In the spotlight.
“Yeah, girl!” Olivia screamed.
Bianca was shouting. Why was Bianca shouting? “Dance!” I read her lips more than heard it because the crowd was loud and the instruments behind me were deafening.
I whipped around to see Ethan grinning at me. “Ready?” he mouthed it the same way I had before I’d launched myself into his arms. The night I broke his heart.
My heart stopped beating at the memory. He wanted me to let go. Surrender. Trust that he and the other guys in the band had my back. They’d hold me up.
I shut my eyes. I took a deep breath. And I did it…I let go.
Here, on stage, I didn’t have the weight of the world on my shoulders. I didn't have to worry about the studio or how my mother’s heart would be crushed if it closed.
For now, I could have fun. I’d deal with reality when the music stopped.
For now, I’d be a dancer.
SEVENTEEN
ETHAN
Collette was so beautiful, it almost hurt to watch her.
I’d seen glimpses of this side of her in the studio. I’d caught flashes of this young woman who was so lost in the music she forgot to be afraid; a girl so vulnerable and confident, she could conquer the world.
But here, tonight…it was more than a glimpse and it lasted so much longer than a flash. For a little while there as I played and she danced, I fooled myself into thinking it would never end.
I didn’t know why she was here or what this meant but for as long as she danced and I played, only one thing mattered.
She came.
Collette washereand she was too stunning for words. Only music and dance would do. In that short black dress, with her hair pulled up, she was elegance personified. Yet,dancing like she was, with utter abandon, she was joyful and unrestrained. Wild and chaotic and graceful, all at once.
Maybe this was why her mother feared she wouldn’t fit into the world of ballet. She could master form and technique, but beneath all that she was genuine and unrestrained.
When the last song ended, I watched her come back from that place she went when she danced. I imagined it was the same place I went when I played music—that place where I felt weightless and free. Her dreamy expression faded as she blinked a few times like she was readjusting to this world with its limitations and the full force of its gravity.
She gave me a small, sad smile, before turning to leave the stage. I reached out and stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Wait for me to finish,” I whispered. “Please.”
She hesitated but then she nodded and slipped off the stage with the help of Olivia and Bianca.
Offstage was a madhouse as we rushed to remove our gear so the next band could set up. “We did it, man,” Ryan shouted, clapping me on the shoulder as he passed. He was practically humming with excitement and a post-show adrenaline buzz. “You didn’t let us down.”
My chest swelled with pride. I still had to deal with my father but there was no doubt in my mind that the choices I’d made today were theright ones. I’d chosen my friend, I’d chosen to strike my own path…I’d chosenmyself.
Ryan and I weren’t exactly big on touchy-feely moments, though, so I didn’t say any of that. I just smirked. “Was there ever any doubt?”
Ryan laughed as he shook his head. “Nah, man, of course not.” He nodded toward the audience. “Go on, get out there and see your girl. We can take it from here.”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. I headed off to find Collette, shouting my thanks as I went. I was desperate to see her again, to talk to her. I knew I needed to explain everything. I needed to make this right. She was probably still angry, maybe even scared. But the fact that she’d come here tonight to see me…that had to count for something, right?
“You were amazing up there.” I heard her before I saw her.
Whipping around I found her grinning at me, her eyes filled with pride and joy, along with a million other emotions. She looked nervous, and weary, and shy—well, shy for Collette.
Pretty much exactly how I felt.
But I was excited, too, and more than a little hopeful because…she came.
