She pumped her arms before using all her remaining strength to jump once more. This time, when she landed, her ankle rolled, and she cried out as her leg collapsed beneath her.
There was her answer. All of this could end at any moment. Just ask her mother who’d had to stop dancing after an injury. For once, Lillian wanted to know if she had what it took.
“Are you okay?”
At the voice, Lillian jerked her head up, her eyes clashing with those of a boy who looked about her age. He wore tight jeans with a rip in one knee and a black t-shirt. Shaggy brown hair flopped into his eyes. He pushed a steam mop in front of him.
“Fine.” She scrambled to her feet, testing her ankle. It didn’t hurt when she put weight on it, and she released a breath.
The boy pushed hair out of his face. “You’re trying too hard.”
“What?”
“The jump. I’ve been watching you. You’re trying so hard to make every element perfect that when one small thing is off, it throws the entire jump out of control.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Sure, and I’m supposed to take dance advice from a janitor?”
He shook his head and pushed the steam cleaner farther into the room. “I need to clean this room. I am just the janitor after all. Are you done here?”
She crossed her arms. “No.”
“That’s not really my problem then, Princess. Feel free to go finish messing up your dance in one of the practice rooms in the back.” He turned on the cleaner, and the whir filled the room, clashing against the music.
The noise pounded in Lillian’s skull, and she couldn’t take it. Retrieving her phone, she turned off the music and faced the boy once more. He ignored her as he started cleaning the floors.
She walked up beside him and yelled over the noise. “How did you know?”
“What?” He looked sideways at her.
“That was I messing up little parts before the landing. How did you know? You’re the janitor.”
He shook his head and ignored the question.
“My jumps were fine.” She refused to let him tell her they weren’t. Only the landings needed work. “If you knew anything about dance, you’d know that.”
He turned off the steam cleaner and faced her. “You know what, you’re right. I don’t know anything, so ignore my advice. But this janitor has too much cleaning to do before he leaves for the night. You need to leave.”
“Wait… you’re kicking me out?”
“Yes, Princess. I don’t know how they cater to you at that fancy academy of yours, but here in Twin Rivers, you don’t get special treatment just because your mom was a dancer once upon a time.”
“You know who I am?” How? Did everyone know who her mom was?
He shrugged. “Some of us turn into pumpkins if we’re late getting home, and I really like being human, so can I get back to work?”
“Cinderella doesn’t turn into a pumpkin, she… wait, you’re calling yourself Cinderella? That’s a little strange.”
To her surprise, he laughed. “It was a joke. You know, something us normal people do.” He gestured to the steam cleaner. “May I?”
She studied him for a moment. How did a guy who looked like he belonged on a surfboard or on a couch playing video games in someone’s basement end up working in a dance studio? It wasn’t her business. She walked to her bag, very aware of his eyes on her. Slipping her coat on, she slung the bag over her shoulder and walked past him without another word.
Ordering an Uber on her phone, she lowered herself to the curb to wait, her mind going back to the jumps she’d failed to land. They weren’t complex, but as she’d sailed through the air, her mind never stopped working. Maybe the janitor was right. Maybe she’d tried too hard.
Or maybe she didn’t have it in her to win this competition after all.
2
Jack
Jack Butler would never get used to the stuck up academy kids coming into Twin Rivers with their heaps of money and no sense of the real world. They thought they had it all with their high walls, state-of-the-art facilities, and winning sports teams.
And maybe they did. Maybe they were truly happy growing up surrounded by people who were paid to take care of them while their parents lived separate lives.
It was a life public school kids struggled to understand. Jack had a curfew because his parents had rules, not