The Glass Ballerina Who Danced On Knives

Breathing Tutorial

At dinner, you take my ring off my middle finger/ And put it on the one people put wedding rings on/ And that's the closest I've come to my heart exploding                                                                         The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift

An easel is propped up in front of the entrance to the makeshift dining hall, displaying fifteen large, round tables, each seating ten. I'm up in the front with Avery, Xander, Alisa, Libby, Nash, Adrina, and a girl named Maybelline Montgomery. There are thankfully two empty seats, one of which Max will occupy and one that I hope Cam will sit in. We meander through the other tables and walk up to our blissfully almost empty table with just one girl sitting there. She's gorgeous, but unfamiliar with blue eyes, light brown hair sprinkled with highlights and left loose with small pearl studded braids throughout, fair skin and the most beautiful deep purple dress. The bodice is made of ruffled royal purple tulle, not unlike Taylor Swift's Speak Now dress, the sleeves are sheer and dotted with small pearls like her hair. Instead of pearl earrings, slender fragments of mother of pearl shell slivers sway slightly as she smiles. My place card is to the left of hers, and there's an empty spot next to her. Before I can ask if she would think of switching, she stands up and opens her mouth.

"Hi Trinity! I'm May Montgomery." I detect an accent in her English, but a posh, poised one. One confident and sure of herself.

"Hi May. This is Camden, and he'll also be sitting with us, if that's okay with you." I don't want to force a stranger to have some unexpected company without their consent.

Her eyes flick up and down Cam and subtly light up in recognition. She has the tact to not say anything or fangirl, but I can tell she's fighting the urge.

"Of course it is. Did you two want to sit next to each other?" She picks up her place card.

"If it's not too much of a problem," I reply coolly. "It's greatly appreciated."

"Not at all." She places down her book purse and smooths down her dress. Cam and I swap smiles and take our places.

"So, are you new here?" I've quite literally never seen her before.

"Not exactly? I transferred here from Scotland two years ago, but I was only here for a few months before I took an exchange program to France. I just got back last week."

Two years... that was the height of the Emily drama.

Montgomery, Montgomery, Montgomery... I've heard the name before, but I can't quite pinpoint it.

"What grade are you in? I have no idea why I haven't seen you around a lot."

"I'm a junior," She takes a sip of her drink, a wedge of watermelon on the rim.

"No way, me too! I guess we just don't have any classes together." I pull my phone out of my purse. "Would you be okay if I took a photo of us together?" My publicist has been on my back about this for ages, and it should be a good opportunity for some exposure.

"Oh," She's taken off guard for a second. "Sure. Is there any lipstick on my teeth?" She grits them and peels back her dusty rose lips, somehow managing to stay elegant.

I grin. "Nope! You're all good. Cam, can you take a selfie?"

"Why me?" He whines as he nevertheless takes the phone.

"Because you have longer arms, dummy." I laugh as I fluff out my hair.

We pose for a couple of shots and I flip through them before choosing one and tagging Cam.

"Are you on Instagram, by chance?"

"Yep, I'm maym.montgomery." She spells it out, and I tag her as well, with the caption: Old and new friends <3.