Zoe rolls her eyes, but smiles. “You’ll definitely like it here.There are only twenty people in our class. No class has more, either. It’s small, but that’s the great thing about this school. It means we all get plenty of individual attention.”
“Have you been here long?” Mom told me that some students start here even before college. They don’t just dance, they get their high school diplomas at the same time.
Mae shakes her head. “Only since September. We’re both still pretty new.”
We leave the building and I shiver, hunching my shoulders as an icy wind sneaks under my coat.
“Where are your things?” Zoe asks, pulling gloves out of her jacket pockets.
“Still in the car.” I point to the parking lot, and the two of them walk purposefully toward it.
“You don’t have to help me,” I say quickly. I don’t want to put them out.
They look at me skeptically. “Of course we’ll help,” Mae says. “You have more than just one suitcase, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I’ll have to make a few trips.”
“See? Then you definitely need our help.” Mae makes a few happy dance steps and looks so pleased that I almost laugh. “Let us help you, you’re one of us now. We do these things for each other.”
I give in. Something tells me they wouldn’t let me talk them out of it anyway.
Mae links arms with Zoe and then reaches for mine like it’s the most natural thing in the world. Taken by surprise, I let her. It’s been ages since someone treated me like that.
I feel a twinge inside. I can’t help thinking about Hailey. She used to be my bestie, but Mom and Dad’s death changed not onlyme but also our friendship. I force myself to put thoughts of Hailey aside before it starts to hurt. Maybe it will always hurt, who knows? There’s so much pain inside me that sometimes I don’t know if there’s any part of me that doesn’t feel it.
“Did Pearson give you your schedule?” Zoe asks, with a quick glance at Mae.
“Yeah, it’s in here somewhere,” I say, holding up the gray bag that the principal just gave me.
“Great, then we can have a look later to see which classes we have together.”
“Don’t we have them all together?”
She shakes her head. “The whole class has theory in the afternoon together. We also have technique, pointe, and pas de deux together, but the sophomores are in those too. Technique and pointe are every morning, and pas de deux is only twice a week this semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the other days we have practical classes. This semester I’m taking contemporary dance, among other things. In those classes, we’re also mixed with students from other years.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“Not really. You get used to it.”
We reach the car, and I tell Francis I want to get my things. A moment later he’s opening the trunk, helping us take out the suitcases and boxes.
“Is that a record player?” Zoe asks incredulously, and I feel the blood rush to my cheeks.
“Yes.”
“That’s so cool! I bought Taylor Swift’sMidnightson LP even though I don’t have anything to play it on. But I just had to ownit, I couldn’t help myself.” She laughs, and I don’t know why, but I already like her somehow.
“I have it too,” I confess. “And pretty much everything she’s ever recorded.”
Mae sighs theatrically. “I think you’re going to be our new bestie. Just so we can listen to all your records, of course.”
“No objections here,” I say with a smile. It’s a real smile, the first one in ages.
It’s strange how easy it is for me to talk to them, and how easy they make it for me. How naturally they accept me. They know who I am and they know what happened. But they don’t ask questions, they give me space, and I don’t think I’ve been this grateful for anything in a long time.
There are plenty of people who would have grilled me right away. About LA, about my parents, which musicians and actors I know—all the things I don’t want to talk about. I’ve met people like that. But Mae and Zoe aren’t that way at all.
“Even with three of us, I think we’ll need to make two trips,” Zoe says as she grabs one of my suitcases.
