I am not her. I do not possess a natural talent for dance. Everything I’ve earned has come through
nothing less than blood, sweat, and tears. But it isn’t the thing I want most, and that’s the problem.
“I believe that something is holding you back, Chloe,” Isabel observes.
Her eyes are judging me. Watching me. Acting as if she knows anything about me.
“Perhaps it is fear? That’s only natural. But we cannot help you if you don’t tell us what’s wrong.”
“There’s nothing wrong,” I lie.
A lie that so easily slips from my lips. It’s the one I say the most often. I’m fine. I’m okay.
Everything is perfect.
I’m attending one of the most prestigious art colleges in the country. I’m on track for an
apprenticeship and then a position within a real ballet company.
Never stop. Never rest. One day, you will be Prima.
Just like my mother before me. Just like my father always wanted.
It’s what everyone in this room wants.
Everyone except for me.
From the corner of my eye, I can see my father’s hand trembling. He’s itching for a drink. Trying to
contain the rage boiling inside of him. The disappointment.
I can’t meet his gaze, but I feel it on me now. Like fire and ice all at once.
“Does this have anything to do with your minor?” he demands. “Because you assured me, Chloe,
that you would manage.”
“It has nothing to do with that,” I lie again.
“I’ve checked with her professors in the art department,” Mr. Dacosta answers. “It seems Chloe’s
grades in her art classes are average.”
I blink up at him and bite the inside of my cheek. Oddly enough, these are the words that anger me
the most.
Because I have to hide the truth. The fact that art is my real passion. That I can paint and draw and
sculpt, but I have to keep those abilities hidden. To blend in with the rest of the students and turn in
mediocre work so that I never get noticed. So that I never stand out.
And so that my father never takes those things away from me.
“Just tell me the facts,” my father demands. “That is all I am here for.”
“While we appreciate the contributions you have made, Mr. Abernathy,” Isabel answers, “the facts