Passion and Pain (Dancers and Divas) (16 page)

“Well, what is it that you love about your girlfriend?” she asked, trying to appear professional, while her hand slipped from the piano stool, causing her to jerk sideways. He acted like he didn’t notice.

“She has the most beautiful smile. And she knows when you need a hug or comfort. The best thing about her is she knows when to tell you the truth. Sometimes, there are things that you need to face but most friends will politely tell you what you want to hear so they don’t hurt your feelings. But she always told me the truth in a way that helped me and didn’t make me feel bad.”

“She sounds very special,” Elena said.

“Yeah, but she’s gone now. She transferred to a school in California and we were going to try the long distance thing
-
but after a while we decided to call it quits. We’re only juniors after all
,
but I still miss her sometimes.” Elena couldn’t believe he was telling her all this. “So anyway, this was my song for her, but I haven’t quite finished it.”

“Maybe it’s about a love that’s never
been
lost even though you’re not together anymore,” Elena said.
“Maybe like,

When I needed to see the truth

And no one else would show me

There would only be you

With the strength to guide me.
”

“That’s really nice, Elena,” Jay said, playing with the melody to see if it would work into his music.

“And how about this?

Time will pass and life will continue

Our lives will change

Our dreams may come true

Um, maybe something,
Win or lose
.
”

Elena pursed her lips. “Play the chorus again.” He did.

“Okay, how about,

Through times of trial, win or lose

I’ll be okay

’
Cause the love we had will carry me through
.
”

Jay looked at her, impressed. “That was great!” He put it to his music and it fit perfectly. “Sing it with me?”

Elena gulped but couldn’t refuse. They sang together, though Elena did so very quietly. She had been so engrossed in the song
that
she had totally forgotten their earlier meeting.

“You know half of singing is confidence and the other half is emotion,” Jay said, briefly touching her hand.”
You have the heart, you just need some confidence.” Elena felt the color rising to her cheeks and looked away.

“Yeah, easy for you to say.”

“How about this?” he asked and played some more of the song while Elena helped to finish the lyrics. “This is really helpful. Can you help me with another song?”

“Sure,” Elena said. She would cross the Sahara Desert for him.

They continued collaborating until Elena finally noticed it was dark outside.

“What time is it?”

“Nine. Why?”

“Holy crap!
I was supposed to be home at seven! My mom is going to kill me!” She checked her phone. Six missed calls.

“Do you want a lift home?” Jay asked. “It’s my fault you’re late.”

Elena thought about her neighborhood and the apartment block. She knew she shouldn’t be travelling alone on the subway at this time of night
,
but it was better than Jay seeing where she lived. “No
,
that’s okay.”

“Can we work together again some time?” Jay asked. “I really enjoyed working with you.”

“Sure and thanks, I had a
great
time,” Elena said as she ran out. She rolled her eyes as she bolted to the subway while texting her m
o
m. It wasn’t a date, she reminded herself. “I had a
great
time?”
Really?
She shook her head. He did say he wanted to work together again though. She smiled to herself and sighed happily.

Twenty-one

“So that’s it,” Veronika said as she threw herself onto the seat at lunch. “The play has been postponed.”

“Yeah, Seb told me he couldn’t find anyone willing. It was the timing, that’s all,” Elena said. She placed her hand over Veronika’s. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. You know, it doesn’t surprise me that Frankie would pull something like that. She was always a little crazy
.
B
ut Leon?
I expected more from him.”

“He chose his girlfriend over his friends. It’s hard to condemn him for that.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Veronika said as she stabbed her pen into the wooden table. “Think you can handle show choir now with the pair of them?”

Elena raised her eyebrows and smiled sheepishly at Veronika.

“What?” Veronika said.

“You are not going to believe this, but I met Jay. Like for real.”

“No way.
How did this happen?”

Elena relayed the story to Veronika in detail. “So
Roni
, your idea of working on my singing was brilliant. Not quite what you thought would happen though.”

“When are you going to see him again?”

“Don’t know. I ran out so fast I didn’t get a chance to confirm that. He may have been saying it anyway, you know, to be polite.”

“Hmmm,” Veronika said. “You know, he could just want to work with you and that’s it.”

“Well, yeah, it’s not like I thought he was in love with me,” Elena said, though deep in her heart she really hoped for more. “We’ll see at show choir rehearsals I guess.”

“Let’s go then and face the evil witch and her apprentice.”

Elena was nervous. She didn’t know how to act around Jay. Should she smile at him? Should she keep quiet so Letitia wouldn’t notice anything?  What was there to tell, anyway? They had worked on some songs together. Big deal!  Elena stood near the doorway uncertain.

“Hey Elena,” Jay smiled as he walked past her into the room. “Here are some times I have free to work on more songs with you.” He handed her a piece of paper with a list of times and his mobile number on the bottom. “You ran out so fast last time, I didn’t get a chance to talk to you about it. No pressure, I know there’s a lot on at this time of the year.” He lightly touched her on the shoulder and headed over to the piano.

Letitia and Frankie were staring at them suspiciously. “What was all that about?” Frankie asked.

“Oh nothing.
He was recommending some songs for me for my dance piece, that’s all.” Frankie was not in her circle of trust at the moment
after her last stunt.
As Frankie moved away, Elena looked at Veronika and raised her eyebrows. Veronika understood.

That day, when Letitia glared at her, Elena simply motioned for her to pay attention to the teacher. When Letitia made comments about her singing, Elena nodded and thanked her for her feedback. Nothing was going to ruin her mood.

At the end of rehearsal, Elena helped Veronika pack the drums away. As she did, Jay touched her arm lightly and whispered to her, “I’ll see you later, okay?”

Elena could only nod, her voice stuck in her throat.  God knew when she would find time to work with Jay but somehow she would.

Finals were only two weeks away
, with
showcases right after that. Elena had agreed to meet with Jay on the Friday at the end of exam week. She saved his confirmation text on her phone, reading it back over and over. Two whole weeks, she thought to herself hugging her knees. She then touched her head to her knees and looked at her books.
Finals first.
At least there were no more academic classes, just rehearsals and exams. But it also meant she wasn’t seeing much of her friends.

By the end of the week, Elena was starving for normal human interaction.
“Seb!
Tell me you’re free tomorrow night. I miss you!”

“Going crazy?
Pizza?”

“Done.
See you at
my place at seven
.”

When Sebastien arrived, Elena wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tight.  “Where have you been?”

“Probably as crazy as you at the moment.”

“We went from seeing each other every day to not seeing each other for two weeks!”

“I’m starved. Let’s go.”

They walked down to the local pizza shop and sat in their normal booth.

“So, what’s been happening?” Elena asked.

“Well, our basketball team got into the semi-finals but lost,” Sebastien said. “That was probably because I wasn’t in the line-up, though the coach said there was a good chance for me next year.”

“Yeah!”
Elena said clapping her hands lightly.

“And I went for that movie audition.”

“And?”

“I just heard back an hour ago. I got the part!”

Elena put her hands over face in disbelief. “Oh my god, Seb, that’s incredible!
A real professional job.”
She put her hands over his and looked earnestly in his face. “I am so incredibly excited for you.” There was something in his eyes as he looked at her that Elena never noticed before. But the drinks came and the moment was lost.

“So, where are you shooting, when, what’s the script like? Tell, tell.”

“It will be filmed over summer, in Florence. The script is great! It’s got a bit of comedy in it, which will be fun. I’m playing opposite some newcomer. She seems pretty nice,” he said.

“Come on
,
Mr. Cool, you must be excited.”

“It’s pretty exciting.”

“Florence, Italy! That is so brilliant! I am so jealous. I wish I could come.”

“Why don’t you?”

“Um, because I have no passport and no money and no chance in hell my mother would let me go.”

“Good point.”

“Oh no, that means I won’t see you all summer!” Elena said. “Will you at least Skype me sometimes, in between your shooting schedule? You know, when you’re not smooching up to the celebrities.”

“Of course!
I have to let you know all the famous people I meet and show you how well my tan is going.”

“At least you get to finish all the showcases here first. Is it getting any better with Frankie in the play?”

“It’s getting there, but Frankie doesn’t seem the same. Ever since she has
become part of Letitia’s flock
, it’s like she has lost her identity. And poor Leon looks like he’s on a very short leash. She barely lets him out of her sight for a minute. I’m not sure what that’s about
.
”

“Tell me about it. She sometimes comes into our rehearsals to watch and then grabs Leon straight away as if there is some emergency. It’s
weird
.”

Elena looked up at him, her forehead wrinkled. “Seb, I’m worried about her. Letitia can be like poison and I hate for Frankie to change. For some reason, she seems to avoid me now too and is suspicious of me working with Leon.”

“Oh well, we all have to make our own choices. If she wants to be professional, she can’t make a big scene every time her boyfriend plays a role without her.”

Elena shook her head.

“How about you?
How’s Anya?
Roni
?
Darius?”

Elena told Sebastien what had been happening in the last couple of weeks.
Everything except about Jay
,
of course.
She was too embarrassed to do that. She had never talked about boys to Sebastien before but then she had never really had anything to say. It didn’t matter. A dose of Sebastien was just what she needed before her exams.

Twenty-two

For Elena, f
inals week was a mixture of studying and trying to resist reading Jay’s text multiple times. But she got through
it
,
which meant it was finally
the
day. Elena’s heart beat at a thousand beats a minute at the thought. She didn’t even care if they didn’t sing or play music or talk. She would have been happy to sit and stare at him. Or better still, listen to him sing and play the piano. She sighed.
Just a few hours to go.

A text from Veronika popped up.
“Exams over.
Let’s celebrate.”

“Family thing on 2nite.
2morrow?” she replied.

“What family thing?”

“Explain later.
xx
”

Elena felt a surge of guilt for lying to Veronika. She never lied to her friends
,
but for some reason she couldn’t tell her about her session with Jay just yet.
It seemed too private
and she didn’t know what
it
was.