LITMIR.BIZ

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      As Taylor walked by, Kaitlyn grabbed her arm. “Why didn’t you tell him that I was sick?”

      “I forgot! Besides, you should have phoned in yourself.”

      “Well, you didn’t tell me that, did you?”

      “I forgot,” Taylor wrestled her arm out of Kaitlyn’s grasp. Kaitlyn stood there, trying not to cry. What is Mom going to say? she thought, careful not to make eye contact with anyone. How can I tell everyone that I’m not Rose? she thought, suddenly panicking as she remembered she’d already told everyone that she was. Mr. Moretti called her over as if nothing was wrong.

      “Ah, Kaitlyn, Chloe. The Clara is sitting here with her Mama, admiring her. Come on, Kaitlyn, do it first. Sit on the stool while your Mama fixes your curls. No, that is all wrong. Act happy, you think you look beautiful. Chloe, you try. Yes, that is right. Kaitlyn, study the way Chloe does this, you need to learn from her.” Kaitlyn glared at Chloe, who ignored her and smiled up at Mr. Moretti.

      “Now, it is dancing with the dolls.”

      Finally, Kaitlyn thought. Mr. Moretti had been working on the parents’ dance for the last hour.

      “Chloe first,” Mr. Moretti said. Kaitlyn clenched her hands into fists at her side. The first cast was supposed to get to try first. If he doesn’t stop trying to infuriate me, I am going to kill that man. Or my mother will. She felt a bit happier at the image of Mr. Moretti dead. Of course! Kaitlyn thought suddenly, relieved. The Demidovskis won’t let him do this. Mom said they promised me Rose and Clara! She smiled, problem solved.

      “Kaitlyn! Are we boring you?” asked Mr. Moretti. “Could you attempt to pay attention? I am not going to repeat this, so you had better concentrate. If you don’t know what to do, Chloe does.” Kaitlyn glared at him and wondered if the Demidovskis would fire him for not obeying their orders about casting.

      After rehearsal, Kaitlyn was still angry. Even if he couldn’t really take Rose away from her, it was still humiliating. And now she’d had two less rehearsals of the role than Anna. She slammed her locker door shut and went upstairs, not saying goodbye to anyone. She didn’t notice that no one said goodbye to her either, not even Taylor.

      As she got in the car, she felt relieved. Her mom would fix this. “Mom, you would not believe what happened today!”

      “What?” Cecilia pulled out of the parking space.

      “Mr. Moretti kicked me out of Rose! He said it was because I missed a rehearsal, when I was sick. And he said that it wasn’t okay to miss rehearsals, even if you are sick, and that I should have told him personally. He was really mad about that, because Taylor never told him that I was sick, because she ‘forgot,’ and he said that I shouldn’t have told her because she didn’t have a brain.”

      “That is not okay! Taylor should be in trouble for not telling him, not you. And what on earth is that about you having to come in even if you are sick?”

      “He said you have to come in and sit or mark on the side, even if you’re sick!” Kaitlyn relaxed into her seat, relieved that her mom could take care of it now.

      “Well, that is just ridiculous. What, does he want the rest of the school to get sick as well? Don’t worry, I will go in and talk to Mr. and Mrs. Demidovski tomorrow. We’ll get this all sorted out. I can’t believe he did that!”

      “Thanks, Mom.” Kaitlyn felt slightly bored of the whole thing now that her mom was taking care of it. “And he kept having Chloe rehearse Clara before me.”

      “Well, we’ll discuss that too,” Cecilia said firmly. “Are you excited about Taylor’s party tonight?”

      “Oh … yeah. But everyone was being really weird today. Even Taylor.”

      “Don’t worry about that, Kaitlyn. They will be fine after I talk to the Demidovskis. Just act confident and happy at the party. Where is it, anyway?”

      “Um, I don’t really know,” Kaitlyn sighed. “I’m supposed to meet everyone at the academy at 6:30 and then we’re bussing. Because everyone’s going to Delilah’s to get ready, except the people who have rehearsal.”

      “You didn’t want to go?”

      “I wasn’t invited.” Kaitlyn’s voice broke.

      “Oh, sweetie! It’s okay. It’ll all be fine after I talk to the Demidovskis. Were they weird before or after you found out that you weren’t Rose?”

      “Before.”

      “That sounds like they all knew before you did.”

      Kaitlyn started undoing her hair, scowling. “Pigs!”

      Kaitlyn got ready for the party a little more happily. Her new dress was very pretty. It was green stretch velvet on the top with an empire waist, and a lighter green skirt. She brushed out her hair and put the dress on, admiring it in the mirror. Luckily it went just over the tops of her knees, so it wouldn’t be too cold on the bus. She dug her black ballet flats out of the closet. Looking in the mirror, she considered lip gloss. She decided it was too much. It was just a birthday party,

      “Ready?” Cecilia asked. “You look very pretty, dear.”

      Jeff came to look. “Yes, you do. Don’t you have any shoes with a bit of a heel or something, though?”

      “She’s a dancer, Jeff.” Cecelia said crossly. “Dancers don’t wear heels. It ruins their feet.”

      “Oh. Okay, then. Have fun, phone us when it’s about time for us to pick you up, and when you get to the restaurant so we know where you are.”

      “Okay, okay,” Kaitlyn said. She had butterflies in her stomach, but it was a good kind of nervous. It’s just a birthday party, geez, she told herself.

      “Do you have Taylor’s present?” Cecilia asked as she started the car.

      Kaitlyn dug in her bag to double check. Yes, it was still there. She’d bought Taylor a sparkly pin from Charmed Designs. As they pulled up to the academy, Cecilia reminded her to phone.

      “Mom, I won’t forget,” Kaitlyn groaned. “Bye, love you.” She got out of the car and walked into the academy. She could hear everyone downstairs talking, so she went to join them. Omigod, she thought, Everyone looks like they’re going to the Oscars or something.

      “Hey Kaitlyn,” Taylor said. She was in the middle of curling her hair. “Why aren’t you ready yet?”

      “I am.”

      “Oh. Are you going to wear those shoes?”

      Kaitlyn realized that all the girls were wearing extraordinarily high, sparkly, colourful heels. She’d always wondered who bought those shoes.

      “Yes. Dancers shouldn’t wear heels, they are bad for your feet.” Keiko and Taylor laughed.

      “Yeah, right,” Delilah snorted, adjusting her purple bra. Tristan came running into the girl’s bathroom.

      “Does this look all right?” he asked Alexandra and Anna, twirling. “Gel or no gel?”

      “Definitely gel,” said Alexandra, carefully applying more eyeliner. “Sparkles or no?” she asked, pointing at her eyes. Tristan swung himself on top of the counter and peered at her eyes.

      “What colour?”

      “Silver eyeliner sparkles.”

      “Wow, for sure! Can I use some of your gel?” he asked Grace.

      Grace was straightening her hair and passed Tristan the gel. He began carefully combing it in, forming soft waves and peaks, framing his face perfectly. Kaitlyn looked around at the dresses. They were all colours and styles, and they were all “down to there and up to here,” as her mom would say. She looked down at her chest; it was definitely not “down to there.” For the first time, she wished it was. Everyone

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