Chapter 2
Victoria's spirits were high as she walked back home down the sidewalk. She'd finished her lessons and Mrs. Fonteyn had said that her solo had great promise. Afterwards, Victoria had changed out of her sweaty leotard and tights into a tank top and shorts, Reeboks on her feet. She'd let her hair out of her bun so it could flow freely in the breeze. It was a hot summer day in Lakewater. Burning hot. Even the wind that blew from time to time was sticky and warm.
As she made her way across the street, she thought about how she had wanted to dance in the first place, the first time that she'd seen the Nutcracker production of Lakewater Ballet. That day had been freezing cold, she remembered, the opposite of the current weather. But still, she loved the thought of the dancers that she had seen. And the Nutcracker was still her favorite ballet--but Giselle came pretty close.
Victoria reminisced these things of her past as she continued her way down the sidewalk. She would be home in about five or ten minutes right after she turned right on the corner ahead of her.
"Hey, Victoria!"
Victoria turned around to see Zach, running to catch up with her with his dog.
"Cody!" Victoria knelt down as the canine raced towards her so fast it looked as if the dog was walking Zach instead of the other way around. The golden retriever licked at Victoria's face as she pattd him on the back and rubbed him around the ears. "Awww, aren't you full of energy today, Cody?"
Zach rolld his eyes at Victoria's voce. He found it so unlike her sometimes. This was Victoria, the girl with the innocent, lovely name but crushing and destroying attitude. He'd seen it before when it came to her and her dancing. There was one time when she had heard someone calling her terrible at-- what was it called?-- that other form of ballet, comtemporary. Victoria pushed herself so hard at that comment, training at the studio for extra hours and weeks at end. It was always like that whenever something came up, and so Victoria always tried to prove them wrong. She usually walked home at four or five, but Zach had seen her bolting down the sidewalk at nearly eight o'clock at night, afraid that her parents would be worried.
"Glad to see that you aren't dancing until midnight nowadays, Cinderella," Zach said with a wink.
Victoria stood up and put her hands on her hips. "And I'm so happy to see you too, Prom King." She found this "prom" ridiculous, especially since they were only in junior high, but considering that Victoria was homeschooled, Zach could see why she didn't understand the point of it. Victoria thought that nobody should ever be crowned just because they were popular, and in her opinion, the people who were always chosen were the ones that didn't deserve it. Zach had been chosen lat year, leading Victoria to the conclusion that everyone at his school was deluded. He was only popular due to his being the best footballer on the team, and apparently, he was, "good-looking". Victoria, on the other hand, considered football to be one of the lowest art forms ("All those uncivilized people crashing into one another," she'd once said). Plus, she thought that Zach was anything but good-looking. He wasn't noble nor elegant enough for her taste.
"You should remember that we met on the day that I was crowned," Zach reminded her. But as much as Victoria hated it, it was true. It had been a budding friendship that was planted in the weirdest way ever.
She'd been out running that day to work on her cardio, listening to upbeat music on her iPod, pondering on whether or not she could add in another stretch class on Friday. Sweaty and not noticing the amount of vehicles around her, she jogged across the car exit of Lakewater Middle School, heard a loud, "Watch out!", and then, bam! Victoria was knocked over by the red Ferrari coming out of the school parking lot. Her iPod went scattering across the street.
