Natural Talent, Book One, Day Nine

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Natural Talent, Volume 1
Subtitle: No-Talent Nobody</p> After the Spring Gala, my dance classes became even more intensive. Ms. Aeling doubled the length of our after-school rehearsals, convinced that we would never be ready in time for the Recital or our auditions. By the time I got lunch, my body felt like it was packed in ice, and I couldn't stop shaking. Nicola and Angela assured me this was normal and I'd eventually become strong enough to not suffer from either, but I was pretty sure they were pulling my leg.

In technical theater class, we were allowed to work on whatever team we wanted for the Seniors Performance and the Recital. Miguel, Michael, and I took over the set design team again. By the time I found the guys on the stage, Miguel was already sifting through the department notes and working out his designs. Michael watched him, but there was a funny look on his face. It reminded me of the look on my own face as I washed my face after returning from Milhouse. Miguel didn't notice either one of us as he flipped back and forth in his sketchbook to add more detail to each set.

Michael dragged me over to the edge of the stage and dangled his legs into the orchestra pit. I sat beside him with my legs crossed, still mindful of my old violin ensemble's threat. "Is it just me, or is this nowhere near as fun as it was at the beginning of the year?"

"Why do you say that?" I hadn't noticed anything different, but I didn't know all the ins and outs around here, either.

"Maybe it's just me, then. I just think it's hard to work with Miguel right now." I looked over at the artist, hard at work on more sketches, and I couldn't understand why Michael was having trouble with Miguel, until I realized he wasn't having trouble with Miguel. He was having trouble with Miguel leaving. "It's going to be weird not working with him next year, not watching him turn out an entire performance's worth of sketches in an afternoon. I won't get to help turn his sketches into real sets."

"Yeah, it will be, but he's too good to not be at Milhouse. It's selfish of us to want to keep him here." I surprised myself by blurting out the feeling I'd been wrestling with.

Michael gave me that great big brother smile that I was starting to think he reserved just for me. "It is...but I guess we'll muddle through somehow."

"Does this mean you're going to take technical theater next year?" I asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "This has been a blast. It makes things a lot easier on an actor if he knows what's going on and why. It makes us question fewer things becasue we understand why things haver to be the way they are."

"But...?"

"But I may not have an elective spot open for it again."

My heart broke. Technical theater was my secondary track, so I'd be in this class regardless. But I was slowly realizing that I'd have to face it next year without the two people who'd made it so much fun for me. I guess i lost control of my emotions because Michael wiped away a tear I didn't realize had escaped. "It's going to be okay, Lindy. We'll see Miguel at First Fridays, and I'll still be sitting with you guys at lunch. Everything will be fine, you'll see.

I could see the logic in what Michael was saying, but...

"It won't be the same," he finished my unspoken thought for me. "But if things were always the same, we'd get bored, and nothing would ever get done."

"Hey, guys, come check these out!" Miguel had his sketches finished to the point where he was willing to share them with us.

Michael half-smiled at me, "Think you can handle this?"

I had some of my bravado back in place, "I don't know. Can you?" He pulled me to my feet and we walked back over to MIguel.

There were far fewer sets required for the two performances, and Miguel had taken the opportunity to focus on details. The sketches were simple, but still wonderful. "What do you guys think?"

I didn't know what I thought about his designs, but I was pretty sure I knew that I was going to miss him fiercely next year.

The insufferably shy Michael stepped aside for his more confident side, "These are great, Miguel! I look forward to performing in the recital."

Miguel blushed at the compliment.

==

Ms. Lemert took over the freshman dance class shortly after the Spring Gala so that Ms. Aeling could focus on the seniors in the advanced class who were trying to put together their jazz piece. I was finally catching on to the tap dance, thanks to Angela. Life as a dancer in training was nearly perfect.

During our rehearsal break one morning, Ms. Lemert pulled me aside, "I wanted to talk to you about the recital, Lindy dear."

My mouth went dry. Whenever Ms. Aeling was about to throw me out of class or a performance, this was exactly how the conversation started...and now Ms. Lemert was starting like that with me. I was certain that somehow I was getting kicked out of the End of Year Recital. Except Ms. Lemert had the kindness to do it in private, unlike Ms. Aeling who delighted in kicking me around in public.

"Your father and I have been talking."

Great, just what I needed. Ms. Lemert had told my father she was kicking me out of the recital! Maybe they were talking about inviting me to not come back to Broughton next year. As a performer, I really didn't belong here, but all of my friends were here. I didn't want to leave!

"We thought it might be nice to have the two of you perform a piece together in the recital. What do you think?"

My world came to a grinding halt. This wasn't at all what I was expecting.

"My father?"

"Yes, he'll play his violin. You'll dance. It will be quite the performance!" I could tell from the tone of her voice that Ms. Lemert was quite pleased with her plan. I'm sure my father thought it was a wonderful idea, too. But I'd spent most of my life as Matthew Stanton's daughter, and I'd spent the last couple of months as his privileged daughter. I really didn't need the entire school seeing us perform together when I'd just heard an ugly rumor floating around the school that suggested I might be some sort of talented dancer. It would be the end of my hope for anything resembling a normal life at Broughton.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Lemert, but I just can't."

"Why not, dear?"

"My father is one of the best violinists in the country. You can't ask me to put one semester of dance training next to that." It sounded like a reasonable excuse.

"Lindy, you may not understand this, but you are a natural dancer. You're far more skilled than most of your classmates. In fact, much of what you bring to your dancing puts quite a few members of the intermediate class to shame. You are good, and need to accept that." I blushed, taken aback by her directness. "Now, I think showing off your gift next to your father's would be a wonderful way to show off what the school inherited when the Stantons got here, but ultimately the choice is yours." She walked back toward the center of the room to get rehearsal started.

Glaring at the floor, I slinked back to rehearsal. I didn't want to do a performance with my father. I wasn't going to let my favorite teacher compliment me into, either, even if I was feeling completely flattered at the moment.

==

To her credit, Ms. Lemert didn't ask about the joint performance with my father again. She really did leave the decision to me.

My parents were an entirely different story. Dad tried to talk me into the piece at every single meal. Mom begged me to do it, just to make my father happy. Every time I passed my father's office, he was practicing. He'd notice me walk by and ask what i thought of the piece. I'd just walk on upstairs and slam the door to my room.

I understood that it meant a lot to my father, but he had no idea what he was asking.

==

My father was still trying to talk me into the joint performance when we got to school Monday morning. I was far too happy to escape him and race for my social studies class, where we were trying to put together a debate on the teacher's very unclear topic.

I lingered a bit too long in the dressing room before freshman dance. Angela was just finishing sewing a new ribbon onto her pointe shoe when I headed for the door. "Hey, wait up. I'll walk with you."

We walked silently the short distance to the large studio where the freshman practiced. Angela gave me a concerned look for a moment before she headed on; I just shrugged it off and headed into the studio.

At lunch, I sullenly stabbed at my salad, spearing a poor, defenseless radish. Joe sat down beside me, "Did it do something to offend you? Should I fear for my safety?"

"No," I half-chuckled at his tone.

"Would you like to talk about it?" He offered. I shook my head. "Let me guess," he continued anyway, "either something has happened in dance class, or your dad has done something. Am I close?" I speared the radish again, hitting it with suck force that the fork tines rang off the plate. "Okay, who was it?"

"Both," I mumbled.

"Both? How does that work?"

I put the poor radish out of its memory and bit it in half. "Ms. Lemert and my father want me to do a joint performance with him at the recital."

Joe nodded, "The famous performer and his talented offspring."

"Yeah."

"It's not like you can say no, Lindy. At least...I never could." He chuckled.

"I shouldn't be here at all! And I shouldn't be anywhere near my father when he's on stage." I had to fight to keep from shouting.

"Why not? Angela says you do pretty well in rehearsal."

My friends were now talking about me behind my back. It occurred to me that Angela could have been the one spreading the vicious rumor about my dancing abilities. "Because he's Matthew Stanton, and I'm just Lindy."

Joe poked my nose, "You aren't 'just Lindy'. You don't know it, but Michael and I stop by sometimes to watch the dance department rehearse after school." I blushed and felt the need to get away. I think Joe sensed that, because he covered my hand firmly. "Angela is right. You really do a great job of keeping up with everyone. I think you're even better than those stupid Ducks." I started to protest, but his free hand landed one finger on my lips. "Maybe you should seriously consider performing with your father. I know I'd love to see that piece."

I blushed again, but Joe had turned back to his sandwich. Soon, the others were filling up the table, and I sat there in a sullen silence while Joe was his normal jovial self.

=

By mid-April, most of my classmates had heard back from the summer programs they had auditioned for. The air in the dressing room was stuffy over the next week as everyone got their acceptance and rejection letters.

Angela landed her internship and was frantically trying to take care of her paperwork and her passport. She was so excited that she would randomly break into a fling when we were working on the tap piece for the recital.

Nicola received acceptance letters from every program she auditioned for. She kept them neatly folded in her binder, and pulled them out during lunch. "I think I'm going to do this one again." She handed me her acceptance letter from one of the New York programs that had invited her to audition again. "It was a great program last year. Good people. Challenging work." She grinned, "Plus Daniil is participating in a workshop there this summer! He's promised to take me on a tour of his favorite places in the city."

"Wow! He must be really familiar with New York," I was impressed.

"He spent a lot of time there on this tour he just got home from, and spends most of his summers there," Nicola explained. "It should be a lot of fun!"

I noticed that amid the cheering and crying girls, Yoli and Sasha were doing neither. Kat, on the other hand, was bouncing between quite happy when her friends weren't around and somber when they were. It quickly got out that Yoli and Sasha had both been rejected from the two programs they'd auditioned for, neither of which was the program Yoli bragged about studying with during past summers. Kat had been accepted to a top program in the midwest, and Yoli had torn up her acceptance letter and forbidden her to go. Like a good little lemming, Kat had agreed and was now heartbroken over the decision.

==

My academic classes were nearly forgotten in all the running around that had become technical theater class and the nearly twenty hours of rehearsal I was stuck in every single week. I was pretty sure that the only thing keeping my grade above passing in either class was the fact that Angela wouldn't let me skip out on tutoring, no matter how late it was, no matter how tired we were. I hated her for it every night, and loved her for it the next morning when I was able to turn in my homework.

The last week of April was crazy as the technical theater class worked tirelessly to make sure everything was perfect for the seniors. My days ran long between school, after school rehearsals, and tech rehearsals.

My favorite part of the rehearsals was a pair of pianists, both very talented. They played a piece together that evolved into a duel between the pianists. It was absolutely incredible! The two left the stage together after every rehearsal, laughing and talking about what each one brought to the duel. I could tell they were going to miss each other after they graduated.

One night, I was moving props between the various tables and trying to help the stage crew when I noticed Nicola watching the pianists from the wings.

"They're pretty good, right?" I whispered.

She jumped, startled by my sudden appearance. "Yes. But he always has been."

"'He'?" Both seniors were still on stage, so I wasn't sure which one she meant. They looked so similar- only slightly different heights, nearly identical builds, blond hair.

"My brother," her pride shone through her voice. The two had just finished practicing and were headed off-stage. "Come on, I'll introduce you."

She didn't even have to stop them. The taller of the two guys swept her up in a hug, "How are you, little sister?"

"Just fine." He was hugging her so tightly she had to whisper her response. "Put me down. I want to introduce you to someone."

"Is she cute?" he asked as he set her down. I'd always thought of Nicola as tall, but next to her brother, she seemed tiny. She spun around to face me. "Ooh, I hope this is the person you want me to meet, because she is cute!"

He reminded me of Joe, only he was more direct.

"Please excuse him. He's a bit of a dork. Lindy, this is my brother Daniil. Daniil, this is my friend Lindy."

He took my hand. "Pleased to meet you." I wondered if I was expected to curtsy, respond, or perform some combination of the two.

His friend rushed past us, "I have to get to my practical. Catch you later, man!" Daniil waved.

"How does it feel to be back in school after being away on tour?" I was amazed at myself for even being able to get out a coherent sentence, much less a relevant one.

"It's great! No demanding timetable. I can play for fun. And I get to do things I enjoy during my free time."

"Oh?" I asked, "Like what?"

"Like asking pretty girls to the Spring Formal." Nicola slapped his arm. "What, does she have a date already? A boyfriend! I bet she has a boyfriend. Cute girls always have a boyfriend!"

Nicola rolled her eyes, "Thanks."

"I didn't mean it like that. Boys aren't allowed to like you, because then I'll have to find some thugs to rough them up. My sister's too good for any of the guys on this planet."

"Nice save," Nicola replied sharply.

"So, anyway, does the pretty girl have a reason she can't go to the Spring Formal with a senior newly returned from a whirlwind tour of the country?" I shook my head. "Great! We'll go with Nicola and her date, so I'll let you two arrange all the details." He smiled, a dazzling display that put Michael's best smile to shame, and walked out of the stage area.

"Lindy, I'm so sorry." Nicola apologized. "I never really know what he's going to do next."

"No, it's fine, really." I had a handsome, friendly date for the Spring Formal who wasn't a close friend. As far as I was concerned, this was a step in the right direction.

"I honestly figured Joe would have asked you by now, anyway. He seems to enjoy your company a little too much."

"I keep trying to tell you, Nicola. It's not like that at all!" I knew Joe Langford had no interest in me as a girlfriend. As near as I could tell, he was having so much fun chasing girls that I was positive he'd fall apart trying to figure out what to do with one if he caught her.

"If you say so, Lindy," Nicola walked off in the direction her brother had left.

I finished putting away the props and headed out for the night myself.

==

The Senior Performance was a one-night show. The majority of the seniors performed in groups of varying numbers, with only a few of them giving solo performances. They were absolutely fantastic! I could see why so many kids wanted to come to Broughton, just to become one of these well-trained, polished performers.

Daniil and his best friend were the highlight of the Senior Performance. From my perch backstage, I could see quite a bit of the audience on their feet after the two were finished. There was a lot of clapping and whistling from the seniors and tech crew backstage. It was thunderous.

After the show, the Brinkovs invited us all to a dinner to celebrate Daniil's final performance as a Broughton student and to welcome him home from his tour. We ate and laughed and talked all the way through to morning before we all crashed out in Nicola and Daniil's living room.

==

May assaulted Broughton with its warm breezes and bright sun. I wished the studios and theater had windows so I could stare out them.

Dance classes had us alternating between Ms. Aeling for jazz and tap, and Ms. Lemert for ballet.

Ms. Aeling was completely vicious when she caught me daydreaming. "Miss Stanton, you need to turn out." She poked me with a stick that had recently appeared in the studio, presumably for the sheer purpose of torturing me further. Angela and I finally decided that she brought in the stick as a last resort to try to drive me from the dance program, much like one would rive cattle to market. Our analogy almost worked, too, if it weren't for the fact that cattle are wanted.

I didn't let Ms. Aeling or her stick deter me.

Ms. Lemert made a few more attempts to persuade me to perform with my father in the recital, but I wouldn't budge. While I was slowly making my peace with being Matthew Stanton's daughter, even if I wouldn't admit it, I really wasn't ready to be presented to the local performing arts scene as Matthew Stanton's brilliant daughter.

Ballet was the harder class now that I was more comfortable with jazz and tap. Every attempt at a brise made me question the idea that I was some dancing genius. As I nearly fell out of a simple double pirouette I'd done several dozen times, IO was sure I wasn't good enough to perform alongside my father.

Ms. Lemert smiled gently at me as I stormed toward the nearest barre, "Lindy dear, remember to pull up on the opposite side."

I tried not to growl. I knew that I hadn't been holding my core at all through that turn. I didn't need to be reminded.

"Looks like Daddy's little princess isn't as good as she thinks she is," Sasha taunted from not too far away.

"That would be an accomplishment," I replied. "I don't think I'm any good at this at all."

"I'm sure that's not what you told Daniil Brinkov to get him to take you to the Spring Formal."

I looked at her in surprise. "How did you know about-"

"About the princess going to the ball with a senior? This school is too small to keep any secrets." Sasha snorted, and the sound reminded me of a pig. "Maybe we'll have to let it drop how badly you dance, and we'll see if you still have a date."

"Sasha, why aren't you with your group?" Ms. Lemert had stopped the music. Sasha shot me a dirty look and took her place in a group that contained the other Ducks.

I reminded myself to not let Sasha get to me, but with the morning I was having, that was proving to be very difficult.

==

The next afternoon, Angela and I met Nicola at her house to prepare for the Spring Formal. We helped each other with hair and jewelry. Angela insisted on doing my make-up, which was fine with me. It hadn't occurred to me to wear make-up before because of soccer. It was just too inconvenient to put it on, only to have to wipe it off before practice and put it on again after practice.

Now, it seemed expected. I wasn't sure if that was because I was in high school, or because I was in a performing arts high school.

We ate a light dinner with Daniil before everyone changed into their formal clothes. Nicola and her brother both looked so regal, so distinguished. I felt rather frumpy as Daniil carefully pinned a pink carnation to my pink dress before offering me his arm as the four of us headed out to pick up Miguel.

Daniil was perhaps the best date I'd had all year. He came off as arrogant and moody around other people, but it turned out that he was actually as down to earth as Nicola. He opened my door. He talked with everyone, so i got to meet more people in the instrumental departments. Most of them thought it was fabulous that I was Matthew Stanton's daughter, and an uncomfortably high number of them had heard the rumor that my father and I would be performing together in the recital. I assured them all it was just a rumor, and I would only be performing with the dance department. Many of them seemed disappointed by this.

When we finally joined everyone at the table after a few enjoyable dances, he pulled out my chair for me. I felt like a princess, right up until I looked at Nicola. She sat by herself, so prim and proper, smiling and laughing as she, Angela, and Miguel talked. I felt sorry for her because she came to the dance alone, even though I knew it was by her own choice, but I also envied how easily she seemed to not mind that she had turned down every invitation to be escorted to the ball.

Not long after Daniil and I sat down, Michael and Joe joined us for a little bit. They chatted with us until their dates caught up with them, and then they were whisked away. Any time they could ditch their dates, they were right back at the table with us. I felt sorrier for them every time they left our table.

As the guys dropped into their seats at the table at one point, Daniil offered to dance with his sister, leaving me with the guys. Both had just nearly escaped their dates one more point.

Joe's head hit the table as Kat wandered off with Yoli and Sasha. He'd had a very hard time finding a date, leaving him little room to refuse Kat when she asked him to the Formal. Every time Daniil and I had seen them together throughout the evening, Kat was rambling about either Yoli or Michael. Joe, at least, was great at smiling politely and throwing random one word comments into the conversation, but I knew the whole thing had to be taxing him. Somehow, he always seemed to end up at these functions with one of Michael's fan girls.

Not that Michael had fared any better. One of the senior drama girls has asked him to the Formal, and he felt it would have been rude to refuse her when he didn't have any plans. She spent much of the evening wearing Michael like a piece of jewelry and telling anyone who would listen about how wonderful life would be at college next year. She apparently had already auditioned with one of the school's performing groups, and expected to be their starlet by October. Too much a gentleman to actually attempt to intrude on the diva's moment, Michael had weathered it all with his normal stony expression.

The only ones left at the table, the three of us sat in silence, although I imagined both were grateful not to be besieged by a chatty girl.

Joe finally decided it was too quiet, "You seem to be having fun with Nicola's brother this evening, Lindy."

"Yes, he's a great guy. I think I'm actually going to be sad to see him graduate.

"You barely know him," Michael growled.

"I know, but i wish I'd had the chance to get to know him before tonight." Joe smiled softly, but Michael looked away.

"Yeah, living the touring life has got to be rough," Joe ignored his best friend. "I hear he's decided not to go on to college. Some symphony offered him a position."

Neither Daniil nor Nicola had mentioned that to ma. "Really? He must be thrilled."

"It's pretty cool. If someone offered me the chance to play my guitar rather than go to college, I'd probably seriously consider it, too. There's a lot you can learn from actually being in the business that no college can ever hope to teach you."

I didn't really know what my plans were for life after high school, but I was pretty sure they involved college somehow. It just seemed foolish not to go.

"You know that college Krissa is bragging about getting into?" Michael suddenly interrupted our conversation. "It's not even a respected program. She's such a diva that it was the best she could get." His description of his date reminded me of Yoli. Joe chuckled, and Michael lapsed back into silence.

"I guess we both really struck out tonight, man." Michael didn't find Joe's observation nearly as funny as he did. "It's really my own fault. I should have just screwed up my courage and asked out the person I really wanted to come with."

"You managed to not ask out a girl? I'm certain that's the first time that's ever happened," Nicola seated herself next to Daniil, whoi was just taking his place in the chair next to mine.

Joe blushed. "She's not the easiest girl to approach."

"You mean you were honestly scared of a girl turning you down?" I shared Nicola's disbelief.

He just nodded.

"So who was she? An impossibly talented junior in the instrumental department?" Nicola needled him.

"Actually, she's an impossibly talented sophomore in the dance department," he admitted.

Nicola's eyes widened. "Well, all you had to do was ask. She might have surprised you."

"After warning one of her best friends away from me? I'm not so sure about that."

"If you weren't such a flirt, she might not have felt the need to warn her friend about you."

By this point, even I'd figured out who Joe had wanted to invite to the Formal, and Daniil, Michael, and I were all laughing at what had happened.

Angela and Miguel, breathless from spending nearly the entire evening dancing together, rejoined us. "What's so funny?" Angela asked.

We all started laughing even harder, leaving both of them very baffled.

==

The end of the school year brought many things. The recital was drawing near quickly. Every moment not spent in rehearsal was spent studying for my final exams in science and social studies. The one thing I couldn't have accounted for, or even imagined, was that both my dance class and my technical theater class had final exams, too. The dance final was my level audition. We spent a week in Master Class mode, jumping between ballet, tap, and jazz. On Friday, we were allowed to play games, my favorite of which was this incredible game where some of us were statues, and everyone dance in between us, occasionally changing our pose. Ms. Aeling and Ms. Lemert watched us and continued to write on their clipboards.

After class, Ms. Lemert approached me. "I notice you didn't audition for any summer programs, Lindy dear?" I shook my head. "You will, of course, study here during the summer, then."

I knew Nicola really wanted me to do that, but I hadn't really thought about it over the past month. "Um...okay."

Ms. Lemert smiled, "Excellent. We'll have you in fine shape for next year!"

I chuckled to myself. A summer studying dance with Ms. Lemert. It actually sounded like fun.

==

The recital fell right at the end of finals week. As I'd hoped, I managed to get out of performing with my father during the recital. It was a good thing, too. My night was crazy between performing three dances and being a part of the stage crew. Everything went beautifully, though. Even Yoli seemed to almost genuinely smile at the thought of the school coming to a close.

After the show, we all gathered together on the stairs that led to the audience. It seemed like everyone was going somewhere for the summer, except me. Angela made sure to collect everyone's email addresses and cell phone numbers so she could keep in touch with us from Scotland.

Miguel kept grinning mischievously as the conversation moved from the summer on to random topics.

Angela couldn't stand it any more. "Why do you keep smiling like that? Are you so glad you're getting away from Broughton?"

He laughed and shook his head. "Nope."

"Why not?" I asked. "I thought you were excited to go to Milhouse."

"I was," he admitted, "until I saw what I could do here." We all stared at him, unsure we'd heard him correctly. "I decided that I really enjoyed being able to design sets and costumes, to watch them come to life." His smile widened. "I'm coming back to Broughton!"

Angela nearly knocked him up a step as she tackled him, and I think we all shared her sentiment.

Miguel was coming back to Broughton. I was excited to spend my summer studying dance. Somehow, we were both in the right place, and we knew it.

"Lindy? Lindy, are you back here?" My father's voice filled the hallway above the stairs.

"I guess that's my cue," I gathered my belongings and headed back up the stairs.

"Anime marathon, this weekend," Michael called after me. As a celebration of surviving the school year, and as a last chance to all be together before the summer, Michael was having everyone over to subject us to his anime. He was convinced we'd have fun. We all thought he was nuts, even Joe.

"Sure," I called back as I ran backstage.

My father was on the stage when I found him. "Oh, there you are."

"Yeah, I just ahd to say goodbye to the gang."

He smiled at that, and then looked out over the now-empty house. "So, what do you think, Lindy Lee? Willing to come back?"

"I think I have to. Ms. Lemert enrolled me in the summer ballet program." A slight grin crept into my father's features. "And this is where my friends are."

He took my dance bag and wrapped an arm around my shoulder in a big hug.

I couldn't tell him, but I knew I wouldn't give up being at Broughton for anything!

Next year was going to be fun!