The Heirs: Fated Heirs

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

NOW – Semester 1, September

Gilmore Island, UK

Ariana

"Quicker, Ariana!" Madame Aubuert's voice barks out as I do yet another run of fouetté pirouettes.

I'm sweating so hard that it's dripping down the back of my neck. I focus on breath control as I hit my mark.

Again, again, again.

Hit, hit, hit.

"Quicker!" she demands.

Again, again, again, again, again.

Faster, quicker, better. Be better.

"Stop!" she snaps. The room goes silent as I come to a landing pose. Madame Aubuert approaches, her dark eyes serious and threatening. "No hiding behind a partner here, Ariana. Do you want to be better?" she asks.

"Yes, madame."

"Your legs are shorter than the others, your glutes bigger, your buttocks larger. You have to work harder. You have to be better. If you cannot compensate for your shortcomings, you are wasting my time as well as your own," she says, loud enough for the others to hear in that French accent of hers.

There are some murmurs behind me, but I ignore them.

"Yes, madame," I nod.

Madame Aubuert eyes me top to bottom, makes a small, disapproving huffing sound, then claps her hands together. "Again!"

By the end of practice, I am completely wiped.

I knew being a dance major under Madame Aubuert's program would not be easy. I knew it would be challenging in a new way I wasn't used to. I'd be dancing solo for two years now, and there were parts of it I really, really loved. But I did miss having a support always on my side.

I sit in the locker room after and unlace my ballet slippers, rubbing my ankles as I wince at the fresh bruises on the balls of my feet, at the battered state of my toes.

I remind myself that choosing to pursue ballet after...the incident...would all be worth it. The truth is, in that entire year after the failed audition, I got more into contemporary dance. I'd always loved both ballet and contemporary, but pursued ballet so hard because I had Cooper.

Sometimes I wonder what would have been if he hadn't been such a creep, if Josh hadn't done what he did, if maybe ballet wasn't for me after all.

I love dancing, but the pressures of this type of dance were a lot for me. I couldn't help but feel inadequate against my peers in Madame Aubuert's program here at Legacy U. They're all extremely accomplished and really good.

I don't know how I measure up anymore.

I continue to massage my ankles as I wonder if I've made a huge mistake.

There are so many reasons that coming to LU was a good move. I have my cousins and best friends with me at all times. Every day with them is like a slumber party. I'm getting a quality education in a place where I'm not judged for who my family is. If anything, people like me more because of who my family is. There are no hushed whispers about 'criminals' and 'mafia' here. Because hundreds of students come from organized crime families here.