Bad For You

ten

"And lift!" Madame Dubois sweeps her arms dramatically. My partner Simon lifts me in arabesque and spins me around the room.

"Good, good," Madame Dubois nods. "Now fish."

I fold my bottom leg up and Simon swings me back. I reach my arms out and up.

"Hold it...hold it..." my muscles burn as we hold the pose. I focus on breathing, keeping my back lifted while Simon supports my weight.

Madame Dubois finally gives us her approval. "Excellent," she turns to the rest of the class. "Notice how Simon kept his legs turned out and supported the majority of Aurora's weight in his quad while Aurora kept her back straight and her feet pointed, with her arms were gracefully stretched. That is how a fish dive is supposed to look. Graceful and effortless."

Simone lifts me back up and sets me down on my feet. I smile at him and he smiles back.

"You were good," he winks.

"You were better," I tease.

"Now let's move onto turns," Madame Dubois claps. "Get with your partners."

As I move over to my usual spot with Simon I catch Lucy's gaze. She isn't glaring at me or anything, she's just...staring.

Which is ten times creepier.

I quickly look away and get into position. Still, I can't shake off Lucy's stare. It lingers in the back of my mind throughout the remainder of class. And while changing in the locker room afterwards Lucy approches me.

"Aurora," she says in greeting.

"Lucy," I reply, my voice monotone. I don't have the mental capacity to pretend to be nice. Hopefully she just says what she has to say so I can go.

"I heard you're joining another dance studio for extra training during the summer."

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Is nothing secret around here anymore?

"Wow, news sure does travel fast," I cross my arms.

Lucy shrugs. "People talk. It must suck though."

"What?"

"To try so hard yet know you'll never be good enough," she smiles sympathetically.

My mouth parts.

Lucy's smile goes from sympathetic to perky. "Why don't you just, I don't know, give up? We both know no matter how hard you try, you'll always come up this short," with her thumb and index finger she indicates how much.

I stare at her.

"Good talk," Lucy blinks innocently at me before turning away.

It isn't until she's almost out the door do I finally speak. "You're threatened by me."

Lucy stops. Slowly she turns around, her eyes narrowed. "What did you say?"

"I said you're threatened by me," I repeat, my voice firm. "You've always been threatened by me. You're so insecure about yourself, you have to go out of your way to make sure I feel just as miserable as you," I shake my head and exhale on a laugh. "Because you and I both know I'm the better dancer."