Dance of Shadows (16 page)

She went through the rest of the week in a daze, listening to her teachers lecture in class, but all she could hear was Zep’s breath as he danced. She sat with her friends in the library, but
only stared at her book. She couldn’t stop thinking about the way her body had felt in Zep’s arms. Even now, she couldn’t help but glance at the bookshelves where Zep had stood just days before, the wood dark as if his shadow were lingering there.

“Are you okay?” Steffie asked, putting down her highlighter.

“Yeah,” Vanessa said. “What makes you think I’m not?”

“Because you haven’t turned the page in twenty minutes. And you barely said anything at breakfast. What’s going on with you?”

Vanessa hesitated. Had Zep really pressed her to his body, his hand sliding down her back? She could almost feel it, and yet now, in the daylight, it seemed unreal. After Justin had left, the room deflated, and all the electricity that had just passed between Zep and Vanessa seemed to fizzle out. Though neither said a word about it, they both knew they couldn’t finish their dance, not then. So instead, Zep picked up Vanessa’s things, his hand grazing hers but not holding it as he walked her outside. That’s when Vanessa realized how delicate it all was. She worried that if she tried to say what had happened out loud, it would just vanish into thin air.

She glanced across the table. TJ had earplugs in and was busy taking notes from her history book, and Blaine was reading, bobbing to music from his headphones.

Steffie tapped her fingers on the table. “So … ?”

Vanessa lowered her voice. “Sunday in the library, I ran into Zep.”

Blaine slipped off one headphone. “What’s going on?”

“Oh, nothing,” Vanessa said quickly, giving Steffie a look that said
shh!
The last thing she wanted to do was to share her secret with Blaine. “I’m just a little out of it today.” And she spent the rest of the afternoon buried in her book.

When they returned, the dormitory was unnaturally quiet. Even the common room was deserted.

“I don’t like this,” Blaine said as they peered around the corner of the kitchen, which was also empty. “It feels like orientation night all over again.”

“Look,” TJ said. She pointed out the window at two girls from their floor, who were running across the plaza as if they were late.

“Why are they in such a rush?” Steffie said. “Classes are over.”

A few moments later, a boy named Paul from their dance class also ran across the plaza. He yelled something unintelligible to Jenny, an upperclassman, who was reading by the fountain. Immediately, she shut her book, stuffed it into her bag, and followed him. Vanessa watched them disappear through the glass doors of the studio building.

“What is going on?” she asked.

Blaine slung his bag over his shoulder. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”

They ran outside and through the doors, into the foyer of the studio building. As they approached, they heard the hum
of voices. The entryway was flooded with students, all gathered around a bulletin board.

Vanessa peered over the heads, trying to see what everyone was staring at.

“It’s the cast list,” a girl named Sandy said. “They posted it a day early.”

“What?” Vanessa said. She saw Blaine already pushing his way through the crowd, TJ’s thick curls bouncing behind him. Beyond them, Vanessa could just make out the small piece of paper pinned to the board, dozens of fingers tracing the list, looking for their names.

“This is so unfair!” an older girl shouted suddenly. Vanessa recognized her as one of Anna Franko’s friends, Laura.

A hush fell over the room as Laura tore the list off the bulletin board, crumpled it, and threw it against the wall.

The crowd parted as she turned, her face pinched with anger. Spotting Vanessa, standing by the edge of the crowd, she said, “I hope you’re happy,” and stormed off.

The room went quiet. “Happy about what?” Steffie asked.

Vanessa stared at the swinging door, confused. “I have no idea.”

A sophomore near the front of the room reached for the cast list. She smoothed it out and pinned it up again.

The students gathered around again, scanning the list for their names. “It’s all upperclassmen,” a boy said with a groan.

Vanessa’s shoulders slumped. Some small part of her had hoped she would be cast. After all, hadn’t Josef told her she had potential? Hadn’t Zep said she was breathtaking?

Vanessa ran a hand through her hair and backed out of the crowd.

“Hey, where are you going?” Steffie said. “Don’t you want to see?”

Vanessa shook her head. She was about to turn back to the dormitory when a girl from her floor glared at her before stalking away.

“What?” Vanessa said, but the girl didn’t turn around. Next, two girls from her history class saw her and started whispering. Vanessa frowned, trying to ignore them, when a hand closed over her wrist, and TJ pulled her through the crowd.

“What are you doing?” Vanessa said, trying to wriggle out of her grasp.

“Just look,” TJ said, and pointed to the cast list.

There, on the top, was Zeppelin Gray, cast as the male lead, Prince Ivan. Beside it was Vanessa Adler. The Firebird.

It had to be a mistake. A typo. Maybe Vanessa was supposed to have been cast as one of the thirteen princesses, but surely not the Firebird. That’s what everyone was whispering in the halls, in the dressing rooms, in the dining hall and dormitory. And now that her initial fizzy feeling of elation had faded, Vanessa had to admit that she didn’t blame them; she could barely believe it either.

“Seriously though,” TJ said later that evening. “How did you do it?”

They were in her dorm room, Blaine leaning against
TJ’s bedpost and Steffie sitting in Vanessa’s chair, her long legs propped up on the desk. Vanessa folded herself onto the bed.

“You know you’re not going to be in rehearsal with us anymore,” Steffie said. “You’re going to be with the princesses now.”

“Wait, really?” Vanessa said. It hadn’t even occurred to her that she would be separated from her friends.

Steffie gave her a sympathetic look. “I think so,” she said. “Just you and Zep and Anna and all of her princess friends in the studio. Like one big happy family.”

Anna. A lump formed in Vanessa’s throat as she thought about the prospect of being stuck with those girls.

Blaine’s eyes grew wide, and he turned and said to TJ, “I wonder if she’ll get along with Anna.”

“Highly unlikely,” TJ said to him. “I bet Anna is mortified. To have a freshman steal her role right out from under her, and then to be cast as the thirteenth princess instead?”

Vanessa watched them, incredulous. “Hey, I didn’t steal her role—”

“Always a bridesmaid, never a bride,” Blaine said.

“Stop it!” Vanessa said.

Finally Blaine turned to her. “Stop what?”

“You’re already gossiping about me! You’re treating me like I’m a stranger or something. Like I’m one of the princesses.”

“Yeah, well you are now, honey,” Blaine said. “So you’d better get used to the idea. Believe me, there’s a lot more where this came from.”

Vanessa leaned back against the wall and sighed. “It’s not like I’m disappearing. I’ll still be in class with you.”

Blaine lowered his voice as he turned to TJ. “That’s what she thinks.”

“You do realize I can hear you,” Vanessa said.

Blaine rolled his eyes melodramatically, making TJ laugh. “She’s just stressed out from the pressure,” he said. “We shouldn’t take it personally.”

Before Vanessa could continue, she felt her phone vibrate. Slipping it out of her pocket, she turned away from her friends and answered.

Her mother practically exploded at the good news. Vanessa had to hold the phone five inches away from her ear while she shrieked. Across the room, her friends exchanged a muffled laugh as they stood and gathered their things.

“Are you guys going to dinner?” Vanessa asked, getting off the phone.

TJ shook her head. “I have to cram for my Spanish test.”

“And I have to see the physical therapist for my knee,” Steffie said.

Blaine gave her an apologetic look. “I have a date. With Tad from our English class.” He gave them a mischievous look. “That Mississippi drawl of his is like eating banana cream pie on the porch with a warm, humid breeze.”

Vanessa let out a laugh and rolled her eyes, trying to hide her dread of walking into the dining hall on her own. Before she went inside, she sat on the ledge by the doors and dialed Elly’s phone number one more time. Elly had never replied to Vanessa’s
e-mail, and though Vanessa should have taken the hint, part of her just didn’t believe Elly really wanted to be left alone.

Vanessa imagined what she would say if Elly picked up. There was so much she wanted to tell her. She missed her, they all did. But the phone rang until an automated voice answered, telling her that Elly’s mailbox was full.

The dining hall was loud with clanking plates and forks, the occasional crash of someone dropping a tray. Vanessa glanced around, trying to spot a friendly face, but the girls from her hall were packed into a tiny table by the windows, and other than them, she didn’t know anyone. Trying to hide the panic bubbling inside her, she walked through the room, looking for an empty seat.

Through the din, Vanessa imagined she heard people talking about her:
Vanessa. Firebird
.
Freshman
. She lowered her head and made for a secluded table at the far end of the room, when she felt someone watching her.

Anna Franko was sitting at a table full of senior girls, most of whom had been cast as the other twelve princesses. Vanessa bit her lip as she saw Anna stand up, her pale hair tied into a ponytail, her pretty face pinched with anger. One of her friends touched her arm and whispered something in her ear, which seemed to calm her down. She gave Vanessa one last furious look and stormed out of the dining hall.

There was a lull in the room when the door slammed.

“How did she do it?” she overheard a girl named Azalea say. Vanessa recognized her from dance class. She was hunched over a salad with a group of girls from Vanessa’s floor.

“I heard she met with Josef in his office,” a blond girl said. “Privately.”

“And did what?” another one whispered.

The blonde popped a cherry tomato between her teeth. “Isn’t it obvious?” she said.

Vanessa found an empty seat in the corner of the room, next to a table of bookish upperclassmen who were arguing about the third act of
Hamlet
. She recognized her RA, Kate, among them. Taking a cue from them, Vanessa set her tray down and promptly opened a book, hoping that if she hid her face, everyone might forget that she existed. But it didn’t work. Halfway through her salad, she heard a tray clatter against the table.

“I thought that was you,” Justin said, flicking the end of her hair with his fork.

Vanessa leaned away from him and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “Please don’t touch me.”

He held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. You’re a landed woman now. I get it.” He sat down. “Prized property,” he added.

“Excuse me?”

Justin twirled spaghetti around his fork. “You know what I’m talking about. Sunday night. With Zeppelin.” He pronounced Zep’s name slowly, dragging out the syllables.

Vanessa put down her book. “I’m not anyone’s property,” she said. “And who said you could sit here?”

Justin took a sip of water. “I didn’t realize this table was anyone’s property either.” He relaxed his shoulders. “So what do you know about Zep?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business. Why do you hate him so much, anyway? Because you’re jealous that he has the lead role and you weren’t even cast?”

“As a matter of fact, I was cast,” Justin said. “As his understudy. Which is exactly what I wanted.”

Vanessa tried to hide her surprise. Zep and Justin, the only boys she was drawn to, for better or for worse, were now cast in the same role.

Justin lowered his voice. “And I never said I hated Zep. Let’s just say I’m interested in him.”

“In Zep?” Vanessa said, backing away. Without warning, Justin took her wrist in his hand and raised it off the table. Her muscles tightened beneath his palm.