Page 20 of Teach Me to Fly

But before anyone can scramble for their towels or water bottles, she lifts a hand. “Before you all disappear, I have a few announcements regarding our upcoming production.”

Everyone freezes and Layla smiles. “If you haven’t already heard, we’ll be staging Swan Lake.” There’s a collective murmur, excitement rippling across the room.

“As many of you know, Swan Lake is a technically demanding and emotionally layered ballet, therefore we’ve already begun casting for principal roles, and I’m thrilled to be the one sharing some of those decisions today.”

The room stills as Layla turns to Reign. “Congratulations to Reign Harrington, who will dance the role of Prince Siegfried.”

Applause breaks out, mixed with a few whispers of shock about him returning to the stage.

“And his understudy,” Layla continues, “will be Lando Harrington.”

Lando stiffens beside me for a beat, his eyes finding mine instantly, and when I smile softly the floodgates burst and it’s even better than I could’ve ever imagined.

“Holy shit, Lando!” Alfie crows, grabbing his shoulders.

Max pulls him into a hug and Willow squeals, squeezing his arm while the rest of the group laughs and congratulates him with cheers and shoulder pats.

When he glances down at me, his eyes are wide and glassy with disbelief. “Is this real?”

I nod. “One step closer to being cast as Prince Whatever.”

His lips tremble in response as he blows me a kiss, and Ilaugh before turning back to Layla. She waits a beat for the room to settle, then continues.

“And Angelique Sinclair,” she says, scanning the crowd, “will dance the dual roles of Odette and Odile.”

It feels like time slows as the room falls into a hush.

“Excuse me?” a sharp voice cuts through the silence.

I turn to see Reign’s maybe-girlfriend step forward, arms crossed, and fury etched into her every feature. “Who the hell isAngelique?” She says my name like it’s diseased.

Layla gestures toward me. “Wendy, Angelique. Angelique, Wendy.”

Heat flares across my face as every head swivels in my direction. I hold still under the weight of their stares, my grip on the barre tightening. Wendy zeroes in on me like a predator and I internally groan at the fact that I’ve somehow made an enemy on my first day, and of course it’s Reign's girlfriend, of all people.

“The customary response, Wendy,” Layla says coolly, “would be to congratulate your fellow dancer.”

Wendy whips around to glare at Layla, then turns to Reign with betrayal in her eyes when he doesn’t respond, choosing to ignore her altogether. She grabs her bag and storms out of the room without another word.

“Looks like Wendy’s not thrilled someone else gets to dance with her boy toy,” Willow murmurs beside me.

Layla continues, as though none of it happened. “Angelique’s understudy hasn’t been selected yet. So, if you're interested, let me know, and I’ll sign you up for the upcoming audition.”

There’s a faint buzz in the air as dancers disperse, conversations picking back up. Before leaving the studio, I risk a quick glance at Reign and his eyes find mine, but this time I don’t look away untilhe does.

The sun peeksthrough a patch of clouds, lighting up the white stone steps outside of Imperium. It's finally lunch break, and the steps are already crowded with dancers lounging in the sun, peeling off their warmup gear, and eating from Tupperware or takeout containers. It’s rare to get a sunny day like today in Marlow.

I sit on the third step from the bottom with Lando next to me, one hand shading his eyes as he squints up at the sky, studying the cloud shapes. Willow plops down cross-legged in front of us, her lunch balanced neatly on her lap, and Max and Alfie lean against the nearest column with overpriced smoothies. Their partners stayed behind to speak with Layla about other available roles in Swan Lake,too eager to pass up a chance to impress her.

“I still can’t believe it,” Lando, who’s positively glowing, says for what must be the tenth time, picking at the corner of his sandwich wrap like he needs to touch something to ground himself. “Understudy to the prince.”

“You earned it,” I say, bumping his knee with mine. “Every bit of it.”

Willow raises her iced coffee in salute. “And Angelique is just over here casually snatching both leads.”

“Odette and Odile,” Max adds with a dramatic bow. “All hail our new swan queen.”

Alfie whistles low. “Did you see Wendy’s face? The girl looked like she was about to breathe fire.”

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