Free You're So Sweet by Charis Marsh Page B

Theresa asked brightly.
    â€œYeah,” said Alexandra, falling back to match Theresa’s pace.
    â€œWhich way are you going?”
    Alexandra pointed. “I’m going to my normal school to have a private,” she explained.
    â€œOh? Which school is that?”
    â€œThe Vancouver International Ballet Academy? But everyone just calls it the academy. People who know it, I mean. It’s a super-long name, like nobody calls it that but the Demidovskis, because they named it that —” Alexandra stopped talking, realizing that she was babbling.
    Theresa smiled calmly. “Yes, I know the academy,” she said. “I admire some of their training — not all of their methods, but they have produced some very good dancers. I’m going there myself.”
    â€œWhat, really?” Alexandra said. As soon as she had spoken she realized that she had sounded rude, and so she added: “That’s nice, it’s really a very nice school.” She wanted very badly to ask why Theresa was visiting the academy, but she thought that would probably be rude, and so she forced herself not to.
    The bus pulled up to the stop, and Theresa and Alexandra got on. Alexandra walked behind Theresa, unsure what she was supposed to do. Should she sit next to Theresa? Or would Theresa not want her to? Theresa sat down on one of the benches, and seeing Alexandra start to head toward the back of the bus, she patted the seat beside her, saying: “You can sit next to me. I really don’t take up that much room, you know.”
    Alexandra sat. Carefully. She set her bag down in her lap slowly, being careful not to hit Theresa with it. Alexandra had never sat on a bus with posture that good in her entire life.
    â€œDo you know the two students in your class, Julian and Taylor?” Theresa asked casually as the bus pulled away from the stop. “Are they in your class at the academy?”
    â€œUh, yes,” said Alexandra, glad of something to talk about. “Julian Reese and Taylor Audley, they’re in my class … my class has several levels in it. It’s not that big of a school.”
    â€œHow old are they?” Theresa asked, staring at Alexandra intently.
    â€œWell, um, Taylor’s just turned fifteen, I think, and Julian’s my age, so like, fifteen turning sixteen?”
    â€œThat’s good,” said Theresa, nodding approvingly. “That’s a very good age.”
    Alexandra sat there, a bit confused and a bit hurt that Theresa had asked about Julian and Taylor. “Uh, yeah.” The bus pulled up in front of the academy and Alexandra got up, stepping backwards so that Theresa could exit first and then following her up to the school.
    The academy had once been a church, then had been a community centre, and had finally been bought by the Demidovskis. It was an impressive building, with a stone exterior and wood inside, and the entryway had a beautiful stained-glass picture of a female dancer kneeling under a tree to put on her pointe shoes and a male ballet dancer standing behind her holding on to the tree. Alexandra loved the academy’s building, but she rarely looked at it from the outside. The inside was falling apart, with plumbing that was always broken and a roof that constantly dripped so it was easy to forget the beauty amid the daily annoyance. But walking up to the school, Alexandra saw it as Theresa must be seeing it, as the beautiful old building that it was, and she felt proud.
    â€œIt’s gorgeous,” Theresa whispered, standing to admire the doorway before she walked in. Alexandra smiled. Inside there was an onslaught of noise, with little kids running around everywhere, and mothers standing around awkwardly taking up space.
    â€œThe little kids always have extra festival practice during spring break,” Alexandra said, shrugging.
    â€œWhich way is the office?”
    Alexandra pointed at the door through the maze of pink