Misty patted her shoulder. “Perhaps your dance teacher will have some ideas of where else you could apply. In the meantime, think about alternate careers where you can use your expertise.”
“Vegas showgirl?”
“I expect competition for those jobs are pretty fierce.”
“I’m not knocking Vegas showgirls, Misty. It’s just that I wanted Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Don Quixote. Oh, why did my father have to be so tall?” Tori’s throat closed up and she reached for another tissue.
Misty sipped her tea. “Did I ever tell you how difficult it was for me to break into the recording industry?”
Tori was taken aback. “But you have a beautiful voice!”
“So do thousands of other women, most of whom would do anything to succeed. I almost gave up, but in the end I got my recording contract. I never became a one-name superstar, but I made enough money to buy this house and retire quite comfortably. Sometimes you just have to think outside the box. Tori, there are lots of ways in life to use your talents. Don’t be like Mr. Saltare.”
“I don’t understand.”
“The man is so rigid in his ideals, he can’t see the possibilities right in front of him.”
Although her heart was heavy, Tori gave her foster mother a tremulous smile.
The wall of Tori’s bedroom was decorated with a black and white poster of an athletic and handsome premier danseur—Xavier Saltare in his younger days. She tore the poster down and ripped it into shreds. The lacerations from his rejection went so deep she would need a long, long time to heal. Of course she’d heard the stories about the man’s temperament and sharp tongue, but she’d always assumed it was the way he molded people into better dancers. Never in her wildest imagination could she have guessed he could be so cold and cruel to a young girl. Saltare is at the top of his profession, so why isn’t he more kind? It wouldn’t have killed him to let me audition. Instead, he took pleasure in humiliating me in front of everyone in that room.
Her eyes closed in misery and she groaned. Kirsten, Deborah, and Jenny had been witness to the whole debacle. It was bad enough to have to bear her best friends’ pity. Now she’d have to suffer through Kirsten’s glee. Tori checked her cell phone to see if either Jenny or Deborah had texted her, but they hadn’t. The audition had long since ended, so her friends must be at home, crying. The feeble impulse to call or text them ebbed almost as soon as it came. I don’t feel like talking to anyone. In fact, I just feel like hitting something. This is so massively unfair and there’s nothing I can do about it. If I could have only shown Saltare what I could do, at least I would have felt satisfied in that regard.
Her very soul was bleeding, and she ached for someone to stanch the wound. Now more than ever, she needed the comfort of her parents’ arms. Tori retrieved the box from her closet, tore off the sealing tape, and sat on the floor to sort through the contents. On top of the items was an old group photo marked “The Shakespeareans—London.” A company of actors? I didn’t know my parents were into Shakespeare, and they never mentioned traveling abroad. As she examined the photo, she was delighted to discover her father posing with the troupe—several inches taller than anyone else. The man standing next to him caught Tori’s eye. He was mischievously good-looking, and reminded her of Raven.
With a wistful sigh, she set the photo aside to explore the rest of the box. A velvet pouch held a few items of jewelry. A great many family photos evoked some nostalgic memories. In the bottom of the box, Tori was surprised to find a sheathed silver dagger quite similar to the one Mr. Mime had tried to sell her. On one side of the blade, the name Gerald Arthur had been engraved. The faint inscription on the other side of the dagger was difficult to decipher, so Tori examined it in the daylight coming through her window.
Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
~ The Tempest ~
“How curious,” she murmured. “Who was Gerald Arthur?”
Movement on the driveway outside attracted her notice. A wraith had startled a wandering cat, who’d reacted by arching its back and hissing. Suddenly, Tori’s fear of demons was consumed by boiling anger. I can rid the world of a small bit of evil at least…with a silver blade. With the dagger in hand, she barreled downstairs.
The cat was up an elm by the time Tori left the house. The wraith had disappeared on the far side of the tree, looking for the best way to pursue the poor creature. Tori stepped on the wraith’s trailing plasma tail, which brought it up short. With a plaintive howl, it turned just as she drove the silver dagger into its center. Almost instantly, the spectral demon disintegrated. A cloud of demon vapor coalesced and disappeared with a tiny pop.
A rush of adrenaline shot through Tori’s veins, and she did a fist pump. “Yes!” She located the harassed feline as it crouched on a branch overhead, and gave it a little salute. “You’ll be okay now, kitty. Go home.”
Tori returned to the house, her mood elevated for the time being. Perhaps the boost was only temporary, but it was badly needed. Now all I have to do to stay sane is to destroy demons.
Chapter Five
Pariah
ALL WEEKEND LONG, Tori alternated between anger and sorrow. Although she pretended to be okay, there was nothing she could do to hide her red eyes. One bright spot was her trip to the grocery store, when she veered to hit a demon of the screaming banshee variety. A cheap thrill, admittedly. Midafternoon on Sunday, she finally sent text messages to her friends, but received no reply. Maybe I should throw a pity party. Of the three of us, however, Jenny and Deborah at least have the chance at a career with another dance company.
Monday morning, her emotions had swung back to anger again. As she walked through the halls, she was puzzled to hear a few of her classmates making mooing sounds. Some inside joke? She spotted Jenny and Deborah on the quad, talking and giggling with Kirstin, of all people. Kirstin! What’s that all about? With no time to stop before the bell rang, however, she reported to her homeroom. Ordinarily she would take a seat up front, but today she sat in the very back row. While her classmates filed into the room, she trained her eyes on her desk and pretended to be absorbed in an English assignment.
“Good morning, Tori.”
Raven slid into the desk next to hers, and gave her a warm smile. Taken aback, she could only mumble, “Morning” before going back to her assignment. Why is he talking to me all of a sudden? Moments later, the bell rang and the homeroom teacher began passing out permission slips for an upcoming field trip. Without looking at it, Tori stuffed the paper into her book bag to examine later. A tone came over the school-wide audio system, indicating the school principal had announcements. He droned on about the upcoming annual school fundraiser and auditions for the spring showcase, but she tuned him out. The final announcement, however, caught her attention.
“Lastly, I am pleased to announce three of our students have been accepted into the Saltare Ballet Theater summer program. Join me in congratulating Jenny Oryan, Deborah Sax, and Kirstin Martino!”
Shock caused the blood to drain from Tori’s face, and she felt faint. Several people who knew she’d planned to audition turned to stare at her, and she again heard the strange mooing sound. Suddenly she realized they weren’t saying “moo.” They’re saying “moose.” Either her friends or Kirstin had let everyone know Saltare had called her a moose and she was being taunted with it.
Although Raven didn’t fully understand the importance of the ballet company announcement, he could tell right away it had something to do with Tori. Half the homeroom turned to get her reaction, and a few of them mooed for some reason. These kids couldn’t possibly be calling her a cow, could they? That’s absurd. He glanced over at her without appearing to be obvious, and he was alarmed to see her complexion had grown ghastly pale. The homeroom teacher continued to talk about an upcoming field trip for the senior class, but Raven was worried Tori was about to pass out. He tried to catch her eye, but she stared down at her desk as if trying to drill a hole through the woo
d. When the period was over, he stood and waited for her to gather her things.
“Are you headed to drama?” he asked.
Tears were glittering on her eyelashes. “Don’t start with me,” she said through gritted teeth.
Tori strode from the room, leaving him baffled beyond belief. Did I say something wrong? He trailed her across campus, dismayed at her rigid posture and clenched fists. When George joined him, he followed Raven’s gaze.
“Someone’s ticked off. You heard about Tori, right?”
“What do you mean?” Raven asked. “I know she’s very upset about something.”
“She had her heart set on dancing for SBT. So she makes it past the first round of cuts this past Saturday, and Saltare won’t even let her audition for him. Apparently he called her a moose in front of everyone and said she’s too tall to be a professional ballerina.”
Gasp. “What a creep.”
“Yeah.” George chuckled. “So now Tori’s nickname around campus is Moose.”
Raven gave him a level look. “Not around me it’s not.”
George threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Hey, relax. I’d never call her that. As a matter of fact, I’ve always thought she’s a babe.”
Up ahead, Tori yanked open the theater door and disappeared inside. Raven bit his lower lip. After his own rejection from The Royal Drama Academy of London, he was sensitive to her pain…and she didn’t even have parents to talk to about it. I have to try harder to cultivate her. She could definitely use a friend as well as a bodyguard.
No opportunity presented itself to speak with her during drama class, but when Raven arrived at the workout room during the lunch hour, he was surprised to find Tori wailing away on the heavy bag. He watched her a moment before speaking. “You’re going to hurt your wrists, punching like that.”
Without turning around, she paused. “What’s it to you?”
“Those are weight-lifting gloves you’re wearing, not bag gloves.”
She drew her sleeve across her eyes. “Anything else you want to criticize?”
He hastened over. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to criticize. I just want to help you get the most out of your workout. Boxing can be therapeutic.”
Tear stains marred her beautiful features, but he pretended not to notice.
“Listen, I brought some wrist wrap. Let me wrap your hands and then I can show you how to punch the bag without hurting yourself.” He set his gym bag down on a bench, and fished out his elastic tape.
“You came to work out.” Tori edged backward. “I’ll just go and let you get to it.”
“Don’t leave. Look, if I’m bothering you, I can come back after school.”
He bent to pick up his gym bag, but she stopped him. “You’re not bothering me.” She pulled off the weight-lifting gloves and held out her hands. “Show me.”
A flush of pleasure followed her words. “Okay. Just, um, keep your wrists straight.” As he wrapped her hands, he tried not to let his fingers linger too long on her skin. The sensation was extremely pleasant, but he didn’t want her to think he was putting moves on her.
“Is that too tight?”
“It’s snug, but I can still feel my fingers.”
“Good.”
He retrieved the smallest pair of boxing gloves he could find in the bin, and slid them over the wrap. “That’ll keep injury at bay.”
As Raven instructed Tori on the proper way to work out on the heavy bag, her eyes kept straying to his handsome face. Despite her height, he had at least five inches on her. He makes me feel almost petite. Under his tutelage, she managed to punch the bag with much better technique than before.
“You’re a natural,” he said. “With your dance background and build, you’d make a great martial artist.”
At the mention of her dance background and build, her thin veneer of self-control cracked. With a choked sort of a sob, she sank down on a bench and began to cry.
Raven’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“It’s not you. I’m just…having a bad day.”
“I’ll get you some tissue.”
He loped off toward the bathroom and rushed back with a wad of toilet paper. “Sorry, but your choice is this or scratchy paper towels.” His gaze fell to her hands. “Let me help you off with those.”
“Thanks.” After Raven removed her gloves and the wrap underneath, she was able to mop her tears and wipe her nose. She stood. “It’s getting late. You go on, and I’ll see you in class.”
“We’ve got a few minutes. I can wait.”
As Tori splashed her face with cold tap water in the bathroom, she was suddenly struck by Raven’s kindness. He’d been extremely aloof since she met him…although that was probably her fault. Nevertheless, why was he warming up to her now? Her humiliation at the audition must be common knowledge around school. He feels sorry for me. Perhaps some of her classmates did too, but few had reached out to her. In fact, she’d felt like a pariah all morning. People seemed to be avoiding her, including Jenny and Deborah. When she’d passed them in the halls, they’d flashed her a quick smile, said “hello,” and rushed off. Neither had given her the opportunity to congratulate them, nor were they returning her text messages. Maybe they just don’t know what to say. The last straw had been in the cafeteria, when she’d spotted them eating lunch with Kirsten. She’d felt so excluded that she left without eating anything.
When she emerged from the bathroom, Raven was leaning against the wall nearby. As he accompanied her across campus toward the dance studio, she was very glad for his company.
“Thank you for being so nice. I had some bad news this past weekend and I’m still having a hard time dealing with it.”
“I understand a little more than you might think.” He cleared his throat. “Before I left England, my application for admission to The Royal Drama Academy of London was rejected. I had my heart set on it, so I didn’t exactly turn a handspring.” The muscle working in his jaw revealed Raven hadn’t come to grips with his rejection yet.
“I’m really sorry. You’re such an accomplished actor, I can’t imagine why you didn’t get accepted.”
“Apparently, I failed to concentrate on my core subjects enough. Stupid, I know.”
“So now you’re going the Hollywood route?”
Chuckle. “I’m open to the idea, but I don’t think I’m the type to make it as a television or movie actor.”
“I disagree completely.” When his gaze met hers, she flushed. “It’s just my opinion, of course.”
“Thank you. Your opinion means a lot.”
“If you’re not here for Hollywood, why did you come?”
Shrug. “I didn’t have a choice. My father retired and decided to move to L.A. permanently.”
“What does your father do?”
“Er…he was in a branch of law enforcement. I’ll probably do the same thing, eventually.”
She sighed. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Everybody’s being so mean, I don’t even know how I’m going to make it through the rest of the school year.”
“It’s a shame your classmates aren’t more supportive, but I expect they can’t see past their own insecurities. People can be very tiny sometimes.”
“When you put it that way, I could feel almost sorry for them.”
“I do feel sorry for them. It must be difficult for kids who are stunted emotionally to be friendly with a girl who is bright, beautiful, and incredibly talented.”
A warm feeling suffused her core. “That might be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Now that he and Tori were talking again, Raven found dance class to be much more enjoyable. The class had progressed to the promenade and side samba walks, which Raven and Tori nailed right away. Her smiles were genuine, and he could tell she was enjoying herself too. Unfortunately, he felt a vague sense of guilt for not leveling with her about why he was there. Although he didn’t know Tori well, he wanted to know her bet
ter. Her ice princess exterior was a veneer meant to keep anyone from getting too close, he suspected, but the glimpse he’d had of her vulnerable side appealed to his protective nature. Add that to the appeal of Tori’s obvious physical attractions, he was in danger of becoming emotionally involved. When the time came to shine light on the tissue of lies surrounding her birth, however, she would naturally assume his friendship had been a deception too. After the inevitable backlash, he’d be the one to get hurt. Argh, I’m thinking too much! He gave himself over to the rhythm of the dance, relishing the feeling of her hand in his.
Mr. Boone clucked his tongue as he sauntered past. “A little more room between you and your partner, if you please.”
Raven suddenly realized he’d drawn Tori in too close. “Sorry.” He relaxed his hold. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’m letting you lead.” Her glance was almost flirtatious. “You seem to know what you’re doing.”
Heat flared within him, as if she’d lit a match and set him on fire. Boone was watching from a few yards away, so Raven fought the impulse to pull Tori closer again. I know what I want. Whether or not I know what I’m doing is open to debate.
“I’d like to watch you dance sometime,” he said as the hour came to a close. “Ballet, I mean.”
“Really? Perhaps you’d like to join me in class. There’s always room for a male dancer, whatever his level.”
“Oh…no. I just want to watch.”
“I have pointe class three times a week at Madame Martine’s Dance Studio on Ventura Boulevard. There’s an observation window with chairs where mothers usually wait. If you’re serious, meet me in the parking lot after school. You can follow me over on your motorcycle.”
“How did you know I have a motorcycle?”
Red stains appeared on her cheekbones. “You’re the new guy. Everybody gossips around here.”
Dancing With Raven (The Young Shakespeareans Series) Page 5