You're So Sweet (16 page)

Julian walked out. “Time for our
pas de deux
,” he said, grinning.

Taylor looked around for her mother; she wasn't around. “As soon as it's time for our contemporary
pas de deux
, I'm going to put some green eyeshadow on overtop,” she said. “I think it will look awesome with my costume.”

“I agree. Maybe you could do something else, too, like some abstract stuff on your face or something?”

“Help me when we finish our classical?”

“Yeah. Hey, where's Kaitlyn? I haven't seen her yet.”

“I don't think she's here. She didn't go on for her solo.”

“Oh, wow.”

“Yeah. Come on, let's run it through once more, just marking it? I'm so nervous!” They began to dance the
pas de deux
on the concrete ground outside of the theatre, Taylor dancing with her huge warm-up boots over top of her
pointe
shoes so that the cement didn't ruin them.

Alexandra was getting changed into her contemporary costume when Lux came back, frantically undoing her bun to have it loose for her contemporary solo. She spotted Alexandra, and her face lit up. “Lexi, I watched your variation! You were so good!”

“Thanks,” Alexandra said, half-sarcastically. She thought that Lux was just trying to be nice; she had been wobbly, and had almost fallen at one point.

“By the way, there's a slippery spot at —”

“Downstage right? Yeah, I found it.”

“Me, too,” Lux said, annoyed. “I nearly fell flat on my butt.” She finished getting changed, and they both went backstage to mark out their solos. The curtain that separated the audience from the dancers was closed, and the stage was full of dancers marking out their solos (setting it to make sure that their solo fit the stage, using all the space). Alexandra started to go through hers, weaving through the other dancers with a determination that guaranteed her a clear path. With little warning, one of the backstage people started to come through, sprinkling Coca-Cola on the floor with apathetic abandon. As he passed, dancers jumped back to save their costumes from the Coke.
The downstage right corner, the downstage right corner
, Alexandra willed him. He got there and sprinkled liberally. Alexandra sighed in relief; now she didn't have to avoid that corner for her solo. The cola quickly dried, and the dancers began marking their work again.

Kaitlyn heard her phone ring and picked it up. The caller ID said Taylor Audley. She set it down again. The phone kept ringing, and she threw herself on her bed, giving up. She started to cry. It wasn't fair; she had rehearsed, she wanted to be there, she wanted to dance! She was better than Taylor, and stupid Taylor was there. Taylor was probably doing horribly. Kaitlyn was so much better. Her phone beeped, notifying her of a voice message. Kaitlyn ignored it, her face in her pillow.
At least I'm the youngest. I can go next year.

Taylor waited in the wings with Julian, nervous, but not of performing; her fear over what her mother was going to say if she didn't like the new makeup she and Julian had painted on her face had managed to completely overtake the fear she had about going on stage. “It looks good, right?”

“It looks good,” Julian reassured her. “Freaky, but in a good way. You might want to pull up your top a bit.” Taylor pulled her top up so that less of her chest was showing and bit her lip.
It was Julian's idea, he thought it would look good
, she rehearsed in her head.

“Taylor Audley and Julian Reese, Vancouver, Canada. Performing ‘Sail
.
'” They ran on, and Taylor stopped thinking of anything but the choreography. It was so fast, and the timing was so difficult to keep on top of, that she couldn't think of anything but what she was dancing.

Alexandra and Keiko had both finished all their dances. “Come on, let's go watch,” Alexandra said to Keiko.

“Is it okay to leave our stuff?”

“Um … Let's bring it.” Carrying their bags, they went into the audience. Alexandra headed toward Beth and then saw Tristan. She went over and dropped her bags down next to her mother. “I'm just going to sit next to Tristan, okay?” she whispered.

“No, you're not,” Beth whispered back. “Sit down.” She patted the seat next to her, and Alexandra sat down next to her mother. A few seconds later, Keiko and Tristan joined them. “You just missed Taylor and Julian,” Beth muttered under her breath. “You said that Julian was choreographing their
pas de deux
, right?”

“Yeah, was it any good?”

“Good? Lexi, it was amazing. It would have been better with better dancers, but the choreography was incredible.”

“Lux Amdahl and … Nat Amdahl, Hawaii, United States. ‘Comfortably Numb.'”

“Don't you know them?” Beth whispered.

“Yes. Watch, Mom, they're really good.” The music started to play, and Lux and Nat came on, Nat dressed entirely in black, and Lux in white.”

Beside her Tristan was mildly hyperventilating. “That's Pink Floyd! They're dancing to Pink Floyd!”

Lux and Nat stood facing each other for a split second, their profiles to the audience, and then in a sudden motion, Lux stepped up onto
pointe
,
developing
her downstage leg
a la seconde
. She hit almost 160 degrees in less time than it would have taken Alexandra to
grande battement
her leg. Alexandra leaned forward, her mouth open. Lux and Nat were slightly scary when they danced together normally, but the combination of their intense personalities and the dark music that somebody rather wise had set their piece to, was frightening. The audience was quiet for a few moments after their
pas de deux
, and then suddenly they all started to clap, giving Lux and Nat the biggest round of applause of the night. Alexandra bit her lip.

Taylor and Julian were getting changed backstage when they heard the applause. “Uh, Julian,” Taylor said, making a sad face as she took off her makeup; “I don't think that we won for contemporary.”

“It's okay,” Julian said. “Thanks for letting me choreograph it, Tay. It made this competition so much funner.”

“So much more fun,” Nat corrected as he followed his sister into the change room. She handed him his clothes from her bag and he left to the boys' change room to get changed. Lux began to get dressed as Taylor and Julian stared at her, rather rudely.

“Have I met you guys before?” Lux said finally, once all of them were changed.

“Ah, no,” Julian and Taylor both said together, embarrassed. “I just go to the same school as Tristan,” Julian said at the same time as Taylor said, “I dance with Alexandra.”

“Oh,” Lux nodded. “Small world. You going to the audience?”

“Yes,” Taylor said quickly, and they followed Lux to the audience, leaving behind their stuff, still all scattered around the dressing room.

Kaitlyn finally picked up her phone again. She began to text Taylor;

“Hey, I'm really sick — I got pneumonia, and I couldn't go. Have you danced already? Tell me when you know who got what, okay?”

Taylor and Julian sat nervously next to Lux, who appeared to be completely relaxed. “How can you be so calm?” Julian asked her.

Lux shrugged. “There's nothing I can do now,” she said logically. “I've danced how I've danced; now the judges are going to pick who they pick.”

“They're probably going to pick you,” Taylor wailed. “I'm going to go sit next to my mom. I'm way too nervous right now.” She stood up and left, going to find Charlize.

Alexandra was so nervous that she couldn't speak. When she had finished her solo, she had felt confident that she was going to get something, but after watching Lux, she was no longer sure. “Calm down,” Beth said, patting her hand. “You were good.”

“But what if I don't win anything?” Alexandra whispered back.

“Then you'll try again next year. Breathe.”

Taylor looked at her phone. “Taylor, what are you doing? Put that away,” Charlize said beside her. “They're about start to announcing the winners.” Charlize bit her long, pink, polished nails.

“It's Kaitlyn. She said that she has pneumonia,” Taylor whispered back. “That's why she wasn't here.”

Charlize frowned, taking her finger out of her mouth. “What? That is such a lie. I can't believe her mother — she just didn't take Kaitlyn because she was afraid she was going to lose like she did at Spring Seminar.”

“Really?” Taylor considered. “Maybe.”

“Tell her that I hope she gets better soon.”

Taylor obediently texted Charlize's message, and a few seconds later got a response. “She says thanks, that was sweet of you.”

“See?” Charlize said triumphantly. “People with pneumonia do not text back that fast, Taylor.”

Taylor considered. “I guess not.”

The adjudicators began to announce the names, and the dancers began to walk up, the names of all the dancers that didn't go to the academy meshing into a flow of nothing as they waited to catch their own names.

“Alexandra Dunstan. First place, Senior Classical Women's. Second place, Senior Contemporary Women's.” Alexandra felt her body settle back into stability. She jumped out of her seat and walked quickly up to the stage to get her award.

“Taylor Audley, third place, Senior Contemporary Women's.” Taylor ran up, nearly tripping on the stairs to the stage, and accepted her award, giggling the whole way.

“Keiko Sato, Top 10, Senior Classical Women's.” Keiko went up and got her award, smiling and taking her time.

“Tristan Patel, second place Senior Classical Men's!” Tristan's mouth fell open and he had to be shoved out of his seat by Beth. Tristan quickly ran up, shocked that he had been beat only by Nat.

In the audience, Julian's smile had grown a little more fixed. He hadn't fully expected to win, but he hadn't expected to get nothing, either. He waited as each award was finally called, and there was nothing left. He sunk back into his seat, sitting alone; Lux had long since been called up. Lux and Nat got first place for
pas de deux
, and then Tristan and Alexandra. Julian sunk farther into his seat.
I don't even like competitions. Competitions are stupid, dance is an art, how can it be judged? I wonder what Mr. Demidovski is going to say about me not getting anything.

“And finally, some special awards,” the announcer said into the microphone. “The student awards are all donated, and take the form of scholarships, and we also recognize exceptional teacher coaching and choreography.”

Julian considered ducking outside for a moment to gather his emotions before the rest all came back off stage; but the lights were on in the audience and he would have been too conspicuous.

“This year, we have three student awards; the Willow Award for Most Promising Contemporary Dancer; the Seger David Award for Most Improved contestant who has competed more than once; and the Gageton Family Award for Most Promising Classical Dancer.” The announcer checked her notes again, seeming confused about something. “This year, the judges have combined the Willow Award with the Best Teacher Choreography Award.” She paused. “Can I please have Julian Reese up here?” Julian stared blankly up at the stage for half a second, and then he ran up. The announcer looked at her sheet. “It says here that you choreographed both your solo and a
pas de deux
, and another student's solo?”

Julian nodded.

“Well! What a busy young man. Here you go.” She handed him an envelope, and Julian ran to join the others, a huge grin lighting up his face.

Fan Page of Vancouver International Ballet Academy

Congratulations to our winners at YAGP! Alexandra Dunstan, Tristan Patel, Taylor Audley, and Julian Reese.

As soon as Taylor had stepped off the plane, she felt at home. The air was different, and the airport
looked
like Vancouver. She was the last one to get home because Charlize had wanted to stay in San Francisco for a few days; and she had managed to get a tan, at least on her arms and face! Outside it wasn't even raining, just cloudy. She followed Charlize and Alison to their car, and then suddenly remembered what she had meant to do as soon as she was back in Vancouver. She dug her cellphone out of her pocket and started calling Kaitlyn.

“Hey!” she said as Kaitlyn picked up.

“Taylor? What's up?”

“I'm back in Van now, just got off the plane. I just remembered, I forgot to tell you what everyone got!”

“Um, that's cool, like, everyone else told me, and the academy posted it on their website.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Taylor, I'm actually in Science right now, the only reason I can talk to you is because Mrs. Flowers just went out to photocopy a handout.”

“Oh, sorry — I, like, just wanted you to know I'm back. And you told me to tell you what everyone got and stuff.”

“Aw, yeah, I did! You're so sweet! I'll see you at dance, okay?

“Is your pneumonia better now?”

“Yup. It's so sweet of you to ask, but I've got to go”

Taylor put her cellphone back in her pocket and slowly started to catch up to her mother and sister. It felt unbelievably good to get back. It had been fun to do nothing for a couple days in San Francisco, but she really wanted to go back to dance — plus, she wasn't going to miss all the walking Charlize had made her do in San Francisco. Who really wanted to see a prison anyway?

“Taylor! Hurry up!” Charlize called impatiently.

“Coming!” Taylor got in the car and closed the door. She suddenly grinned.

“What?” Charlize asked, driving out of the airport parking lot.

“I can't wait to start rehearsing
Coppelia
,” Taylor admitted. “It's going to be the greatest, I'm so glad that I got cast as a Friend!” Taylor closed her eyes and leaned back against her seat, daydreaming. Except, in her dream she wasn't a Friend; she was dancing the lead, Swanhilda. She could picture it all, the pretty pink, brown, and cream dress she would wear, the flower headpiece in her hair. She hummed softly to herself as she danced the first act in her head. Eight perfect
pirouettes
, the audience was going crazy. Mr. Demidovski was standing up in the audience shouting “Brava!”
It's going to be so much fun starting rehearsal again.