Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,47

demanded.

“What?” Now it was her turn to be confused.

“You’re not going to whine about me abandoning you?”

“Nick.” There was that smile again, warming both of them in the same moment. “You’ve pushed yourself for me all week. I can’t promise that I won’t work ahead in some class or another, but I’m not going to be angry with you for needing a night off.” She grinned. “Besides, it’ll give me a chance to call Michael.”

“You still haven’t gotten in touch with him, huh?” he wanted to know.

“Nope.” Danni rolled her eyes. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think there were demons conspiring to keep us apart. Since I’m smarter than that, I’m just going to go with the theory that he’s been almost as busy as I have.”

“I feel for him, then.” Nick walked her in the direction of her house as long as the path coincided with his own; but when it came to the point where they needed to separate, he didn’t linger.

Take care of him, Lord, Danni prayed as she watched him walk away. He’s done a lot for me this week—and I know he’s pushed harder than he should have because of it. Don’t let him hurt any more than he has to. Advil probably wasn’t going to be potent enough to take all of the pain away; but Danni prayed fervently that it would make enough of a difference to at least let him sleep. Surely Nick deserved that much.

As she trudged toward her own house, however, Danni’s thoughts shifted away from her new partner and back to the one she had left behind. By the time she reached the house, simply imagining Michael’s voice had given her a renewed surge of energy; and after she bolted down the plate of food that had been left out for her and got ready for bed, she called him.

He picked up on the second ring. “Danni! I was beginning to think you had dropped off the face of the earth or something. What’s been going on!”

She leaned back against a pile of pillows, a genuine smile spreading across her face. “Michael, you’re never going to believe it. I’m dancing the Sugar Plum Fairy!”

There was a moment of utter silence. “I’m sorry, Dragonfly, the connection must have gone bad,” he informed her. “Because I could have sworn you said—“

“The Sugar Plum Fairy!” She practically crowed it, remembering only at the last minute to keep her voice down. Katarina’s room was on the third floor of the house and at the other side, but it would be just her luck if the other girl walked by just in time to hear her exulting in her new role. “The girl who was supposed to have it got hurt—and I feel so bad for her, Michael, but really, I’m so excited I can’t stand it. This is my dream role!”

“Congratulations!” There wasn’t even the faintest hint of envy or disappointment in Michael’s voice now. He cared too much about her for that.

“Michael, you’ve got to come see me,” Danni told him. “The first performance is for family and friends—tell me you’ll come.”

“If your parents don’t mind me tagging along, I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be.” When she told him the date however, she could practically hear his face falling. “Oh, man—that’s the day of our Nutcracker, too.”

“And you’re dancing in it,” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Michael groaned. “I could quit,” he offered.

“No—don’t quit, Michael. It’s okay.” Danni squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to prevent the sudden surge of tears that were threatening behind her eyelids. “Someone will videotape it—I’ll send it to you, okay?”

“Definitely,” he swore. “And hey—I’ll be thinking of you every second.”

“Oh, no you won’t,” she teased. “Who are you dancing with out there, huh?”

“That’s not the point. I’ll be wishing every moment that she was you,” he informed her.

“That’s not very fair,” Danni had to point out.

“Probably not.” Michael was perfectly cheerful about it. “And I’ve got to admit, I owe her. She’s been good about keeping an eye on me and making sure I don’t dance for too long.”

“Yeah? How’s that knee of yours holding up, anyway?” Danni wanted to know.

“It’s holding. Still wearing a brace for class most nights, but I think I’ll be good by the time the Christmas performance rolls around. Say, Dragonfly, you going to be in town for it?”

Danni grimaced. “They’re asking the primary cast not to go home for the holidays,” she admitted grimly. “We’re not dancing on