No More to the Dance

Начало книги

Lilly Cordova caused quite a stir when she first joined our ballet class. It was no fault of her own, even though she arrived late and we were already warming up with plies; she slipped in silently, dropped an apologetic curtsey to the teacher, and found a place at the barre. But when our pianist looked up and saw her, his jaw dropped and he played a full eight counts in the wrong key. If he’d been playing something less cumbersome than a piano, he would certainly have dropped it on his foot. My brother Johnny’s a musical wonder, to be sure, but he’s far too easily distracted by a pretty face.

And Lilly was a beauty, no doubt about it. Glossy black hair tied back in a short ponytail, liquid dark brown eyes with great long lashes, a perfect dancer’s body—slender and delicate in leotard and tights. Johnny recovered fairly quickly, considering, and had only a few more musical lapses during the rest of the class. Most of the girls found his mistakes entertaining (although Marianne, the teacher, did not). I tried to pretend that I didn’t hear the mistakes, that I wasn’t Johnny’s sister, and that I hadn’t recommended him for this job. I don’t suppose I was markedly successful.

Читать дальше →