The Girl With The Tattoo

7. stay away from her

Sophie

Mr Adams is making my class watch the older girls dance. I've always loved watching girls that are older than me. They're usually more mature and experienced and it's always good to learn from them.

I realised that Lexi was also in that class when I'd seen her walk into the room... She's wearing a white tutu over the top of her leotard and I can't help but smile at how pretty she looks.

She's like an angel. She's got long dark hair and these big green eyes that just draw me in.

"So, I hope you girls have enjoyed watching the older girls dance today." Mr Adams speaks, somehow getting my attention "Hopefully you can learn from them."

"I think it will benefit some of you." He says, and I can't help but notice that he looks at me when he says that.

He continues speaking for some time, but I can't help but watch Lexi at the back of the room. She's with a few of her friends and she's giggling with them. It makes me smile to see her happy... I don't know why but it does.

She has a really pretty smile.

"Girls, be quiet!" Mr Adams turns his head to look over at Lexi and her friends who are clearly not paying attention to him.

"If you want to go and act like animals then take a trip to your local zoo, don't do it in my dance studio!" He shouts at them, and I watch as Lexi giggles in response.

"Sorry." She rolls her eyes at him.

She's really pushing her luck. Mr Adams hates that kind of behaviour and he's soon going to snap.

"Anyway, everyone can now leave." He tells us all, and I feel a sense of relief as I can't wait to get out of here "You all have classes to be so I expect you to be heading to them."

I grab my dance bag as I try to make my way out of the room. I have tap next and I can't be late. But before I can even get close to the door, I feel a hand on my shoulder.

I turn my head, and I hear Mr Adams say "Not you, Sophie. I want to speak to you for a few moments."

He wants to speak to me?

We both wait until the rest of the dancers have left the room and I notice Lexi looking back at me, clearly wondering why I'm staying behind. She furrows her brows a little before heading off.

As soon as we're the only two left in the room, I say "You wanted to speak to me?"

He nods "Ah, yes! There's just a few things that I want us to talk about."

He then continues speaking "Sophie, I think you're a beautiful dancer, probably one of the best, but I have been noticing that you're making mistakes in rehearsal. I'm beginning to wonder if a certain someone is becoming the reason as to why that's happening..."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean." I tell him, which is the truth because I have no idea what's going on right now.

"Lexi Donovan..." he brings up Lexi's name, and my heart instantly begins to race "She's not the type of girl that you'd want to be spending you're time with if you want a professional dance career, Sophie."

He continues "She's a good dancer, yes, but she's quite different to someone like you. She doesn't have the motivation or the passion for dance. She's rude in class, she rolls her eyes and she barely pays on time. What I'm saying, Sophie, is that Miss Donovan isn't the type of girl to be spending your time with."

Lexi and I have been spending more time together over the last couple of weeks. She's really nice to me and we always have something to talk about. She also makes me laugh which is a bonus. And at the start of the week, we'd shared numbers and I've been texting her most nights.

I don't like the way he's talking about Lexi. I mean, of course we're a little different but it doesn't matter that much to me. I don't care if she's not as dedicated to dance as I am, she's still a really good friend.

"We haven't been spending that much time together." I try to convince him "She's just a friend."

He circles around me as he continues speaking to me "Good dancers like you don't need to have friends, Sophie. You just need to be focusing on yourself and getting the main part this year."

And then he stops directly in front of me, and I keep my head low so that I don't have to look him in the eyes "Lexi Donovan won't make you a better dancer, she'll only make you worse, and I don't think your mother would be very happy about that."

"So, do you promise that you'll stop with this silly nonsense and go back to focusing on becoming a better dancer, Miss Baldesarra?" He asks me, and it makes me feel sick that he's trying to stop me from making friends.

I hesitate "Y-yes."

"I can't hear you." He gets me to repeat myself.

"Yes, sir." I reply with, finally lifting my head "I will."

"Now that's a good girl." His mood seems to change, and I feel his hand on my chin "I knew you'd see that I'm right about this."

After he's done, I watch as he leaves the room.

I can't stop thinking about all the things that he said to me. I know that Lexi isn't well-behaved, and she gets herself into a lot of trouble most days, but I don't think he has the right to convince people to stay away from her!

I don't have a lot of friends. Excluding Lexi, I have just one friend, Hailey, who I only get to see at school. I just don't want to mess this up with Lexi.

After a minute or two, I walk out of the room. The hallway is filled with lots of girls and I try to barge my way through them so that I can get to class.

Then all of a sudden, I hear a voice "Hey, what was that all about?"

I turn around and I see that Lexi had make her way towards me "Oh, nothing. He just wanted to talk to me about the dance."

I don't know if she believes me, but she replies to me with "Oh, okay. I guess I always knew he liked you the most. He always has his favourites." She winks.

I look back, hoping that Mr Adams isn't there to see me talking to Lexi. And because I know that I'll get into a lot of trouble if he catches me, I decide that it's best if I don't talk to her right now and that I get to class instead.

"I'm sorry, I've really gotta go." I tell her, making her aware of the fact I should be in class "I have tap. I- I'll talk to you another time."

"Oh, okay." She furrows her brows as she watches me try to dash off.

I finally get away from her, thankfully, my heart beating so quickly I can feel it against my chest. I try to get some air but I struggle to breathe as the hallway is so crowded.

I really just want to get out of here.