Free Being Hartley by Allison Rushby

to the road. "There is, before your contract ends. They'd have my head. In fact, they'd probably impale it and stick it out the front of the studio. And, anyway, I don't know what I want."
    "Huh. That makes two of us."
    "At least we have each other!" This gives Rory a laugh. "You still don't have plans for when you finish school?"
    I shake my head. "No. I mean, I love dancing, but I love a lot of things."
    "All your 'amazing opportunities,' you mean?" Rory cackles. "I'm only teasing. You going to go into ikebana? That class sounded interesting."
    "At this stage, anything's possible. Maybe I'll just take your job if you're leaving," I joke. "How long before your contract's up?"
    "Another year yet. Fit in with your plans?"
    "Sadly, no."
    In the silence that follows, I think about how I don't really understand what's changed for Rory so suddenly that she wants out of SMD yesterday.
    Rory snorts, grabbing my attention. "You'd think they would have expected a little diva action when they signed me up. It's practically genetic, right?"
    The Hartleys are kind of known for their diva antics. Especially our grandmother, who, at the age of seventy-nine is still something else when it comes to stalking off set, swearing at the crew , and demanding take after take after take, or only one take if she feels like it. My mom, however, prides herself on being known as the opposite—the cool, calm, collected professional.
    "It doesn't help to have Mara breathing down my neck the whole time, either," Rory adds. "That girl is so desperate for my job it's not funny. I know it's hard for understudies, but some days you half expect her to push you down a flight of stairs or something just so she can have her turn in the spotlight."
    "Are you for real? I mean, does the production team know about this and everything?"
    Rory laughs. "Everyone knows! In fact, it's so obvious, they've been pushing us together, which only makes it worse. A couple of weeks ago, when I mentioned I was going to one of Allie's dance classes, they pretty much forced Mara to go along too, as a little happy friendship-building exercise. You can imagine how much Allie loved that."
    "Not much, is my guess," I reply. "Poor Allie."
    "I know. At least they pay me to hang around Mara."
    We're approaching the studio gates now , and Rory pulls up next to a boom gate and a guard and lowers her window. "Hey, Tiny!" Rory smiles up at a guy who, not surprisingly, isn't at all Tiny. "This is my cousin, Thea."
    Tiny bends down to Rory's window, which is a long way for Tiny. "Hey, Rory, good to see you, girl. You, too, Thea."
    "Hi," I say.
    "So, what's the score? Am I last?" Rory bites her lip, her eyes on Tiny's clipboard as he stands up again.
    "Nope. Still got Noah and Lucia to go," he says.
    "Sweet," Rory seems relieved. "Thanks!" she says as Tiny lifts the boom gate for us to pass through. "Looks like I'm the good little Hartley today. That's something, I guess."

- 9 -
     
    Rory drives up to this huge hangar painted in the pink and blue SMD colors. It also has, not surprisingly, the Saturday Morning Dance silver logo written all over it.
    "Subtle, right?" she says to me as she pulls into a spot marked "Aurora Hartley." Beside her are three matching Bentleys—pink for Valentina and blue for Tobias and Cooper. As Tiny said it would be, Noah's space is empty.
    Damn.
    I run an eye over the other cars in the lot. "Where's Mara's car, then? Tiny said that you were only waiting on Noah and Lucia."
    Rory raises an eyebrow. "You don't miss much. That's her car down there." She points out a silver Mercedes.
    "She doesn't have a pink Bentley too?"
    Rory shakes her head as she opens her car door. "Don't remind her, but she's not a full cast member, so no car for her. I'm sure she'll get one soon, though."
    "Why's that?" I ask over the top of the car roof as I clamber out.
    "She's whining so hard for one, they'll probably buy her one just to shut her up."
    * * *
    Rory whisks me inside the hangar.