Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,33

he disappeared—more than thirty minutes before the end of her session.

Madalyn had warned her that it would happen eventually. The instructors didn’t really have two hours to devote to every student every day; and while they would work hard with them for the first few weeks, as they proved themselves capable of handling their own sessions, they would be permitted more and more time alone. Eventually, there would be a weekly two-hour session, with the rest of it considered free practice time.

Danni had looked forward to it, actually. Under Mr. Orengo’s eye, she hadn’t been as free to work on her own choreography, and that was half of what she loved about ballet. Having it happen like this, however, just left her confused.

Lord, you know what’s going on, she prayed at last as she slipped back into her jeans and headed for English class. Be with whatever the problem is; be in whatever the problem is; and help me to keep my focus where it belongs, rather than dwelling on matters that don’t concern me.

She wasn’t sure whether or not the prayer had made her feel easier.

English class progressed relatively normally. At least that teacher didn’t seem to have lost her mind entirely. When she got to Mme Renault’s class, however, everyone was in a flutter.

“What’s going on?” she whispered to Madalyn as they warmed up at the barre. Strange; this morning, she didn’t resent taking the time to warm up again as much as she usually did. It was a good way to settle her uneasy thoughts.

“Haven’t you heard?” Madalyn sounded scandalized. “I thought everyone knew!”

“Obviously I don’t, or I wouldn’t be asking,” she hissed back irritably. “Now, come on—what’s happened?”

“There was an accident.” Madalyn might have sounded a little bit gleeful as she said the words, but Danni thought better of her friend than that. Surely it was just the pleasure of actually being the one to impart the information to her for the first time.

“Who?”

“Katarina!” All right, some of the glee might have been personal and directed at the dancer who had been hurt…but no, that wasn’t fair. Madalyn just wasn’t that kind of person.

“What happened?” Danni was beginning to get irritated with this game, pulling the information out of her friend piece by piece.

“I don’t know, exactly—but she was dancing, and she fell. She’s hurt pretty badly.” Madalyn leaned in a little bit closer. “They’re saying she might never be able to get it all back. She fell hard.” Her eyes glittered. “Somebody said that it was her partner’s fault.”

Danni just stared at her, all pretense of the warm-up routine set aside. Lord, be with them—with both of them, she prayed silently. Katarina is sure to be devastated; and her partner, Nicholas…I’m sure he feels guilty whether it was his fault or not. Be with them both. Keep them. Let Katarina heal quickly—and let them both know that you are in this, as well.

She could imagine how she would have felt if it had been her partner injured. She wasn’t even thinking of Michael in that moment; she was just thinking of how she would feel if the person she was dancing with got hurt in the middle of a routine. Partners were supposed to look out for one another. If that failed—for whatever reason—it was heartbreaking for both parties.

“What are you doing?” Madalyn wanted to know.

Danni opened her eyes. “Praying,” she admitted calmly.

“Praying.” Madalyn’s eyebrows shot up. “For Katarina?”

Danni nodded. She didn’t want to add, and Nicholas. She wasn’t sure Madalyn would be able to understand.

Actually, it was pretty clear that Madalyn didn’t understand, especially as she shook her head in complete and utter disbelief. “Katarina hates you,” she pointed out.

“I know,” Danni agreed.

“And you’re praying for her.”

“Anyone can pray for the people who care about them. Praying for your enemies—loving your enemies—that’s the hard part.”

Madalyn shrugged. “Better you than me,” she declared.

Now that Danni knew the truth, it was easy to see who among the dancers was a friend of Katarina’s—or, as Madalyn had pointed out early on, idolized her—and who disliked her, for whatever reason. There were a lot of gleeful whispers behind hands, some of them even more obvious than Madalyn’s had been. Others glowered at anyone who dared to smile on such a horrible day.

Danni wasn’t actually sure which was worse: the people who idolized Katarina, or the people who hated her. She just knew that by the time she got to pairs class, she was ready to throw a screaming