Spying the Ballerina

Prologue

"I made it!" I screamed as I ran into my house, holding onto my acceptance letter to Julies. I have been dreaming of this school since I started to dance and after many interviews and auditions, I finally know that I made it into my dream school.

"What is all the screaming about down here?" my dad asked me, walking into the living room. My dad runs a clinic in our small town 60 miles south of the Canadian border in Wisconsin.

"Arianna Phoebe! Hello? Is anyone in there?" my dad asked me as he waved his hand in front of my face.

"I got into Julies, daddy!" I yelled.

"Mary-Kate, Tommy, Asher! Get down here!" my dad yelled out to them. I could hear 3 different sets of feet either coming down the hall or stairs.

"What is it, Brian?" my mom, Mary-Kate, asked my dad. My mom and I look exactly alike with light green eyes, brown hair that almost looked black, and 5'6 and I got my love of dancing from my mom by watching her dance professionally.

"Do you know why dad is yelling for us?" asked my brothers, Asher and Tommy. The twins, as I affectingly call them, have a mixture of mom and dad. With mom's hair, but dad's ice blue eyes, 6'4 statures, and the dimples.

"Yes I do! Everyone can you go sit down on the couch, please?" I asked them. As everyone walked into the living room, I took a much needed breath. Once they all sat down on the couch I began.

"You know how I applied to Julies well, I got accepted!" I yelled out to them. I think it took them a moment to realize what I said but when they did, they all started to rush towards me whooping with excitement.

"Oh my goodness!" my mom screamed into my ear while jumping up and down with excitement. When my mom let up I got pulled into my two older brother's arms. The twins were like teenage girls at a concert, screaming and jumping around.

"Boys, let your little sister go so she can breathe and so that I can give her a hug." My father told the boys. When the boys let me go I was grabbed into a bear hug by my father. "Congrats, princess, you deserve this" he told me as he released me. When I got out of all the hugs, my dad told me "I know that you already got into Julies, but you still need to graduate. So, if you graduate and keep your grades up, then I will pay for your school. Do we have a deal?" he asked me. I looked up at him surprised and thought 'they don't know that I'm valedictorian, this could be fun'.

"Ok, you have a deal" I told my dad.

After my dad walked away to work and my mom to cook dinner, the boys turned to me and Asher asked me "Why didn't you tell them that you are at the top of your class and that no one is close enough to top you?"

I looked at both of them and smirked saying "Because I want to mess with them a little bit." I turned to walk away and then remembered they shouldn't even know that I was valedictorian.

I turned back around to ask but before I could Tommy said "Your school called today and Asher answered the call. We were about to tell mom and dad but now we won't because we want to see those faces as well." I smiled at them and walked away.

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Its finally graduation day, and my mom and dad still don't know that I'm the valedictorian. The twins promised me that they would get me a picture of my parents, when they see me up there making my speech. As I walk into the room we have to wait in before the ceremony begins my 2 best friends run up to me grabbing me to take pictures with them and the group we hung out with for most of our high school careers. As the deans and teachers got us settled down and into our seats, the principle grabbed a mic and began to say "well class of 2015, I can't even tell you all how proud I am of all of you. You all have lost many classmates, friends, or family but all of you have stuck it out and are the biggest graduating class since this school has opened. Not only that but also one of the best overall test scores in many years. Congratulations class of 2015. As we begin the procession out to the stage, please do not change any seats to be near friends. Let's begin."

Because the school didn't want single out the honor students I had to wait until the K's to go, but as my row rose and began to take small steps forward, I began to panic about my speech. Would everyone like it or not? Does it sound to self-centered or did I include enough about the school and my classmates? Thank god I had a while before I made my speech and concluded the graduation. When I accepted my diploma and made my walk around the teachers congratulating each student, I had to sneak back up to the stage being the last person in line so when the principal called me I was there to make my speech.

When the last person's name was called and the diploma was handed to him, the principal walked to the podium and said, "And now our valedictorian Arianna Phoebe Kingsley!"

I started to walk across the stage one last time to finish out the graduation ceremony and was thinking about my speech yet again. I took a deep breath and begin "Good evening everyone, I know you all are getting antsy to get out of here and celebrate and I'm with you guys. I had this long and nice speech ready to say to my fellow graduates but you know what? All I'm going to say is we made it, whether you are joining the military, going into a trade or furthering your education with college, I hope all of you go with great pride, determination, and happiness! Congratulations Class of 2015!" I ended the speech with the throwing of my cap and walking down the center isle with everyone else. As we were walking out of the building, families and friends were on each side of us clapping as we went by. I got to the end of the line and found my parents with shocked faces and my brothers with amused grins on their faces.

"Ari, why didn't you tell us you were valedictorian?" my mom questioned me after she gave me a big hug.

"I wanted to surprise you and dad", I replied after giving my dad a hug. I then turned to the twins and gave them a questioning look to which they nodded their head. Giving me an affirmative that they got the picture of mom and dad's faces. I smiled and gave them each a hug and then turned back to my parents and said "Let's go get dinner, I bet everyone is already there." After everything was done and we got home and into bed, I stared up at my ceiling and smiled, thinking I couldn't wait until I started Jules in the fall. I fell asleep to that thought with a smile on my face.