Page 53 of The Facade

She shrugged. “I usually dance in the studio downstairs when everyone is out.”

“You do?” I wondered why she’d want to keep her dancing a secret when she was clearly very talented for a sixteen-year-old.

She rubbed her forearm. “Um, I’m thinking about auditioning for the winter musical. Thinking about being one of the dancers.”

“Really?” I raised my eyebrows. I knew she’d helped with the stage crew last year but didn’t know she’d been thinking about being part of the production.

“I know it’s been Nash’s thing…” She let her words taper off as she scratched her neck. “But I don’t know, it sounded fun. And I loveThe Phantom of the Opera, so it just seemed like the right time to try dancing again.”

“I think that’s great,” I quickly said before she could interpret my surprise as me thinking she shouldn’t do it. “From what I saw, I have no doubt that you’ll get the part. I mean, I’m not a ballet expert or anything, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone dance like that.”

Her blush deepened, and I couldn’t help but think that it made her look even more beautiful. And it made me want to ask more questions, so I could talk to her a little longer.

“Why did you quit dancing before?” I asked. “It sounds like you still love it.”

“I do love it now.” She shrugged and walked over to the wall where there were a couple of chairs. She sat down and started unlacing the ribbons around her ankles. “But it started feeling too much like a job when I was at the academy, and I needed time away to learn to love it again.” She looked up at me. “Have it just be formeinstead of all the pressure.”

I sat in the chair beside her. “Is that why you came home after just one year at the ballet academy? Because you were burnt out?”

“Partly.” She sighed heavily and pulled her dance shoe from her foot, tossing it onto the floor. “But I also wasn’t taking very good care of myself while I was away.”

I remembered how frail she’d looked when she came home that summer. “You did look like you had skipped a few meals here and there.”

“Yeah.” She started unlacing her other pointe shoe, looking like she was considering saying more.

I simply waited, just watched her unlace the thick ribbons from her smooth, tanned leg. I’d seen her wear shorts a lot, but it wasn’t until now that I really noticed just how strong her calves were. She must have been practicing on her own for quite some time because the strength in her legs couldn’t have just been built overnight.

She removed her pointe shoe and dropped it to the floor, and then looking up at me, she asked, “Did my brothers never tell you the real reason why I came home?”

“I don’t remember.” I frowned. “I don’t really remember talking about it aside from them saying you decided to join us at our school instead of going back.”

“I guess that’s one way to put it.”

“So it’s not the truth?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I was actually pretty sick.”

“Sick?” I furrowed my brow. “Sick with what?”

She drew in a deep breath, like she needed it for strength. “I had an eating disorder, Mack.” She stared at her hands where they rested in her lap. “I was anorexic and bulimic.”

“Y-you were?” I asked, surprised for some reason even though now that she’d said it, it made complete sense. She had been so tiny. Barely more than skin and bones.

Wariness filled her eyes as if she was worried I was going to judge her for admitting it. “I was having a hard time being away from my family and my grades were slipping, and I was no longer the top dancer in my class like I’d been here.” She shrugged. “So I decided that if I couldn’t be the best dancer, or get the best grades, or be the prettiest and most popular, I would be the skinniest.” She let out a humorless laugh. “And I was finally the best at something. I was so good that I actually ended up in the hospital after collapsing during a performance.”

“I had no idea,” I said, not really knowing what else to say.

“It’s not exactly something I’m proud of.”

“Is that when your parents brought you home?”

She nodded. “Once they found out what was going on, they checked me out of the school and had a few words to say to the school administration for not picking up on it sooner. Then I was in therapy and basically always had someone with me for a few months to make sure I ate and kept it down and didn’t over-exercise to burn off the calories.”

“Is that why you couldn’t come to Prince Edward Island with my family that summer?” I asked. “Because your parents wouldn’t let you out of their sight?”

Since I didn’t have any siblings to go on trips with back then, my parents used to invite Carter and Nash to go on several summer vacations with us. That way, I had some buddies to hang out with and it gave my parents more space to do their thing without needing to constantly entertain me. And since Cambrielle was in high school that year and old enough to come with us, they’d planned to bring her to Canada with us, too.

Until the Hastings changed their minds a week before we left.

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