Charlotte’s lips are moving, but I can’t understand what she’s saying. Over her shoulder, I can see that everyone is staring at us.
“Surprise!” she says, and I wonder who she wanted to surprise, although it’s pretty clear it’s me. But I never want to be surprised by her ever again. Her surprises always hurt.
“So that was the news she mentioned in her last video,” I hear someone whisper. I think it’s Kaya. Her voice sounds scarily reverent. News? Video? What the hell is going on here?
“Well, did you miss me?” Charlotte asks when I don’t answer. She’s still holding my arms tightly. I want to slap her hands away, but I still can’t move. The fascinated looks on the others’ faces aren’t helping at all. How do they know who Charlotte is? I have an unnerving feeling that I’ve missed something vitally important.
“I—” I start to say, not knowing how to reply. But Charlotte dismisses my effort with a wave of her hand.
“That’s okay, you don’t need to apologize,” she says, and I don’t understand anything anymore. “I don’t hold it against you that you lied. It’s all water under the bridge. Forgive and forget, right?” She gives me her most radiant smile, and I’m freezing cold when the pieces finally fall together.
Shedoesn’t hold it againstme? Forgive and forget?
I feel so sick that I might really throw up in front of everyone this time.
“What are you doing here?” I finally say. My voice comes out choked and far too quiet.
She ignores my tone of voice, and her smile widens. Her ice-blue eyes gleam. “Why else? To dance, silly. I know I missed the first week, but I had a performance in New York, and Pearson said it was okay if I started a few days later. With my kind of talent, a week is no great loss.” She shrugs her delicate shoulders, and only now do I realize that she’s lost weight. Her collar bone is clearly sticking out, her cheekbones and jawline are sharper. She looks older. More grown-up. And she’shere.
I’m getting dizzy. This can’t be true. This has to be a nightmare.Don’t I have enough problems already? Why does Charlotte, of all people, have to show up here?
“How nice for you,” Mae responds, because I seem to have lost the ability to speak.
“Isn’t it?” Charlotte turns to Mae with the same smile, but I know the expression in her eyes. She’s not thrilled that Mae is joining our conversation.
“Totally! But I think—” Mae stops when Mr.Conrad enters the ballet studio and immediately notices Charlotte.
“Charlotte Hammond?” He looks at Charlotte in a way that I’ve never seen him look at a girl in our class before. As though she were something special.
“Yes. Hi. That’s me.” She takes a step toward him and engages him in conversation, eyelashes fluttering.
I sink to the ground as though I’ve been anesthetized. The day has only just started, and I already wish that it was over.
“You know Charlotte Hammond?” Kaya asks, and I look up. How long has she been sitting right next to me? And she’s not the only one. A few moments ago, only Mae and Jessica were sitting on the floor with me, and now a whole crowd of girls are standing around us, staring at me curiously with wide eyes.
“We went to school together,” I explain, my voice raspy. My mouth is dry, and I need something to drink. But for that, I would have to get up and get my bag. I don’t know if my legs will hold me.
“That’s amazing.” Kaya’s eyes get wider.
“Sorry that I don’t share your enthusiasm, but can anyone tell me how you all know that girl?” Mae says and looks around curiously.
I send her a grateful glance because now I don’t have to ask the question. Mae gives me an encouraging smile. Of course sherealizes how much Charlotte’s unexpected appearance has thrown me off balance.
“Don’t you have TikTok?” Kaya asks.
Mae and I both shake our heads. I’ve avoided social media like the plague over the last few months.
“Okay, wait a sec.” Kaya jumps up and comes back a moment later with her phone in her hand. She opens the app and shows us Charlotte’s profile, @charlottehammond.ballerina. I shudder when I see how many followers she has. Almost seven hundred thousand.
“She’s next level,” Jessica says with a sigh, an almost dreamy expression on her face. “I mean, you can see that she’s beautiful, but she’ssotalented and just seems super nice.”
I flinch a little. Charlotte is many things, but she’s certainly not nice. She’s just a damn good actress. A beautiful girl with big doe eyes who can hypnotize the entire world. But behind the facade, behind the sweet smile and the charm, she’s a monster. It’s just that nobody looks closely enough to realize it.
* * *
Half of the students are in an uproar just because Charlotte is here. I can’t understand it. I don’t get what she’s doing here or why everyone is fawning on her like she’s Anna Pavlova. She’s good. She’s even very good, but she’s also nothing special. At least when it comes to dancing.
Somehow, Charlotte managed to get into every single one of my classes. Her mother probably helped, because her daughter always gets what she wants. And if it wasn’t her mother, it was her father, the mayor. At least she doesn’t live in our dormitory. In theshort break between classes, she explained to everyone that the rooms here are way too small, so her parents rented her an apartment nearby. The other girls hang on her every word as though she’s sharing ancient wisdom. I want to wake them up and tell them that this version of Charlotte isn’t real. I want to tell them that she’s only playing with them, laying it on thick until they let down their guards so she can catch them unaware.
