Page 37 of Master of My Heart

The callbacks were at the opera house about a mile away. Because it had started to sprinkle, they took the subway. Sabrina wanted to walk, but Jayson didn’t want her getting sick from the rain and cold. Considering she’d never had so much as a cold before, Sabrina thought it unlikely. Though that was probably from her Immortalness, which she didn’t have anymore.

Without the marquee outside, Sabrina would have never guessed the narrow, yet incredibly ornate white-stone building was anything but another one of Boston’s beautiful structures. From the outside, it didn’t look big enough to be a theater, but once inside, the lobby stretched out in rich reds and golds, marble columns towering over her.

“Wow,” she murmured, gaping at the gilded archways and crystal chandeliers.

Jayson laughed and grasped her hand, pulling her into the theater itself. Countless rows of red-velvet seats stretched out beneath the ornately painted ceiling. Gilded archways lined the upper wall for either seating or decoration. She wasn’t sure which. A heavy red curtain with gold fringe at the edges hung from the stage arch. Sabrina felt as if she’d stepped back into the 1700s.

Liz spotted Jon, so she gave Sabrina a hug and wished her luck, then ran off to him.

The first two rows of seats were filled with people. Sabrina glanced nervously at Jayson.

“Martin likes us to be here to make an audience,” he whispered. “I’m gonna go sit down. Go up on stage. Break a leg.” He kissed her cheek, then gently pushed her toward the stage.

Many of the audies were already on stage, warming up.

Sabrina found a place to sit along the side of the stage and changed into her pointe shoes. She pinned her number to her leotard and began stretching. A glimmer of hope lit in her heart as she let herself start to believe that life might be different now. She felt like a completely different person from the day before.

Number 43 arrived and sat down a few feet away from her. She glanced at Sabrina’s number, then looked at her strangely. Sabrina smiled and said hello, but she just frowned and looked away.

Sabrina looked out into the audience, feeling confused by the other dancer’s obvious hostility. Jayson and Micah sat in the first row, soon joined by Kyle and Scott. She saw them wave as she leaned forward into a stretch. She waved back and smiled, thankful that she had friends for the first time in a very, very long time.

“How do you know they were waving at you?” Number 43 asked, scorn in her voice.

Sabrina blinked and snapped her hand back to her chest. “Do you know them?”

She rolled her eyes. “They’re company dancers. Of course not.”

“Oh.”

“Do you know them?”

“Yeah. A little.”

The other dancer narrowed her eyes at Sabrina, then turned away again. Sabrina continued stretching, wondering what the girl’s problem was with her.

A while later, she saw Jayson at the edge of the stage. He motioned at her. She glanced back at Number 43, then looked at him again, pointing at her chest. He rolled his eyes and nodded.

She stood up and walked over to him.

“You look good in red,” he said with a smile that warmed her heart.

Sabrina looked down at her red hoodie. “Thank you. Is that why you wanted me to come over here?”

“No, but I wanted to say it anyway.” He chuckled. “I can see you’re getting nervous about that girl next to you. Don’t worry about her. Martin doesn’t like attitudes and hers is written all over her face. Just relax and dance as best you can. You’ll do great.”

“Thanks,” she said, smiling as her nerves lifted a bit.

“And smile. You’re gorgeous when you smile like that.”

She blushed and hurried back to her place on the stage. Feeling eyes on her, she glanced around, seeing fellow audies watching her. She sat down on the floor to stretch again and buried her face in her knees.

After a few minutes, Sabrina snuck a glance back out at the audience. Jayson was talking animatedly with the other dancers, but saw her and winked. She blushed again and looked back down at her knees.

“You’re friends with Jayson Reynolds?” Number 43 asked incredulously.

Sabrina nodded. She supposed they were friends... of a type. She was staying at his apartment.

The dancer huffed and rolled her eyes as she turned away, not speaking to her again.

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