase and tapped his hand on his leg. He looked at Madeleine with such kindness that a tear actually escaped her eye.

“First days are always hard,” he said. “It will get better here. I promise. We are all here to keep you safe. You can always talk to any of the teachers. Anytime.”

Madeleine nodded.

“I mean it,” Mr. Barnes said. He smiled again. Madeleine couldn’t help but smile back. Then he turned on his heel and left.

Even though the day had started off pretty badly, at least she had a good teacher to count on. And a possible—she wouldn’t let herself think probable—friend in Kayley.

As Madeleine walked to her room, she thought about what Kayley had said about Ophelia. Her gut told her to trust the girl. But if Ophelia hadn’t stolen her necklace, then who had?