Pirouette

Pirouette Read Free

Book: Pirouette Read Free
Author: Robyn Bavati
Tags: Orphans, Twins, teen, Sisters, Dance, Mistaken Identity
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moments before, the day had seemed so full of promise. Now, despite—or perhaps because of—the thrill of the night before, she felt oddly flat. The six-week vacation loomed ahead of her—long and empty.
    A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
    â€œHannah, sweetie, I’ve made you pancakes. You must be hungry.”
    â€œThanks, Mum.” Hannah opened the door, and the smell of something sweet and doughy lured her downstairs.
    She was swallowing her last mouthful when the phone rang.
    â€œCould you get that?” called Vanessa, who was just leaving for Malvern Medical Center, where she worked as a GP four days a week.
    Hannah picked up the phone absentmindedly, thinking it might be Dani or one of her other friends from Carmel College.
    The voice on the line was unfamiliar. “Could I speak to Hannah Segal?”
    â€œSpeaking,” said Hannah.
    â€œThis is Jocelyn Jones from Candance Summer School. I’m calling to let you know that we’ve had a cancellation. You’re next on the waiting list, so if you’d like to join us at Candance—”
    â€œI would,” said Hannah, before the woman could finish the sentence.

three
    The automatic doors opened as Simone approached Domestic Departures. She entered the cool interior of the terminal, then stopped abruptly. For a second, she thought she saw a girl who looked exactly like her—the same long chestnut hair, the same warm complexion, the same green eyes …
    Simone blinked and looked again, but the girl had gone.
    A few steps ahead, Harriet stopped when she realized her daughter wasn’t beside her. “Simone, what’s wrong?”
    Simone barely heard. She was scanning the faces of the people around her, hoping to spot the girl again, but she was nowhere in sight. How had she disappeared so quickly? Perhaps she’d gone back inside the terminal …
    Simone turned back for one last look through the automatic doors. They were glass, and so shiny they were almost invisible. Like mirrors , she thought. Of course! That was it. She must have seen her own reflection. In which case, she and the other girl would have been dressed identically. Had they been? She couldn’t remember; it had all happened so quickly.
    â€œHurry up, Simone. You’ll miss your plane.”
    Simone wished she had the courage to refuse to go.

    As the plane flew higher in the sky and Melbourne grew smaller before her eyes, Simone became more and more miserable. Now it really was too late to turn back. She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. The three-week break from dancing had done little to alleviate her exhaustion, and all she really wanted to do with her summer was relax. Now there was no chance of that. Once again she was on her way to Candance, where she’d have a busy schedule of ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance.
    Simone let out a heavy sigh. She knew that everything her mother did was with her interests at heart, and she hated the thought of appearing ungrateful. But she felt crushed under the weight of her mother’s ambition.
    The worst thing about being adopted, Simone thought as the stewardess handed her a glass of juice, was that you felt so indebted—though perhaps children raised by their biological parents felt just as beholden and just as reluctant to upset them.
    The plane rocked unsteadily as it hit a patch of turbulence, and the Fasten Seat Belt sign flashed on. For a second Simone thought she might throw up. She was reminded of the last time she had thrown up—less than half an hour before her last performance, three weeks earlier. She’d barely made it to the stage on time.
    At one time, Simone had loved performing, had loved the limelight. But since starting at the VSD three years ago, she’d come to dread it. Instead of feeling more at home onstage as she’d grown older, she’d become increasingly tense and nervous with each performance—a fact that

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