Chapter 6
Things were in a blur after that.
Victoria stood at the barre for a few seconds, not really registering her teacher's words. No way. No way. No. This couldn't be happening. Hadn't this been exactly what she'd been trying to prevent all the years, practically her whole life? And all that effort was wasted. It hadn't mattered. Her mother was going to-- no, already in, the hospital. And Victoria hadn't been able to do a single thing about it.
"Should we--" Ms. Kammie started, then stopped suddenly as she saw Victoria push past her, racing out the door while untying her pointe shoes. She blinked rapidly and shoved a dozen girls out of her way. After stashing her things into her duffel bag, she rushed out the door, the girls making the way for her. The look on her face was absolutely deadly, dread creeping its way through her whole body.
"Victoria! Vic, wait up! What's wrong?" Sheena shouted, running to catch up with her friend, who was already on her bike, ready to go. "Victoria!" She grabbed the handlebars and demanded to know what was going on.
Her friend's face was streaked with tears. Frustratingly, she wiped them away. "She's in the hospital, Sheena. My mom. She's-- she's--" Sobs followed as Victoria gripped her bike tightly.
The color drained out of Sheena's face, going down, down, down, leaving her with nothing. Victoria's mom's health hadn't always been the best, but... this wasn't right. How would her mother be in the hospital? It just didn't make sense. Her best friend spent so much time taking care of her mother, who was always shivering sickly underneath so many covers. She'd always heard from Victoria, Sorry, I've gotta get back home to take care of my mom. She doesn't feel so good today. Or she'd go, I can't go with you tonight. My mom wants me to go and get some medicine for her. What, did the heavens have to make such an unfortunate woman give up more in her life?
Stop thinking that way, she told herself. Sheena, pull it together. If you don't do something now, you and Victoria are just going to cry here in the back parking lot all day. Get a grip on yourself!
Sheena gently said, "Victoria, you can't bike to the hospital. That's way too far away."
Between sobs, Sheena could hear, "I can! My... mom..."
"Oh goodness Victoria!" Suddenly, Mrs. Fonteyn was kneeling next to her student. She put a firm hand on Victoria's arm and helped the crying girl stand. "I'll take you to the hospital in my car. Come on." The mistress looked at Sheena and said, "Thank you, dear. We didn't know where Victoria was going to go on this bike!"
"She was trying to, um, bike to the hospital."
Mrs. Fonteyn managed a dry smile. "Well, thank you. I don't understand why she..." her voice trailed off as she glanced at Victoria, who had wilted in the teacher's arms.
Sheena cleared her throat. Despite the sight of her terrorized friend, who was usually so brave and confident, a question popped out of her mouth. "Mrs. Fonteyn... could I, um, go with you guys? I mean-- Victoria's my best friend."
She had originally thought that the teacher would say yes, but one look in her eyes told her there was no was absolutely no way. A slight shake of the instructor's head told the girl everything. "This isn't something you want to see."
No amount of arguing would change that decision. Sheena knew that much. As she reached for the door handle of the dance studio, she looked back and saw Mrs. Fonteyn's car pulling out of the lot.
