I shook my head. “He pulled the ‘united front’ card on me and backed Mom.”
I remembered what he’d said to me when I’d FaceTimed with him, hoping for sympathy. “Your punishment isn’t about you dancing or not dancing,” he’d said. “This is about you breaking our trust.”
It brought a fresh scarlet shame to my cheeks, just thinking about it.
“Maybe Lanz’s mom could do something?” Eve suggested kindly. “Talk to your mom, maybe?”
“No.”
Each afternoon, I walked home from school past the conservatory to watch the rehearsals through the window. Signora Benucci always paused in her instruction to nod at me through the glass, her expression mirroring my own—disappointed, helpless. Telling her that I wouldn’t be dancing was one of the toughest things I’d ever had to do. I admired her so much, and I was failing her. But she’d told me she wouldn’t get involved in a family matter like this.
“You have such talent,” she’d said. “It’s a waste to let it slip away.”
Her words were what I’d always dreamed of hearing, but knowing that they’d stay words, that they’d never translate into performances, or a chance at joining a dance company—that made them salt in an open wound.
“There’s nothing anyone can do,” I said to Ethan and Eve now. “But … I’m still dancing.”
Ethan gave me a questioning look. “What? How?”
“During lunch in the gym.” It wasn’t even close to the same as the conservatory, but I didn’t care. It was all I had. “I need to.”
Ethan nodded in understanding. “I know.”
I swallowed thickly, wanting to be done with this topic. But, since I was already in the throes of torment, I decided to ask the question that had been gnawing at me since Ethan had mentioned his name. “How’s Lanz doing?” I didn’t even try for subtlety. There wasn’t any point, and I was too out of sorts to fake anything right now anyway. “I haven’t seen him around school lately.”
“Um,” Ethan and Eve said in unison, and the distress on both their faces made my pulse skip with dread.
“What?” I whispered.
Ethan sucked in a breath, then blurted, “He left town.”
I’d been fidgeting with my books and schoolbag, trying to make it through the conversation without my eyes filling, but now there was no stopping the tears. “What do you mean ‘left town’?”
“He went back to Italy.” Ethan and Eve exchanged another worried glance. They were so in sync with each other, they already seemed natural as a couple. “Last Thursday. I—I figured he told you?”
“No.” The air left my lungs. “I haven’t had my cell.” Mom had taken it away when she’d grounded me. “We—we haven’t talked since our fight. Why did he go back?” And for how long? I wanted to ask. Forever? The thought made me cold all over.
Ethan shrugged. “He didn’t say. But …” He pulled a small box out of his backpack. “He asked me to give you this. Sorry it took me a few days to get it to you. I …” He looked sheepish. “Forgot to pick it up from the conservatory.”
I nearly smiled. That was so Ethan-ish of him to forget.
He set the box in my palm and my fingers instinctively closed around it, as if hoping it might still hold some warmth from when Lanz had held it. “Thanks.” I suddenly wanted to be alone, with the box, with my thoughts. “Um …”
“We should get going, Ethan.” Eve offered me an empathetic smile.
I returned it gratefully, glad that she understood what I needed at that moment.
She waved and started down the hallway, but Ethan stayed behind, motioning to her that he’d be right there.
I mustered up a smile for him, to let him know I was okay with him and Eve being together. “It’s working out with you two?” I asked.
He grinned and nodded, then grew serious again. “And Mal, this thing with you and Tilly. She likes Eve; she’s just pulling her ‘don’t rock the boat’ routine. She’ll come around. You’ll see.”
“She hasn’t said a word to me all week.” I sighed. “Seems like everybody’s mad at me right now.”
“Not everybody. And whatever happened with Lanz, I’m sorry.”
I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. “Thanks. Me too.”
I watched him and Eve walk down the hallway together, falling into a matching stride. Well, at least one good thing had come out of the colossal mess I’d made: Ethan was happy. And what he’d said about Tilly had given me a small measure of hope.
But what about Lanz? Why hadn’t he told me he was leaving? Maybe he’d tried my cell before he left, but I had no way of knowing.
And the worst thought of all: What if he wasn’t coming back?
With shaky fingers, I opened the box in my hand. Every doubt I’d had about my feelings for Lanz, every ounce of anger I’d felt toward him since the night on the beach, rushed out of me in a trembling breath.
Nestled in the box was a thin silver necklace with a delicate glass ballet slipper charm. A note was tucked behind the necklace. I unfolded it and read:
My heart hit the floor. The boy who’d made me fall for him despite every logical reason I had not to … was gone for good. And I’d pushed him away, told him I couldn’t make time for him and ballet. Why? Because I was scared of losing ballet? Scared I couldn’t balance everything in my life that I loved? What an idiot I’d been. I collapsed against my locker, not wanting to finish the note but knowing I had to.
I stared at the note until the five-minute warning bell rang, and I was forced to grab my books for class. Then I tucked the necklace away. It was beautiful, but I didn’t want the painful reminder of what I’d lost. First Cinderella, and now Lanz. He was thousands of miles away, and I was stuck here, hanging on to
